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I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that there are ways to get hold of dodgy MOT test certificates although since everything is on central computers now I believed that it wasn’t possible to fiddle certificates any longer. Well to prove me wrong a garage owner has been jailed for 6 months for passing 2,500 vehicles without failing a single one. Video evidence was collected against Noor Hussain for presentation at Preston Crown Court. It showed cars going in and out of the test bay in 7 Read more »

The Graham Hill in depth review of a new car focuses on the new Range Rover Mini. I hated the new Posh Spice influenced Evoque, it looked dopy and first impression of the challenger to the Mini Countryman was that it looked just as dopy but you know what – it’s starting to grow on me. At the moment it is still in the design stage but if the car ends up looking like the designs it will be one to look out for although it will tip the scales at £25,000. The car is likely to come in 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive Read more »

On the subject of health and safety the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) carried out a study into ‘in car’ distractions and found that reaction times were affected by what we listen to on the radio. It found that reaction times were 20% slower when listening to sport. The reaction times were found to be similar to those found when drivers had been drinking and driving. Whilst plenty of studies had been carried out on mobile phone use whilst driving, few studies had been carried out into the effects Read more »

Our Government said that they would review some of our health and safety regulations with a view to reduce the ridiculous levels that some regulations have reached making it difficult for companies to function properly. After releasing his report Common Sense, Common Safety, Lord Young has been criticised for ignoring some of the improvements in conditions that health and safety regulations have introduced into the workplace. Whilst it was Lord Young’s intention to reduce bureaucracy Read more »

A new code of conduct is set to be launched this month by the Retail Motor Industry Federation, the association responsible for dealers and workshops. The scheme is set up to promote best practice and help to maintain standards for motorists, covering servicing and repairs. However, not everyone is impressed as there are already others operating similar controls, such as the AA, who argue that there are already too many in operation. AA technical specialist Vanessa Guyll said, ‘Multiple codes Read more »

I’ve heard today that VW have slipped back on deliveries even further on the new Passat CC’s, that we have on order. Deliveries of cars ordered as long ago as September have now slipped back to February/March next year. Touareg’s on order have also slipped back to March. Considering the fact that we were quoted deliveries for end of November this is a disgrace but even worse we still don’t have specific delivery dates. Typical of many manufacturers the marketing team decided Read more »

We all know the expression ‘A little knowledge is a bad thing,’ and it couldn’t be more true at the moment in the area of car leasing. As small businesses and consumers look for ways to reduce their costs, car leasing is being discussed more and more, then armed with sketchy information many are embarking upon leasing without knowing exactly what they are getting into. This isn’t being helped by confusing and conflicting advertising on the Internet as well as some very strange promotions Read more »

What has happened to the colour of our cars? Wherever you went a few years ago you would see a rainbow of colours driving up and down our roads but drive along a motorway these days you will drive along side a series of pretty monotone coloured cars. Three quarters of all cars registered this year are black, white, silver or grey. In 2000 the third and fourth most popular colours were blue and green. They have now dropped heavily in popularity according to leading automotive paint supplier, Read more »

Talk about left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing! VW has had some great deals towards the end of this year. Demand was great but they hadn’t realised that when they promote a car they should make sure that they can meet demand – sounds a bit logical to me. But no, that would be far too simple and obvious so now we have some very unhappy customers who are still not being told when they can expect to receive their Passat CC’s or Touareg’s even though they were originally told Read more »

I was talking to a client recently after he had been to a dealer for a test drive. Whilst there, he was shown a ‘pre-registered’ car that had just 10 miles on the clock and was £3,000 less than the list price. He was interested in the car and asked my advice and as this is quite a common occurrence I thought I would share the facts with readers of my blog. First of all there is no such thing as a pre-registered car with respect to dealers. This was made illegal by Stephen Byers at the time he was Trade & Read more »