8:55 am, January 13, 2025
These days, it can often feel like data is king when it comes to selling used cars but for one sector ‘gut feel’ remains the the be-all and end-all.
In the high-octane world of selling supercars, one of the best in the business is still relying on knowledge and experience to try and buy the best stock every time.
Andrew North, co-f0under of Alexenders Prestige says that in order to make it selling some of the most exclusive cars on the market, you have to know the business better than anybody else.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast, North said that anyone trying to crack the luxury market using a data-led approach would be likely to get it ‘hugely wrong’.
He told hosts James Baggott and Jon Reay that following his gut remains a key part of the the success of Alexanders Prestige, with almost all buying decisions still going through him.
‘I never ever use data,’ he said. ‘I know the tools are out there with Auto Trader and other places like that, but if anybody uses those in this level of product, I think they’ll get it hugely wrong.
‘You’ve got to fully understand what you’re doing, but also, they have a gut feel.
‘Even though I have a buying team and and the sales management team get involved, virtually every buying decision still goes through me because I have to buy it with my gut.
‘Even if you sell a car that you’ve been successful with, someone might go, “Well, let’s just get another black Revuelto” but the specification of that car might not be exactly like the other one was for various reasons. It might have a similar list price, but it may be missing certain things or the colour combination might not be right, that’s something that, I think, only the gut feel can bring.
‘I always look at it as, “Would I buy that car?” I’m not saying I’ve got a good taste – if someone sees my trousers, they’ll probably say I haven’t – but that’s the way I look at it.’
The issue with car buying platforms
During a wide ranging chat, the talk soon turned to how Alexanders buys its stock and where it gets it from.
North said that the majority of the outfit’s stock comes from previous customers, with the firm boasting a data base of more than 100,000 people.
Baggott asked whether car buying platforms, such as Motorway, have also proved useful, but admitted that the ‘margins are too tight’.
The supercar dealer also called for platforms to ensure that sellers ‘appraise the cars properly’ to protect dealers from hundreds and hundreds of wasted miles.
He added: ‘The issue is the prices are very, very strong, which is good for those [platforms] and good for the client selling it.
The margins are too tight for us, but there’s no liability – or very little liability – with the sellers. We’ve been to pick these cars up and we’ve done all our due diligence before.
‘We say every tyre has to be above four millimeters, but if they’re on two millimeters, what do we get there? We’ve driven to the other side of the country to get it. There’s no liability to that customer.
‘I think that those sites, for the dealers to be able to trust them, they need to make sure their customers appraise the cars as correctly as possible, describe them correctly as possible, and also maybe let them understand that we’re not the big bad dealer who’s going to stand on their drive and negotiate with them.
‘That will only happen should they not do the things that they’ve been told to do, appraise the cars properly.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by Carwow, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed on this week’s episode can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Alexanders Prestige previously featured in our Selling Supercars series of videos. You can watch the full episode at the top of this story.
