starting a car dealership
Discussion
Emubiker said:
Thank you very much for that, Most of which I knew about already and have had a look into, but there are always "unknown unknowns" in business, as I have already found with previous ventures, hence why I have asked.
What is a "BCA Account"? This seems to stand for a few abbreviations. I have the contacts through other ventures and racing (sponsors etc. whom I have become friendly with). I currently have access to a heavy duty trailer, but also have a beavertail van (which I found to be cheaper when I was breaking cars as I didn't need the towing licence, but this can be taken if I start collecting/transporting 2 cars at a time. I have also been looking into warranties today, but struggled to find short term ones; most were covering a year or more, at different levels of cover.
I have been enjoying my job so far, still learning and making a few small mistakes, but enjoying it none the less.
Yep British Car Auctions chum, worth a weekly visit.What is a "BCA Account"? This seems to stand for a few abbreviations. I have the contacts through other ventures and racing (sponsors etc. whom I have become friendly with). I currently have access to a heavy duty trailer, but also have a beavertail van (which I found to be cheaper when I was breaking cars as I didn't need the towing licence, but this can be taken if I start collecting/transporting 2 cars at a time. I have also been looking into warranties today, but struggled to find short term ones; most were covering a year or more, at different levels of cover.
I have been enjoying my job so far, still learning and making a few small mistakes, but enjoying it none the less.
Go with a trailer, it`s so much easier and safer than a beavertail
If you`re going for a 10 car forecourt you really need to be selling at least 10-20 a month. I was doing at least double that and decided to do the warranties myself. We were paying Warranty Direct £180 a unit, so put this same amount into a seperate account for any warranty claims. At the end of the year we had £23k sitting in there!!
Chicarito said:
BCA = British Car Auctions.
And be careful with a beavertail - I assume you're on a modern day 3.5t limited licence, so you'd have to find a particularly light beavertail truck and be very careful about the weights of the cars you put on the back. Something like a Passat or A4 would probably put you over the limit.
I also believe you'd need a tacho for it, too.
Yes I was very particular with the weight of the beavertail, was mainly used for transporting the race car for meets and shells to scrap, but can only load 1300 kg on it, so no big cars on that.And be careful with a beavertail - I assume you're on a modern day 3.5t limited licence, so you'd have to find a particularly light beavertail truck and be very careful about the weights of the cars you put on the back. Something like a Passat or A4 would probably put you over the limit.
I also believe you'd need a tacho for it, too.
I think that before I become start full operation, and while I am testing the water a bit more, I will be solely internet based, but with the aim to have a small showroom type soon after.
Thanks again for all the help.
Emubiker said:
I think that before I become start full operation, and while I am testing the water a bit more, I will be solely internet based, but with the aim to have a small showroom type soon after.
Thanks again for all the help.
I think given the phenominal overheads and hassles with running a forecourt you might find its easier, and considerably cheaper to stay internet based.Thanks again for all the help.
Also, rather than have the massive cost of a lorry / 4x4 capable of towing a trailer why would you not simply get yourself a set of trade plates? I've a guy i pay £6 an hour to do runs for me - hes semi retired - far more cost effective than having a dedicated vehicle.
Plus, as i said earlier, are you going to employ someone to stand on the forecourt and sell for you, as otherwise there wont be anyone there half the time?
daemon said:
I think given the phenominal overheads and hassles with running a forecourt you might find its easier, and considerably cheaper to stay internet based.
Also, rather than have the massive cost of a lorry / 4x4 capable of towing a trailer why would you not simply get yourself a set of trade plates? I've a guy i pay £6 an hour to do runs for me - hes semi retired - far more cost effective than having a dedicated vehicle.
Plus, as i said earlier, are you going to employ someone to stand on the forecourt and sell for you, as otherwise there wont be anyone there half the time?
Well the van I already have, and won't be getting rid of any time soon as I will still need it for the race car (or start using a trailer). I plan on getting a set of trade plates also for test drives anyway. Also I'd have thought it easier to just pick cars up from the auction and take them away sameday. And seeing as it will just be me to start with, I wont have someone to takeme to the auction for me to then drive back in whatever I buy, and pay for the other person to drive whatever we arrived in.Also, rather than have the massive cost of a lorry / 4x4 capable of towing a trailer why would you not simply get yourself a set of trade plates? I've a guy i pay £6 an hour to do runs for me - hes semi retired - far more cost effective than having a dedicated vehicle.
Plus, as i said earlier, are you going to employ someone to stand on the forecourt and sell for you, as otherwise there wont be anyone there half the time?
Emubiker said:
Well the van I already have, and won't be getting rid of any time soon as I will still need it for the race car (or start using a trailer). I plan on getting a set of trade plates also for test drives anyway. Also I'd have thought it easier to just pick cars up from the auction and take them away sameday. And seeing as it will just be me to start with, I wont have someone to takeme to the auction for me to then drive back in whatever I buy, and pay for the other person to drive whatever we arrived in.
You should investigate the cost-effectiveness of having the auction house deliver. Various factors can sometimes make it good value.Emubiker said:
V8mate said:
You should investigate the cost-effectiveness of having the auction house deliver. Various factors can sometimes make it good value.
That is something I hadn't considered, mainly because I hadn't realised that they would/might.I have a mate does me a favour and drops me down and occassionally i drop him down if hes picking one up.
Its one thing i learned from the failing of my first business which was IT and IT support - keep your costs to an absolute minimum.
V8mate said:
Maz_uk said:
BCA had a deal on not long ago, £29+ vat for delivery from any of their sales centres.
Yep - I think Manheim is £35+VAT usually. The £140 quoted^^ seems bizarre. Are you a long way form the auction centre, Daemon?
Will check it out. Those are local auctions here in northern ireland.
13 DJP said:
You will need:
a) Trade insurance (including accompanied test drives, try Tradex)
b) Trade Plates (Apply at DVLA local office, you will need an interview)
c) An HPi on-line account
d) An aftersales warranty company (unless you do it yourself, try Warranty Direct)
e) A BCA account
f) A trailer
g) A good valeter (or contact)
h) A good mechanic (or contact)
g) A winning smile, more money than you think, the patience of an angel and balls the size of a house
Best of luck mate, if you enjoy it, you`ll have a ball
depending on when you passed your test you may need to sit a seperate test for using a trailera) Trade insurance (including accompanied test drives, try Tradex)
b) Trade Plates (Apply at DVLA local office, you will need an interview)
c) An HPi on-line account
d) An aftersales warranty company (unless you do it yourself, try Warranty Direct)
e) A BCA account
f) A trailer
g) A good valeter (or contact)
h) A good mechanic (or contact)
g) A winning smile, more money than you think, the patience of an angel and balls the size of a house
Best of luck mate, if you enjoy it, you`ll have a ball
Right here is my take, changes day to day depending how many we have sold 
In the current climate IT/website is hugely important...here is a stat to consider....In the year 2000 the "average" car buyer visited 7.5 showrooms before purchase, today the figure is 1.4....What does that tell us? People are not doing the rounds of showrooms to find something they "fancy"...the buying decision is made from home. I am about to have a all the bells and whistles website built, goes against the grain with me as I am an old school motor trader, however embrace or die.
New website will have video,live help, up to 50 hi res photos, instant finance quotations against all stock, direct feed into finance companies for proposals, direct info feed to twitter, facebook etc etc...There is a lot of work involved in doing this, I may have to employ a full time web person to do the videos/websites.
So the person at home has come to my super website, looked at the vid, pics, dealership profile, arranged his finance,bought an extended warranty, does he care if he is buying from a high street garge or a tidy industrial unit, or even home premises .... I think if it is proffesional looking most dont care.
Summary...get a dogs b
ks website built, dont have the overheads that a showroom brings, you will work 14 hour days but at the end of it you just might earn a living!!
In the current climate IT/website is hugely important...here is a stat to consider....In the year 2000 the "average" car buyer visited 7.5 showrooms before purchase, today the figure is 1.4....What does that tell us? People are not doing the rounds of showrooms to find something they "fancy"...the buying decision is made from home. I am about to have a all the bells and whistles website built, goes against the grain with me as I am an old school motor trader, however embrace or die.
New website will have video,live help, up to 50 hi res photos, instant finance quotations against all stock, direct feed into finance companies for proposals, direct info feed to twitter, facebook etc etc...There is a lot of work involved in doing this, I may have to employ a full time web person to do the videos/websites.
So the person at home has come to my super website, looked at the vid, pics, dealership profile, arranged his finance,bought an extended warranty, does he care if he is buying from a high street garge or a tidy industrial unit, or even home premises .... I think if it is proffesional looking most dont care.
Summary...get a dogs b
ks website built, dont have the overheads that a showroom brings, you will work 14 hour days but at the end of it you just might earn a living!! Age that I am (22) and having studied business at uni, I really do understand the importance of good IT. I don't have too much spare time at the moment, but I have been looking around at others' websites to try and pull the good from the bad and decide what I think will make a good website. I am not, however, all that clued up on the actual designing of websites - and so this will need to be outsourced, but the costs seem all over the place. For a bespoke site with, as you say, all the bells and whistles I can see this being expensive and requiring maintenance, but the re-produced time after time websites, all look the same (which could be good as well as bad) but also don't look as professional. Again something to look into.
It does seem that time available before set-up is going to be one of my major issues. I know I will need to leave my job to start on my own. But it would be senseless to do so without having done my research properly. This I really don't get much time for as 12 hour days don't leave much for sleeping and extra brain activity.
Thanks again all
It does seem that time available before set-up is going to be one of my major issues. I know I will need to leave my job to start on my own. But it would be senseless to do so without having done my research properly. This I really don't get much time for as 12 hour days don't leave much for sleeping and extra brain activity.
Thanks again all
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