Trading and using high value cars
Discussion
Gents,
Quick question:
How would you go about trading high value used cars from home that would generally require finance for the buyer (cars 30k plus)? While using them until sold at the same time, maybe keeping the car for 6 months.
You could apply for the licence to trade from home at a low level (stock would always be one)
You would have to be vat registered to be able to sell cars to be financed
You need a good relationship with a finance broker.
Offering a 3rd party warranty etc.
Is it a doable thing? Or am I very mistaken?
Quick question:
How would you go about trading high value used cars from home that would generally require finance for the buyer (cars 30k plus)? While using them until sold at the same time, maybe keeping the car for 6 months.
You could apply for the licence to trade from home at a low level (stock would always be one)
You would have to be vat registered to be able to sell cars to be financed
You need a good relationship with a finance broker.
Offering a 3rd party warranty etc.
Is it a doable thing? Or am I very mistaken?
Waitey said:
Gents,
Quick question:
How would you go about trading high value used cars from home that would generally require finance for the buyer (cars 30k plus)? While using them until sold at the same time, maybe keeping the car for 6 months.
You could apply for the licence to trade from home at a low level (stock would always be one)
You would have to be vat registered to be able to sell cars to be financed
You need a good relationship with a finance broker.
Offering a 3rd party warranty etc.
Is it a doable thing? Or am I very mistaken?
Well, Mark has highlighted a couple of the issues you'll face BUT given a £30K car could easily drop a couple of thousand in six months, is it really viable to buy a car, drive it six months, hope it doesnt incur any bills, add an extra six months of wear and tear, sell it on and STILL make enough profit to cover warranty, VAT, tax due, reconditioning costs, advertising AND make enough of a profit to make it worthwhile?Quick question:
How would you go about trading high value used cars from home that would generally require finance for the buyer (cars 30k plus)? While using them until sold at the same time, maybe keeping the car for 6 months.
You could apply for the licence to trade from home at a low level (stock would always be one)
You would have to be vat registered to be able to sell cars to be financed
You need a good relationship with a finance broker.
Offering a 3rd party warranty etc.
Is it a doable thing? Or am I very mistaken?
And what would your USP be that would encourage people to buy a car from the side of your house, over, say an Approved User car from a main dealer or specialist indy?
Edited by daemon on Saturday 4th October 17:32
Bikerjon said:
Does anyone apart from other traders buy £30K cars from driveways? I think you would need a showroom with plenty of glass and chrome to shift that kind of car to Joe public!
I found when i was motor trading, once you broke the £5,000 mark people tended to expect full dealer facilities, showroom, finance, proper warranty, forecourt, etc, etc.I've sold my last two cars privately for £30k both times. Both sold within a week or so of advertising on pistonheads.
Cars will sell privately at the right price.
As for making a business. Of owning a £30k car , driving it for 6 months and selling at a profit...I can understand why you'd like to do it, lot of metal out there for a budget of £30k or so....but can't see this being a starter.
What I can say is that it is possible to own some very nice cars and by buying right the costs would be less than buying a new 3 series / A5 for example.
My last car ( 2005 V8 Vantage Coupe ) cost me less than £2k in maintenance and depreciation in the 14 months of ownership. The 911 996 C4S Cab I had before cost me £5k over 2 years of ownership.
This did not include insurance, road tax.
Had a 2 year old E46 M3 Cab which I owned for 4 years and before that a 330Ci Sport Cab which I bought new and owned for 3 years. Overall costs on both these cars ( which were good cars, very little problems with either ) were far higher than either of the above.
Cars will sell privately at the right price.
As for making a business. Of owning a £30k car , driving it for 6 months and selling at a profit...I can understand why you'd like to do it, lot of metal out there for a budget of £30k or so....but can't see this being a starter.
What I can say is that it is possible to own some very nice cars and by buying right the costs would be less than buying a new 3 series / A5 for example.
My last car ( 2005 V8 Vantage Coupe ) cost me less than £2k in maintenance and depreciation in the 14 months of ownership. The 911 996 C4S Cab I had before cost me £5k over 2 years of ownership.
This did not include insurance, road tax.
Had a 2 year old E46 M3 Cab which I owned for 4 years and before that a 330Ci Sport Cab which I bought new and owned for 3 years. Overall costs on both these cars ( which were good cars, very little problems with either ) were far higher than either of the above.
Sorry I forgot to say I wouldn't really be after making a profit for this. More of a hobby.
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
Waitey said:
Sorry I forgot to say I wouldn't really be after making a profit for this. More of a hobby.
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
Your USP isn't much of a USP. If I had to put it in a nutshell, I'd call it a 'downside'.My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
Waitey said:
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Here's where your idea will come to a grinding halt.To be able to offer Finance services, you will NEED to have business premises and apply for a consumer credit licence . To get business premises, you'll need to be a registered company. Applying as a company in order to offer financing to public customers is intense and even more so given the current economic climate, there's SO many hoops to jump through - just one being that you'll need to meet legal regulations such as and from the Financial Conduct Authority.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222167
In short, you won't be able to do what you are thinking, especially from home.
You'll need to re-think your business plans now, so good luck with getting new ideas that are also workable!
Cheers, Dennis!
DennisCooper said:
Waitey said:
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Here's where your idea will come to a grinding halt.To be able to offer Finance services, you will NEED to have business premises and apply for a consumer credit licence . To get business premises, you'll need to be a registered company. Applying as a company in order to offer financing to public customers is intense and even more so given the current economic climate, there's SO many hoops to jump through - just one being that you'll need to meet legal regulations such as and from the Financial Conduct Authority.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222167
In short, you won't be able to do what you are thinking, especially from home.
You'll need to re-think your business plans now, so good luck with getting new ideas that are also workable!
Cheers, Dennis!
nw28840 said:
I've sold my last two cars privately for £30k both times. Both sold within a week or so of advertising on pistonheads.
Cars will sell privately at the right price.
Yes, they will sell privately at the right price - usually because theres a saving to be made / advantage in speaking to the current owner, getting an understanding of how they've looked after the car - particularly on less mainstream stuff. There are people who prefer that and have access to the funds (cash, personal loan or otherwise) to not have to worry about lack of dealer facilities.Cars will sell privately at the right price.
But what the O/P is proposing is the worst of both worlds - no dealer premises / forecourt / choice of cars, BUT the O/P wont be able to do is compete with the private seller on price - once he adds in his margin for 6 months depreciation, VAT, warranty, advertising, plus enough profit to make it worth his while.
Edited by daemon on Sunday 5th October 10:16
Waitey said:
Sorry I forgot to say I wouldn't really be after making a profit for this. More of a hobby.
My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
IF there is a market for private sales at this price point for the more exotic cars, why not just sell it on as a private sale?My Usp would be that it'd be basically like buying for a private individual with the benefit of the option of finance and a warranty.
Selling things around the dreaded £30k- mark is always a ball ache, even more so when I creep up to the £50k mark. This was seen as a way of running suck things as Vantages/Gran Turismos for a few months while they were for sale, and being able to move onto others easily which being killed on trade in value each time.
Local authority has no issue with it as long as my stock doesn't out number the spaces on my drive (3). Considering these would be my daily's I'd never carry extra stock.
This idea wouldn't have great mileage and I wouldn't 'be using it as an income stream, more like a slightly involved loss leading hobby!
You're going to be owning the car for six months or so, so your name is going to be on the v5. If its a private sale, then your not obliged to provide a warranty.
Because you're not trading, you wont need to VAT reg, nor pay tax, nor offer a warranty, so your opportunity to break even / make a profit will be higher.
daemon said:
nw28840 said:
I've sold my last two cars privately for £30k both times. Both sold within a week or so of advertising on pistonheads.
Cars will sell privately at the right price.
Yes, they will sell [b]privately[/] at the right price - usually because theres a saving to be made / advantage in speaking to the current owner, getting an understanding of how they've looked after the car - particularly on less mainstream stuff. There are people who prefer that and have access to the funds (cash, personal loan or otherwise) to not have to worry about lack of dealer facilities.Cars will sell privately at the right price.
But what the O/P is proposing is the worst of both worlds - no dealer premises / forecourt / choice of cars, BUT the O/P wont be able to do is compete with the private seller on price - once he adds in his margin for 6 months depreciation, VAT, warranty, advertising, plus enough profit to make it worth his while.
The higher the price the greater the proportion of cars sold through dealers. That's annoying because I like to buy privately and save a buck. But how many Astons are on sale privately? Nope, the owners would rather take a massive hit at both ends for the convenience of signing a finance deal and swapping keys.
Simpo Two said:
The higher the price the greater the proportion of cars sold through dealers. That's annoying because I like to buy privately and save a buck. But how many Astons are on sale privately? Nope, the owners would rather take a massive hit at both ends for the convenience of signing a finance deal and swapping keys.
I would have thought in the same way as there arent too many people who will buy a high end car thats not from dealer, chances are (a) sellers know that and (b) not wanting the hassle of prospective buyers / tyre kickers around their homes.Simpo Two said:
I think the thought of having 30K+ going through their living room might concern them. But it must be great having so much money you can spend £5K on a cup of coffee in a shiny showroom!
Indeed. Not a problem i have...BUT i guess if your transaction is maybe £100K for the new car + £50K for your trade in, and you're maybe going to keep the car five years, whats 1% per year for extra convenience?
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