Car drivers should be drinking more water.

Drivers should drink more water according to Water Wellpoint.

They looked at the effects of a lack of fluids on drivers with some worrying results. If a driver suffers from dehydration of just 1% his concentration can drop by 12%. If dehydration increases to 2% concentration drops by 20% while motor speed – which governs reaction times – reduces by 15%. Crucially for drivers, hand-eye co-ordination drops by 12%, while general efficiency drops by 18%.

Colin Wilson, research scientist at Water Wellpoint said that all drivers should make sure that they drink plenty of water when driving and companies should insist on drivers taking on plenty of water as part of their duty of care instructions.

Mercedes CLK 220Cdi

One of our most popular executive coupes including automatic 7 speed Tiptronic and metallic paint.

Described by What Car as 'Hugely stylish and elegant coupe with classic Mercedes pillarless looks and it drives with far more vigour and poise than the old car' this has got to be great value.  

We only have 10 cars available so you will have to get in to win, first come first served.

Mercedes CLK 220 CDi 2Dr Avantgarde Coupe Auto

ONLY 10 CARS AVAILABLE

Contract Hire (personal simply add the VAT)
Based on 3Years, 10,000 miles per annum and do not include maintenance

Mercedes CLK 220CDi Auto £299 + VAT per month
 

Please complete the Broker Enquiry form to contact us re this deal this deal.

If you are a business you need to be aware of the tax changes coming into force in April. I have been through this before but as we are now nearly there let me refresh your memory:

• Cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160g/km will be written down at 10% on a reducing balance basis.
• Cars of less than or equal to 160g/km will be written down at 20% on a reducing balance basis.
• The £3,000 per annum maximum writing down allowance has been removed and as before there will be a first year allowance of 100% for cars with CO2 emissions of 110g/km or less.
• New rules for lease rental restrictions mean cars with CO2 emissions of less than or equal to 160g/km will have no element of their leasing cost disallowed for corporation tax purposes.
• Cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160g/km will have a flat 15% of the finance rental element of their leasing cost disallowed.
• The percentage of financial rental costs that are disallowed will be capped at 15%.

Industry experts suggest that costs on company cars emitting over 160g/km will increase on average by £30 per month. The new rules only apply to new acquisitions after the start of the new tax year. All existing cars will continue to be taxed under the old system until they are disposed of.

If you would like to go into more depth on the subject, major leasing company Lex has prepared a white paper detailing the effects and listing the winners and losers. You can obtain a copy of the white paper by visiting their website www.lex.co.uk

Mobile Phone use in car

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000.

Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works colleague when she collided with a car in the oncoming lane. ‘I believe this is the first case where a conviction has been obtained as a result of a hands free mobile phone conversation’ said David Faithful, legal advisor to Roadsafe.

Clearly this sets a clear precedent for all drivers who believe that it is safe to use a hands free device. Anything that you do whilst driving, if it results in an accident, could have serious consequences.

Added to the above, if the accident had taken place after the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act charges would have been brought under that act which could have resulted in a prison sentence and a much stronger sentence.

There has been a lot of speculation over the future of Saab which caused most leasing companies to remove them from their quoting systems even though there was no need for this knee jerk reaction.

Some funders are now returning slowly so we can now offer a competitive PCP on one of the few automatics that we have available (20 cars in stock). 

Saab 9-3 1.9TiD 150 Linear SE 4Dr Saloon

Automatic + Driving Pack + Convenience Pack
 
Personal Contract Purchase
Based on 3 Years, 10,000 miles per annum
and do not include maintenance

Initial Payment £1,000

35 Monthly Payments £269

Final Optional Payment £6,394

Excess Mileage Charge 9.0 ppm

Please complete the Broker Enquiry form to contact ius re this deal this deal.

New MOT number plate rules

The new MOT rules coming into force soon regarding number plates could cause many vehicles to fail the test. If you have a test due soon the read the full article on the new number plate rules

Peugeot 308 SR HDi 5Dr Hatch

Great spec includes: Metallic, Alloys, Bluetooth Connection, Smartnav SAT NAV

Contract Hire Rates

Based on 3 Years (3+35) and do not include maintenance

10,000 Miles PA £199 + VAT per month

Based on 2 Years (3+23) and do not include maintenance

10,000 Miles PA £209 + VAT per month

DVLA warns motorists

5th March 2009
Check V5C Registration Certificate before buying a used vehicle

DVLA is warning motorists to check the V5C registration certificate when buying a used vehicle. Motorists are advised not to purchase the vehicle, and instead report the matter to the police, if the serial number of a V5C registration certificate falls within the following ranges:

BG8229501 to BG9999030

BI2305501 to BI2800000

Motorists are also reminded not to proceed with any purchase if a V5C has no serial number, or looks to have been altered or tampered with, or the vehicle is accompanied by only a part of the V5C registration certificate.

If a member of the public wishes to check if a serial number of a registration certificate is within the series prior to the purchase of a vehicle, they can call DVLA on 0870 241 1878

Buying a car - Check it out the V5C

Finally, cloning is still on the increase but what do you do if you suspect that your car may have had it’s number plate cloned or you are in fact suspicious about any part of the car you are about to buy, is the registration document correct (V5C) or is the MOT certificate genuine?

There is a new organisation that has been set up to combat vehicle fraud called the Vehicle Safe Trading Advisory Group. You can get lots of information and help by visiting their website www.vstag.co.uk