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Business Car magazine has identified the top 5 causes of road accidents attributed to vehicle defects. Their investigation revealed the following:

Brakes                                     37%

Tyres                                       30%

Steering or Suspension            17%

Lights or Indicators                  9%

Vehicle Or Trailer Overload     7%

So there you have it, make sure that you take care of the above or risk an accident. By Graham Hill

The cars on our roads that cover highest mileage have always tended to be company cars. They are nearly always new and are subject to some very stringent controls, imposed upon the drivers by the employers. As a result our roads tend to be much safer as the cars are properly maintained.

However, since the real world (WLTP) emissions tests that were carried out last year we have seen an increase in declared CO2 emissions across most makes and models of cars. This meant that drivers suddenly saw increases in BIK tax whilst driving identical replacement cars. The Government promised to address the problem and make adjustments to bandings so that drivers didn’t suffer.

Sadly that hasn’t happened so we are seeing a move by drivers away from company cars towards car allowance with many of these drivers preferring to drive higher powered 2^nd hand prestige cars than say 1.0L Mondeos. This has meant that companies no longer have the tight controls over the service and maintenance of cars used by their drivers.

The employers are still responsible but as they no longer have the same level of control, servicing may not be in line with manufacturers recommendations and when employees realise the cost of maintaining prestige used cars maintenance may drop off making cars less safe.

The Government has replied to complaints by the industry that they have broken a promise by saying that the increase in BIK tax will encourage drivers and companies to run lower emission cars. But as we are seeing the drivers are pushing employers to move to car allowances which can lead to less safe roads and by taking used prestige cars the environment will also suffer.

According to Fleet News the rate of employees opting out of company cars for cash is ‘at the highest we’ve seen’. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. By Graham Hill

Auto Express has managed to find out that police and council ANPR cameras take 10 billion images each year generating 203 million hits on ‘vehicles of interest’. Police cameras are used to detect and track criminals whilst the council cameras are used to detect parking and road infractions.

This means that the local councils in England, Scotland and Wales have used their cameras to generate £472 million in local authority fines over the last 5 years using motorists to boost their struggling bank accounts. Given the continued strain on budgets, local councils will no doubt use this cash cow opportunity so you should be very wary that even though you may not see a policeman or traffic warden big brother will know if you break the law.

When ANPR cameras were introduced their intention was to assist the police in law enforcement but they have since been extended for the use of councils to generate income. Action group, Big Brother Watch explain, this is ‘constant monitoring of innocent motorists’, with no clear legal basis. Tony Porter, the Government’s surveillance camera commissioner warned that the UK’s ANPR network operates with ‘limited democratic oversite’. He also feels that the network ‘must surely be one of the largest data gatherers of its citizens in the world’.

That doesn’t create a problem if the cameras are used to fight crime but concerns exist over the number of images retained and the use they are put to beyond crime fighting. The most active police cameras are in the West Midlands with nearly 900 million scans each year with 24 million hits on vehicles of interest. Bottom of the top 10 is Dyfed-Powys with 414 million scans with 10.5 million hits on vehicles of interest.

The London Borough of Barnet collected around £38.3 million in fines by issuing 347,000 tickets as a result of ANPR imaging. Glasgow was next with 567,000 tickets raising £33.9 million in fines. London seems to be most popular with 6 of the top 10 ANPR-generated council fines over the last 5 years being in London boroughs.

And things will potentially get worse as the cost of the cameras has dropped dramatically. You can even buy them on eBay for around £200. I would suggest that the current figure of 8,768 cameras installed nationally will grow substantially over the next few years.

It is also my belief that as the Government starts to lose revenue as a result of drivers moving across to hybrid and electric, resulting in a drop in petrol and diesel tax income, they will then charge for road use which will make ANPR essential for charging and proof that cars have entered a charge zone. Time will tell. By Graham Hill

According to industry experts, car manufacturers are getting so caught up in the race to launch new technology, they aren’t giving enough thought to, or guidance on, repairability.

This is resulting in increased costs and increased time taken in repairs and, in some cases, vehicles being written-off when they should be repairable. Long vehicle off-road times could also have implications for companies and drivers with regard to benefit-in-kind tax.

Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer at Thatcham Research, said cars are being brought to market without methods of repair being released. In one instance, repair methods were still not available six months after a car’s launch.

“Inevitably there is huge competition in the car market and technology is moving so fast it is in the interests of the car manufacturers to offer new features as quickly as possible. They’re always trying to compete with their rivals but, if there is nobody keeping a check on it, then things like reparability can lose their importance,” he said.

Terry Gibson, head of member services at the Independent Garage Association, said it was “not uncommon” for repair methods not to be available from launch, although the issue had been improving over time.

However, while it wouldn’t be a major issue for independent garages carrying out simple repairs, it could potentially delay crash repairs where a bodyshop would not proceed without a repair method from the manufacturer.

Thatcham wants to put reparability “back on the agenda” this year, starting with tackling “unnecessary” issues, particularly with electric vehicles (EVs), said Billyeald.

“You can have a relatively minor parking impact in which you might have done a bit of damage to the bumper or some of the panels –hitting a bollard, for example – and that then trips the fuse in the battery which then requires you to remove the battery and to reset it. Suddenly a £1,000 claim becomes an £8,000 claim – just unnecessary,” he said.

The cost of replacing batteries in EVs can also mean that a vehicle becomes uneconomical to repair, although, to put this into perspective the same would undoubtedly be true should a diesel or petrol engine require replacing.

Billyeald said that while the battery will not be damaged in every impact, when damage does occur, the battery has to be replaced “in pretty much every case”, unlike a petrol or diesel engine.

“It very much depends on whether it is a hybrid or a full EV but the (battery) price range is £6,000 up to £30,000,” he said, the price differential ranging from, for example, a Nissan Leaf to a long-range Tesla.

By comparison, it would typically cost between £5,000 and £10,000 to fit a new internal combustion engine (ICE). And in the case of an ICE you could fit a re-conditioned engine.

The bigger issue comes with the need to disconnect the battery when carrying out repairs, a situation experienced recently by Zip Water fleet manager Graham Short. In an article by Fleet News he explained, “I had a Volkswagen Golf GTE where the driver caught the wheel arch on a post; it was minor damage,” Short said. “It went into an accident repairer and they said ‘it’s got to go to VW to have the battery disconnected’.

We had to book it in with VW, who couldn’t do it for more than a week. The vehicle went in, the battery was disconnected and it was transported back to the bodyshop for the repair to be carried out. Then guess what? It had to be brought back to VW to be reconnected. The car was off the road for about two months just for minor damage.”

A Volkswagen spokesperson was “unable to comment” on Short’s experience but said that around 98% of its dealer network can repair an EV and can deactivate the high voltage system, if it’s not damaged.

If damaged, this may need the assistance of a specialist from one of 15 retailer-based battery repair sites or Volkswagen’s technical service centre in Milton Keynes.

The centres have been set up to complete more complex battery repair methods using the latest diagnostic equipment and highly-skilled Volkswagen technicians (known as high voltage experts). So much for making the servicing and maintenance of cars a level playing field.

Volkswagen said that if the batteries are physically damaged then most would need to be replaced but each repair is treated on a case-by-case basis. The spokesperson added that repair methods are available at launch for each new model.

Short has also experienced issues with parts availability – a problem which could become more widespread in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

“We had a Nissan e-NV200 hit while parked,” Short said. “It was not a big repair, but the van was off the road for a similar length of time because the parts could only be obtained from Japan.”

A Nissan spokesperson said: “Supply of parts for EV models is similar to any other ICE vehicle. We can experience pressure points, as do all manufacturers, but we encourage dealers to notify us of cases involving vehicles off the road so they can be prioritised.”

On the issue of EV reparability, “every Nissan dealer must be able to diagnose, service and repair electric vehicles”, the spokesperson said, and “depending on the diagnoses, battery functioning can be re-established by replacing individual modules, the battery casing or the entire battery”.

Checking EV battery health, meanwhile, is “a straightforward five-minute operation with the Consult diagnostic tool used by Nissan dealers across Europe”. Service and repair manuals are “published at the start of sales and updated regularly as required”, added the spokesperson.

While franchised dealers may be geared up to repair electric vehicles, it is “more challenging” for independents and the smaller bodyshops to invest in training and equipment, according to Billyeald.

“If they’ve got to buy equipment to cover all the manufacturers that’s a big ask,” he said.

This could potentially leave fleet operators with less choice about where their vehicles are repaired – figures from the FN50 show around 23% of leased cars and 33% of leased vans are repaired by independent workshops, which are typically cheaper than franchised dealers.

However, Gibson said: “More and more independent garages are embarking on training their technicians to service and repair hybrid and electric vehicles.

“This safeguards the business due to the potential risks associated with the high voltages within these vehicles and also presents them with business opportunities, differentiating them from local competitors.”

Fleet Assist, which provides leasing and rental companies with a network of 5,000-plus franchised and independent service outlets, said that “virtually all” have the capability to service and repair hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

Halfords Autocentres has trained 357 of its 1,500 technicians to IMI Level 2 in electric/hybrid vehicle maintenance, enabling it to service vehicles across its network of 316 autocentres.

Pete Marden, fleet director, said: “This training gives our technicians the confidence to work on these types of vehicles and access fault diagnosis to include battery performance via our Bosch KTS equipment.

“In July we introduced a new bespoke Halfords Hybrid Service offer to our customers. To date we have completed over 1,600 such services, around 1% of the total number of services over this period. This is above the percentage of penetration of electric vehicles within the market place so is proving a very successful alternative to the OEM dealer network for our customers.

“In the next financial year (April 2019 – April 2020) we plan to add the IMI Level 3 award in electric/hybrid vehicle system repair and replacement qualification to our training plans which will give us the added ability to repair these systems.”

However, given the relatively low number of hybrid and electric vehicles in the marketplace, a more pressing issue for repairers is that around 55% of new cars now have advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as autonomous emergency braking, fitted as standard.

These systems can use a combination of cameras, lasers and radars, which make repairs more complex and expensive, particularly if recalibration is required following an accident.

Fleet Assist head of network management Chris Crow said: “There is some marketplace confusion around which ADAS-equipped vehicles self-calibrate following windscreen replacement and which require recalibration.

“Automotive glazing is becoming more specialised through the technical nature of glass and many smaller businesses may not have the skillset, the ability to train staff or to invest in the recalibration equipment.

“That is resulting in a disconnect between glass fitment and the subsequent technical requirement for ADAS recalibration.

“In turn, that lack of clarity may lead to some fleets/drivers being confused as to when and where a vehicle should be recalibrated as some automotive glazing repairers have the capability to undertake the work, while others defer to franchised dealers. That could also result in a potential delay in the necessary work being undertaken as, once again, lead times have, in some cases, increased.”

Developments in headlight technology are also having an impact as they often have to be replaced rather than repaired when damaged.

Billyeald believes the increase in cost due to manufacturers moving from halogen to xenon technology a few years ago was “not unreasonable” but the recent proliferation of LED technology has made headlights “super expensive to replace”, particularly when matrix headlights, which dynamically move with the steering, are used.

“They give you fantastic visibility but, obviously, there are lots of moving parts and the costs are going up in line with that,” he said.

“We’ve seen huge price rises from £100 to a few thousand.”

This presents challenges for leasing companies and their customers.

Kit Wisdom, operations director at Tusker, told delegates at the BVRLA Industry Outlook event: “The broken headlamp at the end of contract could be £1,000-plus. The customer is not expecting that because that’s not what they’ve seen previously and, as an industry, we need to be better at communicating that.”

Jason King, managing director of Bayfield Vehicle Hire, added: “Low-level damage can spiral out of control. Something as simple as a chip in a windscreen can escalate to an £800 bill. We’re trying to understand ourselves why that is the case and then communicate that back to the customer.”

But it’s not just the technology in vehicles making repairs more difficult and expensive, it’s also the materials and joining techniques used by manufacturers as they strive to make vehicles lighter to meet strict emissions regulations.

Smart repairs can also be a contentious issue. Car manufacturers, in Billyeald’s view, can be “unreasonable” about where smart repairs are carried out on a vehicle fitted with sensors, which, again, can increase repair costs.

“We will be challenging vehicle manufacturers on that,” he said.

Gibson added: “There are instances where the vehicle manufacturers set limits on the type and areas of repair on bumpers to ensure safety systems continue to function as intended. This, on occasion, can lead to debate between garages and insurers, and garages and customers, due to the increased cost of having to replace a component that might otherwise have been a repairable proposition.”

Overall, repair bills rose 5% to £3 billion last year, with the average repair bill at £2,137, according to the latest data from the Association of British Insurers.

Costs are expected to increase further – the BVRLA Industry Outlook 2019 report predicts an average repair bill of £2,500, although some say it could be higher.

Tim Bailey, fleet director of Northgate Vehicle Hire, who worked in accident management prior to joining Northgate in March last year, said he was already seeing average costs of £2,500 and predicted it would “grow even higher than that” this year. He also expects more vehicle write-offs.

However, fleets should consider that, while repair costs are rising, they should see fewer crashes due to ADAS.

Billyeald said: “ADAS is all about preventing that crash or mitigating its impact so don’t just look at the cost, look at the overall picture – the number of write-offs and frequency of claims as well as the cost of them.”

Bayfield Vehicle Hire has already experienced the cost and safety benefits of ADAS.

King said: “We had one incident last year where one of our cars went into the back of an HGV. We thought the car would be written off, a total loss, and wondered how injured the passenger would be.

“But when we got in touch with the driver the passenger was all right and when we saw the vehicle it wasn’t too bad. That was partly down to the technology in the vehicle, the pre-collision braking had kicked in and taken over that situation. It could have easily been a total loss.”

BIK REDUCES WHEN CAR NOT AVAILABLE

Fleet managers need to keep a close eye on how many days a vehicle is off the road for BIK tax.

HMRC rules state that if a car is unavailable/off the road being repaired for a period of at least 30 consecutive days the chargeable benefit is reduced in proportion to the number of days during the year it was unavailable.

However, if the driver is in a courtesy car then BIK is charged as though their normal car was available without a reduction. The BIK charge may be adjusted where the replacement car is materially better than the normal car or the employee is provided with a better car under an arrangement.

Many thanks to Fleet News for the bulk of that article and the frightening warnings issued by the contributors. The dangers and cost to consumers and businesses is frightening. At the moment end of lease charges are not particularly high but the warning signs are there. Are we being overtaken by technology at the risk of making our cars far more disposable? Or leading to the bad old days of cut and shut, bodging repairs and putting lives in danger? Very sobering.

Graham Hill

Latest testing that has been carried out by German automobile club ADAC has shown that some diesel cars emit almost no NOx, during on-road testing – suggesting the latest models are as clean, if not cleaner than their petrol counterparts.

So has this been a conspiracy all along? A way for local authorities and the Government to screw diesel car drivers out of money after following Government advice and taking a diesel car then taxing them to the hilt based on flawed information?

In fact the latest diesel engines emit significantly less nitrous oxide (NOx) than the upcoming Real Driving Emissions 2 (RDE2) regulations will require, according to this new research.

Following stringent testing by ADAC they have discovered that some diesel cars emit almost no NOx, during their on-road testing – suggesting the latest models are not just as clean as their petrol counterparts – but cleaner!.

In January 2020, tougher RDE2 rules will be introduced, requiring all new models (not existing models) launched to achieve 80mg/km or less (60mg/km for petrol). This will be a part of Euro 6d.

A conformity factor for the on-road test will be allowed, meaning the actual limit is 114mg/km for diesels and 86mg/km for petrols – significantly higher than any of the vehicles tested by ADAC.

In January 2021, all cars sold (including current models) must achieve the more stringent figures. The conformity factor will be removed by 2023.

Current rules (RDE) require diesel cars to emit no more than 168mg/km of NOx, but the worst performing car tested by ADAC – the Honda Civic diesel – emitted just 101mg/km. Following the WLTP re-homologation exercise that took place in 2018, the introduction of RDE2 will require all car makers to re-test their entire model ranges with an on-road test.

Nearly all the cars tested by ADAC emitted less than 50mg/km and the Mercedes C220d had no NOx emissions at all. The Volkswagen Golf diesel performed exactly the same as the petrol version, emitting 14mg/km of NOx. The best performing petrol car, a Suzuki Ignis 1.2, emitted 3mg/km.

ADAC performed the tests using a portable emissions measurement device (PEMS), in the same way as the official test. Under the current company car tax rules, diesel vehicles that achieve RDE2 will not require the 4% diesel surcharge to be included in a drivers benefit-in-kind tax.

Currently, only the Mercedes A220d and B200d have been officially tested and approved under the regulations. Jaguar has confirmed that the XF range will feature RDE2 approved engines by the end of the year.

Diesel car NOx emissions, as tested by ADAC:

Petrol car NOx emissions, as tested by ADAC:

No doubt like me when I learned of the German tests I found it shocking. How many company car drivers are paying more in BIK tax than they should be and how many people are turning to petrol cars kicking out ozone destroying CO2 in the belief that they are better for the environment?

It’s a disgrace! By Graham Hill

You may think this is a daft question – simply replace the tyres that are worn – right? Front tyres generally wear out quicker than rears if your car is front wheel drive and rears wear quicker if rear wheel drive, so wouldn’t it be correct to replace the tyres that wear fastest with the new boots? No!

Most safety experts ignore the wear element or whether the car is front, rear or all wheel drive and suggest that you always put freshest tyres on the rear of the car. This is because if the car loses grip in a corner, it will either oversteer or understeer.

Unless you are an F1 fan you may not understand what this means. Understeer is when the front tyres lose grip in a corner causing the front of the car to slide out whilst oversteer means you lose grip at the back of the car, causing the rear of the car to swing out.

It’s actually easier to control a car that is understeering than one that is oversteering – simply slowing down should help to regain grip if the car is understeering. This is why it is important that you should maintain the greatest grip at the rear and fit your new tyres at the rear of the car. This will minimise the chance of potential oversteer and minimise the chance of a serious accident. Great advice eh! Graham Hill

I’ve mentioned the level of recalls that haven’t been carried out on many occasions but nothing seems to have been done to sort it out. Not all are critical so it’s worth explaining again the three levels of recall. The most dangerous is a ‘Stop Drive Recall’.

This is very rare and described as the equivalent to an aircraft being grounded That’s the official line but we’ve seen many instances of cars catching light and the manufacturers dragging their heels over a recall and even then not issuing a ‘Stop Drive Recall’.

The second and most common level is a ‘Safety Recall’. The line from the DVSA here is: ‘where a vehicle or component is deemed by our engineers, usually along with the manufacturers’ engineers, to present some safety risks’. Drivers can continue to use cars affected by a Safety Recall while waiting for the issue to be fixed – “Unless informed otherwise,” Neil Barlow of the DVSA explained.

The third level is less critical. The DVSA is sometimes involved in ‘non-code actions’ and ‘service campaigns’, where it will assist manufacturers in contacting owners regarding defects that do not present a serious safety risk.

The problem is that a large number of recalls remain outstanding which can put drivers, passengers and other road users’ lives at risk. It’s a disgrace. There are some that have suggested that recalls should be part of the MOT test and if there is an outstanding recall the car should fail. That’s fine but the first MOT isn’t due for 3 years so what happens in the meantime? I would suggest that recalls should be checked by those carrying out services.

At least there will be some checks before the car gets to 3 years old or possibly the road fund licence should be withheld if there is a recall outstanding. The reason why I’m raising this again is that BMW has just announced a recall on 1.6 million diesel cars that include 268,000 cars affected in the UK.

The risk is of fire as a result of the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system leaking coolant. In combination with the high temperatures present in the EGR module, this can result in smouldering soot particles. In turn, this could lead to a fire – in very rare cases.

The cars affected are 3 Series, 5 Series, saloon and estate, 4 Series and 6 Series Coupe’s and convertibles. The problem is that many of these cars won’t be taken to a dealer for the recall, either because the car has changed hands and the DVSA has failed to reach the new driver, or drivers have ignored the notice.

There could be other reasons but this should not stop the lawmakers making it an offence to continue to drive a car that could cause an accident. New laws are needed to make drivers more responsible when it comes to safety recalls. You can check to see if your car is subject to a recall by clicking this link: www.check-mot.service.gov.uk By Graham Hill