Well, last night i found out that i will being ‘vacationing’ in the States next year with my girlfriend and her family. We are going to be going to Orlando, which is great as i have only ever been to New York before, giving me the chance to go to all of the big amusement parks over there.
The reason i have posted this amazingly interesting news on here is, now that i know i am going, i was thinking of getting some car hire over there so i can test drive a new muscle car.
With the sudden burst of new cars from old muscle car makers like Dodge, Camero and Mustang there are a number of new cars that are trying to regain the prised title of the best US muscle car.
Now, i realise that US cars have come a long way since the old muscle cars of the 70’s, but i still have my reservations about anything designed and made in the states (call me a snob), so while i am over there i thought i could test out one and report back what i thought here. The question is, which one????
The recession has seen declining prices in most things. As good as this may be for buyers, it is bad for sellers.
Good news then for those trying to sell their used vans and cars that average prices went up in May. According to British Car Auctions, there was a £122 increase in used van prices last month.
April’s fall of £71 remains the only negative of 2009, and the recovery in May sees used van values rise to £3,595 - just £273 off the market peak of £3,868 experienced in January 2008.
Duncan Ward, head of LCV sales, says: “Nearly new volumes are very low and model mix will have an effect on value from one month to the next. There continues to be plenty of demand in the nearly new sector despite an average value of over £8,500, which looks relatively expensive compared to dealer part-exchange stock averaging around £2,000 and ex-fleet vans readily available at under £4,000.”
Fleet and lease van values increased by 4.2% (£159) to £3,938 and are now just £43 behind year on year.
Ward says buyers are paying the best prices for vans in good condition, particularly those boasting enhanced ‘retail-style’ specification such as metallic paint, uprated interior trim, in-van entertainment, air-con with bulkhead and sat nav.
“Rare configurations are equally sought after, and there is plenty of demand at the minute for pickups - both single- and double-cab, while tipper and drop side variants always seem to do well,” he adds.
The unavoidable, and by far the biggest motoring related piece of news flying around at the moment is the current rescue talks happening in Germany for the General Motors own Vauxhall group.
Over the last few weeks the German government have been in talks with the US car giant GM to try and save thousands of jobs in a several Vauxhall factories around the country. This in turn has sparked huge up roar in the UK, where Vauxhall workers in the two UK plants are accusing the UK government of not doing enough to try and secure there jobs with Vauxhall.
This has been heated further with the rumours that the two bidders in the race to buy Vauxhall have said that they will be looking to cut thousands of jobs across Europe in an effort to beat the downturn in sales due to the recession.
The story has received a large amount of press over the last week or so, this the business secretary appearing on several news programmes trying to defend the UK governments current activity during the negotiation process (or lack of it).
The breaking news this morning though has put a halt on everything as the talks between the German government and GM have broken down after new requests from GM for ‘extra aid’ from the German government to help the suffering company. The German Finance Minister, said this morning: “We were unpleasantly surprised when this new demand came out of the blue. We found that pretty scandalous.”
We will have to wait and see as to what this does for the jobs of both the workers in Germany and the UK in the coming months.
The AA have reported that due to the increase in the price of oil to $60 a barrel this month the price at the pump has shot up to near the 1 pound mark once again. I cannot see how such a small increase in the oil prices can force the price of petrol up to the pound mark once again. n looking at the price of oil over the last year we can see that at its highest price oil was priced at around $150 a barrel, with the price of petrol around £1.26 a litre. The price of the barrel is under half what it was, but the price of petrol is not reflecting it.
This increase in petrol prices comes just as the government plans to increase the tax on petrol by another 2p next month. The AA are planning to confront the Treasury ministers to argue that the next 2p rise should not go ahead and instead be frozen. But fears are that this will be ignored as the government tries to pull back some of the cost of the current recession.
The motorist seem to be in the middle of the petrol companies trying to increase profits and the government trying to claw back some money that they have spent on bailing out our failing banks. I see motoring becoming very expensive over the next few years.
For those who are interested in keeping an eye on the price of oil barrels, here is a little widget.
Fancy getting rid of your old banger? Well, now you can thanks to the government scrappage scheme, launched by Alistair Darling in his April budget in a bid to help the UK car industry. Any purchaser of a new car with a qualifying old vehicle (registered before 31st August 1999), will be entitled to a minimum £2,000 scrappage allowance. £1,000 will be provided by the government and the remaining grand will be given by the manufacturer. Some companies, like Citroen, are offering more on certain models.
The new scrappage scheme has been launched to help the struggling automotive industry recover from the recent (and ongoing) recession the UK is suffering from at the moment and to sell some of the many thousands of brand new and unsold cars we have scattered across the UKs unused airfields. Only time will tell if the UK scheme will be as popular and successfull as the German scheme launched recentlty, but with the major car firms getting fully behind the palns it seems there is a good chance of it having a positive effect on the UKs new car sales over the new 6 months.
Here is a new video from VW Commercial Vehicles, showing the new range in action. The new Caddy, Transporter and Caravelle are on show, demonstraighting their durability for every trade.
The recession has seen hard times for car manufacturers everywhere. With American Giants like General Motors facing Bankrupsy, many dealers are hoping just to make it threw the year. With that in mind VW must be delighted with news of their biggest ever fleet order.
British Gas have ordered a new fleet of 5,300 comercial vehicles, as part of its fleet replacement programme, delivering them over the next 2 years. The durability and competitive whole life costs of the Volkswagen Caddy van, together with the professional support from its Corporate Fleet team, have won Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles its biggest fleet order.
With each British Gas engineer travelling an average of 12,000 miles per annum, this fleet of Caddy vans will travel over 254 million miles during the four years they’re expected to be on the British Gas fleet, which represents an excellent demonstration of the reliability and durability expected from Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles.
Colin Marriott, General Manager Fleet at British Gas said: ‘We are committed to our vehicle replacement programme to ensure our fleet operates to the highest safety levels, and that we continuously take advantage of the very latest vehicle technologies that reduce our impact on the environment.
‘We are extremely pleased with the one thousand Caddy vans we’ve had since 2007, and our decision to order more Volkswagens is based on our analysis of whole life costs, reliability and professional support available from the manufacturer.’
Watch the New VW Transporter Battle it out on the track against the Mercedes Vito on Fifth Gear
Transcript: “This is the Volkswagen Transporter Vans sports line. From its spoiler to its grill it means business. Keen viewers will know that fifth gear is quite a fan of the 27,000 pound brute. A while back it beat the A-Team van around Snetterton. Since then its reigned as white van mans dream machine, but now there may be another.
Meet the Mercedes Vito Sport X. Brabus badges dawn it like its some kind of supercar. This limited edition van will set you back 25 grand, but is it as quick as the VW?
So we have a 2.5l turbo diesel engine, with 172 BHP, it is the fastest VW Van engine you can buy. It has got 400 nmt and it is one energetic piece of kit. Pulling out of this corner hear, a really tight right hander, at 3000RPM, boot the throttle, it just picks up and goes. Maximum power you can get is between 2500 and 3500 RPM so you do have to work the gear box to make sure you stay in that power band, but it is so rewarding. VW have decided to put in some traction control, but fortunately they have given us a button to turn it off. The suspension is lowered and it sits on 18″ tyres, which have a reasonable amount of grip. However this is a front wheel drive van so it will under-steer when you rush into a corner a bit too quickly. If this is what delivery men get to do everyday, then I think I might swap jobs.The Transporter did a time of 1min 37.8s
Time for the Vito Sport X. Right so we now have a 3letre V6 Diesel engine, with 440nmt, 40 more than the VW, but more impressively, it is more than a Audi RS4. We also have 204Bhp, which is 30 more than the VW. So it should be quicker than the transporter. But is it? It may take 8.3 seconds to 60, but thats in a straight line. Turn a corner, and the traction control absolutly kills any progress dead. Turning into this bend here, flat on the throttle and bearly going anywhere, 40mph when i should actually be doing aroung 50-55mph. There is a button to turn the traction control off, but it only deactivates the system for about a nano second. I dont know why they even bother having a button. This is a rear wheel drive van. I should be getting the rear end out, having alot of fun, I’m amazed anybody makes there delivery time if they have one of these. The Vito did a fast lap of 1min 39.2s, a massive 1.4 seconds slower than the transporter.”
A limited edition, 1:43 scale model of a unique 1965, split-screen Volkswagen Transporter vans with special The Who Magic Bus branding will be available to order online at volkswagenmerchandise.co.uk or from the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles network of dedicated Van Centers from later this week.
The Who Magic Bus Volkswagen Transporter van was created for a fund raising competition last year organized by UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) and legendary British rock band, The Who.
The Who Magic Bus is one of a range of models and toys available from Volkswagen’s Retro Collection of merchandise. Other items include scale models of the current Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles range such as the Crafter or Caddy vans, the California campervan (from £13.70), key rings (from £3.90), 1GB USB campervan memory sticks (£15) and a cuddly campervan soft toy (£15). The range will expand again later this year with the addition of a classic T1 Samba-Bus. Would go well im my used transporter.
The worlds only Racing Van, the Caddy TDI, returns to the track this year following its best ever results in 2008. Last years driver Peter Wyhinny returns and along with the VW vans Team aims to beat their 3 podium finishes of last year. Now entering its fifth season, the Caddy has gone from being the joke of the paddock, to a serious contender.
Racing Caddy Driver Peter Whyinny:
“Last year the Caddy took a real step forward in performance. Our objective is to score better results than in 2008; we are aiming for the podium, to be a real thorn in the sides of the cars and may even be looking for our first win.”
The Caddy is more than equipped to handle the best of the car opposition thanks to its 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, which produces 260 PS and maximum torque of 377 lbs ft with the help of Volkswagen Racing UK/Superchips mapping. You can find a used caddy from as little as 7000 Pounds, but the Professional racer is not included.
