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Franchised Dealers More Professional Than Garages: Surprisingly a survey carried out by the National Franchised Dealer Association found that franchised dealers (52%) were more professional than National Chains (24%) and Independent Garages (21%). 46% thought franchised dealers were knowledgeable and reputable with 41% believing they’re reliable. 90% of respondents think that franchised dealerships are the best place to buy a new car and 87% think it’s the best place to have your car serviced. 45% said independents were friendly and 42% called them good value. I’m sure the report wasn’t biased in the slightest!

UK Roads: According to the AA 46% of motorists say that mainland Europe has better roads than the UK.

Car Thefts: Between 2012 and 2016 there were 3,696 convictions for car theft in the UK according to insurance company Churchill. This represents about 50% of those charged.

Car Faults: According to Green Flag drivers wait on average 10 weeks before addressing car faults.

Misidentified Dashboard Symbols: According to Buyacar.co.uk the dashboard symbols that cause most confusion are: Speed Limiter (60%), Stop/Start System (60%), Head-Up-Display (38%), Lane Keeping Assist (25%), Heated Steering Wheel (10%).

Every 6 seconds a parking ticket is issued in the UK. That is a massive increase. Over the last 10 years, the number of parking tickets has increased 10 fold. Over just the last year, parking tickets have increased by a million to 5.65 million.

And according to the RAC Foundation, this might be an understatement as the figures are collected through computer issued notices but many tickets are still issued manually and stuck on windscreens.

Part of the increase is down to the growth in private parking companies that use the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database to issue tickets, often after the driver has overstayed by just a few minutes or hadn’t been able to buy a ticket because of faulty equipment.

The Government is backing a Private Member’s bill aimed at clamping down on rogue parking firms. Steve Gooding, RAC Foundation director, is astonished by not only the number of tickets issued each year but the astronomical growth year on year.

My personal feeling is that these independent companies are getting out of control and we need greater control over the issuing of tickets and a more robust, fair and independent body that will deal with appeals fairly. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the Private Member’s bill. By Graham Hill

Back in the news is the rise in electronic theft of cars whereby crooks use a device that picks up the code as you lock the car and use the gadget to open the car, press the start button and take off. The latest devices have become so sophisticated that they can pick up signals emitted from what are known as Proximity Keys from inside the owner’s house without even having to break in.

Their kit picks up the signal, relays it to another box that is held near the car which in turn unlocks the car. Proximity keys are what keyless entry keys are. It is possible to buy a storage box that you can put your key into when you get home that stops the signal from being picked up.

However, rather than put your key into a secure box, many in the car security industry are reverting to old technology as a better way to secure your car. Back in my early days of driving we all bought KrookLocks that would lock the steering wheel in place.

It seems that there has been a sudden increase in sales of the latest version since security experts have recommended visible security devices to put off crooks. Andy Barrs, head of police liaison at Thatcham, whilst recommending these devices has suggested that before you buy one check the Thatcham website www.thatcham.org to see which devices they favour.

He also suggested that if you buy a device you let your insurance company know as it could result in a reduction in your premium. By Graham Hill

I’ve been banging on about the problems being caused by the new real-world emissions tests introduced last September for weeks now.

Supplies of stock cars are drying up and manufacturers are either quoting very long deliveries or closing their order books altogether, for the moment, till they know that their cars have been approved.

In order for things to get back to normal, the manufacturers need to have their cars approved or at least know what modifications need to be carried out on their production lines in order to meet the target emissions.

I’m repeating myself but it’s important everyone, with car replacements coming up, is aware of the issues.

But here’s the shocker. The Government is now anal about NOx emissions but the two worst performers were petrol engine cars, Ford Fiesta and Nissan Qashqai.

According to a report in the Times, the Fiesta was 4 times over the lab test limit for NOx emissions whilst the Qashqai was 10 times over.

So whilst diesels have been targetted by the Greens for spewing out masses of NOx’s it turns out that some petrol engines are worse than diesel-powered cars. It’s all, in the words of President Trump, fake news.

The fact is that the NOx scares have put buyers off diesel cars in their droves. I should add that Nissan and Ford responded.

Nissan said that the existing engine, which was compliant under the old rules, would be replaced this summer. Ford responded by announcing also that the car selected for testing was last of an old model which has now been replaced with significant changes to the emissions after-treatment system bringing emissions into line. By Graham Hill

Jason Lloyd is MD of www.petrolprices.com. He recently commented on a report/map published by insurer Admiral of fuel usage across 16 Western European Countries.

It reveals that petrol is Europe’s most popular fuel with the Netherlands topping the list and the UK coming in at 6^th place.

The UK uses slightly more petrol than diesel with a split of 49% petrol and 47.5% diesel which pretty much reverses the situation of about a year ago.

The UK comes 10^th in the diesel usage chart with Ireland top of the list. Italy leads the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) chart with the UK hardly using any at all.

Norway leads the way when it comes to Electric Vehicles (EV) and Hybrids at 39.2% in combined usage.

The change in Norway over the last 3 years has been amazing, leaving most other countries behind. A series of tax breaks has made electric vehicles cheaper to buy.

EV users also have access to cheap electricity for charging, free parking and road tolls and free use of bus lanes.

Whilst the UK has been fairly bold in announcing that there will be no petrol or diesel cars sold after 2040 we are badly lagging behind other countries when it comes to EV and hybrid sales.

They really need to follow Norway’s lead if they are to mean what they say and offer enough incentives to make buying an EV, in the words of Jason Lloyd, ‘a no brainer’. By Graham Hill

A few years ago I returned to my Mercedes having been away for the day at a conference only to find that the car had been keyed. I actually felt relieved that I’d been driving prestige cars for many years and this was the first time my car had been vandalised.

It didn’t stop me from parking at the corner of the road for three nights running in the hope that I would catch the cretins doing it again – very silly I know but I was furious! So I was quite surprised to read that the most vandalised car in the UK is the Smart Car. Churchill insurance analysed insurance claims and found that Smart ForTwo and Smart ForFour were the most vandalised cars.

Analysis showed one in one hundred cars being vandalised, to put this into perspective next on the list was the Mini at one in one thousand cars. Small Alfa Romeo, BMW and Mazda car owners have complained about their cars being deliberately damaged. After analysing claims between 2013 and 2017 they found that there was a vandalism claim every 22 minutes.

Most claims were for cosmetic damage with 15% blamed on scratches and similar incidents. 12% of claims were for damage to bumpers with another 12% dings in doors. Steve Barrett, head of car insurance at Churchill said, ‘We advise victims to report vandalism to police, even when the damage is minor.’ We don’t know what the problem is with Smart cars, in 2009 several were pushed into Amsterdam’s canals and 2014 several were turned upside down in San Francisco.

Bloody typical, just as we have a great deal on them! By Graham Hill

I have to say that I’m not a big fan of President Trump and when he was constantly moaning about False News I thought he was being paranoid but reading all the nonsense printed and reported about diesel cars I can understand what he means.

I’m not going to deny that petrol and diesel cars are not good for the environment but the difference between the two is minimal. Petrol pushes out more CO2 whilst Diesel pushes out more NOX. Diesels also had a problem with particulates but used properly a new Euro 6 diesel emits no particulates at all.

I was speaking to an MOT tester and even 3-year-old cars often emit zero particulates when MOT tested. My view is that by raising diesel emissions as a major problem, mayor Khan and many local authorities are using the scare tactics to impose more penalties on those driving all diesels and not just the old models.

Ford have already said that they are committed to diesel cars and others are taking a similar line but we could be looking at a totally different playing field in 2 years time. Bosche have developed a new system that will reduce NOX emissions to just 13mg/km.

That’s about a tenth of the limit set to be the level required in 2020 under the next set of regulations known as RDE2. In technical terms, Bosche has moved the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) System and the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) closer to the engine, allowing them to operate at optimal temperatures.

A faster-spooling turbo is fitted to improve operating efficiencies and the exhaust gas re-circulating system is modified to keep hot air pointed at emissions reduction components. The set-up also includes improvements to the fuel injection, Adblue dosing equipment and engine management software, while the development car’s engine capacity was reduced from 2.0 litres to 1.7 litres without loss of power.

When testing Bosch found the worst case scenario was driving around town when their car, a VW Golf, recorded a maximum NOx emission of 26mg/km because in very cold conditions the car struggled to get up to full operating temperature.

Fuel and AdBlue consumption remained the same although technicians said that in very cold congested conditions fuel consumption could increase by between 3% and 5%. Whilst the equipment cannot be retrofitted to older diesels it is available for manufacturers to order now. But the hardware changes needed mean the complete system is unlikely to be integrated into production lines for another two years. Excellent news for us supporters of diesel! By Graham Hill

Do you wash your own car or do you have it washed by a hand wash team now inhabiting one of the many filling station forecourts closed down over the past 10 years?

If you use the hand car wash option I warned some time ago about the use of some very strong chemicals with high acid content being used to clean alloy wheels and potentially damage or destroy them.

Some have sprayed the concoction onto paintwork that is heavily soiled with street muck, tree sap, or large packages plopped onto our cars by our feathered friends. At best fading the paint and at worst scabbing the paint. In my case I have been using the same team for 7 or 8 years and whilst they all come from abroad they always use good quality products and do an excellent job.

However, as this isn’t always the case a group of MP’s are looking into these hand car washes amid concerns that the staff are being trapped into ‘Bonded Labour’ and that some of the cleaning chemicals used are hazardous to the staff and to the environment.

The enquiry is being led by Mary Creagh, chair of the Environment Audit Committee who said on the BBC ‘We have environmental, employment and slavery concerns.’ The Car Wash Advisory Service – yep there is one, says that there are up to 20,000 hand car washes in the UK, with roughly 8,000 ‘bad boys.’

Whilst the investigation is being carried out always use a car wash you feel you can trust and if you are concerned about the cleaning chemicals being used – ask. Make sure that if you see the container it shows that the solution doesn’t contain dangerous or hazardous chemicals and is environmentally friendly. By Graham Hill

If you think that your new Mercedes was built in a highly efficient factory in Germany you would be mistaken, most models are now made around the world. Some are built in South Africa and some are built and shipped from South America to name just two.

The VW Polo is also built in South Africa and because of high import duties many manufacturers have factories in India. Many cars are manufactured in the most unlikely of places. Take the Vauxhall Mokka X – it is built in Bupyeong in South Korea and as for the true Brit Mini, whilst several models are built in the UK some are built in Austria and some in the Netherlands?

Buy a BMW X3 and it will have to be shipped over from the country of origin – the USA. And that’s not to mention the parts with some Ford parts for their Fiesta such as engines and gearboxes being manufactured in Brazil and Mexico – did you know that Mr Trump? So does it really matter? I would suggest not.

I can’t remember the last time I was asked where a car   was bolted together as a deciding factor – but could this change? Would you be happy if your brand new car turned up with a ‘Made In China’ sticker attached? But this could soon become a reality.

Not because the main manufacturers are considering building cars there but the Chinese manufacturers are considering selling their cars outside China and targetting Europe. And if they gain a foothold it may encourage European manufacturers to start building cars there.

After all Kia’s and Hyundai’s are manufactured in South Korea and their reputation is one of the highest in the marketplace, now ranked above Ford in terms of worldwide sales. In order to gain a foothold Beijing recently hosted their International Motor Show at which journalists were invited to Lynk & Co’s manufacturing plant, built at a cost of £1.4 billion.

They expect to produce 200,000 cars per annum at the highly automated plant. The consensus amongst the journalists was that the plant was incredibly impressive – as were the cars. As Auto Express said, the cars rolling out of the plant were finished to a higher level than many European cars. VW made noises that they would consider exporting cars made in China into Europe. Watch this space! By Graham Hill

If like me, you like to watch QI you will know that when asked a question with an obvious answer, the chances are that the obvious answer is wrong. So if you believed that the obvious answer to the question above was the ‘UK’ you would only be partly right.

The reason for saying this is that we will still be exporting to Europe, whether free of duty or not, the products must still conform to health and safety standards set down by the EU. Emissions from our cars must still conform to the EU standards, currently Euro 6.

But that aside we will have International Accounting standards that mean we can’t account for anything in a way we feel we should do – we must conform to the International rules. And that’s not all. What or who is the United Nations? If you thought out loud and said a body set up to maintain world peace and you were sitting on the panel of QI you would have an incorrect answer klaxon blasting in your ear.

The truth is that the UN is currently not only investigating the use of Chemical weapons by Assad but also headlight glare. A United Nations working party has been set up, following concerns by the public, to look into headlight glare to determine whether headlights are now too bright? With newer cars now being fitted with bi-xenon bulbs and even using matrix laser technology (no I don’t either) the public are suggesting that they are being blinded by the bright headlights.

Seriously, a body that I thought was set up to police the world is checking out the safety of car headlights. When did that responsibility pass to them or am I completely missing a point here?

On the point of headlights I read in the same article that an RAC investigation found that 65% of all motorists claimed that they were regularly blinded by oncoming traffic. Good enough then – no wonder the UN are involved. I could possibly understand it if headlight blinding was resulting in a serious number of accidents each year – but there is no evidence of that. All very confusing.

If they carry on down this path I can see us exiting from the UN – let’s call it BREXITUN. The world’s going nuts! By Graham Hill