LSP Vehicles

Stuck Stock Advice

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Hi All, 

Hope everyone is well!

Just after some advice please. We have E350 Coupe sport that doesn't want to seem to shift! Have to say, it isn't one of our usual cars, we normally pick up, small economical's, Yaris, Fiat 500's, Honda Jazz, the odd mini. Ended up buying this as it seemed reasonable. We have had it for about 2 months, IMO it seems to be be reasonably priced, it is in excellent condition, well looked after FSH etc. We just aren't getting any interest. I wonder if there is anything on the advert that may be going against us or could it simply be engine size, road tax costs etc.

Any advice would be greatly received.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011126036985

Thanks

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27 minutes ago, LSP Vehicles said:

Hi All, 

Hope everyone is well!

Just after some advice please. We have E350 Coupe sport that doesn't want to seem to shift! Have to say, it isn't one of our usual cars, we normally pick up, small economical's, Yaris, Fiat 500's, Honda Jazz, the odd mini. Ended up buying this as it seemed reasonable. We have had it for about 2 months, IMO it seems to be be reasonably priced, it is in excellent condition, well looked after FSH etc. We just aren't getting any interest. I wonder if there is anything on the advert that may be going against us or could it simply be engine size, road tax costs etc.

Any advice would be greatly received.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011126036985

Thanks

It’s rather mileagey and it’s a prefacelift which IMO are slightly dated.

Centre caps look badly corroded and number plates look tired. £10 on eBay for a new set of centre caps, £15 for a new set of reg plates and then rephotograph on a sunny day though understandably that is hard to come by.

That said don’t take my advice, I’ve been stuck with a silver e class coupe for about 2 months aswell! 
https://www.tvs-glasgow.co.uk/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-glasgow-south-lanarkshire-3115634

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Agree with the above, few things to add. Only 20 photos? Is this the limit when you don’t have an AT package, if not add more. Double the amount to at least 40 photos especially as people can’t physically view right now. 

This may be more relevant with people buying a high mileage older Merc than a small Honda Jazz but your company has no online presence. You don’t have any Autotrader reviews as you aren’t on a package but also no Google business page with reviews or a website that I can see? I found a LSP Motors on Facebook but there’s no reviews, photos or any posts. The sort of punter buying that is likely to check you out online first and if they can’t find anything they are going to go on to the next advert who has 5 star reviews etc.

The car itself has a nice service history and the advert description is good so I can’t really fault that too much. 
 

Hopefully that doesn’t come across as negative but just constructive advice. For years I didn’t have any online presence and for the cheaper stuff I don’t think it matters but at that price bracket and that car it will. Best of luck

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48 minutes ago, MarkTVS said:

It’s rather mileagey and it’s a prefacelift which IMO are slightly dated.

Centre caps look badly corroded and number plates look tired. £10 on eBay for a new set of centre caps, £15 for a new set of reg plates and then rephotograph on a sunny day though understandably that is hard to come by.

That said don’t take my advice, I’ve been stuck with a silver e class coupe for about 2 months aswell! 
https://www.tvs-glasgow.co.uk/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-glasgow-south-lanarkshire-3115634

Hi Mark, thanks for the pointers. Now you mention it, yes the centre caps do look quite, particularly as the wheels have been refurbed. Thanks for pointing out the reg plates. I thought a silver one with black leather would be "inoffensive" and an "easier" one to shift lol Thanks for the link to yours, gives me an idea of how we should be photographing, thanks.

29 minutes ago, SouthernTrader said:

Agree with the above, few things to add. Only 20 photos? Is this the limit when you don’t have an AT package, if not add more. Double the amount to at least 40 photos especially as people can’t physically view right now. 

This may be more relevant with people buying a high mileage older Merc than a small Honda Jazz but your company has no online presence. You don’t have any Autotrader reviews as you aren’t on a package but also no Google business page with reviews or a website that I can see? I found a LSP Motors on Facebook but there’s no reviews, photos or any posts. The sort of punter buying that is likely to check you out online first and if they can’t find anything they are going to go on to the next advert who has 5 star reviews etc.

The car itself has a nice service history and the advert description is good so I can’t really fault that too much. 
 

Hopefully that doesn’t come across as negative but just constructive advice. For years I didn’t have any online presence and for the cheaper stuff I don’t think it matters but at that price bracket and that car it will. Best of luck

Hi SouthernTrader, 

Not negative at all! Thank you for the insight. A very good point you make about the difference between what we usually deal in and this one.TBH, we didn't even think about online presence as we only started a couple of months ago and thought without "decent" levels of stock it would either be pointless or may not look so good with only a couple of cars. Funnily, that isn't us on FB. Will certainly look into the Google business page. We don't have a package as yet but will look into that too.

Thank you for taking the time to have a look and reply.

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I think it would be worth doing a HPI spec check and see what factory options where fitted and their costs, you then add the total cost of the options and a brief list of them to the advert.

I’d also be mentioning what warranty you give and it’s level of cover. The sort of person buying a merc of this age is likely to or need to be concerned about repair costs. 

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I cant see anything to stop someone picking the phone up bar being silver which is kiss of death for me, shouldn't hurt a Merc though? 

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They are always hard work to sell unfortunately unless they have something highly desirable like a pan roof and big wheels.

Always do well with the cabriolets on the other hand. 

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11 hours ago, Frank Cannon said:

I cant see anything to stop someone picking the phone up bar being silver which is kiss of death for me, shouldn't hurt a Merc though? 

not just me then that cant move silver cars

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5 hours ago, Blenheim Car Sales said:

not just me then that cant move silver cars

Silver cars died 16 months ago but don't tell anyone 

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Hi Mate,

 

Hope you are good. I've often struggled with E class coupes. I think they are a decent car and quite good value but problem is they just aren't hugely desirable. 

Your pictures could be a lot better. Silver is hard work but I would put some effort in. See on your pics the bumpers look like its a different colour. They all do on silver but try to hide it. 

Also the chrome window surrounds really could be better cleaned up so they don't look all TFR marked. A bit of peek polish. Do some pics with windows up, windows down.   Try and find somewhere better for the pics than the side of the road just a nice open car park or something. 

When a buyer / prospective buyer is online they have 100s / 1000s to look at don't they so you have to get the first image to be what I think of as a thumb stopper. A really good eye catching shot that makes them stop what they are doing and click into your car.   

If its not gone after 30 daysI would probably chuck some window tint on it and then black or grey wheels and maybe even a cheap ebay rear lip spoiler and put the price up 500 just to cover cost and then get it gone, but then again 99% of my stock looks like that.

 

I can't stress enough that video sells cars and is the best selling tool. That car will look miles better with a video. Probably 75% of the other cars you are up against won't have a video so you will automatically be better and you can show the various bits and pieces working.   

 

A couple of vids/ pics of e class coupes done by the lad we have doing them if it gives inspiration.

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3150473

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3147619

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1 hour ago, Rory RSC said:

Hi Mate,

 

Hope you are good. I've often struggled with E class coupes. I think they are a decent car and quite good value but problem is they just aren't hugely desirable. 

Your pictures could be a lot better. Silver is hard work but I would put some effort in. See on your pics the bumpers look like its a different colour. They all do on silver but try to hide it. 

Also the chrome window surrounds really could be better cleaned up so they don't look all TFR marked. A bit of peek polish. Do some pics with windows up, windows down.   Try and find somewhere better for the pics than the side of the road just a nice open car park or something. 

When a buyer / prospective buyer is online they have 100s / 1000s to look at don't they so you have to get the first image to be what I think of as a thumb stopper. A really good eye catching shot that makes them stop what they are doing and click into your car.   

If its not gone after 30 daysI would probably chuck some window tint on it and then black or grey wheels and maybe even a cheap ebay rear lip spoiler and put the price up 500 just to cover cost and then get it gone, but then again 99% of my stock looks like that.

 

I can't stress enough that video sells cars and is the best selling tool. That car will look miles better with a video. Probably 75% of the other cars you are up against won't have a video so you will automatically be better and you can show the various bits and pieces working.   

 

A couple of vids/ pics of e class coupes done by the lad we have doing them if it gives inspiration.

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3150473

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3147619

We got stuck with an E43 for abit but i have to say we had a good few enquiries on it and the margins are good!

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Thank you for all the advice and pointers, I think its fair to say we need to get some better pictures and tidy it up a little bit more.

Also, we have to think a bit better, in terms of thinking as a trader!

I myself am not a fan of Silver cars, but thought it would be a safe bet with a Merc, and we actually thought the E Coupe was a desirable car. We were actually discussing could see someone buying it and putting tints on it lol

Think it safe to say we still have a bit to learn, gain experience but with a forum such as this, were people are willing to help out others, I'm sure we'll get there!

Thanks everyone for their input :-)

 

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4 hours ago, Rory RSC said:

Hi Mate,

 

Hope you are good. I've often struggled with E class coupes. I think they are a decent car and quite good value but problem is they just aren't hugely desirable. 

Your pictures could be a lot better. Silver is hard work but I would put some effort in. See on your pics the bumpers look like its a different colour. They all do on silver but try to hide it. 

Also the chrome window surrounds really could be better cleaned up so they don't look all TFR marked. A bit of peek polish. Do some pics with windows up, windows down.   Try and find somewhere better for the pics than the side of the road just a nice open car park or something. 

When a buyer / prospective buyer is online they have 100s / 1000s to look at don't they so you have to get the first image to be what I think of as a thumb stopper. A really good eye catching shot that makes them stop what they are doing and click into your car.   

If its not gone after 30 daysI would probably chuck some window tint on it and then black or grey wheels and maybe even a cheap ebay rear lip spoiler and put the price up 500 just to cover cost and then get it gone, but then again 99% of my stock looks like that.

 

I can't stress enough that video sells cars and is the best selling tool. That car will look miles better with a video. Probably 75% of the other cars you are up against won't have a video so you will automatically be better and you can show the various bits and pieces working.   

 

A couple of vids/ pics of e class coupes done by the lad we have doing them if it gives inspiration.

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3150473

 

https://www.rscarsales.com/used-mercedes-benz-e-class-sandbach-cheshire-3147619

 

Rory your photo's and video's look great. Which camera do you use for the videos please and assume you have some kind of suction mount tripod to hold it steady?

Some great advice here from everyone btw - we all have cars that stick about .....2 months doesn't sound much to me!

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Videos / Pics are all done off iphone and samsung phone.   Go pro for the video test drives with a mount the other stuff is just handheld.

 

Can't get better than the cameras on iphone and samsung etc these days plus all the websites compress them down so not much point.  

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Whilst not of any comfort we have all bought a "wrong un" from time to time, the best advice I can give you is advise from my Grandad who was a Dealer, "your first loss is your best loss"!

Also stock profile is very important.

I hope you get out of it without too much of a loss.

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