Car Dealers Trying It On Again!

Thursday, 2. December 2010

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Auto Express recently carried a story, explaining how Stephen Larkin from Newcastle ordered a Skoda in March and was told that delivery would be delivered by early July at the latest. After passing this date he decided to cancel the order and wrote to the dealer saying he wanted to cancel the order as they hadn’t delivered the car and asked for his £1,000 deposit back. He sent numerous letters and calls to the dealer without joy along with no help from Skoda, all they said was that it was down to Read more »

Can End Of Lease Payments Affect Your Credit?

Sunday, 28. November 2010

I had an interesting chat with a lawyer friend of mine a few days ago. He had returned a lease car at the end of the agreement and received a bill for the repair work that he was angry about for a few reasons. As far as he was concerned, the work was either unnecessary, as a result of fair wear and tear, or the charges were too high for the work required. Read more »

Graham Hill Slams BBC Over Misleading Programme

Saturday, 27. November 2010

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 02:  A BBC logo adorns...
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There was a programme on the BBC on Thursday 25th November called Rip-off Britain. In the first part a couple bought a used car that broke down within a few miles of driving it off the forecourt. This is clearly wrong and the buyer was entitled to his money back but it seemed that lack of assistance from Trading Standards meant that the buyer accepted what the dealer said and sold the car on at a loss. It’s a disgrace. The RMIF representative stated that there are 9 million used cars changing hands Read more »

How Dangerous Is Your Warranty Insurance?

Saturday, 14. August 2010

If you are looking to take out an aftermarket vehicle warranty (that’s a warranty that you take out when the manufacturer’s warranty has run out) you can check to see if the provider has signed into the code of practice provided by the auto watchdog Motor Codes, unless it’s an AA warranty and I can tell you that they aren’t. The code was set up to help customers by ensuring that the warranties provided by the warranty Read more »

When Is A Car Warranty Not A Warranty?

Thursday, 5. November 2009

In a recent case, exposed in What Car a lady experienced a sunroof leak in her 2 year old Mondeo. She made a claim on Ford under her warranty agreement but was told that water ingress was not covered by her 3 year warranty beyond the first year but they made an offer to cover 30% of the repair cost and the dealer was prepared to cut his labour rate. The suggestion from What Car was to push for a bigger Read more »

Why Are 2 Year Contract Hire Rates So High?

Monday, 10. August 2009

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 »

Amazing Ombudsman Powers To Settle Car Finance Disputes

Friday, 7. November 2008

This item is probably one of the most significant items that I have ever written about consumer rights, something I am passionate about. It will be worth cutting and pasting into a secure file as a reference point in the future should you or anyone you know experience problems. The case I am about to refer to is to do with pension advice provided by a financial advisor but according to Greg Standing, partner in Wragge & Co LLP’s Finance, Insolvency, Recoveries and Sales Team, the Court of Appeal ruling has far reaching affects and is Read more »