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Trade journal Fleet News has carried out a survey into reliability of cars by contacting the top 50 leasing companies and asking which manufacturer and which individual cars have proven to be most reliable over the last 12 months. BMW just pipped Honda to the post as the most reliable manufacturer with Audi coming in third, jumping from 7^th place last year. Audi was highest rated dealership network for Read more »

There are many stories bouncing around regarding end of lease charges from excess mileage charges that treble per mile if you exceed 10% overrun, eg. the excess charge per mile is set at 4 pence per mile if you exceed 3,000 miles on a 30,000 mile contract, thereafter increasing to 12 pence per mile, through to the leasing companies charging for re-repair of body repairs that they consider to be sub-standard even Read more »

It was earlier this year when I warned that money was tight in the vehicle finance sector that would mean only the squeakiest of clean business would be written. In some instances I heard that acceptances were down to just 20% of applicants, not because the vast majority of applicants were poor credit risks but available funds meant this was the maximum number of applicants that could be accepted. Many Read more »

As you are probably aware the VAT rate will increase back to 17.5% on the 1^st January 2010 with further rises expected as we move out of recession. Some pundits are already predicting a rise in rate to 20%. We will start to see interest rates shift upwards and car prices will continue to rise making this year a good time to take out a PCP if you are thinking of this form of finance. Mercedes have seen this Read more »

We have a unique and totally different method of leasing in the UK compared to the US and to make matters worse few people in the UK actually understand how it works. On numerous occasions I’ve had conversations with customers who have explained to me they have negotiated a great deal with a dealer and could I work out a lease for them based on their negotiated price. The problem is that this isn’t Read more »

Over the last few months we have seen a great deal of activity in dealerships offering a greater variety of finance products to customers. Manufacturer provided finance facilities are offered through ‘captives’ that are either funded by the manufacturer or through a major finance provider. The funder provides the facilities on documents printed in the name of the manufacturer. As a result of increased competitiveness Read more »

Fraud, miss-selling and malpractice cases have been on the increase during the recession causing a serious re-think about the regulation of the motor finance industry. In the meantime brokers are strongly advised to provide warnings to customers about the dangers of signing a legally binding contract without reading and understanding the terms and naively basing the decision to take finance on rate or APR alone. I Read more »

It wasn’t that long ago when you could return a car at the end of a lease in pretty average condition and the leasing company would overlook anything other than serious damage. These days they send out specialist inspectors to check over the car and seem to charge for anything that doesn’t conform to showroom condition, in one case they counted the number of stone chips on the bonnet and argued that there were Read more »

A report out this week shows a drop in leased vehicles of 10% this year. The reasons are fairly obvious with larger companies making redundancies and having to make better use of resources, fewer vehicles are now required.. One van can now do the job of two and one salesman can cover a larger area as a result of decreases in sales and customers. Having said that Read more »

Things are not getting any easier for us brokers or our funders. I heard yesterday that a large part of the Audi range is now on Feb/Mar 2010 delivery for orders placed now. Most funders will price fix for 3 months from the date of order which means that the monthly rate will be held as long as the vehicle can be delivered within the 3 months. However, if delivery is beyond this, rates may be subject to review as a Read more »