Don’t lease a diesel car, or at least don’t if you are doing less than 10,000 miles per annum. This is the conclusion of a recent study carried out by the car valuation organisation Glass’s Guide. Last year more expensive diesel cars saw UK sales of approximately 980,000, compared with about 930,000 petrol engine cars. Of course a large proportion of those vehicles were not bought by those who are to drive them but by leasing companies that then lease the vehicles to companies and individuals; a typical contract hire term is 36 months.

The main problem with opting for a diesel car in preference to petrol, is that the new price is generally higher and diesel fuel is more expensive to buy. You do get better fuel consumption with diesel but to gain the benefit of this you need to be driving sufficient miles to recoup the additional expenditure. Most companies nowadays lease rather than buy their cars but even amongst company vehicles there are many diesel cars chosen when they should have opted for petrol; according to Glass’s Guide the majority of Britain’s 8,763,500 diesel owners, or car leasing clients, are wasting money due to having made the wrong choice.

It doesn’t really matter whether you are buying or leasing a car the effect is the same if you are not doing sufficient mileage. This is because if a car is more expensive to buy it is likely to be more expensive to lease, of course there are other factors to take into account such as residual values. If you take the cost of Ford Fiesta contract hire, the entry model Fiesta in petrol costs £143.77 plus Vat per month and the same model in diesel £151.22.

The extra cost is also reflected when you lease a Ford Focus; the entry model which is petrol has a leasing cost of £215.69 plus Vat per month and the least expensive diesel model £229.72 plus Vat. In any event if Ford contract hire is your choice, whether you go for diesel or petrol you will be delighted with your choice; Ford have gone from being referred to as the Dagenham Dustbin in the 1970´s and 80´s, to one of the best engineered and stylishly designed cars around.

Audi A7 leasing is proving to be very popular; it’s a fantastic looking car and it helps fill the gap between the Audi A6 and A8. The interior of the car exudes sheer luxury, although the rear headroom is a little restricted for the taller passenger. The aluminium content of the car is 20%, which helps it achieve excellent fuel consumption; the combined cycle is 55.4 mpg, which is quite an achievement for such a large car. The Co2 emissions are also good at 135 g/km. It’s an Audi so of course it has a Euro NCAP five star safety rating.

Those who lease an Audi are generally looking for luxury, style and comfort but prefer a vehicle that is a little understated. We have an Audi A7 Sportback on our special offer page at just £515 Plus vat per month, for thirty six months contract hire . The main competitors to the A7 Sportback are the Mercedes E Class , the BMW 5 or 7 Series. Of course if you want a luxury car that is almost impossible to fault and very reasonably priced, then you could consider leasing a Jaguar XF at just £398 plus Vat per month for a thirty six month lease.

It comes as no surprise to us that those looking to lease a Peugeot Rcz are increasing month on month; as more are seen on the road, the more other motorists realise what a great looking car this is. This model has a sleek yet aggressive appearance; it is comfortable and enjoyable to drive. The Rcz has a great engine, which is essentially the same engine as is used in the BMW Mini .

  Leasing a Peugeot Rcz is not expensive as it has excellent residual values; you can imagine how quickly a second hand model will be snapped up when it comes onto the market. The Rcz is also economical with a combined fuel cycle of 44.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 149g/km. It has a Euro NCAP five star safety rating. You can lease a Peugeot Rcz for just £273 plus Vat per month and that includes metallic paintwork. The Rcz’s main competitor is the Audi TT but if you want something really different, this is the car.

If our Range Rover Evoque contract hire sales are anything to go by, the Evoque is destined to be one of the most successful models ever launched by Range Rover. It has been designed to minimise weight and improve aerodynamic performance, whilst still providing a sporty yet comfortable ride. The Evoque's advanced technology provides an exciting performance together with the lowest fuel consumption of any Range Rover to date; helped by the fuel saving stop/start technology.

When opting for this interior, the leather is beautifully hand-finished with twin-needle stitching; many of our Range Rover Evoque leasing clients are opting for leather, suggesting that this is seen as a high end vehicle. The Evoque’s interior is finished to a high standard giving a real quality feel to the car. The Evoque is also safe; it has a Euro NCAP five star safety rating.

The Evoque’s unusual design has been a real hit with the motoring public, the rear view is restricted but that doesn’t seem to put anyone off. Adults can comfortably fit in the rear of this car but that’s not the reason most choose to lease a Range Rover Evoque; this vehicle is chosen because it’s a really cool car, in fact it’s about as cool as you can get, for a vehicle with four seats.

Even when it comes to going off road this vehicle performs respectably, not that many Evoque drivers will being going off road; they wouldn’t want to get it dirty. Due to its excellent residual values range Rover Evoque contract hire is very reasonably priced at just £381 plus Vat per month; very little money for such a beautiful looking car. Look out for our Evoque special offers

If you want an inexpensive car that looks a lot more costly than it is, then the Insignia is the car. A few years ago Vauxhall’s were almost exclusively fleet cars bought by large companies and usually the employees were not given a choice. Many used to complain bitterly because the Vauxhall was seen as a downmarket car but not anymore; many of our Vauxhall contract hire sales are where employees are free to choose the manufacturer and they opt for Vauxhall .

This is a manufacturer that has moved considerably upmarket over the past few years and this is seen most notably in the Insignia, it’s a wonderful looking car with a lot of style. It’s economical to run, the combined fuel cycle for the diesel version is over 60mpg and it is also inexpensive to lease; Vauxhall Insignia leasing starts at just £234 plus Vat per month, which represents a lot of car for the money. You can choose from 210 different Insignia models on our website.

You certainly don’t see many on the road and we rarely lease a BMW 5 Series GT. Perhaps the clue is in the car’s appearance; Top Gear described this car as “Damned ugly”. They are not always terribly polite about cars; they also called the BMW X6 , “Thuggish”; a subject its presenters are quite well versed in.

Even so the GT is far from the most attractive car BMW have produced and one can’t help thinking they have made a mistake with this car and perhaps also with the X6. Although the GT has its plus points; it’s very comfortable, quiet and refined.

The car handles well and the engines are great, all of which is important but people want to drive a car that looks good and it seems that most motorists don’t think that the GT looks good. Also fuel consumption can be pretty grim; depending on the model, it can be a combined cycle of 25.2 mpg and seriously high emissions for this type of car; 263g/km.

And the BMW 5 Series GT leasing cost? I's a frightening at £1012 plus Vat per month, this is the standard price and we do have special offers but even so it’s expensive. At the other end of the scale in terms of cost, fuel consumption and emissions, there is the 7 Series; we have a BMW 730 d SE contract hire offer at £450 plus Vat per month over 36 months. It has a combined fuel cycle of 40.9mpg and emissions of 180g/km; which is an important consideration especially when it comes to tax.

Last Friday’s motorway accident near the city of Muenster which left three dead and thirty five injured, once again brings into question the raising of the UK’s motorway speed limit. There are speed limits on certain sections of German motorway but others have an advisory speed limit of 130 kph; a little under 81mph.

The British government says there is a strong economic argument for raising the speed limit to 80mph. It is generally recognized however that this will result in a higher death rate and the question is, is just one death too higher price to pay?

Germany has 9.5 road deaths per 100,000 of population compared with the UK which has 5.9. When it comes to motorways Germany has more than double the fatalities of Britain, measured as per billion vehicle kilometers driven, isn’t this telling us something? Britain has the safest roads in Europe, Germany’s roads are considerably more dangerous but Portugal has the most dangerous roads; their motorway death toll is more than seven times that of the UK. 

We carried out a poll amongst our contract hire clients and a surprising number were opposed to increasing the speed limit. Many admitted that they currently drive at 80mph on the motorway but fear that they will become far more dangerous if the majority drive at that speed, whilst others will drive at 90mph.

Fuel and indeed everything else related to motoring is becoming extremely costly and with the extra cost of fuel, Green Flag is estimating that the average motorist has lost 32 miles between refills, since the price of fuel started to soar. It is also being estimated by Continental Tyres that poor driving is costing over £1 billion per annum, that’s £18,000, in today’s value, over the driving lifetime of an average motorist. They found that 90% of motorists are concerned about the cost of fuel, yet 40% don’t realize that changing their driving habits can save money.

So what can we do to reduce our fuel bill? Quite a lot actually, some of the action we can take is fairly obvious other changes less so. For example it is being estimated that a poorly tuned engine can use up to 50% more fuel. Dirty spark plugs alone can use 5% extra fuel and even using the manufacturers recommended oil can improve consumption by up to 2%.

An area that is often neglected is tyre pressure; apart from the wrong tyre pressure potentially costing you your life, it has a big impact of fuel economy; it is estimated that for every 1psi that tyres are under inflated, fuel economy is reduced by 3%. Also having a roof rack will increase drag and therefore fuel consumption, as will any unnecessary weight you are carrying in the car.

The secret in keeping your fuel costs down is in the way you drive; hard accelerating and braking are the main culprits of high fuel consumption. Many drivers do not anticipate what is ahead of them, so they will accelerate away from a set of traffic lights only to have to brake hard as they approach stationary traffic, or another red light up ahead. It is estimated that this type of driving can increase fuel consumption by more than one third.

The speed you drive at is also an important factor; driving at 70mph uses nearly 10% more fuel than driving at 60mph and 15% more than 50mph. The proposed speed limit for motorways is 80mph but you need to bear in mind that whilst it may get you to your destination quicker, driving at 80mph can use 25% more fuel than if you drive at 70mph.

There has been some doubt cast on the security of the new keyless entry system, being introduced by a some of the luxury car manufacturers; researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, discovered that with a length of cable near the car door and the owner nearby, cars could be opened. Then with the cable near the steering wheel, started and driven off. The tests were carried out by Srdjan Capkun a Professor of computer science.

It is easy to understand how this works; as the owner of the vehicle, when you approach the car it unlocks and when you put the remote in the car it can be started. This has caused some owners to worry when they are sitting in a a bar or a café with their car nearby.

Professor Capkun’s team also discovered that by setting up a radio receiver near the fob, they could detect the signal. They then converted the signal to a higher frequency and transmited it to another receiver close to the car, this again allowed them to enter the car without setting off the alarm.

All this is very worrying to owners of keyless cars, up until now car thieves have had to go to some extreme lengths to steal new luxury cars; such as carjacking or breaking into the owner’s house at night to steal the keys. This not only now gives the thieves an easier option it will inevitably open up this lucrative market to criminals who were not prepared to resort to the more extreme methods used of late; making car theft almost a white collar crime.

Ministers are planning to change the format of the MOT certificate in order to make it more difficult for dealers to change the recorded mileage on a vehicle. The plan is that the MOT will show the mileage at the time of previous MOT tests. The Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said, “These measures would give motorists the power to make the right decisions and avoid getting scammed into buying potential death traps”.

Of course it is not only old potential death traps that get their mileage changed, it is right across the board. He went onto say “It will also deter those who attempt to defraud law abiding motorists and help to identify organised criminals who will often use clocking alongside more serious offences.”

This is of course a bit of a red herring; why would it be organised criminals who use clocking alongside other more serious offences? There are some car dealers who do change a car’s mileage and others who don’t but there is no evidence to suggest that those that do are also part time hit men or drug dealers.

The Office of fair trading say that clocking, costs consumers in the order of £600 million annually, this figure is presumably based on what the consumer would have paid for the car if they had been aware of the correct mileage. They estimate that there could be as many as 700,000 cars on the road with incorrect mileage readings. Although the fact is nobody really knows how many there are.

It was reported in the Daily Telegraph that changing the mileage is not illegal and an offence is committed when an attempt is made to sell the vehicle. This is not strictly correct; an offence is committed if the mileage is altered and the purchaser is not informed that the mileage is incorrect.

The Office of fair trading said there are fifty businesses offering mileage correction services. Perhaps there are fifty businesses that they are aware of, because in practice there are many more that don’t advertise and are below the radar. They went on to say “We have a strong suspicion that many of these companies adjust mileages for illegitimate reasons” They are urging the government to outlaw the practice completely.

There was a well known Jaguar dealership, many years ago, that used to zero the odometer of all their used cars, claiming that their used cars were as good as new cars.  Of course nowadays Jaguar wouldn’t allow it and the public wouldn’t believe it anyway.

This planned goverment changes seem sensible although it doesn’t help with very high mileage cars under three years old, which have had their mileage changed before an MOT is required.

The government's concerns are justified; imagine buying a car for your son or daughter who has recently passed their test, believing the car to have done 50,000 miles, when it has in fact done 250,000. There can be many safety issues related to very high mileage cars.

Could the car manufacturers devise systems that would make it virtually impossible to change the mileage? Of course they could but the dont, we wonder why.