Your new website is unfortunately only one of over 800 million websites available on the world wide web so don’t be shocked when it gets five visits a day.

 
A Buzzword you will hear a lot if you are trying to boost your web presence is SEO or Search Engine Optimisation. As the title would suggest that means optimising your website to rank for search terms that relate to your business. When we talk about SEO we are usually talking about Organic (Free) Traffic and we are talking about Google as the search engine to target. Google constitutes 90% of web searches and is know a verb……when’s the last time you Yahooed anything ?

 
There are Books, Forums and Conferences dedicated to SEO, it’s a pretty big industry. What follows is a very basic guide,  strictly for small to medium sized car dealers in what I hope are layman’s terms.

If you have built a website for your business then good for you. Whether you embrace the technology or were dragged hesitantly into it, web searches and particularly mobile web searches for cars are increasing all the time. I am still amazed to see dealers operating without a valid web presence. If you are a car dealer and don’t have a dedicated website then you should be trying to fix that today.

Once you have a website in place you will be approached by any number of SEO firms offering to boost your web presence and get you to the front page of Google. Some of these will be copy/paste spam emails from chancers; others will be semi legit looking proposals from local companies. Before you let them dazzle you with web speak alchemy let’s look at some of the basics so you know what to look out for.

 
SEO can(broadly) be broken into two parts:

 
On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO

 
On page SEO are the factors within your sites architecture that will determine what search terms your site is likely to rank for. Remember Google crawls your website using a bot (Googlebot) it’s not a manual revision by a board of experts, it’s an algorithm that scans your site for factors that would make it obvious what the sites content is aimed at. For example if you want to rank for “Used Cars, Hyde, Manchester” then your website and its content should reflect thats what it is aimed at.

 
Do you use that term in your websites title tag ? Your title should say something like

“ Regent Cars of Hyde | Best Value Used Cars in Hyde, Manchester”

(as well as using your best keywords the title tag will also be what is shown in Google searches so try to make it look non spammy.

Google frowns upon using repetitive keywords on a website and by doing this you can face an over optimisation penalty. If you see websites that have hundreds of “Used cars Manchester | Used cars Northwest | Used cars Lancashire”,  type keywords along the footer of the page then they are using 1990′s SEO and will get penalised eventually.

 
Realistically you need to make clear in your web address, your title tag, and your page and paragraph H1 tags what the site is about. After that it is fine to use your keywords once or twice more per page but you should be looking for similarly phrased related keywords like(in this instance) “Car bargains Mottram”}-{“M57 Used Motors” etc ….these are rough examples.

 
Images are great for SEO but most people don’t optimise them.The majority of Images on car websites will have an Alt tag of “image1325423” or similar. Don’t do this.People search Google images too. If you correctly title your images “Regent Cars Manchester-Audi A6 Avant” then they will feature in search engines. The same can be said for any graphics or videos used on your site, tag everything correctly.

That’s a very basic overview. If you want to learn more about On-Page SEO for your site then you can run your site through a free trial at http://www.woorank.com/
Or get a free Audit from my friends at Nenad SEO http://nenadseo.com/free-seo-audit-tool/

 
Next let’s look at Keywords.

 
Keywords are the targeted terms that you want your website to rank for in organic searches. The major mistake most small garages make is trying to rank for too many terms and trying to rank for terms that are too competitive. We all want to rank for “Used cars UK” or “Cars for sale Manchester” but unless you are a large multinational dealership or classified publication with a huge budget then you are wasting your time.

You can use the Google Keyword Planner to search for Keyword ideas and get an idea of the search volume they attract. https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

In this case our small dealer in Hyde, Manchester, should be targeting only two or three keywords. In his case I would recommend something like “Used Cars in Hyde”}-{ “Cars for sale Hyde”. Terms like this are low volume 200-300 searches a month but they are very targeted terms. The type of person that types “Used cars in Hyde” into a search engine is a pretty qualified lead compared to someone who types ”cheap cars UK”. Aim for terms relevant to your company.

 
Sign up to Google Analytics and use Google Webmaster tools. It’s an easy sign up process. You or your web designer will have to copy/paste a small bit of code into your sites header tag to verify ownership but once you have set this up you will have access to a load of information that will show you where your visitors are coming from, what pages they are viewing and how quickly they decide to exit your site. Now that you have G-Analytics you should claim your Google places listing.
http://www.google.co.uk/business/placesforbusiness/

 
That should also be a five minute sign up. You will be sent a postcard with a verification code. Once your garage is verified it will show up on Google local places listings and Google maps.

 
For a small garage trying to target searchable terms in their area, this should be achievable with good on page architecture.

Off Page SEO:

 
This is the work that can be done off site to help rank your website. Commonly carried out by SEO agencies or link builders. You will get plenty of mail from SEO agencies recommending their services. Let’s just have a quick look at what’s available.

 
Link builders work in the terminology “Hats”,  it’s just the industry Patois and has been around SEO from the start. Traditionally there was Black Hat SEO which was considered unethical, possibly illegal and morally dubious and then there was White Hat SEO which was seen as ethical link building within Google guidelines.

 
These days those terms have blurred significantly. By Google guidelines any attempt at non organic link building is in contravention of their webmaster guidelines so there is very little that passes as White Hat these days apart from writing and sharing quality content. It’s important you understand this before you employ an SEO company to do any work for you.

99% of cheap SEO companies will be using automated software such as Zennoposter, GSA Search Engine Ranker or XRumer to blast lots of spammy backlinks to your website.
This technique can still give you the initial results you paid for but your site will most likely disappear from search engines forever within two months.

This sort of low level spamming is called “Churn and Burn” and is popular with throwaway sites in competitive niches such as “Pay day Loans”  The reasoning being they rank well for a few weeks and then throw the site in the bin when its penalised. Companies that operate like this will have a new site up the next day.

 
For obvious reasons you don’t want to be getting involved in this shambles when you are trying to build your brand for the long term. I have to mention it though,  as numerous good garages get sucked into paying £350 for a cheap SEO fix that they have been promised is “Google safe “ or “Panda and Penguin safe”(Google Algorithm updates) It’s definitely not safe and you are playing with fire.

 
Even established companies that charge well and claim to be offering “White Hat SEO” are still creating some unnatural backlinks. This would be considered “Grey Hat” and although it is far safer and also more effective it still comes with some risk. I will write a proper guide on off page linkbuilding in the future but for the moment if you are looking to employ some Grey Hat tactics I would recommend less is more. i.e. I would prefer to see ten quality Niche related backlinks through guest posting that five hundred spammed links on non motoring related websites.

 
I would also point out that a lot of SEO companies will promise “First page of Google Rankings Guaranteed”, Getting to the first page of Google is not entirely difficult but all the action on the first page of Google happens in the top four spots.  Position one gets sixty percent of the clicks and Position two gets about fifteen percent. Being Position nine in Google is not going to get you much traffic.

 
So Without risking your website or spending thousands per month what else can you do to help your website rank ?

Web 2.0s are a good way to help your site get a little bit more exposure. Web 2.0s are basically blog type sites that you can register on for free and build a free page for your garage. There are hundreds of these available but here are some I would recommend.

 
www.wordpress.com
www.tumblr.com
www.blogger.com
www.wix.com
www.weebly.com
www.bravesites.com

 
Thats a few for starters. If you do a Google search for “web 2.0s”you will find qualified lists. I would aim to try and register a web 2.0 with the garage name or search keyword. You will get better results for better efforts. If you put together a very basic webpage then you won’t get much traction but if you write up some helpful car tips with some good quality pictures or videos then these properties will give you some traffic.

Get Social.

 
I am uncertain of how powerful social media traffic actually is. Be aware that there is an entire industry that has sprung up around social media and the majority of the industry is built on hype. I don’t believe Tweeting your every movement and getting hundreds of Facebook likes daily are as important to search engine rankings as are touted by social media experts.

Many companies for example have built their entire web presence around Facebook only to find that the new monetised Facebook only shares their updates with 2-4% of their fan base.
However all social media outlets are web real estate and you should be claiming and registering as many as you can. For now and for future use.
Sites such as

 
www.twitter.com
www.pinterest.com
www.vine.com
www.youtube.com
www.instagram.com
www.linkedin.com
As well as Facebook and to a lesser degree Google +
I mentioned earlier that signing up to Google Webmaster tools was a good idea. Apart from the obvious benefits you are also able to track what sites are linking in to you. This site www.motordealing.com is a non profit blog that I put up in my spare time and doesn’t employ any SEO techniques. However in the last year the site has been linked to by two well known publications and also by Wikipedia. Without webmaster tools I wouldn’t have been aware of those links.

However there is another reason why you want to keep an eye on the backlinks that Google has indexed for your site……Negative SEO.

It probably won’t affect you as it is only prevalent in “Money” Niches but if you ever see ten thousand new backlinks appearing overnight in your webmaster tools there’s a good chance that you have been spammed by a competitor and have not in fact gone viral.

You can find information on how to disavow “Badlinks” within your webmaster tools; If I get a chance to do a more thorough guide in the future I will illustrate the best way to do it.
That was 2000 words more than planned!
Here’s the Too long Didn’t read version.

 
Be realistic on the keywords you can rank for

 
You are better off ranking for targeted keywords such as  “used cars hyde,Manchester” than catchall huge terms like “UK used cars”

 
Unless you are in a known “car sales area” competing  against hundreds of big retailers then you should be able to get your site ranked just by using good onsite guidelines.

 
Don’t be tempted into shortcut SEO, you are trying to build your brand for the longterm.

 
By all means use a SEO Professional if it suits your needs but be perfectly aware of what work they have done before and what work they will be doing now. Set realistic targets, the SEO Professional that can rank your site in two weeks probably won’t be able to do that consistently in the long term, at the same time your site should be seeing results once any work is being carried out.

 
Use Google Webmaster tools they will help you make sense of your website traffic.

 
Web 2.0 Blogs and Social Properties are your web real estate go out and claim them before someone else does.

 
Be aware that negative SEO exists and check your site metrics at intervals to analyse any strange looking activity.

If you are a car dealer thats currently experiencing search engine pain, feel free to contact me and I can give you some personal pointers.

© 2014, MD. All rights reserved.

Five Things you should do to make selling a car on Ebay easier and more profitable.

(1) Provide a clear and accurate description. Seems like common sense but the amount of people who people who frame their listings as “2008 Audi for sale. Good car call Tony” Amazes me.  Tony here will be answering emails and taking phone calls for the rest of the week.  He will also have to do a load of viewings and his car will not meet its reserve. Take the time to provide all the detail you can. Think of questions you would like answered. The more info you provide the less time you will have to answer silly enquiries and the more you are encouraging genuine people to bid with confidence.

(2) Be Honest about a cars faults. I will stop reading your listing if you describe your car as mint…its not, it’s a used car and I value your honesty. I tend to list cars by giving a summary of the car in general, Then I highlight good points and then I make bidders aware of any faults or imperfections. Do this so you don’t waste your time and other people’s. Once the auction ends the money is not in the bank. If you have miss described your car then expect the buyer to walk away without completing the deal.

(3) Check your Model and Spec and any extras before you list your car. Dont presume that All GT models have the six speed gearbox that your car does,  that may have been a valuable extra. Look out for value adding extras like Leather seats, 7 seats, sat nav, climate control etc you may find your car may be the GT model but also had another £1500 worth of factory extras. Nice bonus for the buyer but may have cost you some interest from other bidders.

(4) Take some good quality pictures and try to show your car at its best, but also highlight the few faults you have listed. You can take pictures of your dirty car on your camera phone if you want, but if you want to sell give it a wash and drive it to a location where you can take some nice pictures that show the car well. No matter were you live there must be an open space or car park where you can take some decent pictures of your pride and joy.

(5) Take the time to list all the cars service records and old Mots you hold for the car by mileage and by date. This is an important set of documents that help to sell your car. Full service history can mean a car with 80000 miles has had 3 services at 25K ,38K  and 53K. Another 80000 mile car with full service history may have nine service stamps from the one garage with the last service being @78K which included new tyres and a cambelt. I know which car I value far higher than the other.

Okay follow these tips and make your ebay selling experience a succesful one.

Remember you sell on your terms. So specify in your listings whether you are available for test drives and what the method of payment will be. If you follow these guidelines and list your car honestly then people will bid with confidence from miles away without feeling the need to view the car.

Related articles

• Audi reportedly cancels A2 electric car project
• Ten Car Companies That Lost Their Way In 2012
• Humor: Photographs of Cars with Their Namesakes
• 15 Awesome Cars From the CarPorn Thread on Reddit
• DeltaWing Recieves The 2012 Autosport Award For Pioneering And Innovation
• Ross Brawn explains reasons for Mercedes’ lack of pace in 2012 – Formula 1 news

© 2012 – 2013, MD. All rights reserved.

(1) Use the online Aggregator websites. Its a little bit time consuming but worth the effort. Once you have filled in one you will be able to copy and paste your details into the others. We have had good results from confused.com but you can also try comparethemarket, moneysupermarket,go compare etc.

(2) Get quoted for Fully comp. Sounds like an anomaly but most Insurance companies want to insure fully comprehensive only so you may actually end up paying a premium when you try to save money by going third party only.

(3) Enter Accurate mileage. Dont round up mileage to a rough estimate. No need to say you are doing thirty thousand miles a years when the real figure is closer to twenty.

(4) Up your excess level. Obviously keep your excess at point that you are happy with but even changing your excess from £100 to £150 can make a big difference with some insurers.

(5) Consider you Job Title. Most important point here is dont lie about what you do for a living but most people could summarise their work role with a few different terms. You would be surprised what industries can be weighted against.

The joy of the compare all websites is you can enter your information and get quotes. Then make small changes and re-submit. There are some companies such as Aviva and Directline that do not participate on these sites and they may be worth a call. Finally if you have specialist needs or feel you need to discuss a bespoke policy its always good to pick up the phone. If your current insurance company is offering you a poor deal but you would like to stay with them then ring them up and explain that while you are happy to renew they are more expensive than their competitors. If they want to keep the business they will sharpen their pencil.

© 2012, MD. All rights reserved.

(1) Give your car a wash and a vacuum. If you are serious get it valeted or give it a coat of wax. Why do this ? See how keen you would be on buying the dealers car if it wasnt looking smart and shiny on a forecourt. Imagine how interested in the car you would be if the boot was full of shopping and the car was coated in dirt and the rear view mirror had twelve magic tree air fresheners attached.

(2) Get all your Paperwork in order. If you have a book of service records,old mots and related bills then package them together in a folder to present to a dealer. You need the dealer to know that he is buying a much loved motor car with the paperwork to back it up. If a dealer is aware of how good your car is he may have an eye to retailing it to one of his customers rather than sending it to auction.

(3) Be aware of how much your car is worth. This wont take long use the Autotrader, ebay, motors etc and see what similiar cars are selling for. Dont be fooled by people who over value their car,  and

(4) Use the “we will buy your car for cash” type underwriters. Even if you dont sell your car to them you will get a solid offer for your vehicle. It will most probably fall short of your expectations but a concrete offer will at least give you a real price to work off. Shop around and use a few of these services.

(5) Ask the dealer for a straight cash price for his car. This will show you how he really values your car . If the straight price is very competitive you may want to fall back on one of the previous offers you have received or try your hand selling your car yourself.

© 2012 – 2013, MD. All rights reserved.

(1) Do your research and know exactly what make,  model and spec grade the car you want is.  Spec levels and options can get confusing so be clear about what you must have and what you are prepared to live without.

(2) Be certain of how flexible you are prepared to be on Spec, Colour and waiting time. No need to be wishy washy on this, If you are only after the GLX-i Model with Sat Nav and Climate control and will only take it in Meridien Black Metallic and must have the car delivered within three weeks then you are a different customer to the one who would prefer the GLX-i model but is open to suggestion on options and colour if the price is right.

(3) Know exactly what the car should cost. Using your exact spec find out the Manufacturers on the road price. Then look around to see what level of discount is the norm. Try What Car magazines price check and also look at Autoebids Target price which will show you actual recent prices that have been acheived for customers.

(4) Ring Dealers direct first(or send a blanket e-mail) The main dealer should be more expensive than a broker but whos to say they dont have a cancelled order about to be delivered or they need to sell another two of the car you want to buy before the end of the month to reach their quota. For a few minutes work its worth trying.

(5) Contact as many brokers as possible and let them fight for your business. I wont list any companies here but five minutes on a search engine and another five in the yellow pages will find you plenty of brokers. You would think there is one big pool of cars that we work out of but different brokers have different suppliers.  Make sure you employ them all.

Okay theres your Five tips let me just wrap up by saying. The customer that gets the best deal is the one who is most flexible. If you want to buy an Insignia but a broker can ofer you a mega deal on a Mondeo then you are in pole position. If you dont mind waiting a bit and colour is within reason not the clincher then you should be getting a decent deal as well.

You dont pay Brokers any up front fees if they can get you the deal you want and you are willing to proceed then its time to make a payment. I am all for contacting as many dealers and brokers as possible, if you dont want to do this then send them an email. If you are trying to avoid spam take five minutes to set up a hotmail-gmail-yahoo email account to be used solely for the project.

Related articles

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• The 7 tips that will help you reduce your car insurance
• Killer Tips for Trading or Selling a Car
• Upcoming cars in UK: 2013
• 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
• The US Automotive Market Is In Trouble

© 2012 – 2013, MD. All rights reserved.

There are many problems for retailers but the product coming back off lease is increasingly too mileagy. Despite modern cars being capable of doing the mileage it is still hard to convince a retail public that wants a sub 12K per annum vehicle. Guides have been generous on pricing also and estimates are based on smaller numbers of high mileage vehicles coming to market, the result retail and low mile cars are smashing book and the regular 25-30K cars are recycling and finding a new home slow work.

The export market is expanding with strong sales to Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. Sales in Ireland,Malta and Cyprus remain strong on low emission models that comply locally.

© 2012, MD. All rights reserved.

Ranking Destination Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Total

1 UAE 1,987 2,847 3,068 3,014 2,543 3,116 3,070 2,061 1,869 2,364 2,123 2,324 30,386

2 PHILIPPINES 1,034 1,613 1,264 1,695 1,667 1,376 1,019 884 825 1,044 1,645 1,814 15,880

3 SOUTH AFRICA 819 1,586 1,222 1,193 802 1,005 1,210 1,067 1,004 1,226 1,429 1,129 13,692

4 RUSSIA 544 931 1,219 1,310 1,059 1,207 751 975 1,010 942 1,226 1,097 12,271

5 SRI LANKA 454 920 720 819 714 1,413 1,310 858 1,206 1,356 896 800 11,466

6 CHILE 323 529 770 696 985 778 512 598 493 709 370 465 7,228

7 KENYA 253 620 704 833 916 924 642 459 628 413 384 220 6,996

8 UGANDA 318 522 355 610 562 749 621 304 601 467 379 346 5,834

9 PAKISTAN 244 297 337 143 267 334 438 434 384 519 568 809 4,774

10 THAILAND 354 525 532 584 321 338 369 261 245 275 162 183 4,149

Note:These statistics are provided by Japan Customs and Tariff Bureau. Total 112,676

© 2012, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2012, MD. All rights reserved.

57  Mini cooper S Black chilli pack 1/2 leather 23K £9500.

08  BMW 330i Msport Coupe Auto 66K £11500.

08 Nissan Quashqai 2.0Dci Tekna 5dr 30K £11550.

09  Honda Civic Type R 30K Red £9700.

07  Nissan Note 1.4SE 5dr Red 20K £4125

56  Hyundai Coupe 2.0SE Red, black leather 31K £3200.

06 Toyota Yaris 1.0VVt-i T2 5dr Silver 47K £3425

07 Mini Cooper Cabrio Grey met black leather 6K £8100.

55  Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.3Ltd Grey met, black leather 58K £4700.

06  Mini One Green 67K £4000.

55  Nissan 350Z Black , yellow(bright beige)Leather, Rays Alloys 32K £8950.

57  Fiat Panda 1.1 Active 5dr Blue met 25K £2700

07 Suzuki Swift 1.5GLX Grey 5dr 45K £3600

58  Honda Civic Type R 26K Red

57 Ford Ranger White 50 K £5200. Van spec no A/C ,

07  Mitsu L200 4Work(Van Spec) Grey met 50K no A/C £5750

57 Mitsu L200 4Work (Van Spec)White 12K £6800

07  Mitsu L200 Warrior Grey 25K £8000.

09  Mitsu L200 Warrior Black 31K £8950.

57  Nissan Navara “die hard”Grey 66K.

57  Nissan Navara Sport 94K £6900

53: Merc S350 38K £6200

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

2009: Seat Leon 2.0CRD tdi 170(FR) Gunmetal 15K £11,300.2006: Porsche Cayenne Turbo S Semi Auto Black,full spec 73K £17500. .

2007: BMW 320D SE Black, Full leather 42K £9000.

2008: Renault Clio 1,5DCi Dynamique Mauve 30K £5700.

2007: BMW 120D M-Sport Black with white leather+Sat 71K £8700.

2008: Jag X-Type 2.0D S Gunmetal with grey Leather 85K £5800.

2008: Audi A3 Sportback 5dr 2.0TDi 143 Blue met Cream interior 29K £9800.

2007: Vauxhall Zafira 1.9CDti 120 Black 55K £5100.

2007: Mini Cooper 1.6 Red 59K £5950.

2008: Ford Mondeo 1.6 Zetec(125)5dr Black 54K £5350.

2009: Audi A4 2.0TDI 143 SE Black 30K £13700.

2008: Seat Altea 1.9TDi Stylance Semi auto Silver 79K £5100.

2008: Ford Mondeo 2.0TDci 140Edge Grey 5dr 43K £6300.

2008: Audi A4 2.0TDi 143 SE Black 53K £10300.

2008: Audi A4 2.0TDi 143 Avant Black 50K £11800.

2008: Audi A4 2.0TDi 143 SE Silver 43K £10900.

2009: Vauxhall Insignia 2.0CDTi 130 Black 26K £8650.

2007: Peugeot 307CC 1.6Sport(Cabrio) Red 68K £4950.

2008: Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Dynamic Grey 16K £4250.

2008: Mazda 6 2.0D 140TS 5dr Blue 56K £6350.

2008: BMW 520D 177SE 4dr Black-Biscuit leather 62K £11700.

2007: VW Golf 2.0TDi 170 3dr GT Black 59K £7450.

2010: Volvo XC90 2.4D5 185 Active Auto. Blue 12K £20000.

2008: Mini One 1.4 Silver 13K £6250. Poverty Spec,

2007: VW Touran 2.0TDi 140 Gunmetal 65K £7600.

2008: Ford Mondeo 2.0TDci 140 Zetec 59K Black £6550.

2008: Volvo V70 2.4D SE Geartronic Estate Grey 57K £10300.

2009: Audi S5 V8 Quattro Coupe Blue Met-Black recaro leather 35K £24300.

2008: Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec Climate Black 5dr 26K £3950.

2008: Renault Espace 2.0DCi 130 Dynamique Blue met 52K £6250.

2008: Peugeot 207 SW 1.6Hdi 90 Sport estate Grey 48K £5500.

2008: BMW 320D SE Coupe Dk Blue  21K £13300.

2008: Renault Megane 1.6VVT Dynamique 5dr Silver 40K £3400.

2009: Honda Accord 2.2i-Dtec EX estate,auto Black-Leather 56K £12,300.

2008: Ford Galaxy 1.8TDCi Edge 100 Black  manual 56K £8600.

2009: Seat Exeo 2.0CR 143 tdi 4dr Blue 39K £9000.

2008: Mertcedes C220 Cdi Sport auto Grey 71K £12400.

2009: Audi A3 1.9TDi Sportback 5dr 57K £9525.

2009: Honda Civic 2.0 i Type R Red 17K £8700.

2008: VW Golf 1.9Tdi S 3dr Black 19K £7000.

2009: Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 Design 16V 3dr 7K £5600.

2007: Peugeot 207 1.4 Sport 16V 5dr Black 41K £3750.

2008: Nissan Note 1.6 Tekna 5dr Coffee 14K £4850,2008: Toyota Yaris 1.3 VVT-i T Spirit 5dr Silver 21K £5300.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

Renault: The Twingo is a good little seller in the Renault sport versions. Both the 133 and 133 Cup version hold on to their value nicely. In the new shape clio, the 1.5 Dci continues to sell well. The 1.6 petrol is only wanted in Initiale Spec. Renault sport versions are always good news with the 200 and the Lux models, both particularly sought after in strong colours. Meganes are getting cheaper across the board and older cars are really sticking unless cheap. High spec 2.0 Dci‘s are a decent retail bet.  Pre 08 Lagunas are bargain bin items and a diesel one is a decent option if you are looking for a cheap car. The new model has been received a  bit better and has performed as well as any other car in its class. Used estates are particularly sought after. In the saloon the 2.0 Dci is the safest bet. Big petrol engine coupes have suffered the expected first 18 months savage depreciation, but are good value used and are a good seller. All petrol’s are struggling in the scenic range. The 1.5 Dci is a solid depreciator when bought used. In under 2 year old cars, a high spec 1.9 Dci goes well from showrooms. Despite a large range of models the Grand Scenic is still relatively rare and is a good seller across the board. Diesels are the best performers and you should get the 7 seats. The grand Espace is still a unique car in its field despite many new competitors and is a sought after bit of kit in normal and grand espace spec. The 2.0Dci is the best seller with the 175Bhp engines particularly good news.

Saab: Could well have gone belly up by the time you read this. I think they have just freed up 40 million of capital but in car manufacturer terms that barely covers the stationary. Of course this uncertainty should have no affect on the used market, but it does. In the 9-3 the cabrios are not the bulletproof performer they used to be but still have a decent following. The 1.9Tid is by far the best seller in saloon and estate. Low spec linear models are slow to sell. The 9-5 is not too much different, but with a lot of motorway mileage cars knocking about, retail cars are mileage sensitive.

Seat: The Ibiza is solid and economical in either petrol or diesel and remains one of the best performing cars in its class. The sporty Bocanegra model is a valuable rarity. Similarly the Leon holds its value well with the 140bhp 2.0Tdi being the best model. In the Altea sensible spec cars sell well, the 105bhp 1.9Tdi is the one to buy with an eye on long term depreciation. The Toledo is a bit of an oddity and is getting cheaper used. Aim for a higher spec diesel as the petrol’s are not attracting much interest. The Exeo is a cheap Audi A4 and has held its value pretty well so far. The Alhambra is a retail star, particularly in Auto, the 2.0Tdi Ecomotive is the best model. Old models are still solid in the 1.9Tdi and like their sister car the Ford Galaxy if you can find one without huge mileage then it is worth good money.

Skoda: The 1.9 Tdi Fabia is a good seller but that is a true statement of any V.A.G car that runs that unit. The 1.2 petrol is a decent selling cheap car and plain specs are fine. Estates extract a premium. Diesels are always good news in the Octavia but the newer 1.4Tsi petrol is also selling well. For a big lump the Superb has held on to its value well and newer cars are rock solid.

Subaru: Fresh Subaru’s sell best from Main dealers, where a good spec Legacy tourer will make solid money.  Impreza Prices are buoyed by the cache of WRX big brother and rarity. The WRX itself has grown a far stronger following now, than when first launched and is now a good seller. The STI Models make a good chunk over a standard WRX but are worth every penny and if you can you should.

Suzuki: The Swift holds its value well in a hard class, with the plain 1.3  5dr on the whole, possibly being the best value. The Little 3dr 1.6 Sport is funky looking and is a good seller. The Grand Vitara used to be the starter car for caravan club members but newer models have ramped up the luxury, build and price. Always has a following with petrol’s performing almost as well as diesels.

Toyota: Small Toyotas always sell well so the Aygo is no surprise. Yaris is similar news. In the petrol, comparatively the 1.0 does better than the 1.3. Long term the the 1.5 Diesel is holding its value best, 5drs are preferred and plain cars are harder to budge. TR and T-Sprit spec are the most sought after cars for retailers. The last of the corolla diesels are still sellers. The verso is good news with the 2.2 T- spirit being a rare retail car that is sought after. The Auris hasn’t performed as well as the corolla but still remains good news. The 1.6VVti petrol goes well and the 1.4 Diesel has improved in value this year, as people have realised it will travel to Rome on a tank of fuel. 5 doors are worth a bit more than 3drs and the scabby spec T2 is hardest to shift. The Prius is no fun to drive and its claimed mpg appears only achievable in a laboratory. Retail cars are very mileage sensitive with only low K cars making top money. Sales are also geographically sensitive with London cars making better prices. The Avensis is a major used bargain and a 4-6 year old car owned for a few years will continue to hold most of its value. The 1.8VVti petrol is as cheap to run as the Diesels. Older diesels without huge mileage are increasingly rare. The Rav 4 remains a desirable car with the 2.2 Diesels performing very well.  Autos are always worth an extra premium. The MR2 is a reliable alternative to the MX5,  buy one for about 5K and enjoy relatively cheap motoring. The Celica is getting on in years but a retail example still sells well. 180bhp T-sport model will make a large premium over Normal VVti.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.

Mazda: Anyone who’s driven the Mazda 2 1.4 Diesel will know they are painfully slow. They are also slow to sell, with the 1.6 Diesel Sport being the only consistently good seller. In the 3 model range, The 1.6 D is a steady seller with the Takara spec being popular. Bigger engine cars Like the MPS have actually strengthened in value as they have gotten older. The Mazda 5 suffers badly from depreciation in its maiden year, after that they are a steady if not spectacular performer. Diesels are saleable with the 143BHP model being the sensible bet. The Mazda 6 sells well in all models, although cars over 5 year old are now heading south. The Cavernous, budget burials estate is always sought after. The Almighty MX-5 is suffering the same fate as most soft tops, too much choice not enough demand. Older models are devaluing badly. The newer shape has held up because they were so expensive new, which has kept rarity value but this won’t last another year. Despite breakthroughs in reliability the rotary engine RX8 remains one of the only cars that sounds different every time you start it up. A major used bargain, only the limited Kuro, Evolve and PZ can be considered semi desirable.

Mercedes Benz: Fresh A-Classes remain a good seller particularly in the 180 Diesel. All models are very mileage sensitive. The B class has improved with time and rarity is keeping prices high. Sport Auto models are sought after and long term the newer Blue Efficiency models should hold up well. Pre 07 C class mercs are still good news in a 220CDi, Estates are always sought after. New shapes are mostly good news with sport autos, and some mild factory body styling preferred. The E class is up and down with so many models available. Newer model is starting to affect price but diesels continue to sell well. Auto only, manuals are being hit hard, Avantgard spec has edge over sport and elegance. There is limited demand for the CLS a big car with no interior space. Depreciation is sharp with mileage, and big engine petrol cars are dropping fast after 3 years. The SLK is a good performer and a steady depreciator but very mileage sensitive. Plain spec 200’s are as good a seller as the superior 350. In the S-Class the older shape S320Cdi is still a good seller. Low mile cars are now rare. The current model ML is still a mega performer, with no bargains to be had in genuine cars. Demand for old models is limited to high spec low mile diesels.

MG: If you own one it’s not going to be worth very much. If you are thinking of buying one it should be cheap. If you are thinking of buying a brand new one….really don’t.

Mini: Nowhere near as bulletproof as they used to be with the convertible in particular starting to stick. Cooper and Cooper S still the best residuals. Clubman models have performed well so far.

Mitsubishi: The Colt has continued to perform well in most models although the 1.3 is getting harder to sell on. The 1.5 Turbo is a bit rare and can do well. EVO’s in all forms are specialist territory only and the gulf between scruffers and mega history cars is vast.  In saying that, we have seen plenty of premium cars fall apart easily, so try and find a happy medium when buying and expect bills regardless. The Outlander holds its value well in a diesel, not so great in the 2.4 Mivec petrol. Shoguns have always had a following and an Elegance Auto DiD is always good news. Newer shapes have been kept strong through rarity.

Nissan: Micras devalued a bit harder than was expected in their first 2 years, but are a better prospect used. Plain 3dr’s and the 1.2 are harder to shift, as a better spec car is only a few hundred quid more expensive. The Note is holding better than the micra with facelifted diesels selling well. The Tekna spec is sought after. The Qashqai has been a superb seller in all models, with only the spartan spec Visia models beginning to be discounted. A lot of ex lease cars coming back to market must make an impression on the prices soon. The Z Coupe was a drastic depreciator in its first 2 years but they were available with massive discount if you shopped around. Right now they are holding their value well and older cars haven’t budged all year. In fresh cars the 313 is particularly wanted. A low mileage X-Trail is a rare thing and will fetch top retail money particularly with leather. Aventura and Columbia models are sought after. The Murano is a serious tool but depreciation is cruel and running costs mount up, a good option if you don’t do much mileage but shop around as they are a non seller.

Perodua: is about the cheapest car in the U.K so don’t be surprised when you see them cheap used. The Myvi has a market and can sell ok from the right premises.

Peugeot: 107 All models good. They were only about £6000 new and you will still give £3500 for a decent five year old which sums them up. The 1007 looks odd but the depreciation is straightforward bad, not terribly desirable in any guise. A two year old 206 1.4Hdi Diesel can be picked up for handy money and is a decent long term plan. The SW models have performed well with the 7 seat option helping them sell. A Similar tale for the 307 although they were a bit costlier new, so took a bit of an initial hit. The 307 Coupe Cabriolet, Like a lot of cars in this gimmick sector has suffered bad initial depreciation,  but has levelled off once it’s in the 6 to 8K bracket instead of 18. Like most small diesel pugs the 308 does well, with the 110bhp 1.6 HDi being preferred. The Estate SW model is a star performer. The 7 seats on this model were a more expensive option that on the 206 hence a 7 seat car will make a premium. 407 Diesels are a smooth alternative to vectras and mondeos. Companies were able to absorb the sharp initial depreciation but over 3 years old they have levelled out. Exec and sport spec are best news, a low mileage car is a rarity and estates are always wanted. The 607 like all big French cars was strictly for the wealthy when new but now sits firmly in the cheap flash sector and a high spec hdi will always sell in the 4 to 6K bracket. Compared to similar cars in its class the 807 has fared poorly, its dated looks are for specialist dealers only. Replacement 4007 is looking like a much stronger performer in the short and long term.

Proton: Fresh cars tend to stay within the Proton dealer network and when the odd one floats into the sales ring it is hammered by the trade. There are better options in the market.

Disclaimer: Our market snapshots are a compilation of the thoughts of several of our contributors. Our data is collated from figures received from auctions we have attended or from sales and purchase figures we have been party to. We occasionally provide example prices as an indicator only. In no way do we claim to be able to give 100% accurate data for the state of the market and our guides should be regarded as a work of informed opinion only.

© 2011, MD. All rights reserved.