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What Car has produced the top ten cars offering the best visibility and the top ten worst visibility. The study was carried out following complaints that visibility was getting worse in new cars. Conventional safety assessments such as EuroNCAP crash tests don’t include visibility tests. Driver safety experts say poor visibility is becoming more Read more »

Hertz have announced their entry into the Car Club market as companies and consumers look at ways to reduce their car costs both throughout Europe and in the US. Locations are being selected throughout the UK and they expect to launch later in the year. Following existing models that are working they are expected to charge a monthly membership then the use of the car by the hour. The expectation is Read more »

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 »

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 »

My quote of the week goes to a spokesman for BMW‘s UK operations following an announcement that BMW cars were to receive a substantial price hike. He was trying to reassure us in the UK that we were not included in the expected increases. The company had issued a profit warning and said that due to increased oil and raw material costs they would be forced to increase prices – but not in the UK – he said, Read more »

If you are hell bent on driving a 4 wheel drive I would make the most of it now as auction house Manheim have reported exceptional losses sustained by leasing companies when re-selling end of contract 4WD cars. At the moment manufacturers are offsetting poor resale values with big discounts and bonuses but the long term view is that manufacturers will scale down production and switch the lines over to smaller more desirable ‘greener’ cars. This will mean that they will give away less by way of bonuses making the lease cost of gas guzzling 4WD cars very high.But whilst we are in this honeymoon period and you like 4WD’s now is the time to take one because by the end of the year rates will potentially be horendous and deliveries even worse. Hands up who wants a Hummer? By Graham Hill

Deliveries are becoming a nightmare, I have today been given a further delay on a VW Golf with the new 1.4 engine that was ordered on the 1st February 2008 with an estimated lead time of 12 weeks. Delivery is currently expected to be end of August to the dealer. Whilst this situation is exceptional, explained by VW as being the result of amazing International demand for the smaller engine that can be tuned to produce 170 BHP, long lead times are not uncommon. However, most funders will Read more »

As any of you that have become readers of my weekly ramblings would know I am a great supporter of the safety system ESP developed by Bosch. I believe that it should be fitted in all new cars as it is relatively cheap and would save more lives than ABS. Well, the good news is that Bosch have started work on a new version that will hopefully move them closer to having the system fitted in all cars. The new version integrates sensors for Read more »

When it comes to fuel saving the RAC Foundation has pitched in asking commuters to car share. It said that 25 million people commute daily to a fixed place of work, 71% of whom use a car (bloody big car that’s all I can say – the old ones are always the best). “Car sharing has the potential to reduce the financial, environmental and congestion costs associated with some of these 18 million work-related journeys” it said. Look, I know that’s pretty obvious but it’s not me who’s treating you like a moron – I’m just reporting what they said! Good grief!