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I was talking to an insurance broker recently and he was explaining that because of the competitive nature of the comparison sites the insurance companies are doing everything to keep premiums as low as possible. One of the tricks they use, I reported a couple of weeks ago, has been to vastly increase charges and fees so that they don’t have to increase premiums, the other is of course to avoid payouts wherever Read more »

Graham Hill’s in depth car review focuses on the new version of the Bug, or to give it the full name, VW Beetle. It’s one of those cars you either love or hate and, I have to say, I fall into the latter group. Like me, VW have found that the Bug appeals more to the ladies, so to try and balance things up they have made it look more butch(ish). To me it still looks like a Bug with about as much appeal as a breadstick. But what do I know, I’m sure this car of the people will have certain women and an Read more »

Could sun roofs be on the way back? Since many entry level cars have been fitted with air conditioning, that quirky feature, pretty much a British thing, the sunroof, has been dropped from the spec. of many cars. But could we see its return following the launch of the new Mercedes SLK next year? The first car to have the folding steel roof will now be fitted with an amazing sunroof which has the ability to go dark or clear at the touch of a button. It’s called Magic Sky Control. The glass is Read more »

You’ll probably be pleased to hear that over the next 10 years there’s going to be a £32 billion programme of replacing ageing electricity cables and gas pipes across the UK. As a result the AA has proposed that the utility firms should be charged the moment they start digging up roads as a sort of lane rental in order to speed up the work and limit the inconvenience to road users. Edmund King, president of the AA said, ‘Governments have procrastinated for a quarter of a century. With £32 billion Read more »

I have mixed views over my next piece. You see over the years I have recommended to clients that they make use of the law wherever they can to save money. One area that I have heavily promoted is covered by sections 99 and 100 of the Consumer Credit Act, better known as Voluntary Termination, whereby once you have paid half the total cost of the finance, you can simply hand the car back to the HP provider and they have to stand any loss between what would normally be required to Read more »

Electric vehicles are too quiet! I mentioned this in one of my very early articles about the introduction of electric vehicles. With no engine, only a fairly quiet motor, electric vehicles could pose a danger to pedestrians and cyclists. Modec, manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles has said that of all the vehicles built over the past 3 years, only one customer, Royal Mail, has asked for noise awareness equipment to be fitted. They say this is because the vans are being used in large hangers so Read more »

I loved the story about those responsible for vehicle fleets attending the recent Fleet Van conference. These people are all responsible for making sure that drivers act lawfully and adhere to all areas of vehicle, driver and employee legislation. But whilst they were listening to the speakers, ATS Euromaster had nipped out to the car park with their tread gauges and checked all the vehicles. The attendees were then confronted by the fact that 9% of the vehicles were given Red Tyre warnings. This 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 »

Oh dear, oh dear oh dear! When are people going to start treating car finance as a specialist product and one that must be very carefully considered before taking it out rather than a tin of beans that they can tout around online to see whether Tesco have them on offer this week or are they cheaper at Asda? There are three major comparisons to be made when deciding upon the finance that you are going to take out. Read more »

The Graham Hill review of the week is on two cars following the re-birth of Lotus, one of my favourite car makers of all time. Probably because my namesake drove for them when he started his motor racing career and won his second world F1 title in his famous Lotus 49. Anyway, after returning to F1, Lotus have now launched the new Esprit and Elise at the Paris Motor Show (along with Elan, Elite, Eterne and a Read more »