Graham Hill’s Gadget Of The Week – Low Cost Custom Carpets

Tuesday, 27. May 2014

Whilst customers make lease decisions based on headline rates and will argue over 50pence per month there is increased pressure on dealers to save money in order to provide reduced on the road costs. One of life’s irritations for me and some customers is the removal of carpet mats from the standard spec of some executive cars in order to reduce costs.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The problem then is – do you go to the main dealer and pay up to £180 for a set of mats or nip down to Halfords for a set of one size fits all mats at less than a quarter of the price but with the Halfords mats not fitting as well as the manufacturer’s tailored mats? The answer is neither. A company called Richbrook have brought out a range of tailored mats to fit more than 17,000 models of car.

Buyers can select from a range of colours, patterns, piping and textures to match their car. The range also includes 3mm thick rubber mats. All mats come in a set of 4 and are finished with a backing of abrasive rubber to prevent movement. Model specific fixing points can be added if required. The cost just £39.99. You can see them online at www.richbrook.co.uk Definitely my product of the week. By Graham Hill

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The Added Cost Of Stop/Start Technology

Tuesday, 3. December 2013

Stop/start is an energy saving method that is now being fitted into more and more new cars as it saves fuel and cuts emissions. Great news. I have it on my car and although I had intensions of switching the damn thing off (which you can do on most cars) I am now used to it and it doesn’t cause any difficulty whatsoever.

It means when I am stop start in the middle of a town or attempting to crawl round the biggest car park in the UK, commonly known as the M25, my fuel consumption doesn’t drop to single figures. But one thing I didn’t mention in my ‘lease a new car vs HP a used car’ series of articles was the increased cost of service and maintenance due to this new technology. I hadn’t realised but the cars fitted with stop/start technology need a much tougher battery than those fitted in a standard car.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

English: Halfords at the Ocean Park retail par...

English: Halfords at the Ocean Park retail park in Portsmouth. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And to make matters worse, until recently you could only buy replacement batteries from main dealers. I only found all this out when I read that Halfords are now able to fit replacement batteries into cars with stop start technology. The reason for the delay was that they needed to invest in new diagnostic equipment for its branches and be able to provide suitable replacement batteries.

Dave Poulter, head of trading at Halfords said that Halfords were the first national retailer to sell and fit the new Yuasa batteries at a cost of between £175 – £200 a go! Mr Poulter went on to explain that their prices were between 20% and 40% lower than main dealers. Kwik fit stated that are also able to replace batteries in stop/start cars with AGM batteries designed for stop/start cars.

So as this new technology expands so does the cost of service and maintenance. Another reason to lease a new car.

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Drivers Spend Less On Servicing

Friday, 12. August 2011

Halfords at the Ocean Park retail park in Port...

Image via Wikipedia

Halfords drop in sales of car parts (down 2.8%) and car accessories (down 10.6%) during the second quarter of 2011 have been blamed on increased fuel costs. Their CEO, David Wild explained the situation by suggesting ‘When you are seeing the scale of fuel price increases that we are, it is inevitable that customers will look for ways to save money.’ It Read more »

How To Prevent Fuel Theft

Saturday, 21. May 2011

Something I’ve reported upon before is the increase in fuel theft but with the latest increase in cost at the pumps the number of thefts is increasing again. Farmers, heating oil and tankers have long been the targets of organised thieves but with an average family car holding around 60 litres of fuel this can represent about £80 (more if diesel) to regular Read more »

Warnings Issued About Avoiding Car Servicing To Save Money

Friday, 6. May 2011

Halfords at the Ocean Park retail park in Port...

Image via Wikipedia

Halfords have warned drivers about making sure they don’t cut costs in the area of servicing their cars. Obviously they would as they are suffering substantial drops in turnover but the serious side is that cars are probably getting quite dangerous if they aren’t being serviced. Chief Executive at Halfords said that their engineers were seeing cars turn up Read more »

Top Passers Of MOT Tests Revealed

Sunday, 26. September 2010

LET`S PLAY - SPOT THE CAR - 3
Image by CARLOS62 via Flickr

Halfords owned Nationwide Autocentres has revealed the top ten 3 year old cars and 5 year old cars to pass the MOT amongst the UK’s best selling cars. This information is normally very hard to find so Halfords have pretty much broken ranks by revealing the information that I print out below: 

3 Year Old Cars % Fail
BMW 3 Series 7
VW Golf 11
Ford Mondeo 12
Ford Fiesta 13
Ford Focus 13
Renault Clio 13
Vauxhall Astra 14
Ford KA 15
Vauxhall Corsa 20
Renault Megane 25

 

5 Year Old Cars % Fail
Ford Fiesta 20
VW Golf 21
Vauxhall Astra 21
Ford Focus 22
Peugeot 206 24
Ford Mondeo 27
Peugeot 307 33
Renault Clio 34
Renaukt Megane 35
Vauxhall Corsa 39

The figures were based on the top 10 selling cars during the year of manufacture according to Halfords. One or two surprises there I have to say but it would be interesting to see stats for all cars, not just the top sellers, now that would be revealing! Are you surprised by any of the figures, drop me a note? By Graham Hill

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What Do People Argue About Whilst Driving?

Tuesday, 3. August 2010

What do you think the main reason is for having a row in a car? Halfords surveyed those that were on their mailing list and two thirds responded and admitted that it was poor navigation or the getting lost that led to the worst rows. Whilst 80% of women argued that it was the lack of planning by their partners that led to the row the same point was argued by 65% of men. The second biggest cause was the continuing Read more »

Graham Hill Guide To Deciding On A New Car

Wednesday, 7. July 2010

One of the things that continues to amaze me is the lack of attention that some people pay to the new car they are about to order. Some of this is actually caused by me and my colleagues by occasionally coming up with a deal that you can’t refuse, making the decision a bit of a no brainer but it is still a good idea to get a test drive of a car that you are likely to order. It is also important to check for certain items that for Read more »

How Dangerous Is The Inside Of Your Car?

Monday, 5. July 2010

I have warned before about the unhealthy state of steering wheels. Often when people clean their cars they completely forget the steering wheel, considered to hold more germs than a toilet but a new report from the Government’s Health Protection Agency suggests that there is much more to worry about. They have found that legionella, the microbe that causes lethal Legionaire’s disease, breeds in stagnant and Read more »