NEWS

Garages ‘miss profits’

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 [...]

	Codes celebrates praise
MOTOR Codes has won the approval of Which? after its garages found 20% more secret faults. The scheme has only been running for 2 years but has already outperformed normal garages. Motor Codes garages found 60 percent of faults, almost up there with the leading garages of the Bosch Car Service affiliation scheme (its garages [...]

	Which? slams garages
WHICH? has accused car garages of ‘shocking levels of incompetence’ following a recent secret survey. The consumer association recently conducted a big undercover investigation – which found 9 in 10 garages assessed missed a potentially dangerous fault. It also found 39 percent of garages are charging for something that WASN’T supplied. This has led Which? [...]

	Which? Car slams dealers
WHICH? Car says car dealers are taking customers for a ride over interest on finance scheme deals. The consumer body carried out an undercover investigation and says that not a single salesperson revealed the total cost of interest on car finance. As a result, it has reported its findings to the OFT. Without full interest [...]

	Can’t get le satisfaction
WHICH? Car today reveals SIX of the least 10 popular cars in the UK are French, according to owners. Renault and Peugeot dominate the bottom of the latest Owner Satisfaction League. Worst of all is the Renault Espace, which one owner described as a ‘fantastic car, if only it would work longer than a month [...]

		Ford refutes claim
		FORD has said the link made by Which?, between recent price rises and the scrappage scheme, is wrong. ‘The two are unrelated,’ said the firm, ‘with one pre-dating the other. ‘The weakness of Sterling is critical for manufacturers with vehicle costs paid in Euros. ‘Sterling’s deterioration, which began in mid-2008, cost Ford many times its [...]
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		Which? – Audi hits back
		AUDI has dismissed the recent Which? Car survey, which rated the firm’s A5 bottom of the pile for reliability. The brand, it says, has so far sold over 8000 Audi A5s in the UK. While the reliability score for the A5 represents a total of just 7 faults. ‘We do not acknowledge the Which? findings [...]
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		Which? accuse makers
		CAR manufacturers appear to have increased list prices to offset scrappage discounts, says Which?. The consumer title has analysed price lists, and found they have risen by as much as 14 percent. This means, says Which? Car, some car buyers are no better off than before scrappage. ‘It appears manufacturers are inflating prices just when [...]
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		Audi least reliable shock
		AUDI has come a shock bottom in the latest Which? Car survey – with the A5 being the UK’s most unreliable car. The sporty coupe scored a 76 percent result for overall reliability, according to the 84,000-strong survey. This is in stark contrast to the Honda Accord, which topped the survey (looking at 2007-2009 cars) [...]
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		Non-Code dealer hunt
		TRADING Standards chiefs have revealed they’re going to be targeting specific car dealers and garages. Top man at Trading Standards, Ron Gainsford, revealed that the Government body is to focus efforts on garages not signed up to the Motor Codes system. ‘’They are helping Trading Standards concentrate its efforts on tackling those operators who fail [...]
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		30% off list price…
		CAR buyers nationwide can walk into a franchised main dealer and get 30% off a factory fresh new car. This, reveals Which? Car, is thanks to the scrappage scheme. Small, budgets cars with low list prices are the best way to save, says the title. It illustrates key savings on offer: • Kia Picanto – [...]
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