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Whilst there are a few vague signs coming out of Germany, France and Japan that we may be moving out of the world recession we have no such signs in the UK and whilst people are still being made redundant and reducing work hours there are fears that the UK roads are becoming more dangerous as drivers avoid service and repair costs. One of the biggest dangers lies with Read more »

If you are one of those that decided to take a family holiday in the UK as the long range forecast predicted a ‘BBQ summer’ you are probably now wishing that you had actually spent less and flown off to one of the Costas. No, I’m not laughing! However, don’t make matters worse by leaving the roof rack attached to the car as this can cause drag and will cost you around 5% more in fuel consumption. And if you are Read more »

The American version of our scrappage scheme, called over the pond, ‘cash for clunkers’ proved so popular that they ran out of cash within a week and have just had a second tranche of money approved. According to the New York Times the first $1 billion was used up in the first week and a further $2 billion has just been approved. I covered their scheme a few weeks ago, which offers a much greater incentive to consumers looking to replace their gas guzzling clunker with a slightly Read more »

Having revealed that end of lease charges have hit an all time high, according to auction house and de-fleeting company, Manheim, with charges up by 9% in the last 18 months, they have also explained that part of the reason for this unfriendly approach is lack of interest in the customers shown by the leasing companies. They feel that this may be because the customer retention rate is only running at 33%. But then if the leasing companies stopped charging such ridiculous amounts at the end of each lease maybe their customer retention rates would increase. Don’t you just despair sometimes? By Graham Hill

Unless you have money to burn now is not a good time to be too precise when it comes to selecting your next car. I recently explained that the rates between contract hire companies on the same car can be staggering but compare the rates for similar size and spec cars and it can be much worse. And its not just down to the purchase price of the car. Lets take as an example a Chrysler 300C, this is a great, value for money car in terms of what you get for your cash (it’s the Bentley looky likey car). Leather, auto and lots of gadgets. To buy an equivalent Audi or Mercedes would cost an additional Read more »

You’ve seen the warning adverts on the TV showing how a rear, unbelted, passenger can smash into the back of a driver and kill him or her in the event of an accident? Well what do you think happens when a 2 stone dog does the same? And yet no attention seems to be given to the dangers of a loony dog running from window to window, either side of the rear seat, sticking its head out and covering passing traffic on one side and pedestrians and cyclists the other side with doggy slobber! You brake hard and either you or your passenger ends up wearing the dog! But fear not Read more »

I have just quoted a customer on a BMW X5, similar to the last car that he contract hired 2 years ago. On his old car the difference between the 2 year and 3 year rates was about £15 per month (2 years more expensive). However, the difference now is £134.53 + VAT per month! Why should this be? 2 years ago it could be argued that there was more discount/bonus in the car virtually wiping out the first year’s depreciation. 2 year old cars may have had a greater resale desirability than 3 year old cars on pro-rata mileage. But £135 + VAT per month? I don’t think so! Or maybe I’m to blame. You see I have explained Read more »

What Car have reminded us of the dangers of using a phone whilst driving. They have estimated that around 100,000 drivers are risking their lives and prosecution, at any point in time, by using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving. The original laws introduced in 2003 were beefed up in 2007 to guarantee you 3 points on your licence and a £60 fine if caught using a mobile phone whilst driving (which means the engine is running even though you may not be moving). As What Car points out, even with hands free kits 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 »

What is BlueMotion, is it a hybrid? We are seeing the emergence of the colour blue as a replacement for the far less attractive green as an expression of environmental friendliness! Why? I don’t know but in terms of German cars – no it doesn’t define a new type of hybrid engine. Instead VW’s BlueMotion and Mercedes Blue Efficiency are simply terms they have started to use to describe the ultra efficient nature of their cars. By incorporating stop/start technology or systems that heavily Read more »