Jeep Buyer

Car gadgets are becoming increasingly more popular. The most popular can be fitted and unfitted easily which is especially important when you’ve got a car contract hire. The gadgets below are the ones I like the most.

The light up car signal.
A great way to tell people what you really think about them, even better write out how's my driving, I dont really care. A great way to have a laugh in the car.

Econav
These are brilliant as they actually calculate the route which is the most fuel efficient, although they really cant compete with the tom-tom they are great for saving a bit of money on fuel.

Safe that is locked to the inside of the car.
A great idea to keep the other gadgets locked up. Great idea but what happens if your whole car gets stolen?

A breath tester to read the alcohol levels.
It's great to see if you have gone over the limit or to just have a bit of a laugh when your out not in your car to see how many units you have had. Although a bit of a laugh to have is it really the best gadget to have in the car.

The cab for dad
My dad is always moaning about giving me lifts anywhere as I really don’t earn enough money to pay for the lessons! Well I will have even less as this is a novelty taxi meter that checks how far and how much you have to pay. Brilliant for dad’s not so brilliant for everyone else.

A fan to keep you cool.
A great idea for all those cars that don't have air conditioning. A good idea for when it's just too much in the summer.99 you cant go wrong at all.

The gadget that warns you in advance.
A perfect gadget for the motorist who loves to speed, and who doesn't. Goes off whenever you are near one which is perfect as you have time to slow down. The police still roam the roads and it cant tell you where they are!

Tom-Tom, it speaks for itself
The best gadget by far. Great for when you want Homer Simpson to be saying Doh! whenever you have missed a turn as well as avoiding arguments.

Most of these gadgets are removable which is brilliant if you are always changing cars. Car contract hire is a brilliant idea and you can carry the gadgets from perhaps a Punto all the way to as top of the range Audi with a Audi contract hire.

Car leasing, personal contract purchase, contract hire, lease purchase and car loans are all different ways to finance the cost of cars and vans. The variety of vehicle financing options available today can be confusing so I thought I would focus on ‘contract hire’ and explain how this technique works.

Leasing a car basically takes care of one of the biggest financial issues associated with acquiring a new vehicle which is depreciation. As soon as you’ve been handed the keys to your brand new motor its value falls through the floor.

When you take out a new car lease the residual value of your chosen car or van will be calculated by your supplier. This is the estimated value of the vehicle at the end of the agreed lease period, usually 2 or 3 years, based on your expected mileage in that period. The calculated residual value of your chosen vehicle is then deducted from either the current manufacturers retail price, or a value agreed with the leasing firm, and you will pay the remainder through your monthly lease payments. So the higher the residual value in comparison with the current value, the less you will be paying each month.

Contract hire is a vehicle financing method that has maximum benefit for customers who are registered for VAT, so it is most suitable for businesses and the self-employed. If your vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes you can reclaim 100% of the VAT. Even if you use your car or van for some personal use you can still reclaim 50% of the VAT.

A contract hire agreement means that you have actually hired the selected car or van for an agreed period, usually between 1 and 5 years, during which time you will pay the agreed rental, based upon mileage. At the end of the agreed contract hire period, as in the case of car leasing, the vehicle is returned to the supplier. You will not encounter any painful surprise disposal or depreciation costs.

Contract hire can optionally include full vehicle maintenance which may include routine servicing and replacement tyres. Up to 100% of your contract hire rental charges can be offset against your taxable profits and minimal capital outlay is required.

It’s no surprise that contract hire is the favoured vehicle financing option for many businesses and self-employed people.

For cheap car leasing I recommend Nationwide Vehicle Contracts.

So you want to start looking for a new car but you just can’t seem to make your finances stretch far enough? Or perhaps you’ve already found the car of your dreams, ut know there’s no way you’ll ever be able to afford it. You’re not alone – the motoring industry has been hit hardest of all by the recession and car sales have reached an all time low. It seems no one can afford to think about purchasing a new car right now.

But don’t let that put you off – there is another option. There is a way you could get the car of your choice, without even having to pay upfront for it. Car contract hire or leasing agreements are a great way to choose the exact car you want and you only have to pay one manageable monthly fee.  

I know what you’re probably thinking, there has got to be a catch, right? Well, actually, no there’s really not. Sure you have to sign a contract but you get to choose from any car on the market, including those that would normally be out of your price range. In fact, the more desirable the car is, the better deals you can get. It’s not like buying a new car where the value decreases with time, most contract hire agreements are based on your projected usage so they take wear and tear into account and when the contract ends you can trade it in for a newer model.

Choosing contract hire will usually also help with the running cost of having a car – often the road tax and servicing costs are thrown in to the monthly instalments so you won’t find yourself suddenly landed with huge repair bills. And being able to trade the car in regularly means you’ll always have the latest model so it’s less likely to break down.

Basically, it’s a really beneficial and financially viable way of getting a new car without any of the worries of buying outright – and it really does make sense, especially now when times are hard. And who knows, you might even be able to get that dream car after all!

The French government have just announced a €6.5bn loan for the country’s sinking car industry. It is the latest in a long line of similar actions taken by authorities around the world to protect jobs and the economy through the recession. A huge worldwide slump in sales has left car manufacturers struggling, and millions of workers are in danger of losing their jobs.

In the UK there have already been significant job losses despite the government lending large amounts of money to help keep business afloat. A number of factories have had to close temporarily and the Japanese carmaker Nissan has become the latest to announce that it will be making job cuts of almost 10% of its global workforce, including 1200 positions in the UK.

In these times of recession, it’s difficult to see how the car industry is going to recover. With things as they are, most people are feeling the strain and having to keep a close eye on their finances. It’s safe to say that buying a car is the last thing on most people’s minds, and until the economy starts to improve the car industry can do little more than bide its time.

But getting direct sales is not always the only option for car dealers. If the problem is that people don’t have enough money to buy cars upfront, the answer could be to offer more car contract hire deals where customers lease their car on a monthly basis until the cost has been paid off. The availability of these deals means that buyers have more choice when it comes to cars – they have the option of choosing a more expensive car that would normally be out of their price range, which means more money for the car manufacturers in the long run.

Contract hire is a great deal for the consumer too, not only does it mean you get a wider choice of more desirable cars but the payment is in manageable instalments and there are often loads of other benefits thrown in. The contracts often include extras like servicing costs and road tax, so there’s less for customers to worry about. Basically, everyone wins!

With car leasing you get all the benefits of owning a car but without a lot of the downfalls, fisrtly you don’t have any huge upfront costs to pay with car contract hire, you may have to pay a small deposit but nothing compared to what a new car would cost you, usually all maintenance costs will be covered in the lease plan as well as any warranty so if anything goes wrong it wont cost you a penny. Road tax! its keeps getting more and more expensive but that’s also included in the cost of your lease agreement. Also you can drive away a car that you would have never normally been able to afford, there are some great deals out there for expensive cars so look out for things like Audi contract hire where you could drive away a flash car for just a small monthly fee. You get a brand new car every 2 to 3 years which means you always have the latest model. Also a car is not like a house, it loses its value over time so if you buy  anew car in 5 years time it will be worth a fraction of the cost meaning that you lose all the value you payed for. There are a few jargon terms that you may here if your looking at leasing a car so here’s a couple to keep your ear open for.
this is the reduction in the car’s value caused by age, mileage and condition. The depreciation of a vehicle is greatest during its first year. The make and model of the car can also have a huge bearing on the depreciation value.
Residual Value – this term refers to the predicted value of your car when it reaches the end of the lease agreement. This amount is very important as the monthly repayments will be based on the difference between the selling price and the residual value.