New member

[Lucky13 14]

Hi

ive been reading the forum for a long time and have finally decided to join. 

I have a car sales place in Somerset, mainly selling lower end 1-5k cars on the forecourt and dealing with the odd classic porches, e type jag etc in the showroom. 

I hope to be able to assist others as well as pick your brains!!

 

[have a word with the wife 299]

welcome 

[trade vet 702]

Welcome,so you do under 5 grand stuff.How are you coping with the agrovation,please keep us informed.Alternatively if you have any good news stories,we don’t get many of them on here.

[SouthernTrader 20]

Welcome to the forum. Im fairly new here and picked up lots already, great resource. Best of luck

[Casper 272]

Welcome to the forum all the best for future .. 

tradevet ive did well with the under 5k stuff and cheapies I find most of customers are happy as long as you do repairs within reason for the first maybe 3 months . I normally keep a bit from each sale to do it with older stuff or ad a little on to cover it . Although A guy a work for help out at auctions lives in a different area still sell them but says he get more comebackd guess it a lot to do with setup and location .... 

[Tony911 79]

Welcome

[BHM 994]

1 hour ago, Casper said:

Welcome to the forum all the best for future .. 

tradevet ive did well with the under 5k stuff and cheapies I find most of customers are happy as long as you do repairs within reason for the first maybe 3 months . I normally keep a bit from each sale to do it with older stuff or ad a little on to cover it . Although A guy a work for help out at auctions lives in a different area still sell them but says he get more comebackd guess it a lot to do with setup and location .... 

Comebacks? I’ve put my hand in my pocket once in about 2.5 - 3 years. It cost me £50.

[Tom 164]

Welcome where abouts in Somerset?

[Mojo121 229]

Just now, BHM said:

Comebacks? I’ve put my hand in my pocket once in about 2.5 - 3 years. It cost me £50.

I’m getting done over then. How do you cope with “my EML light is on” a week later or other unexpected?

We get one or two claims a month costing around £50-£100. All of them are our responsibility to pay as I see it.

[Lucky13 14]

2 hours ago, trade vet said:

Welcome,so you do under 5 grand stuff.How are you coping with the agrovation,please keep us informed.Alternatively if you have any good news stories,we don’t get many of them on here.

Thank you, I have a small unit with a ramp and a mechanic who preps sales stuff and covers warranty work. Keeps the cost down. We get some headaches but in general people are happy. 

24 minutes ago, Tom said:

Welcome where abouts in Somerset?

Hi Tom

Highbridge.. land of opportunity ha

1 hour ago, Casper said:

Welcome to the forum all the best for future .. 

tradevet ive did well with the under 5k stuff and cheapies I find most of customers are happy as long as you do repairs within reason for the first maybe 3 months . I normally keep a bit from each sale to do it with older stuff or ad a little on to cover it . Although A guy a work for help out at auctions lives in a different area still sell them but says he get more comebackd guess it a lot to do with setup and location .... 

Thank you

[Casper 272]

38 minutes ago, Mojo121 said:

I’m getting done over then. How do you cope with “my EML light is on” a week later or other unexpected?

We get one or two claims a month costing around £50-£100. All of them are our responsibility to pay as I see it.

 

41 minutes ago, BHM said:

Comebacks? I’ve put my hand in my pocket once in about 2.5 - 3 years. It cost me £50.

I've never had a lot either I always fix them and people seem happy I'm a great believer in it unless it the ones with the airfreshner is the wrong scent etc you know the types

A family member bought a car from a dealer one time paid 5.5 k the car lasted 6 months engine management light on in three days after purchase went back to dealer who said fine when I had it needed 2.5 k work and numerous garage couldn't put it right they sold it to a guy who exported it for parts they didn't know there rights as elderly  said dealer still trading when most try and do the right thing things like tht annoy me.

 what I meant with my contact something  like say customer would bring a 1200 Astra back with management light on say maybe an air flow sensor he would fix it customer says thanks very much etc then they leave bad review saying engine light came on after 2 months wouldnt let me fix it At my own garage and had to travel 50 mile types . Guess that what he means .its not worth doing a lot when selling high end stuff from a wealthy area he stills sells the good pxs buy most get sold on to other home traders etc .  

I think if you stick to the under 5k stuff you can do well be best to stick to one market 

although I know some guys on  here at auctions etc will do well with a 1000 pound car one week and maybe a 100 grand car the next infact I've seen guy who sells a lot of BMW Mercedes Audi etc buy a lot of older Mondeos and vectra at the auction recently . 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Casper

[Mark101 536]

Welcome, good luck to you.

I can't tolerate the bargain hunters, much prefer the lumpier stuff and the more realistic, polite, educated customer they attract.

How is it that a buyer on a £10k car accepts the odd small imperfection (I often hear "Well, it is to be expected isn't it, it's not brand new"), yet the £1,000 ers want to know when the belt was last changed, how long it has been in stock, will I swap for their X, the tyres don't match etc and they often bring their own "expert." They seem to call/email/message at rediculous hours of the day and cannot put a logical sentence together and always "know their rights."

This is why I am so keen to drop all my old sub £5k crap and move into lumpier territory. The finance comms these attract equate to selling the odd cheapie in any case.

It is my intention to offer nothing below £5k once the crap has sold on (unless coming in PX).

Edited September 1, 2019 by Mark101

[Lucky13 14]

9 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

Welcome, good luck to you.

I can't tolerate the bargain hunters, much prefer the lumpier stuff and the more realistic, polite, educated customer they attract.

How is it that a buyer on a £10k car accepts the odd small imperfection (I often hear "Well, it is to be expected isn't it, it's not brand new"), yet the £1,000 ers want to know when the belt was last changed, how long it has been in stock, will I swap for their X, the tyres don't match etc and they often bring their own "expert." They seem to call/email/message at rediculous hours of the day and cannot put a logical sentence together and always "know their rights."

This is why I am so keen to drop all my old sub £5k crap and move into lumpier territory. The finance comms these attract equate to selling the odd cheapie in any case.

It is my intention to offer nothing below £5k once the crap has sold on (unless coming in PX).

I agree that the general buyer of bangers proves more of a headache then that of a higher clientele, however I find profit margins and turnover better with that market. Horses for courses I suppose.

[Mark101 536]

4 minutes ago, Lucky13 said:

I agree that the general buyer of bangers proves more of a headache then that of a higher clientele, however I find profit margins and turnover better with that market. Horses for courses I suppose.

How many do you want? 

[Casper 272]

31 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

Welcome, good luck to you.

I can't tolerate the bargain hunters, much prefer the lumpier stuff and the more realistic, polite, educated customer they attract.

How is it that a buyer on a £10k car accepts the odd small imperfection (I often hear "Well, it is to be expected isn't it, it's not brand new"), yet the £1,000 ers want to know when the belt was last changed, how long it has been in stock, will I swap for their X, the tyres don't match etc and they often bring their own "expert." They seem to call/email/message at rediculous hours of the day and cannot put a logical sentence together and always "know their rights."

This is why I am so keen to drop all my old sub £5k crap and move into lumpier territory. The finance comms these attract equate to selling the odd cheapie in any case.

It is my intention to offer nothing below £5k once the crap has sold on (unless coming in PX).

Sounds like the way forward Mark . I know its amazing the amount of people who will say that well it is a used car on a 10 grand car  I like the one with the £300 banger on gumtree they ask if it has service history and a spare key had another contact sold a lot of that stuff they offered him mobile phones as swaps etc 

I had a mk4 golf tdi  few years ago it actually had Fsh 2 keys 2 owners etc real nice car years mot no advisories  

guy said it not full service history cause it wasn't done at a volkswagen dealer think about 4 stamps were done elsewhere 2 but a specialist and 2 buy a local garage to the owner  

19 minutes ago, Lucky13 said:

I agree that the general buyer of bangers proves more of a headache then that of a higher clientele, however I find profit margins and turnover better with that market. Horses for courses I suppose.

Im not knocking it mate here to help if I can joined here the same as you to help people and receive and offer advice  . I have and still do ok with 4k and cheaper cars and sell the clean Px as well . And its a good point there is a lot of buyers of 4k cars .the contact I mentioned   Actually started in the same way as you as has built a good successful business from a small forecourt to two large ones with mot station etc

may I also thank you for your manners and wish you good luck for the future  

And remember everyone starts somewhere lots of people forgot that and also some try and get to big too soon  

just a thought about starting somewhere unrelated  but came inti my mind is when a learner driver panics and cars are peeping at them etc i think to myself didn't you learn to drive once     

Edited September 1, 2019 by Casper

[trade vet 702]

2 hours ago, BHM said:

Comebacks? I’ve put my hand in my pocket once in about 2.5 - 3 years. It cost me £50.

If you are MOTing all your stock,its the prep costs that kill you on older stuff.If you do the job properly,I find that the average cost of retailing a 10 year car hardly makes sense anymore.

[BHM 994]

Tbh recently I’ve done better (selling more & easier) with the handful of £4K-5K cars that I stock rather than the £1500-2000 range.

Punters on the 1500-2000 cars seem to want the earth & don’t mention the ‘scrap’ spares etc. market! Those punters on the sub £500 cars haven’t got a ha’penny to scratch their arses. The penniless want warranties, guarantees, assurances etc. so unless you can be arsed to Facefuck/Scumtree the heaps of shit & meet them in Tesco’s car park to do the deal You might as well scrap them.

PS - a man on a £5K Volvo wanted to part ex his old Corsa. Silver, battered, wheeltrims, 2008, 150,000 miles, 1.3 diesel (I didn’t think they’d do that sort of miles). I offered him £100 but he declined so I gave him the £100 discount NOT to part exchange it. Apparently he’s going to get it freshly serviced for the next owner (I kid you not) as he’s confident it’s worth decent money. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth but he’ll soon find out once it’s advertised.

[BHM 994]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

If you are MOTing all your stock,its the prep costs that kill you on older stuff.If you do the job properly,I find that the average cost of retailing a 10 year car hardly makes sense anymore.

Tbh you’re half right. I’ve some of the usual family hatchback dross that, when it eventually sells, will end up netting me a few hundred quid & is barely worth the perceived risk - it’s more a case of selling it ‘straight’ to a sensible customer.

However some of the lumpier miley 4x4 stock at that age, in the £5-6K range, nets £2Kish so is well worth it in my opinion. It’s just a shame the VAT man rapes you on the inevitable bank transfer but that’s why Bernie Ecclestone got out of this game years ago.

[Lucky13 14]

3 hours ago, Casper said:

Sounds like the way forward Mark . I know its amazing the amount of people who will say that well it is a used car on a 10 grand car  I like the one with the £300 banger on gumtree they ask if it has service history and a spare key had another contact sold a lot of that stuff they offered him mobile phones as swaps etc 

I had a mk4 golf tdi  few years ago it actually had Fsh 2 keys 2 owners etc real nice car years mot no advisories  

guy said it not full service history cause it wasn't done at a volkswagen dealer think about 4 stamps were done elsewhere 2 but a specialist and 2 buy a local garage to the owner  

Im not knocking it mate here to help if I can joined here the same as you to help people and receive and offer advice  . I have and still do ok with 4k and cheaper cars and sell the clean Px as well . And its a good point there is a lot of buyers of 4k cars .the contact I mentioned   Actually started in the same way as you as has built a good successful business from a small forecourt to two large ones with mot station etc

may I also thank you for your manners and wish you good luck for the future  

And remember everyone starts somewhere lots of people forgot that and also some try and get to big too soon  

just a thought about starting somewhere unrelated  but came inti my mind is when a learner driver panics and cars are peeping at them etc i think to myself didn't you learn to drive once     

I wouldn’t take offence anyway, always happy to hear other people’s views. Ive been trading for 10 years now. 4 years from a compound while I ran a mot station, 4 years at a smaller site and now 2 years at the forecourt and showroom I currently have. With the more expensive stuff I stock I tend to buy older 996’s Mercedes SLs and even have a 1969 E type at the moment so I’m open to buying all sorts just seem to of had a easier ride with the cheapies recently. 

[have a word with the wife 299]

I guess if you buy right, proper pdi, be picky who you sell to [yes , choose your customer !] , and don't underprice it then you will always do ok under £5k, the more other dealers that will not sell them gives the opportunity to ask more money 

Every pitch round here is full of lumpy stuff with cobwebs 

[Lucky13 14]

Ha true, I don’t know why I just love the bangers and the profit margin they bring. I use lawgistics and there pdi forms etc makes it a little easier to get out of false claims

[Casper 272]

1 hour ago, Lucky13 said:

I wouldn’t take offence anyway, always happy to hear other people’s views. Ive been trading for 10 years now. 4 years from a compound while I ran a mot station, 4 years at a smaller site and now 2 years at the forecourt and showroom I currently have. With the more expensive stuff I stock I tend to buy older 996’s Mercedes SLs and even have a 1969 E type at the moment so I’m open to buying all sorts just seem to of had a easier ride with the cheapies recently. 

I agree with you I  always listen to others views and opinions. You seem to have found your market . Keep us al posted how your getting on .. 

have a word with the wife is right you have to choose your customer 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Casper

[It's me 615]

hi lucky 13 can i have rice with mine please

[pmpants 14]

Welcome aboard lucky13, just a bit jealous of your location, beautiful part of the world!

[Lucky13 14]

1 hour ago, pmpants said:

Welcome aboard lucky13, just a bit jealous of your location, beautiful part of the world!

 

2 hours ago, jason doyle motor sales said:

hi lucky 13 can i have rice with mine please

Prawn cracker too??

1 hour ago, pmpants said:

Welcome aboard lucky13, just a bit jealous of your location, beautiful part of the world!

Thank you. I actually live on a old farm in mid Devon.. make the hour commute each day for the catchment area