The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

Daft gadget of the week award – Tyrepal. That’s probably a little unfair because this new device monitors the tyre pressures and tyre temperatures and therefore could prevent an accident and even save a life. You fit four sensors on your tyre valves to replace the valve caps and a small screen that looks a bit like a sat nav monitors each wheel and warns of any dangers, all done wirelessly. The device, according to Read more »

Yet another Graham Hill in depth review of a new car. Following the successful review of the new Ford Focus that many people found of great interest I have gone to the far end of the spectrum and this week chosen for my in depth review the new Bentley Mulsanne. Actually the review of the new Ford Focus was a little light on some of the fine detail so whilst the review of the Mulsanne was to be ‘It’s bloody expensive Read more »

Auto Express has uncovered a potential hugely dangerous oversight that many drivers may make when taking out insurance. Most of us are aware that we need to provide details of any modifications carried out on our cars when we complete the application form but few would consider the fitting of a towbar as a modification that could invalidate the insurance if not declared. When one of their readers tried to renew Read more »

We are all being forced to consider greener cars and the manufacturers have to be seen to be actively developing more environmentally friendly engines or face some hefty fines. So you may be forgiven for thinking that the cars being marketed as ‘green cars’ are much more fuel efficient than standard cars. Well according to latest research the differences can be minimal. For example the Skoda Octavia Greenline is Read more »

Warnings have been issued regarding the screen resolution of your computer. Well not exactly the resolution itself but the affect that your screen resolution can have on the colour options shown on the manufacturer web sites. Customers, ordering new cars, have been choosing colours from the car manufacturer’s website only to be totally disappointed when the car has turned up looking several shades away from Read more »

Has diesel had its day? For the first time in 10 years we saw a drop in diesel car sales compared to petrol sales. The proportion of diesels sold to petrol dropped to 41% compared to petrol, 58%. The proportion for the previous year was 43%, an all time high following 10 years of year on year increases. The move has been brought about by improved small petrol engine technology. Manufacturers have turned their Read more »

You would no doubt have followed my reporting of the major pot hole problem that local authorities face following the harsh winter with no money to spend. But it wasn’t just the bad weather that led to the problems, it was the increase in Johnny Foreigner trucks covering 600 million miles on our roads last year. The problem, according to the Department for Transport, is that these trucks use our public roads but Read more »

Mobile phone users who still use their phones whilst driving without a hands free kit are back in the news as conviction figures show another fall. Recently published figures show that convictions in England and Wales were down to 116,000 in 2008/9, down by 5% on the previous year, which in turn was down on the 167,000 convictions in 2006/7 even though the use of a mobile phone whilst driving was introduced as Read more »

Tyre prices have started to increase according to Continental and Goodyear as a result of a global shortage of rubber. Drivers will be expected to pay more for tyres as a result of a drought in Thailand and increasing Asian demand. The price of rubber as a raw material rose by 40% in January which reflected an increase of 150% year on year. The recent price hikes announced by Continental and Goodyear of 10% is expected to be followed by all other tyre manufacturers. Hmmm, must get on to the fetish club, this news will shock them if nothing else does! By Graham Hill

I am, without doubt, the leading expert in car finance in the UK. However, wherever you look there are ‘experts’ who will not fail to give bad advice. This seriously winds me up because it can cost people a lot of money and in some of the worst cases, their home. It’s bad enough when this bad advice is given by well meaning friends down the pub or an accountant who is really not specialist, as I am, in vehicle finance. Read more »