Vehicle sales; A view from the other side

[wemorgan]

There's so much choice in the 2nd hand car market:

OEM New approved
Car supermarkets
Specialist Trader
General Trader
Private
Auction

Each of them will have good,bad,ugly examples. Customers can generally choose what level of service/product they want.

 

[mct_cars]

I think it comes down to people being realistic. Eg, there's a thread on here (which I can't be bothered with anymore!), about someone buying a 10+ year old 170k W210. The guy already owns an old 210 and expresses great surprise to find it has a few small jobs that need doing and that it is not cosmetically perfect. It was priced at a little over £2000...

Without either looking at the car, seeing the advert or speaking to the seller it would be a bit naive to expect it to have (1) absolutely no rust and (2) absolutely no wear/tear or any faults whatsoever.

I've bought and sold loads of cars over the years, am realistic when I buy them and I am realistic when I sell them. I think most people are but you do get a few...

To be fair to the OP on the other thread, his complaint was that the garage did not disclose any of the quite extensive electrical problems that the car had over the phone - when it was test drove the dealer obviously knew about them as he knew the (possible) solution when confronted.

As with any person to person trade, there'll be the poor end and the good end on both sides.

And no, I wouldn't expect a 170k mile 10 year old car to be perfect, but if I asked about faults over the phone and drove a few hundred miles to see it (which is a position I've been in before going to see perfect cars private sale which end up being auction bangers from door step traders) I'd be a little peeved too.

 

[The _Don]

The common misconception is we make 20-30% margin on car which simply isn't the case. So buyers thinking they are going to haggle £2k off a £15k car because they have cash and no p/x are going to be disappointed.

Lets take an example, 2008 CLS priced at £15k.
Cost to buy vehicle £12500
Fees and transport costs £350
Prep cost (valet, mot, wheel refurbishing) £200
Tyres/servicing (on average) £300
Warranty £180

Total cost £13530

So if that car sells for the full asking price the profit remaining is £1470.

Vat margin on the gross profit is £500 (less the vat paid on any parts, a lot of valeters, wheel refurbers are not vat registered)

So we make £1030, less advertising costs which for us are around £25 per car per week.

So that's £1030 profit left assuming you get the full asking price, and the car had no major faults. The likelyhood is that you won't get the full asking price and 1 in 3 cars need more prep than you had estimated.

So all in, less than £1000 profit on a £15000 car. Thats before any fixed overheads, so there isnt bags of money to be made from selling used cars.

I know traders who make £2 - £3k+ on a £15k car.

 

[flango]

I know traders who make £2 - £3k+ on a £15k car.

At lest that amount or its not worth the effort

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I know traders who make £2 - £3k+ on a £15k car.

I make £14k on a £15k van...

 

[Dieselman]

I make £14k on a £15k van...

So why are you complaining?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

So why are you complaining?

Because I want to make £15k.

 

[developer]

because i want to make £15k.

:d

Aargh - no smilies again, but you get the idea.

 

[developer]

As a regular buyer of used cars - I'm happy to pay for a top price car if it's well specced and in top condition - for its age obviously.

Agreed - I paid top dollar for my current car for exactly those reasons.

Regrets, I've not even had a few.

 

[boxbrownie]

Because I want to make £15k.

You will have to stop asking your mate and nick them yourself then

 

[gIzzE]

We have a real problem in this country with our attitude to anyone making money, we simply don't like it.
It is not healthy.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

We have a real problem in this country with our attitude to anyone making money, we simply don't like it.
It is not healthy.

But it is the British way; know your place and don't get ideas above your station.

 

[grober]

We have a real problem in this country with our attitude to anyone making money, we simply don't like it.
It is not healthy.

I think you have that wrong. People don't object to people making money by honest graft, being good at their job or exceptionally talented. They do object to people who cheat, lie and use every trick in the book to rob ordinary honest people blind and then pay themselves with the money they haven't earned or don't deserve. The fact there's an increasing number of people in this country who think such behaviour is somehow justifiable is frankly rather depressing.

 

[biturbo]

Anyone who buys a car from me gets a bargain. I tend to buy at a high price, spend a fortune making it excellent and selling for cheap. Lucky I'm not in the trade The cars I buy I always get the feeling the person knew it needed loads doing to it before they sold it. i fix it and then sell it add to it and sell for a fraction what i paid for it. The discovery I bought 3 months ago is a prime example. Paid 4.5k for it and have spent 3 k on it already. PRob sell it for 4k and someone ends up with a car that doesn't go wrong for 50k miles.

 

[aka$h]

I know traders who make £2 - £3k+ on a £15k car.

Dont get me wrong, some cars do have big margins, but the bigger the margin the longer the turnaround on it.

I could retail the same car for £1000 more, but be sat on it for 2-3 months.

The same equation on a £30k car will net £4k profit, but will take more input capital, and usually a lot longer to turn it around.

Its down to what is in stock, its nice to have a mixture of quick movers and high margins, it balances out across the month.

 

[gIzzE]

I think you have that wrong. People don't object to people making money by honest graft, being good at their job or exceptionally talented.

No, it seems that people just hate to hear of a company making money full stop.
Not everyone is ignorant to how running a business works, but too many certainly are.

 

[billywhiz]

We have a real problem in this country with our attitude to anyone making money, we simply don't like it.
It is not healthy.

But alas it is the way.

A saying I summarise a high % of people in this country is :

"Everyone wants a cheap job, but not a job done cheap"


Guess that's why so many easily complain about the state of the country, influx of illegal immigration etc etc but are more than happy themselves either to pay cheap employee staff rates or use cheap labour.

This is the way and I can't see things changing soon.



Going back on topic, In the end paid over the odds a bit for my car and drove 350 odd miles to get it. Solid historic/current car stock, and a very honest sales guy with a great reputation and knew how to treat a potential customer.

The car I saw a week earlier was not the same feeling when after phoning to say I would be there in a hour, was treated to a car with a flat battery and a greasy unwashed looking salesguy, chewing on a meat kebab at 11am in the morning !!!! - I was there 30 seconds before turning my back on him.

 

[gIzzE]

Also, may are just ****wits to be fair.

The amount of cars I have seen from dealers with filthy interiors in the pictures, even sweet wrappers or empty Coke cans, or with error messages on the dash. It really does make you wonder how they sell a thing.


And I agree with the above. I called a dealer about seeing a 530d touring the other week, it was only a £7k car, it was down in Essex so arranged to see it the next morning, said I would come at 11am. When I got there it was at the back of the garage and so I couldn't take it out, told me to pop back the next day, if I was interested in it.
The fact I had driven an hour and half meant I was interested, but not to come back again just to drive it.

 

[mika]

if im buying new or nearly new from a main dealer type
i work really hard to reduce the price of the vehicle i have specd or identified
ultimately its about price to me and i dont mind moving between dealers
i can usually achieve prices that a professional would be happy with and then some

if im buying older(proper!)cars i tend to look for condition and history and i probably pay a little over the odds but like to think i get a very respectable vehicle

i think if someones got a good car they should get good money for it - yes a handsome profit , why not? but i agree there are many who wince at people making healthy profits

my approach above is not bound to be correct but its what i do

 

[MD5]

It's funny, I keep thinking back to the bus driver who everyone thought should subsidise passengers late at night out of his hourly rate, and yet here we are whingeing about how much profit can be made on a car/van. Worse still, people have the audacity to haggle? That must be awful.

Sorry guys, but I think we are all mostly doing okay here, and we all have our own crap to deal with. Pet projects and expensive cars aren't compulsory or a God given right.