Air conditioned road crossings in Dubai - wouldn’t it be nice to have weather that warranted them here!

November 10, 2008 – 3:11 pm
This brought a smile to my face - while we're inside taking shelter from the abysmal weather this morning, in Dubai they're putting up pedestrian road crossings that are air conditioned to keep them out of the heat and pollution.  Lucky them!! www.xpress4me.com

Posted in Environment

Company tax relief for company vehicles

October 29, 2008 – 12:22 pm
Changes are due to the amount of money a company can offset against corporation tax on company vehicles. In essence, higher emission vehicles will get less relief, vehicles under 160g/km CO2 emissions will get more. For us in the leasing industry - it means where historically you'd be able to offset all the costs of a leasing agreement, when the new rules come into force it will mean any vehicles with emissions over 160g/km will only be able to have 85% of the costs offset.  In reality for small fleets this is only likely to be a small amount of money, but for larger fleets it will certainly be a good motivation to choose carefully the vehicles picked, as lower emissions not only benefits the environment and company car users pockets, but also companies. Read more at fleetnews

Posted in Company Car Tax

Used Car Values Rise

October 28, 2008 – 1:10 pm
The major auction houses have reported that, for the first time in several months, used car values have increased. However, they warn that it is too early to draw any conclusions from the good news.   Manheim found that, at £6,280, the average wholesale used car selling price was 3.5% (£212) up last month compared with August. This rise compares with a 1.7% (£103) fall in August. However, BCA’s results were lower. Its sales data for September showed that average monthly used car values rose, with a modest climb of £47 (1%) recorded against August. Values averaged £4,812 over the month, compared to £4,765 in August. Manheim also found that the fleet sector average month-on-month values rose by 4.1% (£208) compared with a fall of 2.1% (£106) in August. While BCA’s figures show that values for fleet and lease cars rose by £71 in September compared to August. However, September is traditionally one of the strongest months for average values ...

Posted in Miscellaneous Articles

Audi’s rival for the BMW X3

October 27, 2008 – 6:22 pm
It's been a long time coming, but Audi now have something they can pit directly at the BMW X3 (which has been around for some year). On sale now, the Audi Q5 has taken hints from its bigger brother the Q7 on the exterior, while the dash bears similarity to the A4.  Initial tests from reviewers fair well - and the car has been touted as beating the opposition. Meanwhile Volvo are to bring out the XC60 in the same luxury SUV range, more info on that to come. For more information on our car leasing deals for BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 see below: More Car leasing deals for BMW X3

Posted in Car Leasing and Contract Hire News, Company Cars

Many consumers preferring smaller vehicles

October 21, 2008 – 3:29 pm
According to a survey carried out by Glass' Guide - a third of consumers would like to downsize to save on costs. Fuel price, and taxes are a major consideration now for most people, and many are considering diesels in situations where they may be more economical (particular high mileage drivers). We've a great deal to help with the costs of motoring - check out the Mercedes-Benz A150 and contact us to make an enquiry. More news/info at the Daily Express

Posted in Car Leasing and Contract Hire News, Miscellaneous Articles

New UK Gritting vehicles could harm your car

October 6, 2008 – 12:13 pm
The Highways Agency are this winter to start using a new method of gritting the roads, using a technique known as "pre-wet". Essentially the salt spread on to the road will already be wet, by being mixed with brine.  The spreaders have 2 tanks and mix it as they spread it. The new method is said to be very effective at the task at hand, by being quicker, and also consuming less salt - which has environmental benefits. However, much concern has been voiced over the damage it can potentially cause to vehicles.  Manufacturer Volkswagen have had to deal with large amounts of vehicles after the pre-wet technique caused damage to vehicles in Austria where the method is already in use. It would therefore be wise to regularly clean your car to wash off the corrosive salt - particularly older vehicles, and pay attention to usually neglected areas such as under the wheel arches. Read ...

Posted in Driver Information, Miscellaneous Articles

All that Glitters is not gold - Check the Broker !

September 22, 2008 – 11:36 am
As we all try harder and harder to secure the very lowest price for the Car we want - most of us will spend a few hours trawling the Internet. Using our keyboard, we can access hundreds of individual leasing brokers, Leasing Companies and Price comparison sites. After several hours, we finally find the price we want and proceed with the company happy that our searching has paid off with an amount of money saved. Having found the cheapest deal - you have faith that the company is legitimate and a professional organisation that will pursue your order to a satisfactory conclusion - i.e you get your car. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. BE WARNED - WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW IS FACTUAL AND HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED - IF ITS HAPPENED TO YOU - WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU !!! We have had recent experience whereby a prospect has approached us with a price to beat which ...

Posted in Check A Broker

What Car Test Child seats.

September 18, 2008 – 4:01 pm
Child seat supertest What Car Friday, September 12, 2008 Your child is your most precious passenger, so you will want to be confident that your child seat can cope with family life and is easy for you to use. Here we put a selection of group one child seats to the test. Generally, group one seats are for children between the ages of nine months and four years (or nine to 18kg). Particularly tall or heavy children may need to move up to the next stage of seat sooner than these age guidelines. Your child needs to move up a group when they exceed the maximum weight of the seat or the top of their head is above the top of the seat. It's always best to seat children in the back of the car, but airbags don't pose a lethal risk for children in group one and above seats, but they do to infants in rearward ...

Posted in Child Seats

Lloyds TSB and HBOS Merger - Lex and Lloyds TSB Autolease next?

September 18, 2008 – 9:14 am
You'll all have heard the news that Lloyds TSB and HBOS have merged, creating a new "superbank", in response to HBOS' plummetting share prices.  Their merger ordinarily would not have got through, had it not been due to the general financial crises that we seem to hear about every day. Lex, which is owned by the HBOS group - is the largest leasing company in the UK.  Lloyds TSB Autolease, is the second largest leasing company.  As it's such early days, there's obviously no news as to whether the two leasing giants will merge - we wait with baited breath.  If they do, it'll be by FAR the largest leasing company in the UK by some margin, with a fleet nearing 400,000 vehicles! The next largest leasing company has 120,000, some way behind. If they were to merge, would it be good or bad (could it in essence, be too big?).  Lex and ...

Posted in Car Leasing and Contract Hire News

Euro 5 emission standards

September 15, 2008 – 12:18 pm
The new EU5 (EURO 5) standard, recently ratified by the European Parliament, introduces new, stricter exhaust emission limits for both petrol and diesel engines. It is currently planned that these limits will come into force for all new models introduced from September 2009. The EU5 standard primarily reduces the level of allowable diesel particulate matter and therefore will have a greater impact on diesel engines than petrol engines. However, it also tightens the limits for oxides of Nitrogen (NOx). At present there are no tax advantages linked to early compliance with the EU5 standard - though this may well change.

Posted in Driver Information