The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

As most of my customers are aware you can now have your car serviced at any service or repair centre without the loss of the car’s warranty provided the work is in line with the conditions stipulated by the manufacturer.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Since this European rule, known as Block Exemption, was introduced in 2003 it has meant that anyone who buys a new car carrying a manufacturer’s warranty can have their car serviced and maintained at a non-franchised dealer, thereby saving a substantial amount of money.

However, when you lease a car and you are responsible for the servicing of the vehicle, can the leasing company insist that you only have the car serviced at a main dealer as this would be a contradiction of the regulations? Again, regular readers will know that most leasing companies are happy for you to have the car serviced at non franchised dealers provided the work is carried out in line with the manufacturer’s instructions using original or compatible parts.

But you need to check your contract as these things have a habit of changing without notice. Mercedes-Benz changed their rules a few years ago so that if you return a lease car (including PCP) and the service work has been carried out by a non authorised service/repair centre they will impose an end of lease charge, in some cases, over £1,000, even though the car has been serviced on time and even using Mercedes original parts.

I took some legal advice on this and was advised that whilst the car is owned by the finance company they can include terms relating to the service and maintenance of the car. So whilst they may be out of line with the rest of the leasing industry they are not acting, on the face of it, illegally, albeit that they are acting outside the spirit of the law.

But there are two issues on which they could justify their stance. The first is the quality of the work which Mercedes could argue would be of a lower standard if carried out by a service centre. I would argue this every day of the week having received some of the worst services ever when I have had a Mercedes serviced by a main dealer in the past.

On the other side of the coin a judge might argue that a customer should be free, in an open market, and given the Block Exemption law, to choose where the car is serviced – it is the whole point of the law to make it competitive and stop the protectionist approach that most manufacturers had used when insisting that their cars are serviced at a main dealer or lose your warranty before it changed in 2003.

The other argument could relate to resale value of the car when it is returned which they could argue would be less than if the car had not been serviced by a main dealer. However, they list a scale of charges which could suggest a penalty, which in these circumstances could be considered illegal.

If, through breach of contract, you were to cause the other party a loss they can not charge anything above their losses incurred. Having spoken to many trade buyers over the years most would not draw a distinction between a car that has ‘Full Service History’ and ‘Full Mercedes Benz Service History’ so it might be difficult to prove their case against a customer in front of a judge.

If you have been charged a ‘penalty’ by MB Finance and you are unhappy about it you could take out a complaint through the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are a ‘consumer’. Putting MB Finance to one side the point of all this is that Halfords are about to launch an aggressive new campaign to take away a larger share of the £10 billion a year after care market from main dealers.

This comes on the back of the Auto Express Driver Power Survey in which a large number of dealer networks were criticised by drivers. Traditionally the Halfords target market has been 3 – 5 year old cars but the new approach will attract new to 3 year old car drivers looking to save up to 40% of the labour cost. They will be introducing new receptions that will look more like the pods you will see in an Apple store and they will offer a collect and return service.

The receptions will also have Wi-Fi facilities and you will even be able to watch your car being serviced on an iPad that they will provide for your use. So it may be worth considering Halfords for your next service but don’t forget to check your lease agreement first and don’t forget you can always negotiate with the main dealer before booking your car in for a service. By Graham Hill

Whilst most of us are looking at ways to save money on our motoring costs by dropping to a Smart car, searching the Interweb for the cheapest fuel in our county, even emptying the contents of the chip pan into the diesel tank in order to help the green revolution and save a couple of quid at the pumps, Rolls Royce are being a tad extravagant! Their Read more »

This week’s famed, Graham Hill’s car review of the week focuses on the revival of an old marque, the Aston Martin Lagonda. The rather weird 4 seater from the 70’s . The replacement was showcased in Geneva last year and frankly looked like a pile of poo! It was a sort of bulbous cross between a BMW X6 and a Chrysler C300 estate – it looked disgusting but the latest design, after they threw the old one into the recycling bin, looks the dogs dangly bits! A full luxurious 4 seater with plenty of executive Read more »

The Graham Hill in depth review of a new car has this week focused on the facelifted Bentley Continental GT. It looks nice, as you would expect and frankly I would describe the differences in the look of the car as ‘subtle’. I’m told that every panel of the car is new but the door mirrors are from the Musanne. Great! OK when you get up close you can see that there are changes but they have kept the overall look very Read more »

As if by some weird coincidence Lloyds TSB have carried out a survey amongst drivers asking if money was no object what would be your dream car? And would you believe it Brits would plump for an Aston Martin! More motorists aspire to own one of these quintessential English cars that still conjure up times when we led the world with our beautifully designed executive cars. Obviously following the same Read more »

The renowned Graham Hill in depth car review this week focuses on yet another dopey car, although you may find it gorgeous. Yet another major sports car manufacturer has stuck their badge on the front of a city car. This week it’s the recently revived Lotus. I don’t care that it is a hybrid powered car that will return 100mpg it simply looks dopey! Now I know that all manufacturers have had to introduce some low Read more »

If you read my detailed review of the new Aston Martin city car you’ll know how dopey I found the whole idea of an Aston Martin badge on the front of a silly small car. So I was shocked to see Ferrari follow suit with their new Fiat 500 based 695 Tributo Ferrari. Surely there won’t be buyers willing to pay £30,000 for a Fiat 500 with a Ferrari badge on the front? Would there? The car will have 183 bhp giving a 0-62 Read more »

This week Graham Hill’s famed car review is on the Aston Martin DBS special edition, known as Carbon Black. Surprisingly it is black, which I think is gorgeous, even though I think that black makes any car look smaller than it is! And of course the purist Aston fans that like to listen to Elton John and the Beatles in the rather expensive stereo sound system will kick up a fuss over the fact that Aston have dared to fit loads Read more »

The now famous Graham Hill new car review focuses this week on another unnatural car, the 4Dr Aston Martin Rapide. First of all Aston Martin create the craziest car ever, their new city car, then they bring out a 4Dr saloon. I was beginning to think these sport car producers had lost the plot until I recently saw the 4Dr Porsche Panamera in the flesh and it actually looked pretty good. I was all set to hate it but I Read more »

This week in my car review I thought I would find something that I could get excited about, something I could wax lyrically about, and then someone sent me some pictures of an estate on show at the Geneva Motor Show. Now I have to say that I’ve never really understood estates but I can just about understand why a salesman or engineer might want a big car to stick his samples or tools in the back of. Volvo estates Read more »