The Limos.com Forum Has Moved!!!

One of my original plans was to purchase new vehicles every 2 to 3 years to maintain my fleet of cars and keep them up to date and as new as possible. Payments were not an issue at the time I formulated that plan.

Conditions have dictated that I adjust that ultimate plan and Maximize the potential of every single purchase and to get the Maximum amount of revenue from each vehicle till it is all but used up.

Case in point:

Why maintain a brand new fleet every two to three years and the debt it involves and one might carry.

All 4 of my vehicles will be paid off in 2009. All are kept to immaculate standards and certainly have an by maintaining them and running them i can add $60,000 to the bottom line every year for an additional 2 to 3 years and recoup the investment that was originally made By not having to make those payments any more and banking them in savings for the future purchases.

It only seems to make sense. Certainly if one were giving me a problem mechanically speaking and could not get resolved easily enough it could be replaced with a new addition to the fleet.

It will be 2010 before any changes to the body style in the TC's and who knows what the fall out will be with the larger vehicles.

I saw a 2007 with less than 80 miles for $75,000 I paid $105,000 for the same 2006 model Hummer. Seems that there will be a glut of High end Gas guzzling vehicles on the market in short order for dirt cheap as folks dump their gas guzzling vehicles.

Its one thing to own a TC stretch which gets around 16 miles a gallon to a Hummer stretch which gets 8 miles a gallon on a good day going down hill. LOL

I am leaning on milking my fleet as long as possible then replacing the gas guzzling SUV's with the TC stretches which are definitely more fuel efficient.

Fuel is $4.49 here in Oregon by in large and will likely be $5.00 by the end of the Month and it will only get worse.

The Public is fickle about rate increases and many operators are scrambling to get any fares they can at Bank busting lows rates and that seems to be the climate here even if it is counter productive to company survival.

I have seen several companies with Super stretch Hummers 24 Pax capacity for instance charging less than $100 an Hour. Knowing what they cost it is inconceivable to me that they can even make payments at such a rate and likely will fail at such a rate structure unless of course they paid cash and own it outright and not burdened by the payments which seems unlikely to me.

Just a tough market to survive and there will be some companies which fail soon and perhaps be a cheap purchase when the fall out hits. just another reason to bank all the cash possible to scarf up some deals as they happen in the market.

quote:

Originally posted by Dean Schuler:
Did you negotiate the commission in advance ?

quote:

Originally posted by Limopromoter:
ok i'd like to ask all the owners and managers in the panel if i may

I am just starting in the limo biz and was just wondering if paying 10% of the profit of the sale of the limo is a normal thing to do for a sales person or is it supposed to be from the purchase price?

that's what it seemed like when he said 10% off anything i get him whether its a movie production, book deal, reality tv show or a sale of a limo..

LB:
I MARK THE LIMOS UP $5,000 SO YOU MAKE 10% of my profit which is $500.00
(some limos are bigger like double or triple commish, this means you make 2 or 3 times that commish.


then he asked me if i could find a body shop for his before pink, now black benz that supposedly hulk hogan had

LB:
See Alan, now if you find a body shop to repaint the benz, then you will make 10% of there price it cost to paint it?
Now isn't this cool?

(and whoever wants to make commish like this when you see my emails, then bust a move on the next lead you get, FIND THEM WHAT THEY WANT! = $,now , your all gonna love this and (Be Bop) Johnny Jones my producer, and Jordan


and i asked him
what happened to the shops you already been dealing with for 30 years???

he never answered

alan

Did you negotiate the commission in advance ?

quote:

Originally posted by Limopromoter:
ok i'd like to ask all the owners and managers in the panel if i may

I am just starting in the limo biz and was just wondering if paying 10% of the profit of the sale of the limo is a normal thing to do for a sales person or is it supposed to be from the purchase price?

ok i'd like to ask all the owners and managers in the panel if i may

I am just starting in the limo biz and was just wondering if paying 10% of the profit of the sale of the limo is a normal thing to do for a sales person or is it supposed to be from the purchase price?

quote:

Originally posted by Limo Insurance King:

quote:

Originally posted by limo bill:
As fuel cost go up and up

I would like to know if anyone has looked into retrofitting their fleet or some of their fleet with propane? With the price per gallon of propane very stable and much less expensive, the cost to convert the vehicle from gasoline to propane would be absorbed very rapidly by not only the difference saved between gas and propane but also with reduced maintenance costs and extended service intervals.

The only cons that I can think of are the following:

1) Availability of propane filling centers

2) Unless the availability of propane is far reaching, this would not be a useful alternative for those units whose operating radius are greater than the range of the propane.

3) May reduce the cargo space of the vehicles (I would think that the propane tank could replace the gasoline tank but I have not seen a conversion on a TC so I have no clue).

Marvinbishop1991@wmconnect.com writes:

CAN YOU GUYS HELP ME LIMO BOB?
The Beginning Of the Green Housing and Transportation Industries...
Starts Here!!!
http://www.geocities.com/marvinbishop20042004/bee.html

http://groups.google.com/group/green-machiners?hl=en

Just think of it!
An inventon that can supply unlimited electric energy to a home or an electric car using magnetic fields instead of burning wood, coal or gas.
This inventions' inception into society will stop Global Warming, repair the Ozone and save thousands of Endangered Species.
The ultimate Green Machine, this is the latest advancement in alternative energy, green building and sustainable development, transportation and fuel source technology, and environmental protection and preservation.
Contact information:
Marvin Leonard Bishop,
P.O. Box 1573,
Denver, Colorado 80201-1573,
Home: (303) 600-8734; Cell: (720) 690-1746,
E-mail:
marvinbishop20042004@yahoo.com.

Q. ok so how is it going to get the electricity?
electrical filling stations?
A. it uses magnetic fields to drive the rotor and create electricity

Q. electrical filling stations?
A. onboard electric generator

Q. How much is the cost?
A. $26.50 per month

Q. Is it cheaper than 50 cents per gal veggie oil?
A. Yes. $26.50/mo. x 30days/mo.= $0.88/day
its not for sale; for rent only
In a home; directly too the fuse box. In an auto; take out the engine and put in an electric motor

Do you have pics?
Just a schematic. You'd need to fill out a disclaimer form with personal info on it to view it (ie, driver's license, social security no.. birth certificate, etc

Q. now if you replace the motor whats the horsepower?
will it run slow?
A. It depends on the step-up transformer
Q. and how long do you have till you have to recharge?
A. No recharging; this is an electric generator
Q. and what do you mean for rent only?
Motors are usually at least a few thousand

A. I build and install the generators in homes and cars and they rent for
$51.50 and $26.50 per month per generator, respectively, you receiving
$0.25 per device per month.
105 million homes x $0.25 x 12 months= $315 million per year


1,000 Sponsors Strong

After soliciting big businesses such as IBM and GE; then car dealerships such as MIKE
SHAW and GEBHARDT, and finally government grant sites such as www.cfda.gov; whose grant programs are 81.036, Invention and Innovation and81.087, Renewable Energy Research aqnd Developement, I finally realized that no one out there is geared to help the inventor and the inventive process.
They literally want you to be a businessman. Mission Impossible!
Then I realized that I needed to find the most optimistic source of thought energy in our country.
College Students! They are the most innovative and optimistic source of thought an knowledge in the USA!!!

Hi, my name is Marvin Bishop, inventor extraordinaire of the Infinity Electrical Reactor (I.E.R.)
This new-age invention works the same way as an 'automotive engine', but it simply excludes the gasoline-air mixture and replaces it with magnetism. In other words, its an electromotive engine.

Just think of it! This engine, using magnetism, can supply unlimited electrical energy to run all Industries ( i.e., Housing, Transportation, Waste Water Purification, etc. ).There is no limit to what the I.E.R. can do! Acting as a battery it can supply a notebook computer with unlimited electric power any time or place. Acting as a remote power generation station it can allow man to live and thrive in artic to desert waste lands.
And, believe me, This invention will power the new way we experience air travel!!!

My offer: I need no money, now! All I need is a 'Promisory Sponsorship Note' stating your name; birthdate; three forms of contact information (address, home or cell phone and an e-mail address) and your occupation ( student, employee, etc.) to the e-mail address below, promising on this '...Note' to invest $100.00 for a two year period in which I promise to to return to each individual $10,000.00 at the completion of that two year period.

The collaborators: I, in conjunction with you as an individual member and investor of '1,000 Persons Strong'; A major East Coast Funding Corporation who shall provide matching funds for simply colaborating with an East Coast University and Dr. S. Keith Hargrove, PhD, CMfgE and his associates (see 'My Favorite Links' below), who shall act as the 'Engineering Consulting and Developement Company', shall take part in this inventions conception, testing and mass production.

The facts: the "World Almanac and Book of Facts:2004"; page: 368; column: 2; paragraph:1; subtitled: 'Living Arrangements Increasingly Complex",
states that, "In 2000, there were about 105 million households in the United States....
I rent my device for $51.50 per month per home. If only 10% ( 10 million ) of the households rent the Infinity Electrical Reactor (IER) its 1st months earnings will be $515 million dollars.
"1,000 persons Strong" will each earn $10,000.00 for a total repayment of $10,000,000.00.
TEDCO shall be reimbursed its $75,000.00 and IER's 1st months earnings shall be $504,825,000.00.
Just think of the earnings if we served all 105 million homes. WOW!!!

Don't need you to sell it for me; just sponsorship funds. I'll give you $0.25 per house and car for a 20 year period in every market this invention goes into; Housing Industry- 105 million homes per month x $0.25/ home/month x 12 months/year= $315 million per year from housing alone.

FYI budget needs- $100,000


http://www.marylandtedco.org/tedcoprograms/mttf.cfm

http://www.eng.morgan.edu/imie_welchair.htm

http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.PROGRAM_TEXT_...&p_arg_values=81.036

http://www.geocities.com/marvinbishop20042004/bee.html


Alan the limo promoter

quote:

Originally posted by limo bill:
As fuel cost go up and up

I would like to know if anyone has looked into retrofitting their fleet or some of their fleet with propane? With the price per gallon of propane very stable and much less expensive, the cost to convert the vehicle from gasoline to propane would be absorbed very rapidly by not only the difference saved between gas and propane but also with reduced maintenance costs and extended service intervals.

The only cons that I can think of are the following:

1) Availability of propane filling centers

2) Unless the availability of propane is far reaching, this would not be a useful alternative for those units whose operating radius are greater than the range of the propane.

3) May reduce the cargo space of the vehicles (I would think that the propane tank could replace the gasoline tank but I have not seen a conversion on a TC so I have no clue).

quote:

Originally posted by Salicete:
Running a low debt-lean operation may well be the key to success for smaller operations in the coming years of higher operating expenses and possible dwindling demand.

Sounds to me like you are on the right track. I am already seeing small shops in my area that run the huge SUV limos, with the accompanying huge payments, going out of business.

This is very true. As fuel cost go up and up, and so does the cost of living in general I anticipate the lean, well established, lower over head businsses to survive. Those business that have multi car payments, high fuel cost, labor , repairs, insurance etc. etc. are realy going to be hit hard.

I personaly am looking forward to the disappearence of those people who think the limo biz is some kind of get rich qwick business. This biz is a tough one, but the shrewd and the smart will survive.

As an owner/operator I plan on surviving these tough times because I have much less overhead. But I definately see companies down sizing right now and I would guess several more will voluntaraly get out of the business in the near future. Until then, rates will be competitivly low for a while. Hopefully in the next 3 to 6 months the rates will balance out at a higher level.

As far as keeping newer cars in your fleet, I see owners doing well selling their vehicles at a fair price and purchasing new and doing fine. I personally agree with Cliff in maintaining a nice older vehicle and making the most money out of it.

Running a low debt-lean operation may well be the key to success for smaller operations in the coming years of higher operating expenses and possible dwindling demand.

Sounds to me like you are on the right track. I am already seeing small shops in my area that run the huge SUV limos, with the accompanying huge payments, going out of business.