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Companies have already started to cut back on their transport costs, as of course consumers have also, in preparation for the difficult times ahead. Sadly the problem here is not a need to downsize or purchase cheaper cars etc. it is really a need to understand the finance tools that are available. Various types of leasing could save businesses a fortune. Taking on a tax efficient purchase scheme when the company is making no profits against which they can write off depreciation and interest is pure lunacy. Losing the Read more »

If you live or travel around Birmingham you will have seen that work has begun on the £150 million scheme on the M6, M40 and M42 to introduce variable speed limits and hard-shoulder running. Two new stretches of the M6 will be opened for hard-shoulder running during peak periods and variable speed limits will be in force on parts of the M6, M42 and M40. The work is part of a £6 billion investment aimed at Read more »

Well just as we started to rejoice in the steady fall in oil prices and the price war that started last week between the oil companies and the supermarket chains we suddenly saw a massive increase in the price of  crude oil of $25 a barrel on Monday. Now whilst there was an element of manipulation on the markets protecting traders on the futures market from over exposure it has still sent jitters throughout the car industry and concerned drivers (who heard about the rise). Strangely, this massive increase in Read more »

What Car has produced the top ten cars offering the best visibility and the top ten worst visibility. The study was carried out following complaints that visibility was getting worse in new cars. Conventional safety assessments such as EuroNCAP crash tests don’t include visibility tests. Driver safety experts say poor visibility is becoming more Read more »

Impersonators who sit driving tests for others have been warned that if caught, they face tougher sentences. The driving standards agency issued the warning following the sentencing of Palwinder Singh Johal at Oxford Crown Court to two years in jail and a recommended deportation notice on completion of his sentence. By Graham Hill

Tyresafe have launched a digitally animated guide to tyre safety on it’s website to help motorists avoid problems associated with poorly maintained or neglected tyres. Visit http://www.tyresafe.org/videos/ to see the presentations. They are really good, click on each link to watch each short video. Did you know that it isn’t the rubber on the road that keeps you safe but the air in the tyre? You need to watch the videos. By Graham Hill

As we all know it is quite normal for grey clouds to have a silver lining. I am busier than normal as consumers and small businesses look for ways to reduce their vehicle costs as we move closer to recession. For reasons mentioned previously leasing is a great option when times get hard but as fuel prices remain high we are seeing emptier roads. People are taking fewer trips in their cars in order to save fuel although Read more »

OK now I’ve filled you with doom and gloom let me give you the good news. Whilst this new superleasing company (Lloyds/TSB Lex) will dominate the market, because of the scale of their operation they will have to concentrate more on the large fleets rather than the SME and consumer sectors, thereby increasing competition amongst the smaller players. As a result contract hire companies such as Leaseplan, Lombard, Masterlease etc will concentrate on model specific deals. Whilst the superlease company will arrange Read more »

Whilst the city shakes to the after effects of the Lloyds TSB/HBOS takeover no one has yet mentioned the effect on the car leasing industry as the new company will not only result in control of the mortgage industry but it will also give domination over the car leasing industry. In May 2006 HBOS took total control of Lex Vehicle Leasing (LVL) by buying out the 50% shareholding owned by Aviva. This gave HBOS Read more »

Autoglass has warned that many replacement windscreens could have been avoided if drivers acted more quickly when their screens suffered a chip as chips will nearly always become a crack. A straight forward chip repair takes about 20 minutes compared to nearly 2 hours for a replacement screen. The cost of windscreen replacement is rising rapidly due to the complexity of the glass used and the skill and Read more »