Guides for the trade

Everything we've learned building a pricing engine with working dealers — the maths, the market, and the mistakes that cost real money. No fluff, no invented figures.

The VAT margin scheme for used cars, explained properlyHow margin scheme VAT actually works on a used car, why it is one sixth of your profit rather than one sixth of the sale price, and the three places dealers routinely get it wrong.
Why isn't my car selling? A diagnostic for stuck stockSix reasons a used car sits on a forecourt, how to tell which one you have, and the single most expensive mistake — cutting the price on a car whose problem was never the price.
How to price a used car so it actually sellsWhy the median sold price is the wrong target for an independent dealer, what the fortieth percentile is and why it matters, and how to adjust for mileage without guessing.
What a car auction lot really costs youBuyer fees are banded, not a percentage — which means the true cost of a bid jumps at certain prices. Plus assured fees, admin, transport, and how to build a stop bid you will actually stick to.
Days' supply — the number that tells you not to buySold volume alone will walk you into a price war. Days' supply compares how many are for sale against how fast they sell, and it is the difference between a busy segment and a crowded one.
When to buy and sell: seasonality in the UK used car marketConvertibles, four-wheel drives, seven-seaters and small cars all follow different calendars. Buying a car into the teeth of its own off-season costs weeks of stock turn and it is entirely avoidable.
How much to offer on a part exchangeThe algebra that works backwards from your profit target, why the VAT factor is 1.2 and not 1.0, and how to handle the moment a customer names a number you cannot meet.
Dead stock: what an old car on your forecourt really costsThe true cost of a car sitting past 90 days is not the discount you eventually take — it is everything you could not buy while your money was in it. How to count it and how to stop it.
How long should a used car take to sell?There is no single right answer, and using one is how dealers panic over healthy stock and ignore genuine problems. What a normal window looks like, and why stock turn beats margin per unit.
The advert is the shop window: photographs and listings that sellThe cheapest fix available to any dealer, routinely ignored. What buyers actually filter on, how many photographs is enough, and the fields that cost you enquiries when left blank.
What stock should I buy? Reading your own numbersYour sold history already knows what works on your forecourt. How to read it, why volume and speed beat gut feeling, and the trap of buying what you personally like.
Cash flow and stock turn for independent dealersWhy a profitable forecourt can still run out of money, how to measure return on capital rather than margin per car, and the mistake that quietly kills growing dealerships.
Mileage and value: what it's really worthExpected mileage by age, why the 100,000 threshold costs more than the 10,000 miles either side of it, and when low mileage is a warning rather than a premium.
Reading an auction condition report without getting burntCosmetic grades, mechanical grades, red and amber items, V5 and mileage warnings — which ones are a price negotiation and which ones mean walk away.
When to drop the price, and by how muchWhy five small cuts are worse than one real one, what the margin scheme relief means for the true cost of a discount, and the review schedule that stops you cutting the wrong cars.
Starting an independent used car dealership in the UKWhat you actually need before your first car, how much working capital is realistic, the compliance you cannot skip, and the mistakes that close new forecourts inside two years.
Comebacks: consumer rights, warranties and how to price the riskWhat the Consumer Rights Act actually obliges you to do, why the first thirty days are different, and how to hold a warranty reserve so a comeback is an inconvenience rather than a month's profit.