Should You Use A Dealer Or Broker For Car Finance?

Wednesday, 2. November 2011

A few days ago I had a very interesting chat with a referred client. He had always obtained his cars from dealerships in the belief that this was the best way to do it. He had moved from HP to PCP as it removed the risk in the resale value of the car. His last two cars, funded on PCP, were simply handed back to the leasing company as they weren’t worth the Read more »

Understanding Vehicle Finance To Save Money

Sunday, 2. October 2011

We need a debate about this or a discussion about that, it’s all we seem to hear these days from the mouths of politicians. The banks aren’t lending – we need more sources of finance! This is the clarion call of the coalition but in truth it’s all around us, sources of finance I mean. We don’t need debates, discussions or more sources of finance it’s all Read more »

Where To Get Insurance For Leased Vehicles

Thursday, 22. September 2011

A constant problem when customers take out a lease agreement is insurance. You have to cover your car with fully comprehensive insurance. If other drivers will drive the vehicle they must also be covered by the policy and if the vehicle is used for business this must be covered also. The problem is where to go. I still find it amazing that I have Read more »

Lease Industry Contracts As Takeovers Announced

Thursday, 4. August 2011

BMW Logo in Düsseldorf Hellerhof: Hans Branden...

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Alphabet is the fleet management division of BMW and a company that I have criticised for using some somewhat dodgy PCP type schemes to avoid the full legal rights that a consumer would have within a traditional PCP type scheme. The latest news is that they are expanding by taking over ING Car Lease in order to expand as a multi brand Read more »

Experts Explain Why Low Lease Rates Should Be Avoided

Sunday, 24. July 2011

If you are a regular reader of my postings you know that I rage on about simply taking the cheapest lease rate. In a recent article in Fleet News I found that I wasn’t the only one holding these views, most of the leasing companies do also. In fact it seems that the reason why many large lessors have pulled out of the broker market is that they don’t Read more »

How Do You Value A Used Car?

Thursday, 9. June 2011

What’s my car worth? I’m often asked this question by drivers who have the option to buy the car that they have been driving for the last 2 or 3 years from the leasing company. I have to say there is no definitive answer, to think that you can simply open a book, check the model and year, adjust the value for a higher or lower mileage than average mileage Read more »

Why Companies Are Turning To Contract Hire

Tuesday, 7. June 2011

Vince Cable MP addressing a Liberal Democrat c...

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One of the biggest challenges faced by businesses and consumers is access to finance. Vince Cable, Business Secretary, appeared before MP’s recently and strongly expressed his disappointment that the banking industry was still not honouring its pledge to lend more money to businesses. Referring to British Banking Association (BBA) figures he Read more »

Lease Advertisers Are Not Usually Leasing Companies

Sunday, 15. May 2011

I seem to cover this subject frequently but in case you have only recently started to see my newsletter/blog let me explain the relationship between the person advertising lease deals on the Internet, dealers and you. First of all the people advertising on the Internet, often called something like amazingcarleasing.co.uk are not actually leasing Read more »

Update On International Changes To Lease Accounting

Saturday, 14. May 2011

For those that are keen to learn about the latest developments in accounting rules applied to leases, you need to get out more! As an accountant myself I guess I’d better take a few lines to get you up to speed, I’m sure someone must be interested. The main change proposed by the two main accounting boards, the IASB and the FASB, is the recording of Read more »

Take The Cheapest Lease Rate And Pay The Price

Thursday, 17. March 2011

There’s no such thing as a free lunch! What a load of bull, of course there is, I’ve had plenty over the years and I’ve not been expected offer my body up as a sacrifice or pledge in blood only to use the generous host’s product for ever more but more people are understanding the significance of the expression when applied to lease rates. Go with the cheapest Read more »