The car over the years

How far has car industry technology come in recent years? From being a luxury way back in the 1930’s to the cheap affordable way you can buy them now using car contract hire it is amazing just how far they have come.

One of the best ways I can talk about this is to use my knowledge of games. With this I am going way back to the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I could go back further but for me this was the first console I owned and will be much easier to cover the changes that have happened over the years. The first real driving game that I played was F1 pole position which was released in 1993 and at the time was an awsome game.

Four years later and a huge difference can be seen between the the last game and the newer version on the next Nintendo console. It is truly amazing to see the difference between the two games in such a short time period. The jump from 2-D to 3-D that took place during these two games is a huge leap in the technology. The next jump skips the next generation of consoles and forms itself onto the PS3 and Xbox 360 as some of the graphics on the driving games on these consoles are so realstic it is truly unreal.V.

Of course this hasn’t just happened in the gaming world, many things have been tried and failed or been made into a huge success over the last few years. The biggest and best in my opinion isn’t the amazing new Ferrari’s you see being released it is in fact the Hybrid car. The reason they are so good is that they save a hell of a lot on energy which is going to be pretty useful for when the oil runs dry. Some of the newer models of the Hybrid cars have system that powers the battery whenever you brake the car.

Of course not to be forgotten is the brilliant to shut the kids up, T.V in the car as well as heated seats to calm the Mrs down during a heated ‘you’ve got us lost’ argument.

The Hyrbid car is only going to increase in sales (after the recession that is) and will certainly be the car of the future, but for nowl, you need a car that is both decent and afforable. Leased cars can work out a lot cheaper? The Audi contract hire looks pretty good as well as being as little as £214 a month.

Brilliant gadgets for the car

Car gadgets are becoming increasingly more popular. The most popular can be fitted and unfitted easily which is especially important when you’ve got a car contract hire. Listed are the gadgets that I think are the best.

The LED car signal.
Funny for when you want to annoy people on the roads, put whatever message you want on there and it just keeps repeating. Change it to whatever you want making everyday a bit more exciting if you have to drive around for a living.

Econav
Doesn’t compete with the main rival tom-tom but it’s great for everyone who loves to be environmentally friendly as ot chooses the most fuel-efficient route to take.

Safe to keep your valuables in the car.
Perfect to hold the other gadgets on the list. Great idea but what happens if your whole car gets stolen?

An in car alcohol breath tester.
It’s great to see if you have gone over the limit or to just have a bit of a laugh when your out not in your car to see how many units you have had. Not sure that having it in the car is the best message to put out, but there you go.

More money gone to Dad
There is no way I can afford lessons but still my dad moans for having to take me everywhere I go, simple answer is buy me lessons! This will leave me even more short in cash as each journey is recorded just like a proper taxi. Brilliant for dad’s not so brilliant for everyone else.

A fan to keep you cool.
A useful thing to have in the car if you dont have air conditioning. Great in the summer when the heat gets too much for a car without air-con.99 you can’t really go wrong.

A speed camera alert gadget.
These are perfect for the speedy motorist. You have enough time to slow downl, a simply brilliant gadget. There is still a danger of not knowing where abouts the local police will be parked up!

Tom-Tom, it speaks for itself
Easily the best gadget out there. It will stop all the arguments about where to go as well as being able to have hundreds of celebrity voices.

As all of these gadgets can be moved then if you are planning to be constantly switching cars there is no extra worry. Car contract hire is a brilliant idea and you can carry the gadgets from perhaps a Punto all the way to as top of the range Audi with a Audi contract hire.

Leasing a car could save you money

So you want to start looking for a new car but can’t seem to make your finances stretch far enough? Or perhaps you’ve already seen the car of your dreams, but know there’s no way you’ll ever be able to afford it. You’re not alone – the motoring industry has been hit hardest of all by the credit crunch and sales have reached an all time low. It seems no one can afford to think about getting a new car right now.

But don’t let that put you off – there is still another option. There is another way you could still get the car of your choice, and you wouldn’t even have to pay upfront for it. Car contract hire or leasing agreements are a great way to choose the exact car you want and you only have to pay one manageable monthly fee.  

I know what you’re thinking, there has to be a catch, right? Well, in fact, no there’s really not. Sure you have to sign a contract but you get to choose from whichever car you want, even those that would normally be out of your price range. In fact, the more popular and desirable the car is, the better deals you can get. It’s not like buying a new car where the value decreases with time, most contract hire agreements are based on your projected usage so they take wear and tear into account and when the contract ends you can trade it in for a newer model.

Choosing contract hire will usually also help with the running cost of having a car – often the road tax and servicing costs are thrown in to the monthly instalments so you won’t find yourself suddenly landed with huge repair bills. And being able to trade the car in every couple of years means you’ll always have the latest model so it’s less likely to break down.

Basically, it’s a really beneficial and financially viable way of getting a new car without the worries of buying outright – it really makes sense, especially now when times are hard. And who knows, you might even get that dream car after all!

Why you might be better off not owning a car at the moment

Over the last few of weeks the UK has been hit with some of the most extreme weather we’ve seen in ages. The first week of February saw the heaviest snowfall we’ve seen for 18 years, causing hundreds of schools to close and leaving over 6 million people unable to get to work. Most public transport was disrupted or cancelled and roads were deemed unsafe due to the icy conditions.

The continuing bad weather is a real worry for drivers, with an increased risk of accidents on the icy roads as well as further problems caused by the extreme conditions. There have been a number of incidents of sudden heavy snowfall trapping drivers in their cars and causing them to have to be dug out, while in other parts of the country the melting snow has been replaced with heavy rains and severe flood warnings have been issued.

All this is bad news for car owners, not only because of the heightened personal risk of driving on the roads, but also because a damaged car can be a costly business. With the recession affecting us all, most people really couldn’t afford to splash out on a new car if something happened to theirs. And that is the real problem with owning a car. It’s brilliant until something goes wrong, but then it can suddenly become horribly expensive. You might think it won’t happen to you, that you’re a careful, safe driver who won’t get into that sort of situation. But as the last few weeks have proved, you can’t predict what will happen on the roads, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.

The problem is that once your car has been paid for, it then becomes entirely your responsibility. Then the older the car gets the more likely it is to go wrong, especially in extreme weather conditions, and the more it will cost you when it does. And even when you get it fixed, a car only ever decreases in value over time so it still won’t be worth half what you paid for it.

The people who manage to avoid these worries are those who opt for a car contract hire deal instead of buying a car outright. It doesn’t mean the car’s not yours, it just means that you pay for it in regular monthly instalments and often you get additional benefits thrown in like road tax and servicing costs. So if something did happen, you wouldn’t have to cover the whole bill yourself. And the best thing is that when the contract hire expires after a couple of years you can trade the car in for a new one, meaning you’ve always got the latest updated model. And as you’ll always be driving a new car, it won’t have had time to wear out, and is less likely to break down in the first place!

Get a new Audi despite the recession

The Audi logo with the circles always reminds me of that trick magicians do, you know the one where they link separate solid metal rings together into a chain. As a child I could never work out how they did it, and now I find myself wondering the same thing about Audi and their equally baffling methods of staying afloat in the recession.

At a time when most of the car industry is on its knees, I’m sure I keep seeing more Audi TT’s on the roads than ever. I’m sure I’m not imagining it – suddenly it seems everyone is driving these swanky upmarket cars, despite the obvious widespread financial issues.

I suppose it could just be that the type of person who can afford to buy Audi cars probably had more money in the first place, and are less likely to have been hit hard by the credit crunch. Maybe it’s just that those who do still have spare cash to spend on posh cars want to flaunt it, but I doubt that can really be it. Well, not all of it anyway!

A more likely explanation is the fact that, while most people just can’t afford to think about investing in new cars, their old ones are still wearing out and need replacing. And if you need a new car but can’t afford to buy brand new, the logical solution is to look at car contract hire instead.

And the best thing about contract hire or leasing is that the cost of the car is split into simple manageable instalments. You’re not restricted to only looking at cheaper cars, or those that you would have been able to afford to buy outright. In fact, the nicer car you choose the better deal you can usually get. So if you always wanted an Audi but couldn’t quite justify buying one, then Audi contract hire could let you get your dream car despite the credit crunch.

Judging by the increasing number of posh cars around at the moment, it would seem people are beginning to wise up to this cunning way to trick the recession! (Oh and in case you were wondering – that other trick, the one with the rings, is usually done either with concealed gaps in the rings or simply slight of hand as the magician conceals the fact they were connected all along. And yes, my childhood self was gutted when I finally found it out!)