I do not think the dealer will send it to auction as it is a special car and as the old phrase goes, there is an a** for every seat.
Well, I hope that's not the case; this dealer does seem to get rid of anything that hangs around too long. I know I shouldn't ask this, but how much is the Defender?
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
find out what they can expect to get if they auction the car
Do you think the real car guys (the sales people here) probably work on a formula? Like, I can get $16000 for it on my lot, it is going to take $2000 or $4000 to fix the car up (not sure and probably depends on the lot - warranty, prestige or low price etc.) plus my profit which should be at least $2k - I think more, because it seems pretty risky, buying a car at an auction.
This little exercise made me appreciate how difficult a business this must be. Buying a car, that you have some idea about, but who knows why it is really in the auction? What if the engine or transmission are gone? Seems pretty risky.
You need an answer from someone who knows about auctions obviously, but just for the fun, I am going to guess, Retail for $15k (a bit low but it might sit awhile), needs $2500 worth of repairs, and I want $2500 for my trouble. Makes it $10,000. If you offered $12,000 or even $11,200, it takes out all the risk, all the financing charges. If you don't get a real answer, you might go through a similar thinking process.
While things are a little slow on the sales front, I have this little story.
About 8 months ago our IT guy at work convinced us to get an external portable hard drive for our home computer. It is about the size of a CD and you hook it up and it copies any important information you have on your computer, such as documents, address book. It is a good thing to have in case your computer gets stolen, or there is a fire in your home, and it destroys your computer - they cost about $100. Of course, after you save the information, you have to store it where a burgler won't find it, or fire won't destroy it. Our computer was acting up a little so we thought we should download the most current information, in case it breaks down completely. Well, it seems we hid that portable drive in a really good place, because we have looked every where and can't find it. So, I think it is a good idea to get one of these, but just try to hide in a place where you will remember where you put it.
This little exercise made me appreciate how difficult a business this must be. Buying a car, that you have some idea about, but who knows why it is really in the auction? What if the engine or transmission are gone? Seems pretty risky.
Just for fun I made a nationwide search on Auto Trader for: 1. MY 2000 manual transmission sedans 2. With under 100K miles 3. Asking prices over $14,000
There were 57 total. Four were Audis and the rest were BMW 5ers- and all but four were M5s. I guess it's hard to put an accurate number on such a rare bird..
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Just for fun I made a nationwide search on Auto Trader for: 1. MY 2000 manual transmission sedans 2. With under 100K miles 3. Asking prices over $14,000
That seems like a lot of extra money, for manual transmissions. Maybe those people interested in manual Accords should snap them up.
I am really surprised. Just a guess, but I would think the enthusiast who wants to do some shifting, will be willing to pay for a car he really wants. The people who drive automatics, aren't quite as particular.
Richard's salesmen..... boomcheck and british rover?
I thought they were people who aren't salesmen, but who have a secret desire to be a car salesman. Boomer and BR are salesmen already. Maybe I misunderstood.
Hope he gives us the answer soon, I couldn't sleep last night thinking about it.
One way to reduce expenses would be to buy a used car instead of new.
People also reduce expenses by not buying a new car and holding on to their car for longer, which means less trade in's. thus further reducing the number of available used cars.
If you have a read/write CD ROM drive just back up your data to CD's.
If you're going to go that route, you're better off using DVD's. CD's have a capacity of 700MB while DVD's have a capacity of up to 8.5GB (double layer). That's more than 12 times more storage than a CD.
You could use an online backup service, but they can get pricey.
I think it takes a longer time and you have to back up each file you want to save individually. Also, does it work well with photos?
I am not knowledgeable about this stuff, but I think the portable hard drive is faster and stores info better. Each time you use it it erases what was on it and copies everything new.
Our IT guy is a stickler for perfection, so it is possible the PHD is overkill. Let me know, I am sure you know more than me.
It does take some time but you spend a lot of time on your computer reading edmunds.
When I do it I just start it off and go watch TV or do something. As for doing it one file at a time, if all your files are in the same folder just copy the folder over. I keep backups of all my pictures on dvd's it does a pretty good job.
Another thing you could try us one of those small USB drives.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Our IT guy is a stickler for perfection, so it is possible the PHD is overkill.
No such thing when it comes to data protection
I go overboard. My hard drive is backed up real time with a RAID 1 set up. I then have another internal hard drive where I back up pictures, videos, and documents.
I then back up to an external hard drive. I keep that in a fire proof safe.
It's not too much overhead. I use a program called SyncBack that automates everything.
I'm as particular about data protection as Jmonroe is about waxing his cars
of my work files that I have a personal interest in at home & a copy of my home data files at work. Update every month or so.
If both my home and work are destroyed the same day, I'm guessing computer file backup won't be at the top of my list, if I'm still around to have one.
Perhaps Richard will back me up on this but "backup" refers to copying information onto a separate storage device while reverse gear would be used to "back up" (notice the space) a car.
‘houdini1’ said in post 48510: Third, the real ringer was, if you did not know the answer and left the question blank, you got zero points...but....if you answered the question and got it wrong (just took a guess) you got -5 points.
That reminds me of a story one of my undergrad profs told. He took a class with tests like that. They were also so hard that the class average was actually a negative number. Several students figured that if they put their name on the test and handed it in blank they would be above the class average.
It sounds like that prof had a few engineering students in his class who knew that zero is not a negative number. :surprise:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
My lawyer had the same problem. He went from tape to CDs for back up. Come to find out, his CD backups were blank....losing about 3 months of data, briefs, legal work.
While I'm not in the data back up biz, we did trade some legal services for my help in setting him up with some back up. Even TBs of storage is getting cheap. When one outbound HD fills up, just plug in another one. I suggested he get a new external HD at least every year. For clients with a lot of data associated with them, I suggested he burn individual client information to DVDs.
His law office is just him, a paralegal and a receptionist. So, it was fairly easy. He has everyone in his office using some program called "Time Stamp", which he tallies up for billing. It's pretty rudimentary. I also put in a scanner.
Took me about an afternoon to set this up for him and put a process in place that does most of this automatically for him. Probably another afternoon to trouble shoot it.and tweak it to a way that made it simple.
His previous tape/CD system, with hardware, and including software to run it, cost him more than $10K. That didn't include upgrades and maintenance fees.
I spent about $1,000 on a bare bones PC with a DVD burner (that my son made for him, from scratch) and another $300 on a 2 TB external HD. Running the wiring and using Windows (even though I'm a Mac guy) to do automatic backups took me about 4-6 hours in total.
Although he paid me for the hardware, I've still got some "pro-bono" work I need to get from him, if and when the situation arises. Hope I never need it.
To keep things relatively on topic, he drives a Porsche 928. Don't know how many miles it has. But, he's had it for awhile, choosing to put snow tires on it so he can even use it in the winter months. It's in very good shape.
I suggested he get a new external HD at least every year. For clients with a lot of data associated with them, I suggested he burn individual client information to DVDs
You, IT guys are amazing. I don't know how the world would function without you.
I am still looking for a 12 year old kid in the neighborhood, who can fix our computer when there's a glich.
All of this talk about spending money to back up data amazes me. A computer rep handed me a memory stick for $19.95 and told me that it would hold all of the files that I would create in a life time. At my age, he may have figured that it wouldn't take long. :P :sick:
1. Both are regular posters. 2. Both live north of Virginia.
Interesting! And I am so curious to know. I think it is between JMonroe (though he might be South of Virginia, not sure about where he lives, but he didn't get much of that last snow), maybe GG, maybe Snake, maybe ME ( I would like to give it a shot for the fun of it...like George Plimpton, try it for a few days just to see what it is like, but I have enough work to keep me busy), possibly Road Runner, not sure about Imadoza, Houdini seems pretty informed....ah Old Farmer, he likes to haggle. This is hopeless! Oh, just give us the answer! :mad:
A computer rep handed me a memory stick for $19.95 and told me that it would hold all of the files that I would create in a life time.
In case someone who knows what they are talking about doesn't get back to you, I'll try to convey what was explained to me. Our IT explained a memory stick is good for short term situations (maybe the rep thought you only have short term memory anyway :P ), but a memory stick isn't for more permanent information...and large files such as photos.
I use an 8 GB flash drive for my backups. I have two computers in the household, my desktop and my wifes laptop. We put everything in sub-folders under the folder "My Documents". At backup time, I just copy the whole "My Documents" folder over.
CDs are too small and take too long. DVDs would work but also take too long. External HDs are too pricey (IMO).
I did read an article about setting up a cheap desktop server for backups, which I might do over the holidays. As much as I like the flash drive, it is kind of a pain having to keep doing it every so often. The backup software can be configured to do everything automatically in the wee hours of the morning. I've also got a couple printers I could move over to it.
Don't give up so easily. You have named both of them in your post. Just give me two definite answers from your list. BTW, jmonroe lives in Pittsburgh, PA. He often refers to the "burgh".
I find that hard to do. I have nothing to really pin it down. I have to go to work for a few hours, so I'll think about it. If anyone else has some ideas, please join in. :sick:
OK, so I got the question wring but will say that my guesses were for the sales guys that seem to give great answers no matter what the car. I like that. Of course excellent folks like isellhondas, volvomax and lr give good advice often leaning to their brand.
Back to the correct question..... explorer4x4 could sell - especially Fords.
roadburner is west of Virginia so he's out but in his retirement should consider selling BMWs... or Mazdas! :P
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
YOU ARE THE WINNER!!! You even have them in the right order. You and I think in the same vein. Your prize is a year of free membership dues from me. Congratulations!
Since jmonroe seems knows more about our business than those of us in it that would be #1. Driver is the most inquisitive so that would be guess #2
Well done Irguy! I just couldn't get the reasoning, so thank you for going out on a limb and coming through. Now I will be able to sleep at night and concentrate on work stuff during the day.
And, thank you Richard for an interesting exercise.
I would like to give car sales a try, but I don't think I could give it enough time and attention while I am involved in our business. When we were looking for our last car, we had an Audi salesman who was retired. He said since he didn't have any hobbies and his wife was tired of him being around the house.....and since he just loved Audis so much, he loved selling them. That's how I would feel, I would have a passion for certain makes, and I think I could convey that. However, those long hours would be a killer, and I don't think I could handle that, at this stage in my life.
What I would really like is just to own a dealership. That would be even more fun!
I would be willing to work a few hours on Saturday's...just to give the regulars a weekend off now and then !!
Of course I would need an assistant to do all the drudge work. That way I could sell 100% of the time.
I would also like my commissions paid at the end of each day, thank you. That way I wouldn't get confused and have to keep up with all my sales. I think I could remember the 20 or so units I would average on each Saturday !!
Comments
Well, I hope that's not the case; this dealer does seem to get rid of anything that hangs around too long.
I know I shouldn't ask this, but how much is the Defender?
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Do you think the real car guys (the sales people here) probably work on a formula?
Like, I can get $16000 for it on my lot, it is going to take $2000 or $4000 to fix the car up (not sure and probably depends on the lot - warranty, prestige or low price etc.) plus my profit which should be at least $2k - I think more, because it seems pretty risky, buying a car at an auction.
This little exercise made me appreciate how difficult a business this must be. Buying a car, that you have some idea about, but who knows why it is really in the auction? What if the engine or transmission are gone? Seems pretty risky.
You need an answer from someone who knows about auctions obviously, but just for the fun, I am going to guess, Retail for $15k (a bit low but it might sit awhile), needs $2500 worth of repairs, and I want $2500 for my trouble. Makes it $10,000.
If you offered $12,000 or even $11,200, it takes out all the risk, all the financing charges. If you don't get a real answer, you might go through a similar thinking process.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
And Happy Hannukah to you Mr Sandman and family, and to those who celebrate "The Festival of Lights".
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
About 8 months ago our IT guy at work convinced us to get an external portable hard drive for our home computer. It is about the size of a CD and you hook it up and it copies any important information you have on your computer, such as documents, address book. It is a good thing to have in case your computer gets stolen, or there is a fire in your home, and it destroys your computer - they cost about $100.
Of course, after you save the information, you have to store it where a burgler won't find it, or fire won't destroy it.
Our computer was acting up a little so we thought we should download the most current information, in case it breaks down completely.
Well, it seems we hid that portable drive in a really good place, because we have looked every where and can't find it.
So, I think it is a good idea to get one of these, but just try to hide in a place where you will remember where you put it.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Just for fun I made a nationwide search on Auto Trader for:
1. MY 2000 manual transmission sedans
2. With under 100K miles
3. Asking prices over $14,000
There were 57 total. Four were Audis and the rest were BMW 5ers- and all but four were M5s. I guess it's hard to put an accurate number on such a rare bird..
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
1. MY 2000 manual transmission sedans
2. With under 100K miles
3. Asking prices over $14,000
That seems like a lot of extra money, for manual transmissions. Maybe those people interested in manual Accords should snap them up.
I am really surprised. Just a guess, but I would think the enthusiast who wants to do some shifting, will be willing to pay for a car he really wants. The people who drive automatics, aren't quite as particular.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Will see how my psych memory is...
I thought they were people who aren't salesmen, but who have a secret desire to be a car salesman. Boomer and BR are salesmen already. Maybe I misunderstood.
Hope he gives us the answer soon, I couldn't sleep last night thinking about it.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
People also reduce expenses by not buying a new car and holding on to their car for longer, which means less trade in's. thus further reducing the number of available used cars.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
mr. shiftright, the host, knows quite a bit about vehicle values.
If you're going to go that route, you're better off using DVD's. CD's have a capacity of 700MB while DVD's have a capacity of up to 8.5GB (double layer). That's more than 12 times more storage than a CD.
You could use an online backup service, but they can get pricey.
$39900
I think it takes a longer time and you have to back up each file you want to save individually. Also, does it work well with photos?
I am not knowledgeable about this stuff, but I think the portable hard drive is faster and stores info better. Each time you use it it erases what was on it and copies everything new.
Our IT guy is a stickler for perfection, so it is possible the PHD is overkill. Let me know, I am sure you know more than me.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
When I do it I just start it off and go watch TV or do something. As for doing it one file at a time, if all your files are in the same folder just copy the folder over. I keep backups of all my pictures on dvd's it does a pretty good job.
Another thing you could try us one of those small USB drives.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
LoL.......
I might just do it that way until we find where we hid the portable Hd Drive.
There must be a reason why people will pay $100+ to use the ptble hd drive.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
There must be a reason, why you prefer an XHD.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
No such thing when it comes to data protection
I go overboard. My hard drive is backed up real time with a RAID 1 set up. I then have another internal hard drive where I back up pictures, videos, and documents.
I then back up to an external hard drive. I keep that in a fire proof safe.
It's not too much overhead. I use a program called SyncBack that automates everything.
I'm as particular about data protection as Jmonroe is about waxing his cars
If both my home and work are destroyed the same day, I'm guessing computer file backup won't be at the top of my list, if I'm still around to have one.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Reverse gear.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
All documents scanned and Reynolds & Reynolds keeps some of our data for us while we use tape drives to back up as well.
So how will you back out of this? :P
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Has anyone here ever actually had to resort to using those archives?
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Actually, I did and thought a response in kind would be appreciated.
It's good to see a little holiday spirit. Anyone shopping cars for Christmas?
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I was talking to a neighbor who is a doctor yesterday. He just had his office computer fixed up and he has decided to use an external hard drive.
Seems they were using CDs for years, but when the computer guy checked them, they were all blank. He is lucky they didn't have to use them.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I laughed....I thought it was very well done.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
That reminds me of a story one of my undergrad profs told. He took a class with tests like that. They were also so hard that the class average was actually a negative number. Several students figured that if they put their name on the test and handed it in blank they would be above the class average.
It sounds like that prof had a few engineering students in his class who knew that zero is not a negative number. :surprise:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
While I'm not in the data back up biz, we did trade some legal services for my help in setting him up with some back up. Even TBs of storage is getting cheap. When one outbound HD fills up, just plug in another one. I suggested he get a new external HD at least every year. For clients with a lot of data associated with them, I suggested he burn individual client information to DVDs.
His law office is just him, a paralegal and a receptionist. So, it was fairly easy. He has everyone in his office using some program called "Time Stamp", which he tallies up for billing. It's pretty rudimentary. I also put in a scanner.
Took me about an afternoon to set this up for him and put a process in place that does most of this automatically for him. Probably another afternoon to trouble shoot it.and tweak it to a way that made it simple.
His previous tape/CD system, with hardware, and including software to run it, cost him more than $10K. That didn't include upgrades and maintenance fees.
I spent about $1,000 on a bare bones PC with a DVD burner (that my son made for him, from scratch) and another $300 on a 2 TB external HD. Running the wiring and using Windows (even though I'm a Mac guy) to do automatic backups took me about 4-6 hours in total.
Although he paid me for the hardware, I've still got some "pro-bono" work I need to get from him, if and when the situation arises. Hope I never need it.
To keep things relatively on topic, he drives a Porsche 928. Don't know how many miles it has. But, he's had it for awhile, choosing to put snow tires on it so he can even use it in the winter months. It's in very good shape.
And Happy Hannukah to you Mr Sandman and family, and to those who celebrate "The Festival of Lights".
It's over, isn't it?
Better late than never.
Put my name on the card too.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Richard
You, IT guys are amazing. I don't know how the world would function without you.
I am still looking for a 12 year old kid in the neighborhood, who can fix our computer when there's a glich.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
1. Both are regular posters.
2. Both live north of Virginia.
Each incorrect guess will merit another clue until you identify them. All posters may play.
Richard
Yes, it is over, but he got it in on time.....it went until Saturday.
Added your name to the card too!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Richard
2. Both live north of Virginia.
Interesting! And I am so curious to know. I think it is between JMonroe (though he might be South of Virginia, not sure about where he lives, but he didn't get much of that last snow), maybe GG, maybe Snake, maybe ME ( I would like to give it a shot for the fun of it...like George Plimpton, try it for a few days just to see what it is like, but I have enough work to keep me busy), possibly Road Runner, not sure about Imadoza, Houdini seems pretty informed....ah Old Farmer, he likes to haggle. This is hopeless!
Oh, just give us the answer! :mad:
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
In case someone who knows what they are talking about doesn't get back to you, I'll try to convey what was explained to me. Our IT explained a memory stick is good for short term situations (maybe the rep thought you only have short term memory anyway :P ), but a memory stick isn't for more permanent information...and large files such as photos.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
CDs are too small and take too long. DVDs would work but also take too long. External HDs are too pricey (IMO).
I did read an article about setting up a cheap desktop server for backups, which I might do over the holidays. As much as I like the flash drive, it is kind of a pain having to keep doing it every so often. The backup software can be configured to do everything automatically in the wee hours of the morning. I've also got a couple printers I could move over to it.
Richard
I find that hard to do. I have nothing to really pin it down. I have to go to work for a few hours, so I'll think about it. If anyone else has some ideas, please join in. :sick:
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Back to the correct question..... explorer4x4 could sell - especially Fords.
roadburner is west of Virginia so he's out but in his retirement should consider selling BMWs... or Mazdas! :P
Richard
May your Christmas filled with love and joy, may the new year bring you and yours a year of health, happiness, and wonder.
To our hosts, thank you for allowing us to exchange our thoughts and helpful hints, and for playing referee when needed.
Thank you fellow posters for all the advice and great stories, the laughs, and the "methods".
Please remember our fellow posters who are no longer here.
To keep on topic... how is that snowstorm in the east affecting sales?
I am also paying all of your dues for the coming year. Just send the invoice to me.
Well done Irguy! I just couldn't get the reasoning, so thank you for going out on a limb and coming through. Now I will be able to sleep at night and concentrate on work stuff during the day.
And, thank you Richard for an interesting exercise.
I would like to give car sales a try, but I don't think I could give it enough time and attention while I am involved in our business. When we were looking for our last car, we had an Audi salesman who was retired. He said since he didn't have any hobbies and his wife was tired of him being around the house.....and since he just loved Audis so much, he loved selling them. That's how I would feel, I would have a passion for certain makes, and I think I could convey that. However, those long hours would be a killer, and I don't think I could handle that, at this stage in my life.
What I would really like is just to own a dealership. That would be even more fun!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Of course I would need an assistant to do all the drudge work. That way I could sell 100% of the time.
I would also like my commissions paid at the end of each day, thank you. That way I wouldn't get confused and have to keep up with all my sales. I think I could remember the 20 or so units I would average on each Saturday !!
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460