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Car Radio (Photo credit: nedrichards)

You know when you are on your computer and you start searching for holidays then by the magic of technology every time you open a page or carry out a search for something else you suddenly see holiday ads flash in front of you on the screen?

Well the same is about to happen on your radio. Instead of hearing general ads during programmes you will start to hear targeted ads.

Known as Aha Radio they say that instead of you hearing an ad for We Buy Any Car.Com you could hear we’ll buy your car for £8,900 based on your car being a 2007 BMW 320d with 80,000 miles on the clock, which of course is your car.

The new radio is in fact an Internet platform that will be bundled into infotainment systems in new cars from Porsche, Mazda and Ford so far. Their aim is to target the customers as they do on the Internet rather than scattergun.

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 ad breaks will be tailored based on the car you are driving, where you are going and where you are. For example it will detect that you are about to pass a branch of Starbucks and alert you to any deals going on at the time.

Safety experts might have something to say about this as it might prove to be a major distraction. A clever idea though. By Graham Hill Car Finance

English: 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car at the 2011 Washington Auto Show (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google led the way in the US by gaining permission to test their driverless cars on public roads. We are now about to follow suit with the Government giving permission for driverless cars to be tested on public roads in the UK, preferably somewhere in the North as I live in the Sarf.

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.

Researchers at Oxford University have been co-developing autonomous car tech with Nissan for some time and have already tested a prototype based on a Leaf (that’s their electric car not something hanging off a tree) on private roads and test tracks.

The announcement means that they will be able to carry out more extensive tests on quiet rural and suburban roads although to begin with they will have to test with a back-up driver as a safety precaution. By Graham Hill Car Finance

Related articles

• Report: UK to begin testing driverless cars in bid to ease congestion (autoblog.com)

Highways Agency Traffic Officers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It would seem that the Government is being a little bit sly. There is a bit of a hole into which the Government is going to have to pour a ton of cash before too long. In fact there isn’t just one hole there are thousands of them and not just any hole but pot holes.

It is a real headache for the Government but it will have to be addressed if the whole of the roads infrastructure isn’t to come to a halt or it causes a major catastrophe. The Government seems to have a solution because many of the delays don’t seem to be the lack of funds but unworkable civil service rules.

So Stephen Hammond, Transport Minister, announced that the Highways Agency will become a publically owned corporation. This move will free it from red tape and ensure funding going forward.

As a publically owned company it can be scrutinised more effectively. It can also offer better incentives to staff. The move is part of £28bn funding for UK roads and accounts for 8 years of funding up to 2021 ensuring at least 6 years of financial certainty.

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.

In the past funding has been on an annual basis, not good for making plans into the future, so this will allow them to plan ahead. The funding will also be protected against future governments wanting to cut this allocation.

There are fears that this could ultimately lead to the further privatisation of the Highways Agency and eventually lead to toll roads and other road charges so we need to keep an eye on this one!

Oh and in order to sort out the pot holes £12bn of the funding is set aside for re-surfacing and maintenance, half of which will be spent on Motorways and A Roads. It sounds good but as always the proof is in the eating. By Graham Hill Car Finance

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• RAY MASSEY: How the Government is teeing up the Highways Agency for future privatisation… just not before the election (thisismoney.co.uk)

Peugeot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the financial problems weren’t enough it would seem that Citroen and Peugeot need to sort their cars out, or more importantly their electrics, according to a new report prepared by BBA Reman – a specialist in remanufacturing problematic electrical components (no I don’t know what that means either), based in Rochester, Kent.

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.

They say that they dealt with more Citroens than any other make of car among its 43,500 UK customers. The most common fault was within the ECU’s fitted mainly to C4’s and C5’s.

The same issue caused Peugeot to fall into 2^nd place with the same problem occurring in 206, 307 and 407. Whilst some would say that this isn’t surprising given the difficulties faced by the manufacturers, they may be surprised to learn that contrary to belief that Germans are the most reliable VW and Audi were 3^rd and 4^th respectively. Maybe a bit of a wakeup call there! By Graham Hill Car Finance

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• Peugeot: European car sales will continue to fall (inautonews.com)

Now I know this will cause you to roll about the floor in fits of hysterics but I actually have a soft spot for French cars. No seriously – it’s true. They tend to be ultra comfy, have lots of gadgets and occasionally look a little bit tasty/different.

I remember a Renault 25 V6i that I had years ago. At the time Renault were consistently winning the touring car championship and supplied many of the F1 engines but more than the fact that the engineering was amazing it actually had a graphic equaliser built into the centre console! How brilliant was that? And with seats thicker than the average armchair it was a delight to drive.

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.

So I was unhappy to read that the French manufacturers are struggling badly. As was recently reported PSA Peugeot Citroen’s finances are in a mess. The group is ‘burning’ 200 million Euros (£172m) every month and sales are not strong. The French Government has already loaned the group 7 billion Euros (£6.03bn) and are now represented on the board but long term the group needs a new industrial and financial partner.

GM has a 7% stake but is showing no appetite to invest further. Rumours obviously involve China with a hot favourite DongFeng (no I haven’t either), but there has been no official comment. In the meantime PSA will continue to bounce along with a grave lack of direction. I for one hope they turn things around. By Graham Hill Car Finance

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• French Government Said It Seeks Investment Bank for PSA (inautonews.com)

English: No Parking Minster Yard Double Yellow Lines or a worn single. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Eric Pickles MP, Conservative Party Conference, 30 September 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That very cheery Conservative, Eric Pickles MP has a great idea – according to him. He is about to re-invigorate the high street and by doing so annoy the Lib Dem’s and win the next general election.

His proposal, not quite thought through yet, is to allow vehicles to legally park on certain double yellow lines from 5-15 minutes before they receive a fine, clamp or are towed away.

Now for those like Eric and I who are a little on the portly side, being able to nip out from the car and buy a diet Coke and low fat packet of crisps without a warden slapping a ticket on the windscreen would of course be a Godsend. Not least it would save the walk from the multi-story to the shop expending energy unnecessarily, who needs it?

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.

But as much as it appeals I have to say Eric, I think it will be a disaster. Selecting the places where parking will be allowed will be a nightmare as will the policing of it. Assuming of course that the double yellows were put there for a reason in the first place, i.e. to keep traffic flowing, it could cause gridlock or be dangerous for pedestrians.

As for winning the election Eric, I can’t imagine queues at the ballot box waiting to stick their cross in the Tory  box in order to get double yellow line parking. Nice try though! By Graham Hill Car Finance

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• Drivers to be able to park on double yellow lines (itv.com)

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a man of reasonable logic, I speak my mind and stir up debate. As was said about me in Motor Finance, ‘As readers of his work and this publication will know, Hill always has a contentious opinion and is one of the most recognisable people at industry events, if only for the argument going on around him.’

That last bit might have more to do with my Rod Stewart style hair cut but that aside I’m totally confused by the new Consumer Credit changes that will be imposed by the new body, known as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in 2014. I have just read a long article in Credit Today in which it gives a flavour of the proposals and the responses from the industry.

Now we all know that the credit industry in this country, indeed around the world, is imperfect and in dire need of change. There is a huge education void, illustrated by the fact that my simple guide to car finance is still the only proper guide to car finance available in the UK when half the bloody population has a car and all of those cars will be financed at least once during their life.

I applauded the fact that many issues were to be addressed such as irresponsible lending and dubious collection techniques which are still being employed. But when the whole of the credit industry seems to agree that the new regulations are ‘nothing to worry about’ the new authority hasn’t done its job right.

For example Andrew Smith of debt management company, ClearDebt believes that the prudential capital requirement, if it goes ahead ‘Will not be too onerous’. Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association is said to have uttered, ‘There is nothing in the consultation document that gives him cause for concern.’

With others making similar noises I question whether the Government has got it right? With the introduction of a new regulatory controller I would expect them all to be ‘bricking it’ not ordering up another G & T. I don’t intend giving details of the proposals unless I think they are relevant but I despaired at a comment from Hamblin-Boone, bear in mind that the changes to be introduced are described as a new ‘risk based approach to lending’.

OK, got that? Now to me that suggests that the lenders have been lending irresponsibly and instead of concentrating on collecting toxic debts a new approach to lending is required in order to prevent the bad debt in the first place.

Agreed? Hamblin Boone is reported as saying: When considering the impact on the wider market he believes that consumers are likely to remain unaffected by the regulator’s high risk/ low risk approach. He says, ‘I don’t think there will be any less provision of credit but consumers will have much more confidence in the providers of consumer credit.’

So summing up, huge amounts of money are about to be spent on a new regulatory body that will have zero effect on lending. What a load of bullsh*t. Watch out for the launch of my new revealing book APR – A Simple Guide. That will certainly throw the cat amongst the pigeons! By Graham Hill

Today I have my book launched as a paperback on Amazon. This simple guide,  covering how to prepare for finance through the different methods, including personal loans and leasing. Finally it explains what you should do if anything goes wrong. It is written in the same way as I explain it, simple and straight forward. It won’t win literary awards but it will help you to drive a better car than you ever thought possible. In order to buy a copy please click below:

Any questions you may have please let me know and I’ll do my best to help. Graham Hill

Is it about time to move away from MPG to MPL? For the last 20 years we’ve been buying fuel by the litre but continued to measure fuel consumption by the gallon, it doesn’t make a lot of sense and a third of all drivers seem to agree, according to the AA who surveyed 21,450 motorists. The AA also agreed that they also felt that mpg was Read more »

When my kids were young they could think of nothing more exciting on a trip than to be dropped into the boot of the car with a couple of cushions, a tube of Smarties each and a torch. These days you have to spend a fortune of Isofix adapted forward and backward baby seats followed by specially adapted seatbelts and child seats until they reach 22 Read more »