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Insurance rules are about to change as a result of proposed legislation that is going through the consultative stage. If introduced it will become an offence simply to keep an uninsured vehicle as opposed to the current legislation that makes it an offence to drive an uninsured vehicle. Road safety minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, said ‘Increased police powers already mean that 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day Read more »

GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services has suggested that we could reduce our running costs by up to 10%. They suggest that better fuel management could reduce fuel cost, extend service intervals on some cars and reduce tyre wear. Move away more gradually from traffic lights, turn the engine off in traffic jams and drop your speed to the legal limits would have some dramatic affects. Check tyre pressures Read more »

If you are still one of those that likes to own a car but is worried by the loss in depreciation – if you are then don’t buy a Maybach 62 which is reported by trade valuers Parkers to have lost £128,899 during 2008. However, downsizing and demand for city cars has kept used prices of smaller cars high producing the lowest cash losses in 2008. You should therefore ditch the Maybach, Bentley or Aston and replace with one of the following: Read more »

Apparently you could get free new cars from Vauxhall until recently provided you were a driving school and you ran a fleet of 3,500 vehicles. This astonishing fact has only just come to light as a result of Vauxhall refusing to provide free of charge cars any longer to BSM and telling them that they will now have to pay. Cars were provided on a 6 month turnaround so Vauxhall were providing 7,000 cars a year for free. BSM is owned by Aviva, formally Norwich Union, who now face costs of millions of pounds – time to sell shares? By Graham Hill

In my opinion leasing is by far the most cost effective way of funding a car provided you can be flexible and look for the best deals around at the time you take your new car. However, there is one major drawback to leasing and one that I write about regularly in my newsletter, trade press and national press. It is the one area that I receive most complaints about from buyers of my book. It is the end of contract charges. I Read more »

As motorists attempt to save costs in the current recession many are reducing the number of miles they are travelling and keeping speed down. Whilst this is great in terms of costs, safety and the environment it may not be so great if you are a diesel driver. First of all you may find that covering very low mileage makes the new generation petrol engines far more fuel efficient than the equivalent 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 »

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 »

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 »

There is growing evidence that SME’s and consumers are moving over to leasing as a way to fund their vehicles. The old reasons still exist, having a fixed, known monthly cost, no risk in uncertain resale values and benefitting from hidden substantial bonuses provided by manufacturers to leasing companies but SME’s and consumers  have identified a new benefit. Read more »