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A couple of weeks ago I was asked to appear on ITV’s Tonight programme that went out last Thursday (6^th September). However, with just half an hour available and the main theme of the programme the decision that drivers face as to whether to choose a petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric car next they dropped what was to be a section on finance.

All had their merits, petrol – short around the town trips, diesel for high mileage drivers, hybrids in town but with no ability to plug the car in at home or at work, plug in’s if you have access to electricity and electric for those on low mileage in a city subject to congestion charges with easy access to chargers.

However, they sent a couple on a trip from their home in the north to a party in the south of England in an electric car. A trip that would normally take 4 hours but actually ended up taking over 6 hours, making them 2 hours late. The reason, finding somewhere to charge up the battery en-route. They found at service areas chargers that were broken as well as chargers that couldn’t fast charge. It seemed like a nightmare and got the couple very irritated and worried that they could end up stranded.

One gentleman with a plug-in hybrid found that he needed to charge his car for 6.5 hours at home using the domestic power supply in order to be able to cover something like 25 miles on just the electric motor, think he should change to Duracell Ultra batteries! The programme also questioned the environmental differences claiming, as many others have, that the manufacture of electric vehicles and their batteries come at an increased environmental cost and they still affect the environment as there are particulate emissions from tyres and brakes.

So whilst not all great news electric is the direction of travel and since BP bought out Chargemaster EV charging network we will see many more fast charge points with the next generation able to ‘fill up’ a car in just 5 minutes. Added to which there are already cars that can be used as electricity storage devices. Left plugged into the house electrics any stored electricity could be used when the cost of energy is high then charge the car overnight when energy is low.

Lots happening but I’m yet to be convinced. And the idea of charge points in lamp posts – as was shown on the programme is likely to end up with drivers in A&E as they come to blows as to who was at the lamp post first and whose needs are greater. By Graham Hill

When I first started to write my report on Personal Contract Purchase I did it as an aid for viewers of the Rip Off Britain programme that featured me as their expert dealing with cases involving members of the public who had been treated poorly by either dealerships or finance providers.

It was to be two pages of bullet points at most. 10 months of investigation and re-writing later and we now have a 200-page report stored under the heading of Rip Off Britain Crib Notes – it’s more like War and Peace. But the one main message that comes through is the lack of clarity, probably because of a lack of education on the part of those selling the product as well as those taking out PCP contracts.

The second seems to be the need to be dishonest. If you download the report by visiting www.grahamhilltraining.com you’ll see what I mean. You’ll also have one over on the dealers as you will probably end up knowing more than them. I don’t know what it is, whether it is considered to be good marketing or simply meant to confuse customers in order to make the sale.

Take my latest battle over the extension cost of my Mercedes with MB Finance who rather foolishly have decided to take me on. I won’t go into detail yet, it will get reported in the press when I get a result, but in order to prevent the case going to the Financial Ombudsman Service they offered a sum of money as a ‘Gesture Of Good Will’. Instead of admitting that what they were doing was illegal and simply come to an arrangement they offer a ‘Gesture Of Good Will’.

The fact is that I never ever accept a ‘Gesture Of Good Will’, because I’m either right or wrong. If I’m right – and it is normally over a legal matter – I expect an apology and a full payout. If I’m wrong I will stick my hands up and admit to being wrong and pay any penalty but offering a ‘Gesture Of Good Will’ will only get my back up!

What really got me started on this subject was an announcement in Business Car in which 2^nd biggest Contract Hire company in the UK, LeasePlan, announced that they were to start remarketing used ex-lease cars online under the name of carnext.com. Nothing wrong with that I was a director of Carsite that eventually was re-branded Tesco Cars that did exactly that but 10 years ago.

What annoyed me was that they say in the piece:- that every car comes with a 14-day money back guarantee as though they are offering some special benefit. As the cars are bought online and delivered to you the cars are automatically covered by the Consumer Contracts regulations, formally known as the Distance Selling regulations which means you have a legal right to return any goods you don’t want for any reason within 14 days. Not an exceptional added benefit. Just be honest.

They then go on to say that every car comes with a 1-year warranty. No, they don’t sunshine each car has a 2 year EU Guarantee attached to it. Whilst we are in the EU the 2-year guarantee is still in force which means any trader selling any product, new or used, must come with the EU 2 year guarantee. So not only have they turned a legal obligation into an added benefit but understated it! Grrr – winds me up! By Graham Hill

Speeding: You may or may not be aware of ‘speeding buffer zones’ applied by the police. Essentially if there is a speed limit of say 70mph the police allow a buffer zone of 10% + 2mph making the acceptable speed 79 miles per hour (70 + 7 + 2 = 79). In the case of 30 miles per hour that would be 35mph.

I should add at this stage that this has always been advisory so you shouldn’t assume that the speed limit in a 30mph area is automatically 35mph. It is discretionary so if you were doing 35 miles per hour whilst passing a school with kids everywhere you would probably be fined. However, the ‘buffer’ is currently being reviewed by senior police officers and could well change.

At a recent Police Federation Conference, Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, the National Police Chief’s Council’s lead on road policing announced the possible change of attitude. Ashe pointed out, drivers should not be surprised if they are fined for doing 33 miles per hour in a 30mph zone because they are speeding – simple as that.

In answer to the proposal officers warned that this would increase the number of cases they need to deal with and they don’t have the capacity or the capability to deal with the increased workload. Watch this space and don’t assume that the 10% + 2mph rule will always apply. Repairs: Breakdown firm Green Flag has carried out a survey suggesting that motorists are overspending to the tune of £3.4 billion every year on garage repairs.

On average drivers pay £90 per annum more than they should with 4out of 5 men and 90% of women not feeling confident when confronted with the cost of the repairs and knowing if it is correct. In the same report Green Flag revealed that 39% of motorists had no idea what the annual MOT test involves. Not good. By Graham Hill

Latest casualty figures released by the Department for Transport are for 2016. They show a year on year increase of 7% over 2015. The figures include those either injured or killed in incidents involving drivers over the drink-drive alcohol limits.

The figures showed a total of 9,040 deaths or injuries and has led to calls by road safety charity, Brake for the Government to reduce the legal limit from 80mg/100ml of blood to lower than the 50mg/100ml limit imposed on drivers in Scotland since 2014.

The DfT revealed that approximately 230 people died in drink-related incidents compared to 200 in 2015. Surprisingly the DfT described the higher figure as ‘Not statistically significant’. Going on to say that the data ‘continues a period of stability since 2010’.

Joshua Harris, the director of campaigns at Brake hit out by saying, ‘Today’s figures show that drink-driving is an increasing blight on British roads, and yet the Government sits on its hands and refuses to address the issue.’

Something needs to happen, reducing the limit is only a deterrent if we have enough police testing drivers. If drivers think that they can get away with exceeding the drink-drive limit, wherever it’s set they will continue to drink and drive. By Graham Hill

Things in the world of motoring are completely unbalanced when I find myself agreeing, more than once in a decade, with commentator Mike Rutherford. Not only that and just to show that I think about my blog, this item follows on from the last entry explaining that we are suffering a terrible underspend in our roads infrastructure in Britain.

As Mike points out we are around number 70 in the list of countries around the world when it comes to miles of road per capita. In this country, we have around 67 million inhabitants with a road network of jus 263,000 miles. In France, they have 66 million inhabitants with an eye-watering 640,000 miles of roads.

No wonder we spend disproportionate amounts of time sitting in traffic queues! Even Italy with a population of 61 million inhabitants has more miles of roads than us at 300,000. It’s an absolute disgrace that successive Governments have disregarded our roads.

Traffic jams cause increased pollution, make travel times longer and use more fuel but even worse is the way that it makes us all less efficient. The Government has expressed concerns about our efficiency but part of the problem is our road infrastructure. We can’t be doing anything if we are sitting in traffic for hours on end.

Getting back to the statistics, Spain has a population of 47 million with 424,000 miles of roads. Even Scandinavia with a population of just 10  million Swedes has created 330,000 miles of roads. 5 million Finns had a massive 282,000 miles of roads to speed along – that’s a population of 90% less than us with more miles of road than GB.

Australia with a bigger area but fewer inhabitants than GB has 500,000 miles of roads. Finally the US with a population of 328 million has 4.4 million miles of roads. As Mike points out this situation is not only a disgrace it is becoming a joke and extremely embarrassing. We are so bad we are behind Namibia and Estonia.

Now whilst some of the roads aren’t of the highest quality in some countries and some roads are pavementless we are lagging behind most other sophisticated countries buy a large margin. It can take years just to build a few miles of motorway so we really need to get our fingers out now and agree some heavy spending on our roads infrastructure or run the risk of the whole country grinding to a stop.  By Graham Hill

Probably the most common question asked at the moment without a simple answer. Most lenders will extend their leases these days so the option is there. Most will ask for your current mileage then calculate the extension based on your contract mileage, your average mileage or they may ask what mileage you will cover over the extension period.

In most cases we are seeing an increase in monthly cost so be prepared to pay either the same as you are currently paying or an increase. Some will offer a casual extension whilst others a fixed period extension of 3, 6 or 12 months – or all. The casual extension means that you continue to pay for the car until such times as you no longer need it.

This is particularly useful if you can’t coordinate the collection of the old car with the delivery of the new car or if the delivery of the new car has been delayed. This can often be the most expensive method so expect to pay 20 – 25% more than you are currently paying per month.

A fixed extension may possibly see a reduction in rental, especially if you are under mileage. You will need to contact either the funder or if you have an agreement through me we can sometimes organise this for you. You will receive a quote and from that decide what period you would like to extend for.

This now brings us to the next very vexing question – should you extend simply because you can’t find a suitable car on an acceptable rate or, if you were to replace your current car with exactly the same car, the rate is currently substantially more? Either way, should you extend in the hope that the rates will reduce in the future? And if you do that how long should you extend for?

We are now in very turbulent times. The industry faces two main challenges. Real world emissions tests and Brexit. With regard to the first challenge the old test procedures (NEDC) and standards have been dumped to be replaced by the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP).

The tests are still carried out in laboratory conditions but now take twice as long under tighter scrutiny as a result of cars being tested under NEDC test conditions previously being capable of being ‘fixed’. I’ll mention no names  but VW. Manufacturers have had to carry out substantial design and production modifications in order to make their new and existing models compliant with Euro emissions regulations which has and will increase the cost of new vehicles.

Since September last year till the end of August this year (2018) current models tested under the old NEDC procedures could still be sold but if they remained unsold at the end of August could be forcibly scrapped. As a result, some big discounts have been given away to sell the cars before getting to the point where they had to be scrapped or pre-registered. There has been a little relaxation of the rules whereby a small % of annual sales, if remaining in stock at the end of August, could still be sold in September.

The WLTP tests included options fitted to the car. As we know if a car is fitted with bigger wheels it increases the drag coefficient and, in turn, increases fuel consumption whilst also increasing emissions. The next phase of testing that starts from September 2018 is Real Driving Emissions testing (RDE). This entails the connection of measuring equipment to the car on test and driving it on public roads, measuring the real results, then comparing them to the results achieved in the WLTP tests.

All of this is costing money and could be increasing the cost of new cars as well as delaying deliveries. Land Rover shut down its order book for 3 months and I’m hearing that low sales, because of lack of cars and not so keen finance deals, has resulted in dealerships facing closure. So these uncertain times are causing rates to be very unstable.

We then have Brexit.  On the 29^th March 2019 we officially leave the EU with many suggesting that we could well leave without a deal which means we fall back on WTO rules. The effect of this has been an estimated increase in car costs of 10% or an average increase per car of £2,400. Unknown by many is the level of discount we currently enjoy when we lease our cars.

Some have discounts of up to 45% factored into the rental rates. So one could argue that with so much fat to play with, will we see any major change in the rentals? This brings me to the crucial question, If the rates aren’t where you would like them to be when changing your car now, should you extend your agreement in the hope that you will achieve a better deal in a year’s time?

This is pretty much an impossible question to answer. The real answer could lie in attitude! For years we have been the only European country to embrace leasing as an option to fund cars both personally and through businesses. This has resulted in a lot of ‘dumping’ of cars into the UK for them to be leased.

The beauty of leasing is that the price paid by the leasing companies for their cars don’t affect the price of used cars on dealership forecourts. So manufacturers have used this to move cars that are on run out and even, on occasions, new models that aren’t selling well to put more cars on the road to give the impression that the cars are popular.

As an example, I won’t give makes and models, but some £22,000 (retail cost) cars were offered to me at £11,750 prepared and delivered anywhere in the UK by a main dealer as long as they were only supplied on contract hire. This discount made the cars very cheap to rent on contract hire but the good news for dealers was that by supplying new cars on say £170 + VAT per month lease deals it didn’t affect 12-month-old used cars on their forecourt for £17,000. Imagine what would happen to their used cars if the new cars were offered for cash at £11,750?

So the fact is that we could do without the increase in costs due to no deal being struck. In addition, we are already seeing attempts by manufacturers and leasing companies to push their finance products throughout Europe which will divert extra discounts away from the UK, increasing the pain further as more European countries take on leasing as a product.

So whilst we are so unsure about the future my advice has to be to consider the worst case and if there is anything available that is on an attractive deal at the moment snap it up – even if the car isn’t your first choice. Mine and the feeling of the industry is that we will have to go through some pain, certainly in the short term, that could put the replacement cost of like for like cars well beyond their current rates.

Extend for 12 months and you may see rates through the roof but if you take out a new 3 year lease I’m hopeful that things would have stabilised by the end of the 3 year lease period. But what do I know?

New insurer ‘By Miles’ is set to shake up the car insurance industry. The first pay-per-mile insurance policy is believed to save motorists hundreds of pounds each year. Drivers pay a flat rate annual fee to cover the car against damage and theft when the car is parked. Thereafter the driver is charged per mile whenever he uses his car.

The policy is aimed at those travelling less than 7,000 miles per annum which is around 50% of all UK drivers. The distances are recorded by a telematics device that the owners plug into their cars On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port. Each journey can be tracked and recorded on a dedicated smartphone app then the driver billed monthly based on the distance travelled.

Motorists taking out a policy will be charged a minimum of £150 per annum and 3.0 pence per mile although the per mile charges stop after 150 miles in a single day or 10,000 miles per annum. James Blackham, co-founder of By Miles said car finance has ‘barely changed in 30 years. Every extra mile you drive adds to the risk of having an accident. We think it’s high time that is reflected in the price infrequent drivers pay’.

Matt Cullen of  The Association of British Insurers approved of the new way to insure cars. Motoring habits are changing as are consumer needs so it makes sense to adapt things like insurance policies. The AA also admitted that it was investigating real-time insurance cover. I think that it’s a great idea and should take off. By Graham Hill

According to the RAC, the UK’s pothole problem is getting worse, not better as it should be by now. The number of cars damaged by pothole strikes is at a 3 year high.

Data released by the RAC shows that 4,091 motorists reported breaking down between April & June 2018, the highest 2^nd quarter in 3 years – as a result of snapped springs, damaged shock absorbers and distorted wheels along with other pothole caused damage.

RAC Chief Engineer said councils were ‘not winning’ the battle against potholes. ‘Despite further emergency funding from central government, their budgets are even more stretched than in previous years. The overall quality of our roads should be getting better, not worse,’ he added.

I fear that it will take a major accident caused by a driver losing control of his car having hit a pothole before the Authorities finally take the situation seriously. By Graham Hill

Years ago when I was working in industry I was a Cost and Management Accountant. We manufactured, installed and leased fire alarm and hotel communications equipment. We developed a new fire alarm system to meet the new fire alarm laws that were being introduced into small public buildings, scout huts, church halls, meeting rooms etc.

Our designers came up with a swish control panel which was latest technology with transistors and other miniature gubbins. It made the unit much smaller and also cheaper to make. Before going into production our chairman, himself an engineer, wanted to see this newly designed product line. He collected me en-route to the design department and I went through the costings – he was impressed.

However, when he saw the miniature size of the unit I saw his face drop. He asked the sales director how much we were leasing the unit for and how much we were selling it for cash? After hearing what we were selling the unit for he turned to the head designer and said ‘Double the size of the box’. The designer said, ‘But sir we don’t need to put it into a bigger box’. The chairman’s answer was, ‘You do if we’re going to sell it for £500’. The box size was doubled and the inner workings remained the same.

So what has this lesson in perception have to do with cars? Well, it seems that in these times of miniaturisation the most popular cars are the big and bulky SUV’s. Just about every manufacturer has some sort of 2WD or 4WD SUV in their range with the likes of Audi, Mercedes and BMW having up to five, six or even seven in their line up.

Motoring experts describe them as boxy, raised hatchbacks with high running costs and compromised road handling. Totally impractical, unable to fit into most garages or parking spaces. But the manufacturer’s love them because, without a doubt, they are the most profitable cars in their ranges. Big is best as they charge disproportionate amounts for these cars compared with their smaller saloon car equivalents.

According to Audi’s product marketing chief, Jens Meier, the SUV proliferation has helped to benefit the wider car manufacturing industry. As he explained to Auto Express, the increased profit generated from SUV sales is helping to finance development work in the sports car division, cars such as the TT, RS5 and R8. He sees their advancement in sports car design as a bi-product of SUV success.

Very often the SUV’s share the same platform with saloon cars in the range along with engines and other mechanicals but the big skin adds substantially to the perceived costs by customers who pay more for the jacked up versions whilst the manufacturers wring their hands with joy. My old boss had it right all the time! By Graham Hill

Traffic on UK roads is at an all-time high according to the latest statistics from the Department for Transport (DfT). Car traffic reached 254.4 billion miles in 2017 with overall traffic up by 1.3% on the previous year to 327.1 billion miles.

Van traffic increased to its highest level also, up 2.7% to 50.5 billion miles. Cycle traffic showed the biggest increase in percentage terms, up 3.1% to 3.3 billion miles. Bus and coach traffic dropped by 3.4% from 2.5 billion to 2.4 billion miles.

Finally, motorcycle traffic remained pretty much the same. So what does this tell us? Best to ask a few experts, some of whom apparently hold the view that traffic patterns will be changing as people change from car ownership to car usage. I agree with the switch away from car ownership but rather than a mix and match between using a car, train, bus, plane, autonomous vehicle, cycle, walking etc I see the move from owned cars to leased or rented cars with the exclusive use of the driver.

I can’t envisage a time when the vast majority of the population would be happy to plan every trip rather than walk out in their onesy and slippers, jump into their car, drive to Tesco Express and buy an emergency pint of milk, loaf of bread and bar of chocolate rather than wait for a bus either way or order an Uber.

Having said that, I have friends in London who have never owned a car so what do I know. Better turn to those in the know. According to the SMMT new vehicle sales dropped to 2.5 million in 2017 down for the first time in 6 years. They are predicting a further drop this year of 5.1% to 2.4 million new vehicles.

Christoph Domke of KPMG predicted that if this trend continues we will also see a decline in manufacturers. We have 27 at the moment but he suggests that within 10 years this could decline to just 10. An interesting statistic was the rise in access to a car in each household. In 1951 it was as low as 15% but in 2016 that had jumped to 77%.

However, dig a little deeper and it can be seen that families in the lowest income level fare much worse with just 44% of households having access to a car. This has led to confusion. Lowest income families may actually be leading the way to Mobility as a Service (MaaS) the latest buzz expression. Behind the expression is the mix and match of cars, trains, taxis, car shares, autonomous cars etc.

But lower-income families use public transport more because of necessity rather than a planned structured approach to mobility. So will we ever see the day when the majority, if not all, vehicles on the road are driverless and driven by electricity? Motorbikes create a challenge I think, not only to become driverless but also to be spotted and avoided by driverless cars. I mean some motorbikes are capable of 180 miles per hour – that is bloody fast.

On the other hand specialist company MaaS Global launched its app called ‘Whim’ in the West Midlands in April 2018. It offers multi-modal transport alternatives to car ownership. Within the first month there were 3,000 downloads of the app which combines access and payment for various types of transport including public transport, car hire and taxis.

The general consensus was that this could work well in larger towns and cities but it wouldn’t be so attractive in rural areas where public and even private transport links are nowhere near good enough for such a scheme to work. Time will tell! By Graham Hill