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Sorry about this but it all seems like bad news this week. Manheim DeFleet, the defleeting arm of the major auction house, has reported that average end of lease refurbishment charges have increased from £265 a year ago to £290 this year. As they explain contract hire companies see damage recovery as a mainstream activity. A few years ago they would budget to collect around 35% of all charges whereas these days they look to collect around 70%. David Mercer of Manheim DeFleet Services said Read more »

There are now some wide fluctuations in monthly contract hire rentals as many factors come into play. Amid fears that the industry is predicting the collapse of one of the major contract hire companies before the end of the year and possibly the loss of a few smaller ones, the industry is in a mess with rates all over the place. It isn’t uncommon for rates to have a spread of £50 + VAT per month between the cheapest and most expensive rates on the same car. Fleet Operations have found that in the case of a Ford Focus the spread was Read more »

I have received a couple of words of warning about topping your oil up. The first is probably fairly obvious, make sure that the car is on flat ground when you check it. It may seem obvious but in cars where electronic sensors are fitted drivers often forget that when the level is checked the car still needs to be on flat ground. But the lesser known piece of advice is not to overfill the engine with oil. This is especially important with diesels as the oil can find its way into the exhaust and damage the particulate filter which can be very expensive to replace and would not be covered by the warranty. By Graham Hill

As drivers continue to feel the pinch of recession insurance groups warn about the dangers of not telling the truth when taking out car insurance. Every claim is now being closely scrutinised as a result in the upsurge in fraudulent claims, as explained in my recent crash for cash fraud item. As a result lies or mistakes made at the time of proposal is causing claims to be rejected so great care needs to be taken when completing proposals or you may not only find a claim rejected but Read more »

Internet searches for contract hire cars has show that German cars are the most popular amongst contract hire users with German cars accounting for 43% of all car searches since the start of 2009. I would say that great deals on Mercedes and Audi have helped this. By Graham Hill

In the current climate there is lots of talk about guarantees and indemnities. Let’s be clear, before a lender considers a guarantor he must be fairly certain that the borrower can repay his debts. You may be someone who has never had credit before or you have had a credit card that has hardly been used, so you have very little credit history on which to form an opinion. But everything about you looks good, home, job, bank etc and you certainly have no adverse information stored on your credit file but for that extra bit of comfort the lender may be happy to 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 »

They say ‘it’ sends you blind – whatever ‘it’ is. But whatever ‘it’ is it seems to affect middle aged drivers as one in five drive their cars knowing that their eyesight is impaired according to the College of Optometrists. The study also revealed that 28% of these blind old duffers put off having a sight test for up to 6 months after noticing their eyesight had deteriorated and a startling 21% put it off for up to 5 years, probably because they can’t find their local Specsavers. ‘This attitude is extremely worrying’ said Dr Susan Blakeney, optometric adviser to the College of Optometrists. I agree. By Graham Hill

Trying to get more drivers off the roads and onto public transport won’t work if we continue to be charged ridiculous fares on the trains. A recent study revealed that UK rail travellers pay more than anywhere else in Europe. I bought a return ticket to London today and it cost just under £40 to take a round trip of about 70 miles, it’s ridiculous. By Graham Hill

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000. Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works Read more »