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Fleet News highlighted the problems faced by most of us in the industry this week as manufacturers try to resolve the problems they face attempting to get their cars through the WLTP (Worldwide harmonised Light vehicle Test Procedure). As cars are tested and fail the more stringent tests they are removed from the manufacturers’ price lists whilst they work on a ‘fix’.

They fix the problem, test it themselves, feel that the car is OK and back on the list they go ready for the next test. The car then fails again because the manufacturers haven’t been able to totally replicate the test conditions imposed on their cars at the test centres. So the car is removed from the price list again.

This means that some manufacturers have stopped taking orders and stopped production of some of their models altogether. Orders can’t be placed as the manufacturers can’t say when their cars will be approved and without knowing the cost of the modifications necessary to get them over the line they can’t set the list price.

Without the cost, they can’t calculate the new list price. Without the list price the leasing companies can’t release their rates – it’s a mess! As a result of all the confusion, one leasing company has decided to take all cars off their lease quoting system unless they have been WLTP approved. One of the reasons for this is the confusion caused over interim arrangements put in place to calculate benefit in kind tax for those driving company cars.

The rules tighten further from the 1^st September which means that if cars have not been approved under the WLTP rules they cannot be sold. This will, in theory, lead to a lot of cars being pre-registered in August at big discounts unless, like the rest of Europe, our Government allows an extension. This has led to uncertainty amongst those waiting to take out a new lease expecting some mega-deals in August.

This situation could well lead to some brilliant lease deals – but it may not. It’s a gamble that I won’t advise on when asked if customers should wait. What with the uncertainties of Brexit life is tough at the moment in the car industry and confusing for customers. By Graham Hill

It is now getting ridiculous. How long are we going to allow local Government to demonise diesel and force drivers to pay unfair penalties for driving cars that just a couple of years ago the Government was encouraging consumers and businesses to drive?

There is now little to choose between diesel and petrol cars when it comes to environmental damage. Last year saw CO2 output from cars rise for the first time since records began and for the first time in years we saw warnings issued about the damage that petrol cars could be causing to the Ozone layer as a result of increased CO2.

And with some particulate filters believed to allow zero soot emissions from the exhaust of diesel cars it seems ridiculous to demonise the cars and punish the drivers the way that local authorities do. London councils are leading the way when it comes to hating diesel cars (or loving them in terms of increased income).

Charging extra for older (pre-2005) cars to enter the central London congestion charge area may seem to make a little bit of sense but some boroughs charge premiums for parking permits for diesels irrespective of their age.

Merton charges an annual surcharge of £115 for all diesel cars, Islington is £99.65 and Hackney is £50. Kensington and Chelsea and Lambeth charge £43 and £40 respectively for pre-Euro 6 diesels. Camden and Barnet charge a surcharge on all diesels.

The problem is that this unjustified surcharge could well spread across the rest of the UK as local authorities see the opportunity to rip off diesel drivers and add to their income.  By Graham Hill

It seems that a lot of claims could be turned down because drivers aren’t making complete and honest returns on their insurance proposal forms.

Saying that a car is stored in a garage overnight when there isn’t enough space to store a bike in your garage could cause a claim to be rejected. It now seems that even silly things can lead to an insurance company rejecting a perfectly normal claim.

In some extreme examples, explained by one of my colleagues on Rip Off Britain, an insurer could reject a claim because you didn’t mention that the car was fitted with a tow bar or a roof or cycle rack. Even if the part fitted had nothing to do with the accident you could still have a claim thrown out.

The most ridiculous and extreme examples include the fixing of stickers and say company adverts or logos, regarded as ‘adjustments to the bodywork’. So be warned, better to advise than not. By Graham Hill

As you get older it’s pretty common knowledge that you become more grumpy. I like to think that I’m not grumpy but I probably am.

However, alongside being grumpy – or not in my case, I find myself worrying more about things around us than I ever did when I was younger.

I worry about the health service, possibly because I’m no doubt getting closer to the time when I could become reliant on it. I worry about our kids’ education and the way we don’t prepare them for the real world.

Kids should have better life skills such as opening a bank account, credit cards and how they work along with debt advice including car finance – right the way through to basic cooking skills, how to iron, get a passport and especially, with so many youngsters dying on our roads, attending a speed awareness course – BEFORE they start driving.

I worry about the environment and I worry about the disgraceful state of our roads. Accidents are happening daily as a result of poorly maintained roads but what are we doing about these avoidable accidents? Naff all.

The SMMT suggests that there are 37.7 million vehicles on our roads but I agree with Mike Rutherford who writes for Auto Express that if you take into account drivers on our roads driving cars that are unregistered and the many more foreign trucks delivering bits from Europe massively outnumbering the number of our trucks in Europe we probably have over 40 million vehicles on our roads?

We are not only running out of space but the roads we have are a disgrace with potholes big enough to drop an elephant into without it touching the sides. I know there are many other things to worry about but if we don’t get our roads in good repair and build new, wider roads the whole of our road transport system will come to a standstill. Having travelled on the M25 last week I think it already has! By Graham Hill

If you are old like me you will remember the days when you used to collect empty beer and soft drink bottles, take them to the off-licence or local shop and get a few pence for each returned.

In those days, of course, the bottles were re-used so it was good for us kids, boosting our pocket money, and good for the environment. I’m not sure if the creators of Britain’s first recycling reward bins had this old idea in mind but the principle is the same.

Each plastic or glass bottle or empty coffee cup that you put into the recycle bin, installed in the services in Maidstone in Kent, earns you a 5p voucher towards your cup of coffee. Researchers have measured the litter levels in the Kent service centre over the last 4 weeks and will compare the impact of the machines over the next 6 months.

If successful we will see them installed at many more sites. The trial is being run by environmental charity Hubbub and has been backed by Highways England. The company has calculated that litter thrown out by motorists costs taxpayers £8 million a year.

Wayne Moore of Highways Agency is in favour of the initiative as he points out, employing people to pick up litter is not only dangerous, they can be a distraction to motorists and they could be used elsewhere more productively. Funny how some of the old ideas are still the best! By Graham Hill

I have been speaking a lot about the Real World emissions tests recently and the way that they have affected vehicle availability. The actual name of the tests is World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedures (WLTP) and frankly, it is confusing just about everyone involved.

One of the big problems is the way that the changed tests are finding that emissions are actually much more than the readings recorded previously. At the moment we are in a period of transition.

New and facelift cars in 2018 are tested and must conform to emissions levels before 1^st September but existing models have been given an extension with a formula applied to the old and new emissions to arrive at a new CO2 emissions figure.

In theory, CO2 emissions should have ended up roughly the same after applying the formula so that company car drivers weren’t suddenly hit with increased BIK tax bills.

In fact, the revised CO2 emission figures have increased on average by 20%. The problem is that all real-world readings come into force in 2020 which means that if a company took out a 3 year lease for an employee they could face a massive hike in BIK tax from year 2 onwards.

So many companies are extending their current leases to see if the Government will do anything to soften the blow for those paying BIK tax. Beyond that manufacturers are saying that the only way to reduce and control CO2 emissions is to change our attitudes.

First of all Kwik Fit have said that we will have to reduce the size of wheels that we fit to our cars in order to reduce the rolling resistance and in turn the CO2 emissions. Car manufacturers are suggesting that we will see a falling off of the small SUV’s as these are the least efficient cars and generate the most CO2.

The prediction is that we will revert to standard saloons and hatchbacks in place of the small, less efficient SUV’s. The shape of cars may well change also in order to make them more streamlined. Boring times ahead! By Graham Hill

The Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) has reported an imbalance in diesel demand which is causing all sorts of headaches with leasing and PCP providers.

New car demand for diesels has dropped through the floorboards causing manufacturers to scale up petrol production whilst dropping off production of diesel cars.

However, demand for used diesel cars is still running at the same level with no sign that it will drop soon. With fewer diesels finding their way into the used car market diesel prices will increase as times goes on.

This could start to make leasing and PCP costs for new diesel cars lower and more competitive again. New car supply has also had an effect on used car prices as people switch to used cars when they can’t get their new car quickly enough.

So there has been a slight increase in demand for nearly new petrol cars created by buyers who would normally buy new and who have decided to go for petrol this time around.

With lower running costs and better fuel consumption, experts feel that diesels are still here to stay even though some manufacturers have announced that they will be dropping their diesel engines fairly soon.

Personally, I feel that they have been a bit premature especially in light of recent reports that the ‘real-world’ emissions testing on petrol and diesel cars have found that there is very little to choose between petrol and diesel emissions.

We are still desperate for guidance from the Government. By Graham Hill

I mentioned that the EU were about to announce a suite of safety features to be standard on all new cars from 202. I finally have the list which experts suggest will save 7,300 road deaths each year and avoid 38,900 serious injuries.

Here they are with brief explanations:

Advanced Emergency Braking: Also known as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), this system applies the brakes automatically if the driver fails to take evasive action.

Alcohol Interlock Pre-Wiring:  Alcohol Interlocks prevent a car from starting until a ‘clean’ breath sample has been provided. From 2021 new cars must be pre-wired for ‘Alcolocks’, allowing them to be fitted to cars of repeat drink drivers.

Drowsiness & Inattention Detection:  Scans drivers’ faces for signs of fatigue or inattention. And sounds warning alerts if either is detected.

Event (Accident) Data Recorder: Logs telematics data in the event of a collision, allowing authorities to work out how a crash occurred.

Emergency Stop Signal: Flashes hazard warning lights if heavy braking is applied, to warn following traffic.

Better Seatbelts:  Tougher standards for seatbelts in  full-width frontal impact tests together with softer deceleration in the event of a collision. Improved pre-tensioners or seatbelt airbags could achieve this.

Safer Windscreens: Crash tests will assess a larger area of the windscreen, because cyclists tend to hit windscreens higher up than pedestrians.

Intelligent Speed Assistance: Comprises traffic sign recognition and a speed limiter with the prevailing speed limit setting the car’s limiter – although drivers will be able to override the system.

Lane Keeping Assist: Gently steers a car back into its lane if it strays across white lines without indicating.

Extra Side-Impact Protection: Collisions involving tall, narrow objects, such as telegraph poles, can cause devastating damage, so from 2021 new cars will be strengthened to improve the ‘pole side impact’ protection they offer.

Reversing Camera or Detection System: From 2021, all new cars must either have rear parking sensors or a reversing camera to help prevent ‘back up’ accidents.

By Graham Hill

A Government-backed study has shown that those who take the speed awareness course are 23% less likely to re-offend than those that accept the penalty points and pay the fine. Ipsos Mori analysed 2.2 million drivers caught speeding, comparing those who attended an awareness course and those who didn’t, preferring to pay the penalty.

Just 5% of those who attended a course re-offended within 6 months, compared with 7% who opted for a fixed penalty notice. The results persisted over time with 21% of those attending a course re-offending after 3 years compared to 23% who took the points.

The analysts couldn’t prove that taking the course led to fewer accidents because ‘the number of collisions, available for analysis was too small’, but Ipsos Mori said it was ‘probable’ that the courses have ‘positive road safety effects’.

Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said, ‘The National Speed Awareness Course is clearly working well in preventing drivers from putting other road users at risk by breaking speed limits’. Having attended a course a couple of years ago I agree that it has a positive affect. By Graham Hill

What Car has carried out a survey into car faults, a subject on which I have incredibly strong views. They start their report by reminding us of the attitude expressed by our parents (or could have been just my dad) that the more you add to cars the more likely something will go wrong.

Logically that has to be true, the question is – what is an acceptable level of faults and more important is when things go wrong how well do those responsible fix the problem? And that’s my issue, far too often drivers experience faults that dealers and manufacturers fight tooth and nail not to fix whilst totally ignoring driver rights and flouting their legal obligations. And with so few people knowing their legal rights dealers get away with murder.

However, I cover this in detail in my PCP report so I’ll get back to the findings of What Car. They found that 12% of faulty cars were off the road for more than a week with the most common problem being engine related which affected 28% of the faulty cars. When checking the classes of cars they found that 35% of luxury SUV’s and 31% of luxury cars suffered from faults.

At the other end of the scale 21% of city cars and 18% of electric cars suffered with faults. Interestingly cars fitted with diesel engines suffered from more faults than their petrol equivalents. 39% of diesel luxury SUV’s suffered faults whilst only 23% of their petrol equivalents had faults. 33% of diesel family saloons had faults whilst just 24% of their petrol equivalents had faults.

Worst for faults was diesel MPV’s followed closely by luxury diesel SUV’s. Petrol engine MPV’s weren’t much better than the diesels. Whilst petrol luxury SUV’s have problems with fuel consumption they fare better than diesel cars so the advice is to take a petrol rather than a diesel.

The top 5 brands for faults, i.e. the least reported faults were Lexus (10.7%), Suzuki (16.2%), Dacia (18.6%), Toyota (18.9%) and Honda (20.6%). At the other end, the worst cars were Land Rover (44.1%), Jeep (41.2%), Citroen (39.9%), Smart (39.5%) and Nissan (38.4%).

Not in my opinion a happy state of affairs – far too many faults for my liking. By Graham Hill