Video summary

Cars I REFUSE To Buy & Retail In My Garages...The List Is LONG

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Business summary (car dealership strategy via “stop selling” decisions)

The presenter explains that their dealership’s buying/selling focus has shifted over roughly 7.5 years due to two primary factors:

  1. Money: margins are not working in the current market.
  2. Problems: warranty/prep/repair burden creates poor profitability and increased hassle/risk.

They use internal reporting—especially warranty spend by vehicle—to determine which models to avoid. The guiding lens is profit + low risk, rather than “brand loyalty” or past sourcing habits.

Core decision framework / playbook (implicit)

  • Profitability gate

    • Avoid models where seller-required retail pricing or market premiums wipe out margin.
    • Avoid models where customer pricing pressure forces the dealership to “give retail money” without enough upside.

  • Warranty/after-sales risk gate

    • Use warranty cost analytics to identify repeat problem vehicles and avoid sourcing them.
    • Treat modern diesel with emissions tech (and historically failure-prone models) as high warranty risk.

  • Stock portfolio strategy

    • Rebalance inventory toward models/segments that sell faster and have fewer issues.
    • Track sales mix to monitor demand fit (e.g., “only 1 Ford in 83–84 retail cars last month”).

Vehicles/models they refuse to buy or sell (with the business reason)

1) Diesel Volkswagen Golf (Irish market)

  • Why stopped: limited supply drives massive premiums, making good margin impossible.
  • Operational issue: remaining Irish diesel Golfs are typically ~8–10 years old, requiring about €1,500 prep, while sellers want near-retail pricing.
  • Example: a seller offered a 2016 diesel Golf for €14,000. The implied online sell price was about €13,950, which they consider a loss or near-zero margin.

2) Dacia (e.g., Sandero/Stepway/Duster)

  • Why stopped: slow sellers despite strong value; no longer worth sourcing effort.
  • Example: after ~2–3 months, only one unit remained in stock, with “not much interest.”
  • Operational note: trade-in economics weren’t favorable (“had to retail it”; no trader would pay enough to make a deal).

3) Ford (reduced buying, not fully stopped)

  • Why: lower share of sales and limited import availability.
  • Demand metric: last month they sold ~1 Ford out of 83–84 total retail cars.
  • Supply constraint: many Focus variants aren’t importable from Japan in meaningful quantities (France has limited availability). Only small quantities come through local/UK sourcing.
  • Option-level decision: petrol EcoBoost versions are avoided (“anogo/avoid” mentioned); diesel remains the only viable segment.

4) Audi A6 (2017–2018 models)

  • Why reduced buying: moved toward “dated looking” models and slower pace versus earlier “quick seller” status.
  • Example: trade-ins are currently retailing, so they stop actively seeking this model.

5) Small manual cars (e.g., SEAT Ibiza manual)

  • Why stopped: customer preference has shifted toward automatic, making manual inventory less efficient.
  • Example: a 2021 manual SEAT Ibiza priced around €13,950 is “cracking,” but they no longer bother sourcing more due to demand change.

6) Petrol BMW 1 Series (diesel favored)

  • Why stopped/reduced: petrol variants bring engine trouble; diesel is “much better.”
  • Operational tactic: if they receive a petrol 1 Series trade-in, they try to trade it off quickly to another dealer (“different carriage”) due to higher risk.

7) Modern diesel SUVs (Tiguan/Kodiaq/Sportage/Tucson, etc.)

  • Why avoided: high warranty burden—presenter can see warranty spend by car and identifies frequent major “culprits.”
  • Emission-tech risk: avoids modern diesels with systems like AdBlue and EGR, citing reliability issues.
  • Operational reality: even when they retail odd trade-ins, warranty costs hit them directly (“we’re the ones paying for the warranty bother”).

8) Newer Peugeot 3008/5008 (and 308/508)

  • Why stopped: described as generating heavy engine + electronics issues, including frequent DPF/EGR warning lights.
  • Operational consequence: higher prep/repair costs before sale; they prefer preventing customer problems rather than handling post-sale complaints.

9) Jaguars (post-2022/2023 issue window)

  • Why stopped: reports/experience of major engine issues (timing chain bother) starting around 2022–2023.
  • Implication: only would consider if a recent fully new engine is present.

10) Range Rover Evoque / Range Rover Sport (reduced buying)

  • Why stopped: even with some historically acceptable reliability, current units under road mileage are “getting worn,” and costs require strong margin.
  • Market logic: Evoques were previously “cracking sellers” with good profit, but now the dealership avoids them due to increasing risk.

11) Performance cars (limited appetite; avoids Golf R specifically)

  • Why avoided (business view):
    • Market is small in Ireland, reducing turnover and upside.
    • Extreme downside risk when they fail (“they go so wrong”).
    • Tax/VRT volatility: for Golf Rs, VRT jumped from ~€4k to ~€8k, eliminating profitability.
  • Example risk management: they previously offered 12 months warranty on Golf Rs “for oil” (presenter calls it “crazy stuff” to manage risk).
  • Counterpoint: they still admit enjoying the niche emotionally (they are a “car head”), but business profitability and risk drive the decision.
  • Strategic trade-off: they prefer hybrid cars (stated as “more money and zero risk” versus Golf cars).

Key metrics / KPIs mentioned

  • Dealer experience: 7.5 years in business.
  • Sales mix KPI: last month 1 Ford out of 83–84 retail cars.
  • Pricing & margin pressure example (Golf):
    • Purchase offer for 2016 diesel Golf: €14,000
    • Implied retail online price: ~€13,950
    • Prep estimate mentioned: ~€1,500 prep for older Irish diesel cars
  • Demand/turnover proxy: Dacia and manual small cars are described as slow movers (no quantified sell-through rate provided).
  • Warranty cost KPI (implied): dealership tracks and attributes warranty spend per vehicle using reporting.
  • Tax/regulatory cost KPI (Golf R): VRT increased from ~€4,000 to ~€8,000, making deals unprofitable.
  • Timelines/periods:
    • Audi A6 demand slowdown tied to “getting dated looking now.”
    • Jaguar reliability issues linked to 2022–2023.
    • Mention of stock availability constraints (e.g., diesel Golfs “first in stock in possibly 2 years”).

Concrete actionable recommendations (implied by their approach)

  • Build a “no-go list” of models based on:

    • Warranty spend patterns and repeat failure modes (especially modern diesels with emissions systems).
    • Margin viability given local premiums and seller behavior.

  • Constrain inventory to what sells quickly

    • If a model is slow-moving (e.g., Dacia, manuals), stop special ordering and reduce shelf commitment.

  • Use risk tiering for trades

    • Higher-risk trade-ins (e.g., petrol BMW 1 Series) should be re-homed quickly rather than held for retail.

  • Prefer inventory categories with better risk-adjusted returns

    • Shift toward hybrid cars, described as higher profit and lower risk.

Presenters / sources

  • Presenter (unnamed in subtitles): the primary dealership owner/sales professional speaking throughout the video.

Original video