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Be careful not to prep WE’RE relatively new to the game. We’ve been trading a year but we’re doing well enough although it massively quietened down during January. We are a small, family-run business – mother, father, two sons, me being one of them. We have an ongoing argument about vehicle prep and condition. My dad likes the idea of making the cars absolutely immaculate and thinks no-one will buy them if they’re not. We still make money but doing this work eats time and profits. I was just wondering how much prep is acceptable usually? Our cars range between £3k to £15k as a guide. Obviously at the more expensive end, cars sell better based on condition but at the cheaper end, do they still sell well with scuffs and bumps? In the opinion of more experienced traders, are we doing too much? Our cars are offered with the following: 12 months’ MOT; six months’ warranty (Warrantywise); up-to-date service if needed; paint remedied to an immaculate condition; alloys repaired if scuffed. NCS_Pete I have found that below £2k, very fussy. £2k-£3k, you can get away with things like small rips in leather seats, scuffed alloys, minor dents. AutoJacob Walk up to each car in turn with your arms folded (as if you were the lady of the house sick of looking at cars with your husband and wishing he’d keep the stinky one he has already) and walk round and round the car. Do the same inside then under the bonnet. Can you fault it? (It is quite acceptable at this stage to use your foot to point as customers invariably do.) Would you buy it? If not, mint again. My motto is, if someone walks having made the journey, I’ve failed. Don’t have walkers. A vehicle can never be over-clean. boring dave Any prep you do over the minimum required to sell it quickly for the going retail price is
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Bear in mind the first thing which happens when someone takes a new car home is family and neighbours want to have a look. David Ayers Do a smart repair course and do the paint damage yourself. As long as you’re not slicing your margin too much, a car can never be too clean. I’ve never lost a sale and my personal opinion is that having a gleaming car creates trust with the customer. They may think, ‘wow, this has been looked after, if they prep their cars to this level, they must know what they are doing’. MrV
You might be aware that the parent company of Car Dealer Magazine is Baize Group – so named because founder and CEO James Baggott loves the game of pool. We’ve had a table in the office for several years now and it received a little bit of TLC recently in the form of a new covering of the green stuff. Rack ’em up! effectively too much. Knowing where to stop takes years of trial. Nick M.K. I used to be a perfectionist. Every car had to be immaculate. It’s a huge chunk out of the profit and a ton of hassle. I now touch up bumper scuffs and light marks with the correct matching paint from a local paint supplier, £16 a can. Not had one customer notice the scuff if touch-up applied lightly. I’ve never done a wheel refurb although I know a lot of dealers who do. Basic for me is full valet, removing seats, wet vac, three months’ warranty, 12 months’ MOT on anything less than six months old and oil and filter service. I’d rather offer a £200 discount for all the niggles than spend £300/£400 making the car mint! iJCS1
My cosmetic prep is far higher than it used to be, mechanically/electrically the same – very high – as I hate comebacks. New MOT regardless (even if it has 10 months like the Megane I had done today) and a proper PDI, service, new keyfob batteries. I don’t think you can ‘over-prep’ something, but we are all different. tradex The more expensive the car, the more prep required, this stands to reason. On a sub-£3,000 car, I would say a fresh MOT, a good valet and maybe a service is all that’s necessary. £3,000+ and I would be looking at getting paintwork and alloys refurbed etc. At the end of the day, it depends how much profit is in the car. Do not prep the profit out of it! Max Branning I pretty much mint cars up but I enjoy it. I take the time to make them irresistible and my ratio of sales to viewings is about 95 per cent. I would hate it if I was showing someone a car thinking to myself, ‘please don’t notice the bumper scuff, please don’t notice the bald tyre, please don’t notice the smashed alloys, please don’t look in the glovebox as it’s caked in crumbled peppermints...’ EPV
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