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As long ago as October last year I reported that Nottingham City Council was the first to consider charging for at work car parking (see my blog). Well they have now completed their deliberations and decided that they will go ahead with the levy which will now come into force from April 2012. Companies providing more than 10 parking spaces will be charged from Read more »

Big brother strikes again at a cost to the environment! No I’m not talking about the absolutely enthralling popular TV programme that keeps us on the edge of our seats for several weeks each year. I’m actually talking about Satellite Navigation systems. No doubt bored with watching people sleep in the hope that they may get up to some, under the covers, hanky panky the lads and lassies down at Continental Tyres decided to Read more »

Finally, it’s happened, a company has brought out an insurance policy to cover the ever growing end of contract refurbishment charges for cars and vans that will be returned to the leasing company at the end of the lease. The cost of the policy will range between £290 and £350 for a standard family sized car and it will cover vehicle damage over and above fair wear and tear up to £1,500. This may seem like Read more »

I’m not sure if this applies to all motorists but LeasePlan has found that the most dangerous day of the week to drive is Monday, replacing Tuesday in previous years. More company cars are involved in accidents on a Monday than any other day of the week with the most dangerous time to travel being between 8.00am and 10.00am. They also found that 10% of the accidents involved cars hitting stationary objects. Is this a good reason to turn up for work late on a Monday? I’m not sure but could be worth having a word with your boss. By Graham Hill

I have to say that I have a fantastic relationship with my customers, many of whom rely upon my judgement, but one of the dangers I’ve had to face over the years, is when I attempt to get a customer into a great value car but the customer, who bases his decision on cost rather than the whole package, hasn’t had a test drive in the car, only to find that the driving position is Read more »

We keep hearing a lot about green issues and the need to improve our environment. The warnings are there, each year we see more extreme weather conditions that are blamed upon global warming but what are we actually doing about it in the cars we drive? Have I sold hundreds of hybrid cars? No. Have I seen a strong move from big gas guzzlers to city cars or even just mildly more modest cars? Read more »

Bad news! The dopey Chancellor has listened to all the anecdotal evidence and decided that the scrappage scheme should be extended, which has already helped nearly 300,000 people with old bangers to get into new cars, but done nothing to help ordinary people and small businesses that are struggling to finance their new car as the funders are running out of money. Whilst manufacturers continue to Read more »

 Contract hire is still by far the most popular method used to finance vehicles according to members of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association. Contract hire of cars has remained pretty static over the last 5 years, consistently hovering around 1.3 million mark. LCV’s (vans) have dropped slightly over the years from 180,000 to 176,000. Contract purchase and personal contract purchase have both dipped over the last year. So it seems that businesses and consumers continue to understand the benefits of contract hire, long may it continue. By Graham Hill

 Now here’s an interesting piece of information (not that all I provide isn’t interesting), but have you ever been on the forecourt of a fuel station and the damned mobile has gone off which you have then sneakily answered or checked out the text message, believing to be out of vision of the person on the till? Then been screamed at through the pump loudspeaker for putting everyone’s life at risk and dying of embarrassment in the process. Yep, we’ve all been there. Well Texaco have launched Read more »

One of the huge benefits to buying or leasing a new car is that you will be driving a car with all the latest safety equipment fitted. Even the most modest cars have more equipment than they had fitted even just 3 years ago. The most significant for me is the wider fitting of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) also known as ESP. This system has been proven to save more lives than ABS but isn’t mandatory until Read more »