Covid19 & Lockdown: The Car Dealer's Perspective

For those of you who DON'T follow me, I recently bought a car. I actually began negotiations on this car in the heart of lockdown about six weeks ago. Originally I was going to have it delivered, but as the lockdown measures were eased, I decided to drive nearly 3 hours to pick up my new vehicle yesterday.

While I was at the dealership, I got talking to the owner about how Corona Virus had affected his business. The first thing I asked him was when the Pandemic had started affecting his sales. His answer surprised me:-

'Not at all.'

Not at all? How could this be? Well, there is an explanation for this - if you can bear with me. Richard at RJH cars is a specialist car dealer. He focuses on classic cars, motorbikes and four-wheel-drives.

I dug a little deeper and the explanation actually made sense. What Richard told me, was that the 4x4 market was quiet. VERY quiet. The modern market? Dead. Dead as Chris Evans' Top Gear career. Richard's colleagues in the trade, dealing in 'daily drive' material are really struggling to shift cars.

What IS shifting, from Richard's perspective is the sub £20,000 classic car.

If anything he's struggling to get enough stock, rather than struggling to shift stock. We talked about why this might be the case, and I think there are a few possibilities. Richard thought people were spending money they had been saving for holidays, and buying cars with their heart rather than their head. I think there's definitely a element of truth in this. It did occur to me after our discussion that part of the reason could also be that classics are a luxury item, usually bought by the reasonably wealthy. These people tend to be shielded from the worst economic affects, while less affluent people to have to watch their pennies. I think that makes sense too. If the sort of people who would spend £20,000 on a holiday every year suddenly can't go on holiday this year... Well, maybe they'll buy that Triumph TR6 they've always wanted, but never got around to owning.

I also think there's a further element to this. I know this from my own experience. My mum passed away towards the end of last year, probably ten years before her time. Now we're halfway through 2020, and the UK has the highest death rate in Europe. Sometimes young, healthy people are spending weeks on ventilators or passing away before they even make it to that stage. Covid19 is a strange disease. So many people are completely asymptomatic, yet others are struck down with a crippling, sometimes fatal illness. The memory of last year, and the situation we've ended up in now... It's got me thinking. Life is too short. Life isn't a rehearsal. We all have those things we put to the back our minds and say 'one day I'm going to', be it owning a particular car or something else. I think it's more obvious than ever, that if we keep putting things off for 'one day', that 'one day' might never come.

So the Pandemic hasn't affected Richard's business?

I didn't say that. It hasn't affected his sales or demand, specifically on classics. However, it has affected other aspects of his business. This also applied to my car. I knew I was buying a potentially expensive to repair, specialist car - so I paid a specialist inspector to go and check it out for me. There were one or two minor quirks with the car that I might not have picked up on. but one issue which did need attention - the air conditioning didn't work.

Richard was more than happy to fix this problem, but it meant I had to wait a long time to get the car. It went to a mechanic local to Richard called Aaron. He diagnosed the problem - some leaking AC pipes, then ordered the parts to fix it. Normally these parts would be on a next day delivery. It actually took 10 days for the supplier to ship them. This was even WORSE for Aaron, as to access the pipes he'd had to disconnect at least one of the engine mounts, meaning the car was stuck on the ramp until the part arrived. Parts are definitely a problem. Moss, who supply all the parts for the MG cars usually do next day delivery. At the moment they're taking over a week to pick orders and not allowing you to add parts to an already placed order.

So just parts then?

No! Getting any mechanic to do work is an issue too. Time on the ramp is at a premium, and occasionally *ahem* my car *ahem* a car is taking up a ramp while it waits for parts.

Many garages are on reduced hours, shut completely or only open for key workers. Luckily, Richard's mechanic Aaron has managed to stay open, but at reduced capacity. The slow supply of parts though and the demand for mechanic work has meant Aaron will only work on Richard's cars which have already been sold at the moment. I can understand why this is the case, but it must be frustrating for a dealer to be unable to show people cars before they've been fully prepped for sale - even though any work will be done before the car changes hands as soon as a deposit has been placed!

So parts and mechanic time?

There are other issues. Another big one is test drives. Richard has understandably been unable to offer test drives. Social distancing measures mean it's completely impossible for a salesman to accompany a potential buyer for a drive. Richard's insurers will NOT cover an item of stock on an unaccompanied test drive, lockdown or not.

Now this might seem a bad thing. Surely this is going to put certain customers off? That's true, but the boom in the classic car trade more than makes up for it. A gentleman apparently rang up about the car I bought, asking about a test drive. When Richard told him it wasn't possible, he said he'd wait until after the lockdown. At this, Richard told him the car would be gone by then, and it is...

So test drives are off? That's bad?

Not necessarily. Another problem Covid and the lockdown is possibly causing is an increase in non-serious buyers getting bored and trying to organise test drives on cars they have no intention of buying. Richard told me about a chap who'd enquired about test driving a classic 2.8i Ford Capri. When he told him he couldn't test drive, the sale went cold. It didn't matter though, the car sold shortly afterwards anyway, with two other willing buyers having to look elsewhere as they weren't fast enough.

So what does the motor trade think of the government's response to Covid19?

Richard was very pragmatic about this. From his perspective, he hasn't been affected too badly. So he probably wasn't the best dealer to ask. He thinks the government has done the best it could do in difficult circumstances. Covid19 is an unprecedented situation. Yes, the government may have made mistakes, but the furlough scheme has saved a lot of people's jobs. He also seemed to be somewhat critical of companies abusing the furlough scheme for profit. An example he quoted was Barclays bank whilst he was trying to setup a phone contract. They've apparently furloughed a lot of staff, but the result is people having to spend hours on hold trying to resolve simple issues.

Personally I can understand the logic in this. While the scheme is in place I think a lot of companies will try to use it to protect their employees jobs at the time when the scheme has ended.

So what other interesting cars has Richard got in stock at the moment?

He has an amazing heated, floodlit showroom on a farm industrial estate in Upper Stondon near Henlow. It's probably the nicest used car showroom I've ever been in. Pretty much everything he has in stock is pretty special. Richard's three picks for his current stock he's particularly fond of are:-

#1

Classic Hot Hatch anyone?

Classic Hot Hatch anyone?

This 1980's hot hatch is just new in. It isn't even on the website at the time of writing. It's a low mileage, Peugeot 205 GTi in fantastic condition and very original.

#2

Austin A40

Austin A40

This is Richard's second pick .This is mint condition Austin A40 that's only had 2 owners since new and has done less than 40k miles! This is a real timewarp car. The photo's don't really do it justice.

#3

MGB GT anyone?

MGB GT anyone?

Richard's third pick is this exceptional MGB GT. It's a rare, factory original MGB GT with beautiful tan leather interior and the webasto sunroof. It's about the nicest MB GT I've seen.

My picks

My personal picks.

My personal picks.

If I hadn't bought what I actually bought, these would have been cars I was really interested in. I think the Chimera is sold, but it's in amazing condition. The Jaguar XJS is about as nice as they get. It's the 2+2 convertible with the later twin headlights and the 5.3L V12.

So come on! The Suspense is killing us! What DID you buy?

Well, I've decided to forego the big 'reveal' post I was planning. My fans, (both of them) have probably already guessed what it is, so I'm revealing it here. I'll do another big post soon about what I bought and why, but here it is:-

My Porsche 911, 997.1 Carrera 4S

My Porsche 911, 997.1 Carrera 4S

I've always wanted a 911 and for many, complex reasons this was as close as to the perfect Porsche for me, as I could find in months of searching. I couldn't risk missing out, so that's why I instigated the purchase during lockdown and only saw the car myself on the day I picked it up!

It's a 2006 model, 2005 year Porsche Carrera 4S Coupe. And yes, I will remember that epic 3 hour drive home - the FIRST time I drove my 911... Forever!

Martyn Stanley

If you're considering investing in a classic car, why not check out Richard's stock. All his cars are thoroughly prepared and offered with a 3 months parts and labour warranty. Viewings are by appointment only in his heated, floodlit showroom in Upper Stondon near Henslow.

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