The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

You are about to read one of the best pieces of advice you will ever receive. If you are a regular reader of my rantings you will know that there is one expression that seriously pisses me off, can you recall? You can’t? Let me remind you, it is – ‘a goodwill gesture.’

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In the car industry I would suggest that 95 times out of a 100 the ‘goodwill gesture’ is a legal bloody entitlement but in order to cover up a major con or failure the dealer/funder/manufacturer will make good any damage – as a gesture of goodwill! Typically the car part that fails two days after the warranty has run out that is repaired free – as a ‘gesture of good faith.’

Sod off, there is such a thing as the Sale Of Goods Act which takes precedent over a warranty and if a defective part, expected to last for the life of the car, fails, it is a legal obligation, on the part of the dealer who sold you the car, to replace it or repair it. But here is another interesting example. A lady bought a brand new Nissan Qashqai that developed a gearbox fault shortly after she took delivery.

It was agreed that the gearbox was faulty and needed to be replaced but two months down the line the lady, Jill Alexander, was still without her nice new Nissan. Whilst the car was awaiting the replacement gearbox the dealer loaned her a Nissan Micra as a courtesy car whilst Jill was still paying the finance and insurance on her Qashqai.

After a while, and complaints from Jill, the dealer provided a replacement Qashqai so that she could get her mother’s wheelchair in the back. It wasn’t the same spec as her car and there was still no sign of the replacement gearbox. Nissan explained that due to huge demand for their new Qashqai they had no stock of spare gearboxes but they would pay the two months of Jill’s finance as – you guessed it ‘a goodwill gesture’.

They are also looking to replace the Qashqai with an X Trail to provide a better spec car and more space. Now here’s the thing. First of all every car manufacturer has a legal obligation to stock sufficient parts for repairs of new cars sold. Clearly they have failed to do this being more interested in building more new cars than supplying spare parts for customers who have already bought.

Whether the car is on HP, PCP or leased it is the property of the finance company so you first need to involve the funder who can bring more pressure on the dealer or manufacturer than you. But here is the best piece of advice. Make sure that when you take out your car insurance that you take out legal cover that can be as little as £20 per annum.

When you find yourself in this situation get in touch and get a barrister on the case. It’s amazing how quickly dealers and manufacturers act when a lawyer is on the case. In this case Jill has a case to claim compensation for finance payments and any other out of pocket expenses. So Nissan should not only be paying the two months they have agreed to they should be paying for all the finance payments whilst the car is off the road. And not as a goodwill gesture!

Oh and one final thing on legal cover, make sure you also take it out with your contents insurance. If you make a genuine claim and the insurer doesn’t pay out you can call on your insurance for legal advice and get them to act against the insurance company – I kid you not, well worth the few extra pounds. By Graham Hill

It was 2 years ago when I announced that the Government was to instigate a detailed report into the cost of insurance. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) were to carry out the investigation and over the subsequent 2 years it seemed as though the results and recommendations would be hugely beneficial to motorists as information leaked out.

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The two areas of major concern were (and still are) the cost of replacement vehicles and the cost of repairs, both of which were completely out of control and adding fortunes to drivers’ premiums. But sadly common sense has flown out of the window and the CMA has made a U turn on both of these critical issues.

The original proposal was to place a cap on replacement car costs and a cap on repair charges, both of which the CMA supported and seemed were working on them. However, it now seems that neither are to be implemented because ‘any changes would require full-scale law alterations and savings would be minimal.’ I would add that this report has cost the Treasury £millions and for what?

I am confused as to how a cap on repair costs and a cap on charging for replacement cars would result in ‘full-scale law alterations.’ I could write the bloody changes myself in an afternoon and who would resist the proposals. This must surely call into question the integrity of those carrying out the investigation. And why did it take two years and several millions of pounds to come to that conclusion?

Even the Association of British Insurers (ABI), whom one would assume would defend the way in which its industry works has criticised the report for failing to tackle the excessive cost of replacement cars, saying that this failure would be ‘a bitter pill to swallow for honest motorists.’ This has simply handed those who provide replacement vehicles, such as accident management companies, an open chequebook to continue charging extortionate hire charges.

The ABI appear not to have commented on the capping of repair costs, which may be a more difficult problem to be solved, but it clearly costs more than it should and was another major issue to be addressed that was avoided. Unbelievably, I was not aware that agreements existed between the insurance comparison sites and their advertisers that the advertisers would not advertise cheaper rates elsewhere.

The fact is that I have found the cheapest rate in the past on a comparison site then approached the insurance company direct and achieved a better rate. So this move is hardly likely to make a lot of difference to premiums as many people stay on the comparison site once they have found the most suitable product. Consumers will now receive more information with regard to no claims bonus protection and the CMA has asked the Financial Conduct Authority to look into the way that insurers inform customers of policy add ons (smacks of PI).

Janet Conner, MD of AA Insurance suggested that the changes should save motorists about £20 a year but she questioned the way that the investigation was carried out and if it could have been better approached from a different angle.

Alasdair Smith, CMA deputy panel chairman defended the meagre proposals by saying, ‘These changes will benefit motorists who are currently paying higher premiums as a result of the problems we have found.’ You may have found them my friend but it would seem that you have done precious little to resolve them. Yet another example of jobs for the boys. By Graham Hill