My good friend was recently promoted at work and was given the opportunity to opt out of his company car scheme and acquire his own car (for which he was given an allowance).

“Where will I get truly independent advice on both the type of new car I want and also the best deal on finance” – he asked.

121 Vehicles is truly a one stop shop for this advice – we are not paid by the car manufacturers, so we don’t mind at all whether you want an Audi, a VW, a Fiat, a Ford or an Aston Martin. We get our commission from the finance company. We are not here to push a particular brand!

So YOU choose the car(or van) that’s right for YOU… we won’t sell you anything… we will help YOU choose.

One of the reasons I originally set up 121 Vehicles as a contract hire and leasing brokerage was due to the fact that I (and members of my family and friends) had all had ‘less than satisfactory’ experiences when dealing with a manufacturer’s main dealer.

One particularly astounding event was when my wife went to buy a new car a couple of years ago – only to be told by the ‘Sales Man’ to… and I quote – “Come back on Saturday with your husband and we can discuss it then!”

A truly astounding remark – I think you’ll agree. You can imagine the outcome – my wife walked out of the dealership in disgust, never to return. Not only that, but whenever she is with her friends she always recounts the story. I dread to think how much business that dealership has lost.

A broker on the other hand, has access to all the deals from all the manufacturers and all the funding solutions too. You don’t want an XYZ Mark II 1.6TDi… no problem – we can quote you on something else.

More choice – more offers – more solutions.

Be nice to everybody – they might tell their friends too.

Dear Dick (The Advice Guy):

I hope you can help me. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual.

I hadn’t driven more than a mile down the road when the engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband’s help.

When I got home I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbour’s daughter. I am 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbour’s girl is 22.

We have been married for ten years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was made redundant six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless.

I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become very distant. He won’t go to counseling and I’m afraid I can’t get through to him.

Can you help please?

Sincerely

Sheila

******************************

Dear Sheila:

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires.

If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

I hope this helps!

Dick

How do you get a better specification/model of your chosen vehicle than you thought possible? Lease it… It is a fact that the most dramatic cost of car ownership is depreciation. You buy a new car from your your local friendly dealer, drive it round the block once and it will have lost value within minutes!

Leasing a car (or van) is a way of ‘laying-off’ the effects of depreciation because, due to the fact that the residual value is calculated, costed and therefore ‘risked’ by the funder (the company that lends you the money for the car/van) – it is no longer your problem.

The depreciation (the amount by which your car/van falls in value during its lifetime) is borne by the someone else.

As a rule, the better the specification list a car has – the better the residual value… so it is quite often the case that the client (you) can enjoy a higher specification vehicle than you might have thought, because the actual cost of say the ‘SE’ over the ‘S’ or the ‘Executive’ over the ‘Basic’ could actually work out cheaper on a monthly lease cost basis.

A better car than you thought… food for thought perhaps!

Blue, Black and Silver – the choice is yours.

contact us to reserve yours… better be quick though.

Well I never

That sounded clever

To lease a new car

Shipped from afar

And pay on the never never

The order was taken

Gratefully received

The internet oft dodgy

121 will not deceive

So the car arrived

On time it did

Client was happy

A chap called Syd

Syd had spent hours

Trapsing the doors

Audi, Volkswagen

All with ‘er indoors

He had saved money

He got what he bought

No hassle – no fuss

Just like it ought

Syd was dead pleased

He’d spoken to Tim

Saved him some money

Which he kept in a tin

121 Vehicles

New cars and new vans

Leasing or contract

We have lots of plans

So when next in need

Of a new car or van

You must talk to Tim

For he is the man

New car registrations rose by 29.8% in January to 145,479 units. The market rose for a seventh successive month. The scrappage scheme continued to boost the market, accounting for 17.8% of sales, despite a return to 17.5% VAT on 1st January. The outlook is constrained, and demand is expected to fall 9% to 1.82 million units in the full year.

“The 29.8% increase in January for new car registrations provides a better than expected start to 2010 for the UK motor industry,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. Scrappage continues to lift demand successfully and today’s announcement of a continuation of the scheme to the end of March will allow the maximum number of people to benefit from the budget that’s still available.

“Industry expects another difficult year with the availability of finance, consumer confidence and sustaining demand post-scrappage, key to performance in the second half of the year, but signs of recovery in the fleet and business sectors are encouraging,” he concluded.

Yes, there was once a time when the press were giving us pictures of fields full of unsold (and in some cases – unloved!) new cars… those days are gone my friends.

Most of the new car orders we receive are now with delivery times well into the New Year, some even as far away as early summer. Please don’t be fooled by vendors offering to find cars in the next 2-3 weeks once they have your order…  it is not possible – certainly not by the time you have added all those little tweaks from the options list and poured over the colour charts to match it with your new suit/handbag!

Of course, there is stock around if you are prepared to accept another colour/spec. We had a client recently, looking for a particularly sporty A5 petrol model in a specific colour and all we could find (in his time-scale)  was a red diesel!

Moral of the story then… if you have already extended your lease from this time last year (ie. you are now 4 years in to a 3 year contract) you might find that it will be spring 2010 before you see your new wheels.

Order now to avoid disappointment!! We’d love to hear from you too.

Quantitative easing… not in car world.

We welcome any suggestions (keep it clean now!!)…

Do you have a favourite ?

What’s the best colour, you know – one that doesn’t need washing too often?