Comparecontracthire.com, the car leasing and van contract hire price comparison site for SMEs, has launched its new Super Shopper which makes searching for your next vehicle even easier.

You can now search for vehicle leasing prices by body type, monthly rental, CO2 g/km emissions, combined MPG, fuel and transmission, in one easy to use quote engine. This gives you access to contract hire rentals on over 12,000 new vehicles in seconds (cars and vans up to 3.5T). Prices can also be compared easily, on a like for like basis, from the panel of top FN50 contract hire suppliers who support the site with up to ten finance suppliers available.

A new Showroom has also been added where you can “park” your vehicles as you search and compare each one later to narrow down your final choices.

Comparecontracthire.com uses CAP data which is seen as the best in the business and the data shown is updated weekly to always show the latest makes and models of vehicles. Mike Hind, Communications Manager at CAP said,”We are delighted to be partnering with Comparecontracthire.com in the knowledge that our industry leading data has enabled them to offer an essential quoting tool for any small to medium sized business”.

When searching on the Internet for car leasing or van leasing prices, you may see loads of other sites offering attractive headline rentals. However the biggest factor affecting the monthly rental will be how much the initial rental is.

One of the benefits of using Comparecontracthire.com is that you will always be comparing prices on a like for like basis, with a three rental initial rental as well. Many other sites advertise a six month initial rental as it makes the ongoing prices look cheaper than they actually are.

Comparing car leasing prices on a like for like basis is always difficult so here are tips to make sure you are comparing on a like for like basis;

Things to check when comparing quotes from other sources

1. Are you comparing on the exact same model?  – Look at the manufacturer recommended list price (basic price plus VAT) to make sure it is a current model year. Non current models (old stock) may be offered to you, with different specifications to the vehicle you think you are ordering.
2. What are the payment terms being offered?  How many rentals do you have to put down and how many subsequent payments will you have to make?  – Bigger initial payments, followed by longer payment periods, will make the headline rental look much lower than it actually is.
3. Is there a document fee upfront and if so how much is it?  – Divide this fee by the total number of rental payments to see how much this adds to the monthly rental.
4. How long is the contract for? Rentals will vary depending on the term and generally the longer the length of contract, the less expensive the rental becomes.
5. What is the annual mileage allowance being offered? – The smaller the allowance provided the less your rental will be.  If you choose a lower contractual mileage, than your actual mileage, you will get an excess mileage bill when you send the vehicle back.
6. What type of contract hire is being quoted i.e. is it with our without full maintenance for example? – Make sure you know what is included in the contract and what is not.
7. Finally are you looking at the rental with or without VAT? – VAT will be added to any contract hire rental and your ability to reclaim this depends on your own company status i.e. VAT registered or not? If you are a private individual and opting for personal contract hire you should be looking at the rental including the VAT.

Combining this with the expected increase in traffic levels, as many families head off for the last break before Christmas,Trafficmaster expects traffic to build from around 10.00am onwards on Friday the 23rd October, with the busiest traffic at around 3.00pm.

Trafficmaster

Before you set off on your journey on Friday you can always try the link to the Trafficmaster live traffic information map from the Comparecontracthire.com website. This link shows all the hotspots throughout the UK (courtesy of Trafficmaster) and you can quickly zoom in and out to any part of the UK to see where the problems are.

Trafficmaster’s top ten congestion hotspots for Black Friday are:

Honest John

Honest John, the leading independent motorist website, has launched a new service whereby you can download car road tests and videos via a free App to your Apple iPhone.

Most drivers usually rely on a friend or colleague if they visit a car showroom so this useful service will enable you to have all their latest data at your fingertips.

The new application, as well as delivering independent news, road tests and videos from the Honest John website, also allows access to the website’s backroom, where an interactive forum discusses many other motoring issues. Honest John is a popular car site and receives over 750K unique visitors per month so this new App is bound to be popular.

Honest John, who is a partner of Comparecontracthire.com, is also promising that the new App will be available on other smart phones like Nokia and Blackberry in due course.

Audi S5 Sportback

Audi is planning to unveil three new models at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The three models are the Audi S5 Sportback, The Audi A4 3.0 TDI quattro and the Audi A3 1.2 TFSI.

Audi S5 Sportback 

This new model is the top of the Audi A5 range and this elegant five-door coupe is powered by a three-litre V6 with a mechanical compressor. The car sprints from 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds (provisional), has a top speed of 155mph and offers combined fuel economy of 29.1mpg (again provisional).

The car has a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission and quattro permanent all-wheel drive as standard equipment. The car has sports suspension, 18-inch aluminium wheels with 245/40 tyres, black brake calipers bearing S5 emblems at the front and will be available in the Spring of 2010.

Audi A4 3.0-litre TDI clean diesel quattro 

The new clean diesel engine was first seen in the Audi Q7 SUV and is now available in the A4 range. The engine features a new common rail injection system with innovative pressure sensors in the combustion chamber, plus a high performance exhaust recirculating system. These three measures ensure a highly efficient and low emission combustion process.

The A4 3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro already complies with the emission limits of the EU’s Euro 6 standard, which is expected to become law in 2014. This TDI engine reaches 0-62mph in only 6.2 seconds (Avant 6.3 seconds) and has a top speed of 155mph. The six-speed tiptronic and quattro permament all-wheel drive system should guarantee a high degree of comfort and safety, with its superior traction on the road.

Audi A3 and A3 Sportback 1.2 TFSI

This new 1.2 TFSI has been designed from scratch and the turbocharged direct petrol engine generates 105PS and reaches 0-62mph in 11.1 seconds in the three door hatch and 11.3 seconds in the Sportback. Both versions have a top speed of 118mph, can return 51.3mpg on the combined fuel cycle and emit just 127g/km of CO2. The first versions of this car will be paired with front-wheel drive and a six speed manual transmission. Audi is the most popular manufacturer on Comparecontracthire.com and car leasing prices on all their other range of models can be compared now.

Trafficmaster map

The August Bank Holiday is falling late in the month and heavy traffic congestion is forecasted by Trafficmaster, the UK’s leading vehicle information and satellite navigation and tracking company, for this coming weekend. They are predicting around a 30% increase in traffic on popular holiday routes on Friday the 21st August 2009.

Many schools are starting their Autumn term during the first week in September so many people will probably see this as a last chance to get a holiday in for all the family, especially if the weather is good. There are several festivals on over the weekend, for example the V-Festivals in Shropshire, the Notting Hill Carnival, Blackpool illuminations switch-on, air festivals at Bournemouth, Shoreham and Old Warden (Bedforshire) and of course the football season is well underway. 

Trafficmaster is a partner of Comparecontrachire.com and on the Home Page is a link to their live road UK traffic map. This shows all the road congestion points throughout the UK and you can zoom in or out to your particular area. This traffic map is updated every few minutes or so and we recommend you use this if you are setting off this weekend , so you can plan ahead and avoid the hotspots.

Top hotspots predicted by Trafficmaster are as follows

The RAC Foundation in conjuction with Ipsos MORI has published the results of a survey that concluded over half of motorists would rather take the chance of getting stuck in a traffic jam rather than get on public transport. These findings are amongst a report called “The Congestion Challenge” which is a new survey on car use and congestion.

The survey found the following:

- 53% of drivers prefer being stuck in a traffic jam rather than having to use public transport.

- 77% however support increasing the number and frequency of buses to tackle traffic growth.

- 41% think congestion is a serious problem in their area however this has fallen from 63% in 1999.

- 61% think that congestion will rise over the next five years.

- 44% of drivers oppose any form of congestion charge for driving into city centres even if the money is spent on improving local transport. This has risen from 32% in 2001.

- Support for congestion charging schemes has also fallen from 54% to 41% over the same period.

Ben Marshall, who is the Research director of Ipsos MORI and a co-author of the report said “Perhaps the biggest challenge facing policy-makers and politicians is what to do next. In particular, should public opinion be followed, or led? Who should do this, and how?

Traffic congestion will always be an issue especially in the “rush hour” and with continuing road-work improvements, however before setting off on your next journey try the Trafficmaster mapping service at Comparecontracthire.com. Trafficmaster is a leading authority in satellite and navigation tracking.

Trafficmaster road mapping

This unique mapping feature allows you to search throughout the UK to find out road speeds and potential jams so you can avoid them. You can increase or decrease the scale of the map by using the icon “magnifying glass” in the top left hand corner of the display.

Car servicing

Nationwide Autocentre, the UK’s leading MOT and car service specialist, has entered into a partnership arrangement with Comparecontracthire.com. Visitors to the Nationwide Autocentre website will now have access to car or van contract hire leasing price comparison from the 14 finance partners who support Comparecontracthire.com.

For any small business, or consumer, saving money is high on the agenda at the moment and Nationwide Autocentre can offer extremely competitive servicing rates on any make or model of car. All repair work is manufacturer warranty approved as well and with over 220 AA Approved servicing centres nationwide you will find a convenient outlet near you. 

Robert Wastell, managing director at Comparecontracthire.com said: ” We are committed to speading the word about the benefits of contract hire (or car leasing as it is sometimes known) to as many small businesses or consumers, as possible. Our strategy has always been to link up with blue-chip partners to do this and I am delighted to be working with Nationwide Autocentre, one of the UK’s leading car servicing companies. Having also used their servicing facilities, for my own car, I was very impressed with not only the price I was charged, but also the service levels I received”. 

From the Nationwide Autocentre site  you can find the nearest service centre location to you and also, after inputting your own car registration, you can see the cost of an MOT or a full service for your car.

Confused.com, one of the UK’s leading price comparison sites, has now joined forces with Comparecontracthire.com to offer contract hire price comparison prices to its 1.0M monthly site visitors.

This ground breaking partnership brings the benefit of vehicle contract hire to a much wider audience. Contract hire is an effective way to acquire your next vehicle as it offers fixed cost and risk free motoring – essential in these uncertain economic times.

Confused.com launched its full insurance price comparison site in 2003 and has since extended the products and services it offers. Comparecontracthire.com will become Confused’s contract hire and personal contract hire partner with its innovative new quote engines being offered to all Confused.com site visitors, many of whom run cars or vans.

Prices are compared from a panel of contract hire suppliers including Arval, Days Contract Hire, Grosvenor Contracts, Hitachi Capital, Masterlease, jamjarcars.com, TCH Leasing, Chevrolet Lease, Saab Contract Hire, Vauxhall Leasing, Fiat Auto and Alfa Romeo Contract Hire.

Robert Wastell, Managing Director of Comparecontracthire.com said ” Confused.com has a great brand name and a huge number of monthly visitors, so this partnership takes our site to the next level of its development. It also opens up a completely new sales channel to our finance partners”.

Greg Steel, Product Manager at Confused.com says ” Confused.com is interested in developing new channels to compliment its existing proposition. Vehicle finance is one area where we see our existing vehicle insurance customers benefitting from this new partnership and we believe this is a new growth market for us. The finance partners on Comparecontracthire.com are all well known brands in their own right and should offer an excellent service to our customers”

The link to the site is www.comparecontracthire.com/confused