How are we all doing at the moment?

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

How much I knock off depends on the car and the deal. I'm happy to deal a one or 2 year old car for minimal profit at times. If that means knocking £500 or even £700 off so be it. If that customer is going to buy I would rather it be from me. Its a unit sold. I tend to buy in bulk 2 or 3 times a month so its a case of turning over stock. I'm different on stock sub £10000 as its not going to depreciate at such a rate if it sits there and you also have the potential for it to come back under warranty. Also if it's something specialist with high or rare spec  you have to try and realise a true value for it. 

[Phil H 124]

Whoopee just sold one, first for 10 days lets hope things are on the up!

[c_cars 56]

Very quiet here in the Midlands, normally track for a minimum of 1 a day and on the 8th day I'm only on 4 for the month so far.

Don't know if anyone else finds this but as its quieter the customers seem to be getting more difficult, putting it bluntly, when its quiet the idiots always come out!

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

I'm sure most of you have read my thread of closing up, for me anyway I found more and more for cars coming in the price I bought in trade was getting higher and higher, none more so then from 2013 to now, and on the sale side my sale price was having to get lower and lower, there was a time when I would never have a car up for more then 2-3 weeks before it was sold, that's across the board prestige to budget, then it was doubling to 4-6 weeks and some longer.

 

[SC Derby 259]

Very quiet here in the Midlands, normally track for a minimum of 1 a day and on the 8th day I'm only on 4 for the month so far.

Don't know if anyone else finds this but as its quieter the customers seem to be getting more difficult, putting it bluntly, when its quiet the idiots always come out!

Thoroughly agree. I don't know why it works like this but it really seems to.

 

Unless in then busy times we totally ignore/dismiss the idiots and thus don't really give them much thought beyond yet, yet in the quiet times they are all we have so we get involved ultimately leading to disappointment.

Had a decent day yesterday, Astra Coupe Sxi in the morning and V50 Volvo in the afternoon.

 

The second deal almost hit a snag, a typical Volvo 'expert' at first reckons he's had them for years, telling me which engines go in which model etc. Decided he loved it despite wondering why it had a 5 speed box not 6, he paid deposit after test drive and I valued his p/ex etc, he was about to leave and said 'don't forget to drop me some diesel in it'

'it's the petrol model' I said, as he and his wife went rather red and mumbled a few expletives.

Anyway he insisted he still 'liked it' and I agreed to give him 24 hours to make his mind up - I woke up to a really nice email insisting they wish to proceed and thanking us for our sociability, thank god!!

[SC Derby 259]

Dead as the dodo today...one customer that wouldn't consider our Mazda 3 any further as the headlining had been removed at some point so clearly had been in a big accident.

Other than that, not a lot happening.

[Steve92 80]

Audi A5 deposit taken, 1 test drive in a golf with someone booking a 1 way ticket to viee the golf tomorrow. Enquiry on the z4 that went yesterday and they didn't want the other we have in stock.

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

A question to the smaller guys , your out goings must be very low if your happy to get by on a few cars a month , or do you hope to even it out in busier periods?

[Steve92 80]

I have no idea about our outgoings but think they must be low, we have a lock up to hold 5-8 cars and can hold 4-5 near our sales office. There are two of us full time and 2 part time who are used as and when. We collect the cars (well I do) so we can find any faults on the way home. Because we pick cars that need very little work we are left with the odd dent or bumper re spray. I'll do some of the prep because it's pointless in paying someone to do it if I don't have anything to collect or viewings. No doubt there comes a point where you need more staff in which case it becomes more challenging. So yes I think our overheads are low, salary (low to what I was on) tax, vat, insurance, bit of rent and some prep ...

[Max Branning 149]

I have no idea about our outgoings but think they must be low, we have a lock up to hold 5-8 cars and can hold 4-5 near our sales office. There are two of us full time and 2 part time who are used as and when. We collect the cars (well I do) so we can find any faults on the way home. Because we pick cars that need very little work we are left with the odd dent or bumper re spray. I'll do some of the prep because it's pointless in paying someone to do it if I don't have anything to collect or viewings. No doubt there comes a point where you need more staff in which case it becomes more challenging. So yes I think our overheads are low, salary (low to what I was on) tax, vat, insurance, bit of rent and some prep ...

You must be dealing in very high margin cars if you can pay 2 full time wages and 2 part time wages on top of usual overheads from a stock of 9 - 13 cars?

[SC Derby 259]

This is a very strange industry in which we operate.

I have had a base model Vectra Life with A/C in for 5 weeks, not really had a sniff, 2007 plate 75k, for £2290, probably slightly over priced. I only really bought it as a cheap stock filler when I was stocking up early July.

This morning a  lady rings up from 80 odd mile away, apparently it's the exact car her husband wants (we all sit and dream of base model Vectras lol), although he's not passed his test, they do not want to lose this car, can they put holding deposit on until Saturday and WILL have the car as long as it comes MOT'd with no advisories. I even agreed to deliver it to them (Yorkshire) for £50.

If it represents value to this lady where are all the local 20 mile radius buyers in the meantime ??

[SC Derby 259]

Picked up a couple of decent pieces of stock this morning, prices seem to have levelled out these last two days (quiet in general and it's caught up?)

58k 2007 Mini Cooper in White and a 2006 BMW 116 SE 62k in Gun Metal Grey both with £1100-£1300 margins in them. Bout time as it was hard to buy last week for me!

[Rory RSC 596]

Picked up a couple of decent pieces of stock this morning, prices seem to have levelled out these last two days (quiet in general and it's caught up?)

58k 2007 Mini Cooper in White and a 2006 BMW 116 SE 62k in Gun Metal Grey both with £1100-£1300 margins in them. Bout time as it was hard to buy last week for me!

Do you buy from Manheim mansfield?  

[SC Derby 259]

No mate, had a few bad experiences at Mansfield in the early days so not been down for probably 3 years!

Although I thought it was BCA.

[Ken 10]

Some good stuff on Dealer Auction and Sytner Auction at the moment.

[Tom 164]

Dealer auction is ok but some stuff still makes too much! 

[sparky 274]

Dealer auction is ok but some stuff still makes too much! 

Your not wrong. I'm lost for words at what some stuff makes on there. Then if you do actually manage to finish as the highest bidder with a sensible bid they always come back wanting more. Frustrating to say the least.

[SC Derby 259]

Sold another two before lunchtime today and got a finance deal (ZUTO grrr) that should drop in before the weekend so that will put me on 6 for the week before the weekend hits!! Needed this week though, still not been a great month.

[SC Derby 259]

Observation at the minute, can't buy a sensible mileage Zafira 1.6 petrol for love nor money. I don't touch the diesel ones so the petrol is my only option and would rather be sub 50k where possible but everytime I locate one they generally go through at £200-£300 less than I'd like to retail the for? Maybe I'm missing something.

Edited September 24, 2015 by See Cars Derby

[Steve92 80]

Maybe if they are in that much of a demand then you could try putting them up at a higher price to see what people are prepared to pay. We picked up an sq5 this week and there has been quite a bit of interest in it.

[Tom 164]

Observation at the minute, can't buy a sensible mileage Zafira 1.6 petrol for love nor money. I don't touch the diesel ones so the petrol is my only option and would rather be sub 50k where possible but everytime I locate one they generally go through at £200-£300 less than I'd like to retail the for? Maybe I'm missing something.

Zafira go for big money if they are clean I've been wanting one for a while. I do OK with the Grand C4 Picasso (with a manual box). 

[Rory RSC 596]

Hard work finding clean Zafiras. Really tend to be scruffy. I have never struggled with the 1.8 Sri petrol model always tend to fly out. 

[sparky 274]

Zafira go for big money if they are clean I've been wanting one for a while. I do OK with the Grand C4 Picasso (with a manual box). 

I've done well out of the big C4, sadly I've had enough of them now. They are made of glass and for me are no longer worth the hassle, especially with the new SOGA coming out, I've got zero faith in them.

I've never had much of issue with the  CDTI120 BHP Zafira. As for the petrol, whilst customers are a pain in the arse, nobody is that bad that they deserve to buy a 1.6 Zafira.

[SC Derby 259]

Okay little game, I managed to pick a Zafira up late afternoon yesterday. 

VX Zafira Breeze Plus, Very Clean condition, 2008 08, 34k, 3 Stamps, 1 Owner, MOT July

What do you retail that at?

Oh in silver.

[sparky 274]

Okay little game, I managed to pick a Zafira up late afternoon yesterday. 

VX Zafira Breeze Plus, Very Clean condition, 2008 08, 34k, 3 Stamps, 1 Owner, MOT July

What do you retail that at?

Oh in silver.

I had the same car two months ago. Well it was actually an 08 Breeze 'plus' with 55 on it, history, in black. Took it in part ex so it owed me the right money. It flew out of the door at £3995.