When buying a car, know your rights!

When buying from a dealer, the law says a car must be of satisfactory quality, which means any customer must find it to be of a suitable standard against the dealer’s description of cost and circumstances. Look at the appearance, the finish its safety and durability.

When purchasing a car it is always better to buy one with a history of very few previous owners or through hire purchase so the dealership can give it the all clear first. At AvailableCar, we check all vehicle history with the DVLA and 95% of stock is one owner, UK supplied.

If you buy a car from a dealership they should always, by law, check the vehicle history for you through Experian or HPI, which will flag up any problems. As the consumer, you can always request a copy of the vehicle history, which the dealership will obtain for you.

If you are tempted to buy privately, make sure you go to a website like Auto Trader and download a checklist. There will be things on the list you may not have even thought about, which will cost you money in the long term.

Additional Information

For further information on buying a car visit www.oft.gov.uk and read the car consumer advice section. Also visit sites like www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk, www.financingyourcar.org.uk, and www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.

Motor Trader Car-buying trends: D-sector cars

Upper-medium cars could make a comeback in the UK as customers are driven away from SUVs by tax hikes and pressure from the environmental lobby.

Jason King, head of market intelligence at EurotaxGlass’s, said: “There could be a return to more attractive D-sector cars. Big SUVs are not the thing to invest in for good RVs at the moment. “

King said the Ford Mondeo had raised the bar in the D-sector and is “coming to more people’s attention”.

He said the revitalised new market for large family cars will be replicated in the used market as well.

“There are more interesting cars now, they are not just functional – D is still a core sector.”

AvailableCar always has a wide selection in stock of used Ford cars, including Mondeos, and other automobiles in the ‘D-sector’ to help you and your family manage your transport needs in balance with the envirnonmental and tax requirements.

A million drivers exploit road tax payments

According to reports by The Times, more than a million drivers a year are exploiting a loophole in the enforcement of vehicle licensing law that allows them to pay less road tax. The DVLA has been aware of the loophole for at least four years but has failed to close it, costing the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds in lost revenue. This comes on top of estimates that up to four out of ten motorcyclists are evading road tax.

Since 2004 the DVLA has issued automatic £80 fines to drivers who do not renew their tax discs. But it does not identify evaders until the end of the second month after a disc expires. If drivers skip a month’s tax and renew their disc at the beginning of the second month, they will not be sent a fine. They can repeat the evasion every six months.

There is little risk of being caught displaying an out-of-date disc because police unofficially give at least 14 days’ grace to those displaying expired discs. There has also been a sharp fall in the number of traffic police, meaning that drivers are unlikely to be stopped later in the month.

The DVLA has only 66 enforcement officers for the whole country, and they recover an average of only £35,000 a year each in unpaid road tax — barely enough to cover the cost of employing them. A DVLA spokesman said that 100,000 drivers a month were skipping a month’s tax.

The report said that the DVLA’s enforcement of road tax for motorcycles risks becoming “a complete laughing stock”. The MPs called on the DVLA to work with police and local councils to carry out more on-road checks, and use new powers to check bikes being driven off the public highway.

For more information on how to tax your vehicle visit: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/index.htm

For a cool used ford check out AvailableCar.com.

Choose low emissions and save pounds!

New tax breaks came into force on the 8th April that could save UK employers millions if they switched to greener cars. A new study by the Energy Saving Trust shows that UK employees could save £645m through reduced benefit-in-kind income tax contributions.

If employers switched to cars with carbon dioxide emissions of 120g/km or under, the trust says there could be:

• £250m saving for UK employers through reduced National Insurance contributions;
• £780m saving for UK employers through reduced fuel consumption;
• A saving of £1.2bn on the fuel bills of employees who use their own car for work purposes;
• A reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from UK company cars of around 1.9 million tonnes a year;
• A reduction in emissions from company cars of around three million tonnes a year.

The trust has also discovered that only 7% of firms offer a financial reward to employees to choose a smaller, cheaper or lower-emitting car.

Additionally, more than half of companies that provide cars don’t have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or environmental policy. Of those that do, only a third consider the environmental impact of the cars they provide.

More than half of all cars registered in the UK every year are company cars, so the trust is urging companies to switch to greener cars as soon as possible.

AvailableCar has made it easy for you to check car emissions, whether it be one of ours or your own, simply visit our article ‘Understanding your car’s CO2 Emissions’ to find out more information.

Do your bit for the environment and be aware of CO2 emissions

Climate change is something we hear about all too often at the moment, and it is one of the greatest threats we face. As a motorist it is important to recognise that you can do your bit for the environment by reducing the impact of your vehicle by knowing your cars CO2 level.

The Government website www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk allows you to read and check all kinds if vital information relating to your car’s environmental impact. You can search for your particular cars CO2 level by make and model, by company car percentage and by alternative fuel types. There are also lots of useful tips on there like, hints on how to make less environmental damage for example.

At AvailableCar you will find all the information relating to Co2 emissions on-line. When you find a car which you are interested in, simply click on the image and all the car data will appear including a scroll down vehicle specification section. Here you will find all the economy information you need to make a car purchase.

To to the right thing and go green with your motoring, often buying a used car is better than buying a hybrid automobile. Chuck Squatriglia has written an informative article for wired magazine on going green with a used car. Read about it here.

AvailableCar saved the day for TV Motoring star Mike Brewer

Auto Express writer Mike Brewer, best known for his work on ITV’s Pulling Power and Wheeler Dealers was searching across the country a few weeks ago to find a suitable car retailer who could help him with one of his motoring columns. After finding both of his desired motors on the AvailableCar website, he wasted no time in getting in touch with the supermarket to see if they could help him out.

Mike spoke of his ordeal saying: “When we do our used twin test feature for Auto Express we set ourselves a difficult challenge. You’d think it would be easy to find two similar second-hand cars at one location, but even in a market that’s saturated with motors, finding the right ones can be almost impossible.

“So you can imagine my surprise when we rang AvailableCar and marketing and sales manager Steve Alcock told us he had both of the cars we needed ready, cleaned and ours for the day. With such a massive selection of models we quickly found an Alfa GT and a Peugeot 407 Coupe for the head-to-head test – but with over 9 million quid’s worth of stock on site that’s hardly a surprise. Needless to say, the shoot went ahead without a hitch – other than the weather!”

This isn’t the first time AvailableCar have been in the spotlight, after winning five national motoring awards in only six years of trading, they are used to being leaders in the used car industry with one of the best displays of stock in the UK. They have two sites one in Castle Donington and one in Sutton-In-Ashfield. Both sites combined together have more than 2500 models ranging from £3000 up to £23,000, which ensures they cater for everyone, even Mike Brewer!

AvailableCar Manager Steve Alcock said: “When we got the call from Auto Express we were more than happy to help out. It was a great day watching them shoot the twin test and we are delighted that not just one but two of our cars were fully prepped and ready to be used.”

Auto Express is a weekly motoring magazine, which also has a dedicated website www.autoexpress.co.uk which Mike Brewer regularly writes for. Mike is also busy appearing in the Isle of Man TT Races on ITV4 from June 1st and the British Rally Championship on Sky Sports, which started on April 21st.

Steve continues, “For anyone looking for a nearly new or used car like Mike they should ensure they pay a visit to our website to see view our complete range of over 2500 cars. All of our vehicles are listed with full data and images and there is even an on-line valuation system, which guarantees a personal, non-automated response from one of our valuers as soon as possible.”

To see Mike Brewer’s Twin Test Feature and some images of him at our supermarket visit www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/usedcartests/220806/used_407_v_gt.html

Notify the DVLA once you sell your vehicle

Are you aware of the dangers of not informing the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) when a vehicle has been sold? The fact is, that until you contact the DVLA to update their records and you have a letter of acknowledgement, you are liable for anything that happens to the car whether it has been sold or not.

To ensure you go through the correct procedures, you must obtain the suitable registration document and fill in vital details like, the new owners name, address and contact number. You must also write down the exact date of sale or transfer.

For further details, visit, www.direct.gov.uk or call the DVLA’s vehicle customer services line on, 0870 240 0010.

Additional Information

For further information on buying a car visit www.oft.gov.uk and read the car consumer advice section. Also visit sites like www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk, www.financingyourcar.org.uk, and www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.

WHY BUY NEW? Buy a nearly new car and save thousands

Buying a nearly new car is a really clever thing to do as it means better value for money. You don’t have to compromise on style, many cars are 2005, 2006 and 2007 models, plus they have low mileage and the majority have had only one previous owner.

It may be tempting to buy new, but is it really worth paying all that money, to then loose up to 50% off the car’s value in the first year? Unless you have money to burn it’s not a financial investment.

At AvailableCar there are an excellent team of buyers who source the best nearly new and used cars from around the country. There’s a really good mixture of diesel and petrol, manual and automatic, small, medium, large cars and estates plus MPV’s and SUV’s.

You can also rest safe in the knowledge that AvailableCar will only offer you a totally hassle free service. Helpers are always on hand to provide information and advice should customers need it. If you want any questions answered simply ask one of the Team Members or approach the help desk when you are ready. They will then answer all your queries and take you on as many test-drives as you wish.

Additional Information

For further information on buying a car visit www.oft.gov.uk and read the car consumer advice section. Also visit sites like www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk, www.financingyourcar.org.uk, and www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.