Popular used car dealer and YouTube star Joe Betty has announced he is shutting down his car dealership.
The award-winning dealer behind the hugely successful YouTube channel Shifting Metal has called time on his business Berrow Motors.
The Burnham-on-Sea-based business has been in operation since 2020 and has helped Betty gain more than 128,000 followers on YouTube.
The used car dealer said the car dealership will close ‘this month’ but, as of this morning, the business has no cars for sale on its website or Auto Trader.
Betty has gained a huge following by posting regular videos from behind the scenes of his dealership as well as stories about the cars he had bought from auctions.
Last year, he won a Used Car Award from Car Dealer Magazine in the Social Media User of the Year category (pictured).
Announcing the move on social media and in a video, Betty said ‘rising costs’ had caused him to walk away from car sales.
He said: ‘We’ve had nearly six fantastic years here.
‘We’ve won awards, gained over 100,000 YouTube subscribers and raised over £30,000 for local causes, but I have decided now is the time to move on.
‘The cost of running a business is constantly rising and has certainly played a part in my decision, but I also wish to focus more time on fundraising and other business ventures.’
It is believed he will now be putting more time into creating content. He has also built a car buying site for dealers to acquire stock from consumers as well as a competition / raffle business which lists watches and cars as prizes.
Betty added: ‘I want to thank all of our wonderful customers for their business over the last few years and of course the team members who made Berrow Motors what it was.
‘I really hope another motor trader takes over the site and makes a success of it – you couldn’t ask for better landlords than the Welland family.’
Last week, he posted his final Berrow Motors Weekly video which gave a regular look at the goings on at his dealership.
In it, he said he had ‘stacked his plate too high’ and would be focussing on ‘reinventing’ the content he produces for his channel.
Speaking to Car Dealer this morning, Betty said: ‘I really feel as though the used car sales business is going through a change for the worse and sadly I don’t think I’ll be the last dealer to decide it’s not worth the effort.
‘I’ve been shocked at just how many dealers have been in touch to say they’re planning to do the same, including some other social media names.’
Car Dealer posts weekly behind the scenes videos of its car dealership, the Clever Car Collection. In our most recent video we tell the story of buying back two problem cars from customers.