The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

I was talking to a client recently after he had been to a dealer for a test drive. Whilst there, he was shown a ‘pre-registered’ car that had just 10 miles on the clock and was £3,000 less than the list price. He was interested in the car and asked my advice and as this is quite a common occurrence I thought I would share the facts with readers of my blog. First of all there is no such thing as a pre-registered car with respect to dealers. This was made illegal by Stephen Byers at the time he was Trade & Read more »

Do you ever wonder why some friends, relations or work colleagues drive a better car than you? There is a very good reason – because they know more than you do! Want to know more than them? Then download my book and you could be one step better than them! You deserve to drive a great car. By Graham Hill

We’re getting to that time of year when I’m sure I’ll have plenty of reports relating to tyres but before we get into the summer/winter tyre debates a question has come up regarding speed ratings on tyres. When a car is new tyres are often fitted by the manufacturer that have a speed rating much higher than the car is capable of travelling. For example a car may be fitted with V rated tyres, safe to a speed of 149 miles per hour. The question is should the same tyres be fitted when they are due Read more »

I have always been mystified why the non wearing of seatbelts doesn’t attract points on the driver’s licence. You will receive a fixed penalty fine of £60 but no points for what is considered to be a serious road traffic offense. The Scottish Parliament thinks likewise and has now written to Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, pushing for a change in the law claiming that 19 road deaths could have been prevented in Scotland during 2009 if belts were worn. Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, Read more »

If you live in a rural area you could soon be getting more miles for your money as there are plans afoot to introduce a subsidy of 5p per litre in certain out of town areas. European competition rules mean that the proposal would have to receive backing from Brussels. Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, said motorists in the most remote parts of the country were being hit by a triple whammy of high fuel costs, poor public transport and having to travel long distances. The Read more »

Ford seems obsessed with their rear view mirrors. First (as I announced recently) they added an option to have a Sat Nav built into the mirror now they have the option of adding a rear camera with the screen in the mirror. Buyers of all models from the Edge to the Titanium will have the £475 option available that includes the camera, automatic headlamps and wipers, camera and rear parking sensors as well as the special rear view mirror. Good idea or potentially a distraction? What do you think? By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Ford Fiesta gets mirror-mounted rearview camera (gizmag.com)

Graham Hill’s gadget of the week is an app for iPhone and iPad. It provides traffic updates. The app provides details of congestion on the roads for a one-off fee. It is called UK Traffic and it sells for less than £2. It covers the whole of the UK with a map, route checker, incident list and traffic radio. You can search for delays en route, see them on a map and get info on how long the queue is, the length of the delay and even the cause. Live traffic radio can be paused and rewound to take a call or left playing in the background. Amazing value for money. By Graham Hill

Multi story car parks go 21^st century in Birmingham. German creator, Wohr, has built a valet multi story car park, without a valet. Cars are driven in through one of four access points by residents and after activating the system with the use of a transponder fob, the car is taken away by the machinery and stored in bays spread over 3 floors, all automatically. When the driver retrieves his car it is returned on a dolly that even turns the car round to be driven straight out in about 2 minutes. UK MD Read more »

What are the two most dangerous things that a motorist can do that could result in injury or death? Most people would assume this to be the two things that the government, media and safety organisations obsess over. Speeding and drink driving. We are about to be hit with a campaign regarding drink driving as we run up to Christmas and there seems to be a year round campaign to demonise those that speed. Read more »

If you ever drive into London along the M4 past Heathrow you will know only too well the frustration of sitting in a queue of traffic whilst the red bus lane is empty waiting for the odd taxi or bus to come zooming by. Of course if you dare to put a wheel into the bus lane a million cameras will provide the evidence necessary for you to receive a hefty fine. If this causes you frustration I have some good news for you Read more »