Answering enquiries until they become viewings

The enquiry form on Carvexia lets the buyer choose what it is about: a general question, a test drive, a call back, availability, finance, a trade-in or more photos. That choice produces the first sentence of the message, which the buyer can still edit. So you can tell the intention from the opening of the text — and the reply should address exactly that before it says anything else.

The enquiry comes with a name, an email address and, if the buyer gives one, a phone number. You reply directly, by email or phone; Carvexia does not sit in between. Each intention has its own next step, and your reply should lead towards it:

The first reply decides whether the conversation continues. It does not need to be long, but it does need to be complete — and complete means it answers the question and anticipates the next three.

The most important point is the appointment. “When would suit you?” hands the decision back to the buyer, and every message that goes back and forth is a chance for interest to fade. Two fixed slots can be accepted in a single word. Altogether, four things are almost always enough for a complete first reply:

When a buyer asks about the condition of something, a photo is a better answer than a sentence. “Tyres good” means something different to everyone; a photo of the tread does not. If a buyer picks “Request photos” in the form, the shots they want are already listed in the message: instrument cluster with the ignition on, service book or service records, underbody, tyre tread, all keys, or the registration document with personal details covered.

You can send the photos by email or add them to the listing, and the second is almost always better. What one buyer asks, the next will ask too. In the listing the photo answers the question for everyone, and the enquiry gets a short reply saying where to find it.

With the registration document, the keeper's name and address are covered before the photo goes anywhere. Whether you show the VIN is your decision; if it is in the listing's data table, it is public anyway.

Alongside the message, a buyer can send questions from a fixed catalogue — how many keys, the cambelt, the last service with a receipt, an outstanding lease, known defects and more. These questions appear on the vehicle page as open, asked by interested buyers, until you answer them. You can answer them in the dashboard under “Seller's statements” for the listing, or through the link in the email.

The difference from an email reply: the answer then stands on the vehicle page, for every later visitor and in each visitor's language, because question and answer are fixed building blocks. It appears as “Dealer's statements, not checked”, and every later change stays visible in the history. Answer the cambelt question there once and you will not get it ten more times by email.

Only answer what you know for certain. “Don't know” is an acceptable answer and better than a guess that is later read as a promise. The email to the buyer then needs just one sentence: the questions have been answered and are on the vehicle page.

Buyers who live far away can request a live proof. You receive a random code by email and a link that is valid for a limited time only. With your phone's camera you take three shots: the VIN next to a slip of paper showing the code, the instrument cluster with the ignition on, and the car from the front with the slip; the number plate may be covered. Code, VIN and mileage are read automatically and compared with the listing.

For you, it is a viewing nobody has to travel for, and a buyer who asks for one is usually serious. If the automatic reading matches, the vehicle page then shows, for a limited time, that a live proof was provided. It is expressly neither proof nor an inspection, but it shows that the car was with you on that day. For the VIN comparison to work, the full VIN has to be in the listing.

You can decline through the same link. The request then ends immediately, any shots already taken are deleted, and the buyer sees in their account that you declined; they cannot request a new proof for now. You do not find out who asked — so a refusal stands without explanation. There can still be good reasons: if the car is not with you at the moment, say at the preparer's, and will not be back within the deadline, declining is a clearer answer than a link that expires unused.

Carvexia runs in many languages, and your listing is visible in every market. So enquiries also arrive in Italian, Polish or Dutch. Leave them unanswered because you do not speak the language and you lose precisely the buyers for whom the car is worth crossing a border.

A translation tool is almost always enough for reading. For replying, one simple rule applies: short sentences, figures rather than adjectives, dates with the month written out, amounts with the currency. If you are unsure, write the reply in plain English and add a translation into the buyer's language — then they can compare the two. For anything that is a commitment — price, appointment, condition — check that the translation says what you mean.

Avoid abbreviations nobody outside your country knows, such as the local names for the roadworthiness test or trade jargon for a used car. Spell out what you mean — for instance, that the inspection will be redone before handover. And point to the seller's statements: the buyer reads the fixed questions and answers in their own language, whereas free text is not translated.

Every enquiry has an internal note in the dashboard that the customer does not see. It is the memory of the conversation, and it matters as soon as more than one person handles enquiries or a week passes between reply and response. Nothing looks less professional to a buyer than being asked again for something they have already answered.

The note goes together with the status, which you set as you go: “In progress” as soon as you reply, “Answered” when the ball is in the buyer's court, “Closed” when the enquiry has become an appointment or a sale, “Not interested” when the buyer has pulled out. The dashboard measures your response time by when an enquiry leaves the “New” status. Set the status days later and you get a figure that has nothing to do with how you actually work — and you lose track of which enquiries are really still waiting.

The note itself is a record about a person and should read like one: factual, brief, without judgement. It is for what was promised or agreed, not for what you think of the customer: