T HE manager of a former main dealership which is now purely a used car business, after giving up its Chevrolet franchise, says he is relishing the opportunity to offer customers competitive prices on cars which have been prepared to franchised dealer standards.

Steve Baker, sales manager at Greenhous, Blackfriars Road, Newcastle, said he intends to specialise in cars in two distinct age ranges, from virtually brand new to 12 months, and from two to four year old vehicles.

The company is part of the Greenhous group – which celebrates its centenary this year.

It can get stock from a variety of sources, allowing it to have a big display of fresh cars on sale, or track down a particular car for a customer.

It has been going as a used car outlet for just a few weeks and Steve says it is already ahead of its target.

It is also attracting some unusual trade-ins, including a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, which was part-exchanged against a Chevrolet Spark!

Steve said: "We are now just a used car dealer, but we have factory trained technicians and workshop equipment from our years of being a franchised dealer so we can prepare and maintain the cars to the highest standard and that gives peace of mind to our customers.

"We want to have two distinct age profiles of our stock, from cars in their first year to those which are two to four years old. These are still young cars and will have been carefully maintained.

"Obviously we will be pricing them competitively otherwise they would never sell, but we believe that our cars will have an edge in terms of their quality and mechanical condition. Customers can buy from us knowing they are getting a good, reliable and quality car. ''

Although it no longer sells Vauxhall or Chevrolet, Greenhous has retained its Vauxhall Approved Repairer and Parts Supplier status and can carry out service work for the GM products.