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Over the years I have often found myself locking horns with accountants over the benefits of leasing. Most accountants fall into one of two categories, they either ‘get it’ totally or are totally clueless. Of course all of my accountant readers ‘get it’ totally. It was highlighted last week once again when I couldn’t get a potential client’s accountant to appreciate that by taking a lease his client would save around Read more »

On the subject of scams there is a lot of evidence of  an old favourite amongst the more unscrupulous brokers returning. It was used a lot in the last recession and will no doubt be used even more as we have the added ‘bonus’ of a credit crunch as we move in the direction of another recession. It’s based on the deal that doesn’t exist, the sort of thing that dealers used to do a lot in the past by advertising a really cheap car to undercut all the local competition then telling the customer Read more »

I have been quite frustrated this week as a result of the plight of a lady who has a major problem with a finance company. As a court case is pending I cannot comment on the details but suffice to say that I am doing everything to help. The lady had a arranged a car through Gwent Fleet Management of Abergavenny who are now under investigation by the police but as a result of their actions the lady now has a battle with a finance company called Mallard Finance, who are, Read more »

Maybe we need the RAC to spell out the obvious when a third of the country doesn’t know what APR is and according to www.honestjohn.co.uk and British Car Auctions (BCA) a third of the public don’t know how to tell the age of a car by its number plate. Well strangely I can’t tell the age of a car by its number plate either. And I don’t consider myself to be as daft as a brick! For example, Read more »

Yet another suggestion as to how you can reduce your fuel costs – don’t fill up at motorway services unless it’s an emergency, then only put in the bare minimum to get you to where you want to be and find a supermarket forecourt. The average price of motorway fuel is 10 pence per litre more than supermarkets which adds about £5.50 to a tank full of fuel according to Read more »

A campaign, involving more than 45,000 petrol stations across Europe, has started to distribute leaflets advising drivers how to increase fuel efficiency. The Save More Than Fuel Campaign is being led by the European Petrol Industry Association – Europia with the support of the EC. Of course it is – and I’ll be advising clients shortly as to how they can avoid cars altogether by riding a bike or taking public transport! As if! Duh! By Graham Hill

If you are the sort of person who still likes to own your car then at some stage you will need to sell it again but according to contract hire company Lex it depends where you live as to how much you will get for your old car. If you have gone green and now own a hybrid or electric car you will be better off in the South especially around London as a result of the affects of congestion charging. Conversely Read more »

Much has been written recently about ‘wholelife costs’ when comparing purchase methods to leasing of cars because the one most important element of the equation is the value of the car in 2 or 3 years time. The problem is that most people are far too optimistic and this throws the whole calculation out of kilter. Take for example a Renault Scenic 1.6 Dynamique S costing £18,000 including metallic paint. In a straw poll I asked several people what they thought the car would be worth in 3 years time on average mileage. Their estimates ranged from Read more »

Very bad news if you have bought a car or are buying it on HP but great news if you are leasing! EurotaxGlass’s has warned that used car prices will fall by at least 12% between now and the end of the year as retail demand continues to ease and the supply of second hand cars exceeds demand. The drop is around three times the drop experienced Read more »

Not much has been reported for a while about speeding fines. Probably because the local authorities are carefully playing it down as latest statistics show that speeding fines have increased four fold since labour came to power. Home office statistics show that 1.8 million tickets are issued annually or 4,850 every day, compared to 713,000 in 1997. In 1997 the amount of money raised in fines was £28.5 million, in 2006 the figure had risen to Read more »