The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

What would you really like to drive? Over the years I have helped many thousands of businesses and individuals to drive ‘better’ cars. For some a ‘better’ car has actually been the car of their dreams, for others it has meant a lot more car for their budget and for others the car they had planned on driving but for much less money. Every client has different aspirations and there are of course Read more »

Motoring organisations have warned motorists not to look to save motoring costs, in these difficult times, by not having their car serviced on time. Certainly shop around to get the best deal and don’t forget under the European rulings you no longer need to have cars serviced at main dealers to retain the warranty cover so you can use garages and fast fit service centres, charging much lower hourly rates than Read more »

When was the last time you checked your tyre pressures? Michelin has found that 60% of motorists are driving on under inflated tyres after it carried out a nationwide survey. This can seriously affect grip and therefore safety, tyre wear and fuel consumption. I know it’s cold but that 5 minutes taken to check the tyres would be time well spent. By Graham Hill

Mini takes the prize for the car that holds it’s value best according to EurotaxGlass. After 3 years travelling average mileage the Mini diesel retains 63.3% of it’s original value although this is down from its high of 71% in 2007. The worst performer was the Alfa 166 which at the end of 3 years with 37,000 miles on the clock is worth just 12% of its original cost. Amazing! By Graham Hill

After a strong NO vote for the western extension of the congestion charging in London (67%) Boris Johnson will scrap the scheme introduced by Ken Livingstone in 2007. This will halve the size of the congestion charging zone and as many have suggested with little effect on the environment. So why are other cities still hell bent on introducing the schemes elsewhere in the country when no one really wants them? This year is decision year for many proposals, I wonder if many other cities will follow the new London Mayor’s example and let the people decide or will they have their motoring costs substantially increased without any say? Time will tell but one thing is for certain something needs to be done but is the solution congestion charging? By Graham Hill

I’m confused! I could understand the bailout of the banks, we can’t allow the banking system to collapse. And whilst the VAT cut was never going to have a significant effect on the economy in terms of kick starting expenditure it was a small step in the right direction but why are the Government listening to the car manufacturers? Of course it’s terrible when people lose their jobs and making loyal and good workers redundant is one of the hardest things Read more »

Let me give you a scenario. You buy a car for £10,000 which you finance over 3 years either by HP or a personal loan, either way you own the vehicle at the end of the 3 years after paying back the £10,000 along with the interest charges. You then sell the car for its market value. I, on the other hand, decide to buy exactly the same car for £10,000 but finance it using a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP). The man in the dealership has told me that there is a final figure allowed on the car of £4,000 which I can either pay to own it or Read more »

The Dutch government have taken the lead by guaranteeing a 1.5 billion Euro package for car leasing company Lease Plan. This is part of a 200 billion Euro rescue fund set up by the Dutch. Lease Plan is the first company to take advantage of the rescue fund which, according to Finance Director, David Stickland will provide additional funding for Lease Plan UK. Read more »

Used cars through auction in November saw a little upward glitch although the general trend, according to British Car Auctions, is a downward one with prices set to continue to struggle through 2009. Whilst the average price rose to £4,823 in November, the highest since July, the year on year value is down by £689. The interesting thing is that we all hear about the state of the used car market and we often hear of friends or friends of friends who manage to get a real bargain but where are these giveaways when we want one? Read more »

By way of an update and a warning I mentioned a few weeks ago about the likely increase in car finance fraud as the recession leads to desperation and potentially fraudulent actions by dealers and brokers simply to survive. I also mentioned the case of a lady who was hiding away an Audi in her garage, too frightened to drive it as bailiffs were trying to repossess it, following the collapse of Read more »