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Small businesses are finding it more difficult to finance vehicles using their traditional and most popular methods of finance, HP, business loans and overdraft. It seems that more are now turning to leasing, according to Fleet News, as it is easier to arrange the finance, reduces the risk and spreads the funding around. Last year, according to the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA), financing new and used cars to Read more »

I am grateful to Jo Tacon, Editor of the journal Motor Finance for which I write a regular (and clearly the most popular) column. Jo forwarded a couple of articles that appeared in the Sun newspaper, written by Kelvin MacKenzie. In the articles he complains about the end of contract charges imposed upon him by Mercedes Benz Finance (MBF) after returning his end of lease car. The charge was £1,800 and I Read more »

Hindsight is great isn’t it? We can identify exactly where we went wrong and occasionally where we went right! When the recession started to bite, many businesses and individuals, who were leasing their cars and due to change, decided to extend their leases. Not such a bad thing if the lease was only 2 years in the first place but many of those that extended from 3 years to 4 years have maybe regretted that decision. And Read more »

From the middle of 2011 all new cars must have tyre pressure monitor systems fitted as standard. No clear indication has been given as to what the systems must consist of but currently there are systems that monitor each individual tyre with a display showing any drop in pressure down to the most basic which sounds a warning buzzer if the tyre pressure drops on any individual tyre, you then have to check them all – not a bad thing! Of course this will add a cost to the car but it could help to save fuel and even a life. By Graham Hill

There has been an increase in the number of employees who have either opted for cash for cars or been expected to use their own cars for business in exchange for a cash payment. Either way there is a responsibility on the employer to ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy and properly maintained as well as properly insured for business use. There is a grey area for employers who, in the event of an accident, in Read more »

The new car market is in total confusion. As the extended scrappage scheme finally comes to an end I have predicted that the manufacturers will turn their attention to the fleet market and offer incentives to fleet buyers and leasing companies. Unfortunately experts don’t share my optimism, they feel that manufacturers will still be cautious and unlikely to offer more incentives than are already available with increased Read more »

Whilst the number of new cars fitted with Electronic Stability Control (ESC), also known as Electronic Stability Program (ESP), is increasing, following a push by inventors Bosch and the Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO), to inform car buyers of the benefits, more private buyers are having the safety device fitted than fleet buyers. Department for Transport research suggests ESC equipped vehicles are 25% less Read more »

Toyota finally looks as though it is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel after what must have been the worst start to a year in its history. So far this year 188,500 cars have been recalled, the majority of which require replacements to their accelerator linkages (180,000) and 8,500 Prius require modifications to their braking systems. The accelerator linkage repairs take about 30 minutes to complete. Whilst Read more »

According to tyre provider, Protyre, pothole damage is increasing whilst local authorities are unwilling to carry out repair work until the bad weather is over, for fear that any work done now will be wasted if the cold weather continues and re-pops out the filler. Protyre suggest that 300 new potholes are being identified in Britain every day with hundreds of pounds of damage being caused to tyres and suspension. Read more »

From the 1^st April 2010 the new showroom tax is being introduced to severely penalise the most polluting cars. In addition the annual road fund licence (tax) increases also. In essence the showroom tax includes the first year’s road fund licence. The bandings run from A to M with A representing cars with CO2 emissions of less than 100 g/km with M representing cars emitting 265 g/km or more. For vehicles emitting Read more »