MARKET PLACE

In 2006 Daniel Bull left the Porsche specialist garage his father Steve established in Devizes in Wiltshire 25 years ago, but eventually returned, bringing with him the benefit of a decade of Audi dealership sales experience

Tried & tested, plus dealer and auction talk

How long have you been in the Porsche business?

I’ve been back at the family business for about 18 months now, having starting out as an apprentice technician here back in 2006 before deciding I preferred not getting my hands dirty, and pursuing a career in sales with Audi for 10 years, progressing to general sales manager of a large dealership. The plan was always to come back, hopefully with a broader understanding of the industry, and that happened last year. My real passion being Porsche, I always kept a close eye on the business, which celebrates 25 years in 2019.

What Porsches do you specialise in?

We were very much known for our air-cooled models and still retain that backbone, however we now cater for all Porsches from the 356 right up to newer 991s, and the Macan etc. But we predominantly sit between late air-cooled 993s, and gen 2 997s, Boxsters and Caymans.

What’s your cheapest, and most expensive, Porsche presently in stock?

The cheapest is up for £12,490, a 2005 Boxster S in metallic grey with black leather, and with 62,846 miles and a full service history. The most expensive is a stunning 2014 991 911 Carrera Targa 4 with a tremendous factory specification at £74,900.

What would you recommend as the best “first Porsche” to buy?

Budget is hugely relevant: if we were talking sub £20,000, then a well maintained 987 gen 1 or 2 Boxster or Boxster S offer superb motoring in both performance and reliability, and reasonable ongoing maintenance costs. If £20,000 plus, it would be an early 997, which presently seem exceptional value for money, although an eyes wide open approach is necessary from a bore scoring point of view. Remember, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche.

Where do you get your stock from?

About 75 per cent of our stock is generated through our own customer base, either in direct purchase, or back in partexchange. This was always our business model because we know the car, we can make sure the preparation is correct. It will potentially restrict the number of cars we offer for sale, but with a constantly growing clientele base we don’t see it being a problem. We try to avoid auctions or buying from the “unknown”.

What warranty do you give, or sell?

This was a hot topic for us when we decided to expand sales. We had all too often been on the wrong side of the customer with a “fully inclusive” 12-month warranty which didn’t cover the issues required, so we decided on self-warranty, for a minimum of three months. But in reality we want to look after our customers so deal with issues on a case-by-case basis.

What’s ‘hot’ at themoment?

To be honest, anything priced well, in good condition with a proven history doesn’t tend to hang around long.

What’s best value at the moment?

Early 996 coupes – 3.4 manuals that have been loved offer such a lot of car for the money, and with air-cooled models going up significantly in value, we feel the 996 is a great opportunity to enjoy an affordable, usable Porsche.

Name a car that you recently sold, that you would happily have kept for yourself

Without a doubt last month we were lucky enough to acquire and sell a 30th Anniversary, wide body Porsche 964. With only 40,000 miles it really was a beautiful example, and extremely rare with circa 250 UK right-hand-drive cars existing. The level of interest we received was staggering.

What car do you drive everyday?

Mostly a VW Golf diesel. Being lucky enough to be in and out of all these lovely cars day in day out, sometimes a quiet, boring drive home is required.

What are your plans for the future?

Continuing doing what we are doing now, not to get so big that we can’t keep a close control on what happens every day, and to sell some nice cars to some nice people. Contact Steve Bull Specialist Cars Limited Beechfield Road Hopton Industrial Estate Devizes Wiltshire SN10 2DX 01380 725444 www.stevebullspecialistcars.co.uk