Volkswagen extend hire and leasing finance offers on Vans

Volkswagen have extended their van hire and leasing finance offers until the end of September. The finance offers are available on both the passenger carrying and van ranges. Customers are now able to get new Caddy Van from £189 a month, a new Transporter from £239 a month or a new Crafter from £349 a month.

We still offer traditional hire purchase and lease purchase finance, but more and more customers prefer the convenience and affordability of contract van hire and finance lease as it helps to improve their cash flow, manage their budgets and instead of having to sell the vehicle at the end of the term they can simply hand it back and start a new agreement for a new vehicle. -Simon Elliott of VWC

All vehicles purchased are eligible for free insurance for seven days and nights from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Insurance. Volkswagen Van Centres also offer fixed-cost maintenance packages to suit individual requirements. More information available at the Volkswagen Vans site.

Campervans to be banned in New Zealand?

Members of the Otago Conservation Board are concerned about the amount of litter found in their scenic tourist hot-spots are are willing to do anything to overcome the problem. That believe that Camper van driving visitors are to blame for the roadside litter and they have banded together to put it to an end.



The board thinks that 'freedom campers' should be banned if they are not willing to clean up after themselves. They have "voted unanimously to draft a letter to their Department of Conservation superiors calling for the Government to ban campervans." It has also been suggested that companies offering van hire should be made legally responsible for the actions of their customers.

This seems outrageous to me, if the campervan contains a bin it is up to those driving it to use it. Why should van hire be banned rather than action taken against those who litter?

Used Van Prices Continue to Rise

The average resale price of used vans has continued to rise as the new vans market struggles to cope with the recession. The commercial vehicles industry is reliant on small business spending and as such has been effected by the recent economic problems. As new van sales reduce the demand for good quality used vans increases and those who are selling are able to command a higher price.



A recent survey by British Car Auctions has found that the average van is now sold for £3,902 up from £3,858 in October. This is a small rise but it shows an upward trend that is bad news for the commercial vehicles sector.

"Year-on-year values are now ahead by an astounding £1,089 - the biggest margin on record, reflecting the strong performance in November 2009 and just how weak the LCV sector was in November 2008."
Duncan Ward of BCA.

The decrease in new van sales is also providing an increase in van hire revenues. Both long term leases and short term cheap van hire are set to benefit from the stalling market as they arguably offer better value for money than buying a new van. The economic benefits of van rental are clear to anybody who has had an unreliable used van, with van hire the commitment is short and there is no drop in value.

Do You Need To Own Your Entire Van Fleet?

An interesting idea for those operating large van fleets: do you need to own your entire fleet? Not that I would recommend you steal vans, but perhaps van hire could be an option. A recent post on Fleetnews suggested that some van fleets are larger than they need to be.



The idea is that a fleet size should be dynamic and able to react to different conditions. A busy few months? Rent some extra vans. Forced to reduce outgoing due to the recession? Keep your fleet size down to a minimum.

The article also suggested that this would keep down CO2 although this isn't necessarily the case unless you are actually operating all your vans all the time. The main benefits are more likely to be in keeping costs to a minimum by only using what you need when you need it.

What Does Your Van Smell Like?

The designers of the new Mitsubishi's PX-MiEV hybrid concept have taken into consideration more than just the look and feel of the vehicle, they claim its interior is friendly on the nose as well as the behind.

Mitsubishi's new enhanced "cocochi" interior package offers an unparalleled array of technologies that both pamper the nose and use the olfactory capability as a tool. The PX-MiEV's upholstery is coated with an anti-allergen coating and visible light photocatalyst which Mitsubishi claims counteracts offensive odors, volatile organic compounds as well as ticks, pollen and other allergens.
In another layer of protection against unpleasant fragrances, each of the car's four seats are individually air-conditioned to increase air circulation.

Source: Independent

I can see the benefit of this for those who suffer from allergies but for the rest of us it might be a little over the top. Whilst this technology has gain Mitsubishi some good press it isn't the kind of technology we can expect to see in all vans and cars anytime soon.

I have often thought about selling a Van fragrance to try and capture the smell that weeks on the road and countless motorway pasties can produce. Whenever I have to use a hire van I find its cleanliness less welcoming than a good old lived in white van. The smell may be unpleasant to some but when you call a van home you learn to love it.

Should Smoking be Banned in all Rental Vehicles?

Last month car rental company Avis banned smoking in all of their vehicles in order to cut down on cleaning costs. They said that customers were increasingly asking for smoke free cars and most objected to being able to smell the previous customer's cigarettes. Smoking has been banned in countless places over the last few years isn't it about time is was completely banned in hire cars?

Personally I would complain if I were to rent a hire car or hire van and find that it smelled like an ashtray. I'm no doctor so I'm not sure if there are any health risks associated with passive smoking once the smoke has disapated but I wouldn't want to risk it. At the very least those who wish to smoke in their hire car should have to pay extra for cleaning.

I don't believe in the erossion of people's civil liberties but when it comes to smoking I have very little sympathy. Making it harder for people to smoke is a positive thing and encourages people not to put their health at risk.

Van Hire Market Still Struggling

Despite improvements in the housing market boosting their incomes van hire companies are still facing an uncertain future. The van hire market relies heavily upon the housing market afterall most people don't need to rent a van unless they are moving their belongings to a new property. It has been reported that the slowly recovering levels of property sales have bought a welcome influx of van hire customers but that doesn't seem to be enough to save some companies.

Van hire firm Northgate have had a difficult month which has seen their shares rise and fall in a dramatic fashion. First they released the news that their debt was much less than had been previously reported. The company claimed that they had managed to decrease its debt partly by selling off older parts of its fleet. This announcement saw Northgate's shares rise to higher than they had been for quite some time. the next day Northgate were forced to announce that they had 'miscalculated' the figures and they had actually reduced their debt by £173m rather than £205m since April. This had a predictable affect on their shares.