NEWS

I’m going to tell you a story, but if anyone asks it wasn’t Big Mike you got it from… Much has been made in the past few months of the government-backed scrappage scheme, and its effect on both the new and used car markets. So much so that, like me, you’re probably sick to death [...]

Many a mention has been made here of the government’s cash-for-scrap scheme, and its effect on the new car industry, where sales are up and the Koreans are raking it in. But little has been made of what it means to the used car market – and specifically the murkier end of the trade, where £3k is top dollar, and most [...]

When’s a Chevrolet retailer not a retailer? When they’re a dealer that’s when! That may sound rather like a confusing conundrum, but in fact it’s one of the latest changes Chevy UK chief Mark Terry, pictured, has decided on making. Chevrolet’s retail network is no longer referred to as that at the marque’s head quarters [...]

OUR latest purchase in our bid to turn £0 into a Porsche 911 has arrived – and it’s an absolute corker. Marshall Motor Group’s chief executive Daksh Gupta has done us, and in turn BEN, one huge favour by sourcing us this cracking Mercedes CLK. We picked up the convertible 240 model from Mercedes Benz [...]

At Car Dealer Magazine, we particularly like cars that have a bad badge on their noses but in actual fact are really very good cars. Take the new Kia Sportage for instance. If you hear someone say ‘Hey, the new Kia Sportage is a great car’ you probably wouldn’t believe them. Here is a car [...]

Over the past few weeks in the Car Dealer Mag office, I have been treated to a large dose of ‘leg pulling’. It turns out that my recently acquired HTC Legend mobile phone is ‘rubbish’ and that its unique feature of  a windscreen wiper sweeping the screen when its raining is also ‘rubbish’. To understand [...]

Soon, very soon in fact, it will be time to deck the halls with boughs of holly, wish goodwill to all men and indulge ourselves in our annual bout of false sentimentality and  overexposed commercialism  that represents what have now become known as the ‘Happy Holidays’.  I’ve never been a lover of Christmas (oops, I mean, the ‘Festive Season’) as my wife is of [...]

Here’s something for you to ponder: If ever something goes wrong at home, you call in the experts, yes? So, for example, if your computer breaks down, you get an IT expert to fix it. If a pipe springs a leak, you get a plumber to fix it, and if you can’t tell the difference between weeds and plants, you send the missus out with [...]

WHOEVER said you couldn’t sell a car via Twitter was lying. Because we’ve got proof that it can be done! On Saturday we sold the first of our Mazda MX-5 pairing after a conversation that started on the social networking website. Last Wednesday Golley Slater PR Suzanne Tennant – pictured right – tweeted that she [...]

FINALLY! We’ve managed to get our act together and put one of our Mazda MX-5s up for sale on eBay. Yes, I know, this one has dragged on a bit too long, but that’s what happens when you ‘buy’ recon work (as I’m sure you know). Unlike you guys I couldn’t moan at the service [...]

WE left you on Friday with news that our two MX-5s had passed their MOTs and all that was needed was a good polish. The cars have been bought as part of our 911 for 2011 quest – an attempt to turn £0 into a Porsche by (sometime in) 2011 in aid of automotive industry [...]

THIS week 11 of the cars that took part in Bangers4BEN 3 were sold at BCA Blackbushe – and here’s the video! The event in aid of motor industry charity BEN saw teams from all walks of the motor industry drive from Dover to Monaco and back. As well as raising sponsorship money the teams [...]

CAR Dealer has hot-footed it over to Paris to check out the glitz and the glamour of the car industry’s newest metal. We’re hitting the show floor tomorrow, to check out the latest cars – and speak to the business brains behind them. Join us through the day as we bring you news of what’s [...]

YOU’RE a high-flying Ford design director, created the Kinetic look, penned great cars like the latest Fiesta and Mondeo. You are responsible for the look of all cars that hit European and Asian roads. But now you’ve got to buy a car of your own – what on earth do you spend your money on? [...]

Following on from my previous column, I would like to take the opportunity to don my horns and pitchfork and play devils advocate to those considering the benefits of retailing older cars. There are two routes you can follow to this perceived pot of plenty. You could utilise existing display space thus adding no additional [...]

THIS week the Car Dealer team has been to Monaco and back in a £250 banger – and we made a Making Of video! You may have read about our plan to turn our car – kindly supplied by Auction4cars.com – into an SR71 Blackbird, but we thought it would be a good idea to [...]

THE long drive home from Monaco was never going to be the most exciting – but our Bangers4BEN teams still had a laugh. Days three and four of our run to the playground of the rich and famous saw our mad cars head back from Nice to Dijon on Tuesday, then Dijon back home on [...]

OUR intrepid Bangers4BEN travellers have made it to Monaco – and driven the GP circuit legends have raced! At around 4pm today, 20 bangers – all costing less than £500 – rolled into the glitzy gold-leaf lined (probably) streets of the principality. Car Dealer’s Project Stealth led the convoy to the sound of the Top [...]

BANGERS4BEN3 is off – and this year has some of the best and wackiest cars ever taking part in the rally! Our trip from Dover to Monaco and back in cars costing less than £500 in aid of motor industry charity BEN has really brought the motor trade out of their shell. We thought our [...]

OUR Project Stealth team have been on the road since 5am Wednesday on their round-the-UK trip to get our car ready for Bangers4BEN. Commercial manager Dunc and worky James Batchelor arrived in Scotland Wednesday afternoon at Carwrapz.biz’s Edinburgh base. The wrapping wizards worked on our 1.4-litre Honda Civic late into the evening on Wednesday and [...]