NEWS

BUG splats on the bonnet of a car can be as harmful as bird poo, new scientific research has shown. Autoglym carried out some studies, showing that acidity levels in some bug splats can match that of bird muck. If left untreated or exposed to lots of direct sunlight, this can eat into the lacquer [...]

MAXIMISING the profit made on every car sold should be the top priority for car dealers in the coming months. This is because availability of 2- and 3-year old cars is beginning to decline. A plunge in new car sales due to the recession of 2008 and 2009 is now having an effect on the [...]

UK legislators must not scrap the annual MOT test to fall in line with Europe warns a campaign group. RoadSafe says the DfT is considering scrapping the UK’s annual test, which commences when a car is 3 years old. This would mean Britain adopt the European way of testing cars – this sees the first [...]

FORD Granada driver Derek Miller has won a £10k makeover for the car he’s owned for over 2 decades. All Ford dealers ran the competition that was tied in with a free Visual Health Check earlier in the year. The ‘Spring into Summer’ offered all entrants the opportunity to won a makeover for their motor [...]

CAR owners face a £300 million hit in car repair costs as 1 million motors come out of their warranty period. A 2007 boom in new car sales – 2.4 million new cars were sold – means the 3 year warranty period will be ending for many. Warranty provider Warrantywise estimates these owners risk a [...]

GARAGES are taking a hit on profits as well as customer safety says dealer management experts Pinewood. This week’s Which? survey into car garages has indicated some low safety standards at garages, says Pinewood. However, this is directly leading to missed profit opportunities too! Any garage undertaking a good vehicle health check would have found [...]

VILLAGE Motor Company says that business has doubled since it won the BSI Kitemark four years ago. The car garage in Wallasey was one of the UK’s first car dealers to be awarded the Kitemark, after strict vetting that assessed quality and customer service areas of the business. These included: •    Customer service •    Customer [...]

JLR has revealed the winners of its competition to find the country’s best technicians of 2010. 302 JLR technicians who’d attained Level 4 were entered into the running, from which 12 finalists were selected. These competed in a big annuals skills final day at the Academy’s Warwick HQ on 6 August – from which two [...]

A leading warranty-provider is championing a new training concept to maximize aftersales profits. The Warranty Group aims to train new aftersales ‘superchampions’ to get the most out of dealer profit potential. Designed and introduced in 2008 to develop on the successful ‘champion’ concept – which typically achieves a fourfold uplift – the firm has high [...]

VAUXHALL has launched a lifetime warranty deal on all new cars sold through its car dealer network from now. The new car warranty removes any ‘total years’ stipulation. This means the warranty is potentially better even than Kia’s market-leading 7 year warranty. However, there are some notable clauses with the Vauxhall scheme. It is only [...]

MOTORISTS face a ‘postcode lottery’ in the policing of British roads, one supplier of GPS speed camera-data says. A study carried out by RoadPilot found that motorists in Greater London are 100 times more likely to get caught speeding than in the rest of the UK. 16 per cent of Britain’s speed cameras are to [...]

GREATER awareness of DAB digital radio is being called for by one leading trade association. The SMMT is urging digital radio broadcasters to improve their digital offerings and boost consumer awareness of the benefits of DAB radio. The move comes after JATO released figures revealing that the number of cars fitted with digital radio as [...]

MOTOR Codes is now collaborating with the IMI in a move to further drive up the credibility of aftersales. The two bodies aim to work together and maximise the advantage of strong support from the Government. Work will now commence on combining the benefits of the Motor Codes standards with the IMI’s Automotive Technician Accreditation [...]

CAR dealers can make money from the fashion for larger alloy wheels thanks to finance firm Alphera. The BMW Group Financial Services division has set up a special new scheme that could earn dealers £15k a year! This comes courtesy of a new scheme that covers buyers who select big, expensive wheels and tyres against [...]

HALF of Britain’s car drivers admit they don’t wash their car for 6 months or more in a surprise new survey. This is leaving the trade-in value of their cars at risk as car dealers mark down prices because of damage. Autoquake carried out the survey – which also showed that while 56 percent of [...]

CHEVROLET is to use Motor Codes as part of its customer reassurance strategy in its aftersales offers. This is already bearing fruit in the recent ‘Five-Year Promise’ campaign, which Chevrolet MD Mark Terry says already exceeds the industry standards established by Motor Codes. He describes the initiative, which has fully integrated the Motor Codes scheme, [...]

AUTODATA reckons there is service profit in almost 1 in 3 cars on the road if garages can diagnose it. 30 percent of cars on the road have incorrect front or rear wheel alignment. Owners often won’t know about this until tyres wear prematurely. Now, Autodata has helped firms easily diagnose it, with an updated [...]

MOTOR Codes is hitting the mark with UK garage users as 93% say they’d recommend a Codes-approved garage. Over 3700 people were surveyed, on how impressive their overall garage experience was. Findings showed that over 9 in 10 would subsequently recommend the Motor Codes-approved garage they used to friends and family. There will be no [...]

WMS Group has recruited new car dealers for its range of warranty products in both Scotland and Ireland. Stephanie Colinswood is marketing manager of the Oxfordshire group, and reports that business is continuing to expand. ‘More and more dealers are beginning to realise the benefits of choosing the WMS Group to be their extended car [...]

AUDI is to fit headcams to its technicians that will allow car owners to watch what’s going on with their motor – live. The Audi Direct Reception system means customers will be given a two-way link with the Audi technician. This means they will be able to talk to them while they work! Owners will [...]