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Something else I write about far too often is warranty claims. Dealers continue to let down customers and drivers know too little about their legal rights and don’t do things that would help their case. A lady had a Toyota that she bought second hand but found shortly after that the alarm constantly and randomly went off whilst parked on her 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.

She returned the car whilst covered by the warranty but the dealer couldn’t replicate the problem so refused to accept that one existed. The problem continued and the car was returned, still no joy as the dealer effectively called the lady a liar.

The fact is that I have an extremely small amount of sympathy for the dealer as faults can often be intermittent so with modern technology why didn’t the lady take a video of the car with the alarm going off to show that it happened.

Or take a letter from a neighbour explaining that the alarm continued to sound without anyone touching the car so at least she can speak with some authority. My sympathy ended when I read that the dealer refused to continue checking the car for the fault after the warranty ran out.

As I have said time and again your legal rights don’t end the day your warranty runs out. Alarms should function properly for the life of the car so if it is faulty when you buy the car from a dealer there is something wrong with it and the supplying dealer needs to fix it or give you your money back. If you are not satisfied get the manufacturer involved and also advise the Office of Fair Trading.

In the case of the lady with the Toyota the manufacturer arranged to have the car looked at and turn down the sensitivity level on the alarm which fixed the problem. Unbelievable! The manufacturer needs to address the incompetence of its franchised dealer. The good news is that I am now working closely with several manufacturers  as a consultant and this is an area that will be addressed as part of my shake up of the industry. By Graham Hill

When Nissan launched the Qashqai 360 that featured all round cameras (360 degrees – get it?) they probably didn’t realise that the cameras could be adapted to record accidents. Whilst Nissan and others started to mount cameras on their cars to assist with parking others were developing in car cameras that would record the bad behaviour of other drivers and record accidents for use in claims.

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.

Camera provider Smart Witness said that they have seen a 40% increase in sales of cameras to those wanting to avoid losing their no claims discount in crash for cash cases. The cameras automatically record everything that happens and can be switched on manually or activated by sudden braking such as in a crash.

Simon Marsh of Smart Witness said ‘It takes all the stress out of a road traffic accident. Liability is quickly established and claims can be settled much more quickly and without disputes.’ But this is likely to change as car mounted cameras, fitted by the car manufacturer, could be slightly modified to do the same thing with the recorded evidence sent via the driver’s smartphone to his or her insurance company.

With cameras mounted all round the car, as with Nissan they could even record damage being inflicted on the car by vandals – now there’s an interesting thought. By Graham Hill

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• Introducing The New Nissan Smart Camera Technology (dipstix.co.uk)

A Gatso speed camera (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sometimes you get the feeling of déjà vu when you read something in a magazine and think to yourself, here we go again! Years ago, before most of the bloody things were turned off, local authorities were accused of putting up speed cameras to simply raise money, not to save lives.

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 would hide them behind trees or camouflage them so that you didn’t stand an earthly of seeing them. So as you raced past the gates of a school, you weren’t slowed down, as was supposed to be the intention, instead you simply received a fixed penalty notice in the post.

As a result the local authorities were forced to paint the Gatso’s yellow so that motorists could see them and slow down to prove that the point was safety not money making. So I was surprised to see that London council, Redbridge, is trialling automated CCTV cameras to capture motorists straddling yellow boxes and making illegal turns in order to issue automatic fines.

At the moment fines can only be issued when a camera operator views the offence either live or on a recording. The new system uses number plate recognition to identify the driver then issues fines automatically via the computer system. The system has already been introduced by some local authorities to capture drivers illegally driving in bus lanes.

However this latest move has caused the AA and RAC concern who believe that the objective may be money raising rather than deter bad driver habits. Time will tell. By Graham Hill

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• Redbridge Council unveils first automated CCTV system for box junction offences (thisismoney.co.uk)

I don’t know if you have seen the advertising offering lower ‘drive like a girl’ car insurance but it hasn’t half caused a stir. You know that the EU told the insurance companies to equalise the cost of insurance between men and women, which they did, but argued that insurance was a risk assessed product.

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.

And statistically young men between 17 and 25 were a much greater insurance risk than girls of the same age. So why charge them both the same for insurance? The counter argument was that you could keep breaking down statistics saying that girls in the north of England were more likely to have an accident than those in the south or that girls born in January were least likely to have an accident so their insurance should be cheaper and so on.

In fact why not just charge everyone a flat figure of £350 per annum and be done with it. That might sound far fetched but fleets have operated that way for years. The insurer would be told that the company had 400 company cars and they charged a flat fee of a fixed sum for all the cars and drivers. If claims went up then the flat rate  insurance premium went up also. Not rocket science.

But now, in order to fly in the face of the EU, and insurance company called Drive Like A Girl is offering cheap insurance not just to girls but lads also between the ages of 17 and 25 – provided they ‘drive like a girl’. Cars are fitted with a black box which assesses your driving style and from this information the insurer can assess whether you should be paying more or less premium.

The company argues that black box stats show that young men are 60% more likely to drive at night than women, are 49% more likely to speed and trigger twice as many aggressive braking alerts. So if young men drive in the same way as women they will receive the same insurance costs.

The same rules apply to women, if they drive in the same way they will achieve maximum discount. They are treading a fine line in my opinion but their low rates are achieving a lot of business. By Graham Hill

You are obviously aware that owners of private land can no longer clamp or remove  your car when parked there, I advised as such on my blog. Following this Government ruling owners of private car parks and land, where people parked without permission, could still issue parking tickets quite legally.

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.

Whilst drivers became more cautious about private car parks and land on which there was a parking warning posted, they generally ignored the fact that some of the worst culprits at issuing parking tickets are now supermarkets, hospitals and motorway service owners if you park longer than the allowed time.

But what you may not have known is that there is an independent adjudication service called the Parking On Private Land Appeals service which was set up to coincide with the new rules that came into force in October 2012. Since it started it has overturned more than half the tickets issued.

So far they have received 2,000 appeals of which 1,058 fines have been overturned with 911 found in favour of the operator. In the past the only way to appeal a ticket was to go to court at the risk of losing and having to pay court costs. This service is totally free so now you know and if you or someone you know receives a ticket it is worth appealing. Here is the website: http://www.popla.org.uk/ By Graham Hill

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• AA warns of surge in private parking fines (telegraph.co.uk)

Drivers are generally happier with their servicing than ever before according to a survey carried out by the self regulating body, Motor Codes. They surveyed 57,000 drivers and found that 95% of those using a Trading Standards approved Motor Codes garage would recommend it to a friend.

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.

It also revealed that one in ten had reason to make a warranty claim whilst there was also a 10% rise in satisfaction from 84% to 94% over the last 5 years when using a main dealer to maintain their cars. Surprisingly the age of cars maintained by Motor Codes recommended garages has risen from 10% in 2010 that were 11 years old or older to 18% in 2013.

This could be down to a number of factors as older cars are becoming less capable of being maintained by the DIY’ers or it could be that there is more money about as we come out of recession making it affordable to have cars maintained by a garage rather than a mate with a set of spanners. By Graham Hill

If you are of the opinion that you prefer to buy a used car, as opposed to a new car, you probably opt to either buy a car that comes with an AA or RAC inspection or you are one of 85,000 buyers who have the car RAC inspected before you buy it. However, following a concern expressed by Motorcodes and an investigation carried out by Auto Express it was revealed that RAC will not attend court as an expert witness if a customer has a dispute with the dealer supplying the car.

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 AA subcontracts its inspections to Dekra, which is recommended by Motorcodes, and offers an expert witness service. On the other hand the RAC will not provide a similar expert witness service. Motorcodes said to Autoexpress ‘Motorists were being told by the RAC that they can’t be called upon as an expert witness.

It’s a waste to pay for a report that cannot be used in a legal setting should the need arise.’ It would seem that even the Citizens Advice Service were unaware that the RAC would not attend court following an inspection that would be used to reject the car ahead of going to court. They are changing their website. A spokeswoman for the RAC said, ‘With so many inspections taking place, the cost could be significant.’

Well Mrs RAC Spokeswoman, so would the cost of having an inspection carried out that couldn’t be presented in court, so much for customer relations. I should add that the RAC should make the fact that they will not present their reports in court as expert witnesses (unless summoned by the court) before the inspection is carried out, it should say so on the form you sign to authorise the inspection.

They say on their website ‘Our inspection is produced for you only and we do not undertake to provide witness statements/reports in any civil proceedings.’ So there you have it, you have been warned. Whilst I have personally always been happy with RAC reports they won’t come to court with you to back up their findings. How daft is that?! By Graham Hill

English: Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) built in the exhaust pipe of a Peugeot) Deutsch: Dieselrußpartikelfilter (DPF) in einem Peugeot Français : Filtre à particules (FAP) de Peugeot Citroën (PSA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may or may not be aware that the MOT rules have changed recently. One of the changes relates to the use of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) and the requirement that if a car is fitted with one as standard from new that it is intact and working properly. If it isn’t the car will fail its MOT.

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.

However, it seems that the only effective test that an MOT station can carry out is a visual inspection so it seems that in order to get around the rules some companies are offering a removal service whereby they remove the DPF leaving just an empty canister which looks fine but clearly isn’t working.

This infringes section 75 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which prohibits alterations from being made to a car that renders it unroadworthy. After the MOT rule change, the motor insurance industry has become more vigilant and has warned motorists that if they remove the DPF then have a crash they should consider the consequences of not having valid insurance.

Remember that if your car has a diesel particulate filter fitted and you want to avoid clogging in the first place, you need to run the car at a minimum of 50mph for a minimum of 20 minutes each month. This creates a chemical reaction that clears out the particulate filter.

Yet another potential problem when buying a used car, even with an inspection carried out by an engineer, there is no way of knowing how badly clogged the filter may be when you buy a used car. And they aren’t cheap I was told a VW owner paid £1,650 for a replacement filter. Do you really want a used car? STOP PRESS: Strangely I have just had a call from a desperate driver (oooerr missus) who thought that he would save money by taking a low cost ex demonstrator.

He’s had the car for about 4 months and the car is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. After the particulate light started to glow on the dashboard he took the car into the dealer to have it looked at and they said the particulate filter is blocked and it will cost £1,400 to have it replaced.

They then shocked him by explaining that this is a wear and tear item, not covered by the warranty. Another reason why you should never take an ex demonstrator, you just don’t know how the 50 or more drivers of the car have driven the car! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Press release: New rules for MOT to test for diesel particulate filter (gov.uk)

As we get closer to the time when the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) takes over control of the Consumer Credit Act it is important to make sure that you and your business, if you are an SME that isn’t a limited company, are in good shape for credit. In future lenders will want to carry out an ‘affordability test’ to ensure that you can afford your repayments.

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.

Whilst some lenders claim that their own affordability tests are already working well and therefore won’t change I personally think that you should assume that lending will tighten up, certainly in the short term. This strengthened affordability test may be in the form of an income and expenditure account or it may be copies of your last three months bank statements.

Whilst your income and expenditure report may show that you can afford repayments the one thing that will kill an application is a returned item shown on your bank statement, if asked for, because you have exceeded your overdraft limit or dropped into an unauthorised overdraft and the bank has not paid an item.

Having an overdraft that is being used isn’t a bad thing although it will probably knock a few points off your credit score but nowhere near as bad as having a returned item. So make sure that your last three months are clean. If not wait until any adverse drops off the last 3 months statements.

You can avoid a returned item if you cancel a direct debit before the money is applied for from your account but beware, this shouldn’t be a direct debit for finance, especially car finance, as a missed payment will show up as arrears. This is another situation that would cause finance to be refused.

You will also be asked for a copy of, or the original of, a current driving licence so make sure that you have both parts available, the paper and the plastic parts. Also make sure that if you have the newer licence that it hasn’t run out of date (has to be renewed every 10 years) and that it is showing your current address.

If you only have an old style licence then make sure that you have a current passport for photo ID to be provided at the same time. One of the issues I regularly address is the need by some funders to see a utility bill dated within the last 3 months. So if you are about to apply for credit make sure that you haven’t thrown away all of your bills as soon as you have paid them.

Mobile phone bills are never accepted and we are finding that fewer funders are now accepting credit card statements and council tax bills as proof of address. Landline telephone bills, water, gas and electric bills are all acceptable along with bank statements as long as they are paper statements not printed off the Internet.

In my book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide, I dedicated the first section to preparing for finance. Essential reading. Final piece of advice on the subject – if you are thinking of changing your car, do it now before the new rules kick in. By Graham Hill

Most people are aware that in order to be approved for finance you need to have a reasonably good credit score. You maintain a good credit score, as you know, by making credit payments on time (pay by direct debit wherever possible), not gaining CCJ’s, defaulting or going into arrears and not applying for credit to too many companies at the same time.

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.

Closing down old credit cards can also help. But I have had a few ‘declines’ just recently because of financial associations that, in a few cases, were no longer in existance. When you apply for credit you can only have your personal details searched so if you have a partner who has very poor credit or could even be bankrupt, they cannot be checked out unless you give permission or you have a financial association.

If you are shown to have a financial association with anyone the chances are that their credit status will also be taken into account. So if you are applying for finance and you and your partner have a joint mortgage or a joint credit card there is a financial association. One client had a girlfriend and they jointly applied for a credit card and were approved at the time.

They didn’t take out the card and split up shortly afterwards but one of them ran into some severe financial difficulties. As the financial association was still showing on the credit reference agency file the unknowing boyfriend was declined for car finance because of the difficulties experienced by the ex girlfriend.

So check your credit reference files and if you are showing any financial associations with any ex’s make sure you write to the credit reference agencies (all 3) and tell them that you no longer have any financial association with your ex, and to remove the link. By Graham Hill

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• ‘Ex-husband’s debts barred me from a mortgage’ (telegraph.co.uk)