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Fraud is on the increase as Internet and other car finance brokers find themselves up against it. Add this to the fact that people are now starting to realise that loans are not simply down to APR and leasing isn’t simply down to monthly rental. Take out finance and you have to sign a document locking you into many terms and conditions that you agree to by Read more »

We are hopefully seeing some green shoots of economic recovery in various parts of the world. In the UK we paid off more than we borrowed last month for the first time ever and house prices are starting to rise but company closures and redundancies are still running at a high level and will probably do so for some time as we bump along waiting for the sustained upsurge in the UK and world economy. This means that many more of the population will continue to Read more »

It looks as though local councils are now to launch the publicised workplace parking levy. First to make the move is Nottingham City Council, much to the annoyance of one of their biggest employers, Boots, who have 3,000 affected parking places that will incur an annual charge of £253 per car rising to £350 per car after 2 years. The rule, approved by the government to start from Read more »

If you drive a diesel car you probably know that it is fitted with a particulate filter. It is there to remove the dangerous particulates from the emission gasses. Some believe that particulates cause more damage to the environment than CO2, hence the importance of having particulate filters fitted. But they are prone to clog up with the particulates, however, they are made to effectively self clean. It is important that you Read more »

Thinking of selling your car and taking out a lease on a new car? Well, according to Manheim, the car auction house, now is a good time for you to sell you car as used car prices have been shooting up recently. An 8 month old ex rental car with less than 8,000 miles on is now fetching £2,200 more than it was a year ago. Manheim auctions increased their average sale price by 4% in July over June whilst British Car Auctions saw a 3% increase. Year on year prices are up by Read more »

This is becoming a real technology week, we’re now onto Sat Navs that save you fuel! Yep, I kid you not. Whilst the sat nav on my last car, a BMW 7 Series, insisted on taking me round in a complete circle in the middle of London for a good ¾ hour last Christmas and after averting a traffic jam on the M25, on many occasions, insisted on re-routing me straight back into the midst of the logjam, they think they have the technology to calculate the route that saves most fuel! Bosch are currently Read more »

First Hybrid cars that mix n match petrol power with battery power and now all electric cars, heavily supported by prime minister Mandleson, that will save the planet and will be the future, must have, green accessory! Oh no it won’t! Well not if the already frugal Citroen C1, modified by the Electric Car Corporation, continues to cover just 70 miles on a full battery and at a cost of £16,850, twice the cost of the standard petrol version. No way Jose? Having said that Read more »

Just as I see many more manufacturers embrace the ESP/ESC safety systems that help you to avoid an accident a new one emerges called FlexRay which is apparently set to become the new standard in safety devices moving us closer to the time when we don’t actually have to drive cars, just programme them and they get on and do it whilst we sit back and enjoy our freshly brewed Earl Grey and munch on a few choccy Hob Nobs whilst reading my blog FAQ’s received via your communications interface. It may all seem Read more »

Still no money for motor finance. Back in March of this year the Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP) approved £2.3 billion of support to help, as ministers predicted, up to 100 companies through the crisis. To date not a penny has been paid out whilst those responsible for the pathetic scrappage scheme pat each other on the back. The provision of cheap wholesale money to lenders would get people back into new cars. In America, where they have similar problems and have staff looking into chat rooms and tweeting each other, it has been found Read more »

Last week I attended Motor Finance Europe 2009, one of the most important events of the year with regard to identifying how the European motor industry and the finance sector in particular is coping with the downturn. So I packed a couple of bottles of Paracetamol in the briefcase along with a couple of razor blades as I was totally convinced that by lunchtime I would be feeling more than a little suicidal and Read more »