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Insight Part 2: Whilst I’m in the mood to expose some of the trade secrets that lay behind contract hire rates let me delve a little deeper into the area of vehicle pricing and depreciation. Fleet News recently reported some incredible increases in new car costs, mainly as a result of the exchange rate against the Euro. Since January 2008, according to Read more »

It would seem that we are getting very close to the time when, by far the biggest running cost, when it comes to cars, i.e. depreciation, is overtaken by the cost of fuel. CFC Solutions have made this claim looking at the way fuel prices are increasing compared to the cost of depreciation for the average 2.0litre upper medium petrol company car. It was in Read more »

Insurance and fuel duty increases have been blamed for the inflation busting increase of 6.3% announced by the RAC in their Cost of Motoring Index. The average cost has increased by £346 over last year’s cost taking it up to £6,000. Depreciation has also had an effect although some costs such as Vehicle Excise Duty (car tax) and car finance have dropped. The annual study assesses the running costs of 17 new cars from the Toyota Yaris to the Land Rover Discovery. Each model’s bills are weighted Read more »

The economy is fragile and uncertain which means there is greater demand for short term leases, as businesses and consumers look to restrict their commitments. Unfortunately, the fact that the manufacturers have scaled back production considerably, means that there is no overstock of vehicles available. This oversupply would normally encourage the manufacturers to provide additional bonuses, making short term leases relatively cheap, as this bonus helps to offset the heaviest Read more »

In the course of one week I’ve had what could be best described as a lively debate with two customers, over the contract profile that they took their cars on. One had his car on a 3+23 profile and the other 3+35. I have explained the way the profile works to the point of tedium, reported it on the blog and given examples but people are still confused and I really can’t see why? I think we all accept that a car Read more »

A report out this week shows a drop in leased vehicles of 10% this year. The reasons are fairly obvious with larger companies making redundancies and having to make better use of resources, fewer vehicles are now required.. One van can now do the job of two and one salesman can cover a larger area as a result of decreases in sales and customers. Having said that Read more »

Which car holds its price best? I would have said Mini as it has held the title for some time but a few surprises have taken over, possibly as a result of high demand for smaller cars and fewer cars available in the used car market as a result of the scrappage scheme. The best performer, according to Glass’s Guide, over 3 years has been the Peugeot 107 which has retained 60.9% of its value. This has been followed by the Toyota Aygo (60.2%) and the Suzuki Swift (59.5%). My flabber has never been so gasted! By Graham Hill

If you like to drive a prestige car and have thought that owning is a much better option consider the Bentley GT Coupe owner whose car is now depreciating at £500 more per week more than it did 12 months ago which means, according to trade newspaper Fleet News that it has depreciated by more than £67,000 in its first year, that’s a staggering 56% off its new price of £120,000. Who said that owning a car is the best option?? By Graham Hill

What would you really like to drive? Over the years I have helped many thousands of businesses and individuals to drive ‘better’ cars. For some a ‘better’ car has actually been the car of their dreams, for others it has meant a lot more car for their budget and for others the car they had planned on driving but for much less money. Every client has different aspirations and there are of course Read more »

Motoring costs have increased by 19% in the last year according to the RAC’s Annual Cost of Motoring Index. The average cost of running a family car has increased to £2,435, an increase of £277. This equates to £47 per week or 20.3 pence per mile. The index found that depreciation, which is causing major problems for rental and leasing companies is on average £826 more per year. The happy bunnies at the RAC have predicted that costs will rise further with volatile fuel prices and the uncertain economic climate. By Graham Hill