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Underwriting is becoming a bit of a nightmare with lenders seemingly running out of money. It’s all very frustrating as I have loads of enquiries and proposals but far too many are being declined for credit, a situation that will only get worse. Applicants need to take more care over their credit and avoid any adverse or suffer the very severe consequences. Also consider the amount you are prepared to pay up front Read more »

There appears to be a bit of a shake up in  the way that cars are insured. Where companies allow drivers to use their own cars for company business it is being suggested that the companies now take out company policies that include the cars owned by the employees in order to ensure that all cars used for company business are adequately covered. There are also proposals to introduce Read more »

So what do we think of the Mandelson bailout? Frankly not a lot although time will tell. The problem with all these packages seems to be that they get to the point of understanding the problems and seeking a solution but they don’t seem to then tell those to whom they are giving the money how they want it used. They gave money to the banks and told them to start lending again but they didn’t tell them when, how much Read more »

Are you becoming green conscious? Many more people it would seem are taking the green issues into account when selecting their new cars so the Government has reacted by providing drivers with a tool that enables them to compare the green credentials of all cars. You can do this by visiting the following site: http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/actonco2 I found it a bit slow to load but interesting once you’re there. By Graham Hill

Do you ever feel that you are banging your head against a brick wall? How many times did I say before Christmas that some of the deals that are available may never return so take them whilst you can. But no, obviously I was lying or simply trying to pull a few deals in to pay for my extravagant Christmas and New Year celebrations. The truth is that I wasn’t. There was a huge effort on the part of some manufacturers to Read more »

Mobile phones are in the spotlight again. This time as a result of the dangers posed by the various alert text messages causing drivers to check their phones whilst driving which is of course illegal and very dangerous. The one that has come in for most criticism is traffic alerts provided by Trafficmaster. The idea was to enable drivers to receive updates before Read more »

Apparently you could get free new cars from Vauxhall until recently provided you were a driving school and you ran a fleet of 3,500 vehicles. This astonishing fact has only just come to light as a result of Vauxhall refusing to provide free of charge cars any longer to BSM and telling them that they will now have to pay. Cars were provided on a 6 month turnaround so Vauxhall were providing 7,000 cars a year for free. BSM is owned by Aviva, formally Norwich Union, who now face costs of millions of pounds – time to sell shares? By Graham Hill

At the end of 2008 we were inundated with great deals and offers as manufacturers looked at ways to clear their overstock of cars but since the start of the new year we haven’t had anywhere near the same number of deals or the great value that we saw previously. Part of the reason is the continued weakness of the used car market whereby even if the manufacturers were giving as much away in bonuses and Read more »

In my opinion leasing is by far the most cost effective way of funding a car provided you can be flexible and look for the best deals around at the time you take your new car. However, there is one major drawback to leasing and one that I write about regularly in my newsletter, trade press and national press. It is the one area that I receive most complaints about from buyers of my book. It is the end of contract charges. I Read more »

As car manufacturers continue to beat a path to the Chancellor’s door I ask myself what they are going to ask for? We already know that cars in the UK are overpriced so why not cut prices in order to stimulate sales. On the other hand, as Lord Mendelson has suggested, it is the funding that needs to be looked at in order to make it possible and affordable for the public and small businesses to drive new cars and Read more »