LINGsCARS Blog

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Inbetween all my bills and bank statements, I receive customer letters. Here one I pulled out to read from Neil Woodhead, but I actually got it a while ago. It is about the delivery of their Vauxhall Corsa.

Neil says…
I thought that Lingo was very easy to follow and very useful, especially live chat when you have a question, Ling responds very quickly. Ling was very helpful and kept me informed of what was going on. Loved the freebies through the post. Would recommend anybody to Ling, as she is lovely and friendly. Hope to speak to you soon. Excellent delivery of my Corsa, the dealer just rang and delivered as Ling said they would. Very helpful.

Neil Woodhead
Newcastle
NE28 ***

Editor Note: Neil, great, happy you are pleased. The freebies were poisonous, sorry about that. The Chinese sweets were infacted with the melamine, but it only harms small kids, not adults. Luckily, if you get ill, you work in a hospital. Hope to see you in 2-years for a new car! – Ling

I am Ling and my BMW 2 Series Tourer 1.5 225xe M Sport 12v (224bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1499cc Petrol/plugin Elec Hybrid 4X4 Automatic (8 Speed) Plug-in Hybrid Automatic has a new CO2 value today. So I post it here in my blog. I always update very fast. Can anyone name another website that can do this stuff as fast as me?

Have you ever rented a self-drive car for a day or a week? Well, Contract Hire is exactly the same, just for a longer period. Easy, isn’t it? It’s available for businesses or for private individuals. You may have seen me turning down investment on Dragon’s Den! Read on to understand how it works. Occasionally, I can supply PCP, leasing and lease hire (but not often). If you’re reading this because you are unsure if you should use LINGsCARS.com, have a look at my 900+ customer letters.

I am determined that LINGsCARS.com will go further than anyone else in this industry to exceed the legal minimum information disclosure that 99% of UK franchised car dealers refuse to go beyond (and hide behind, IMHO). So, I make sure that at-a-glance CO2, fuel economy and the coloured “greeness indicator bars” are displayed clearly on my homepage car listings for easy comparison purposes.

Working it out from the tables, the CO2 is just 57g/km for the BMW 2 Series Tourer Plug-in Hybrid Automatic. There are a few cars in this range, so different specs will give slightly different CO2 values.

My BMW 2 Series Tourer 1.5 225xe M Sport 12v (224bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1499cc Petrol/plugin Elec Hybrid 4X4 Automatic (8 Speed) Plug-in Hybrid Automatic gearbox is only £389.94 inc VAT per month with 3 months initial payment, followed by 11 payments on direct debit. Business customers, make sure you deduct the VAT, when making decisions. As I can’t tell what type of customer you are (business or private), I can’t display the price any other way but to show VAT seperately (sorry!).

This price on my BMW 2 Series Tourer includes full road tax for the length of the contract, on all of my cars and vans! Free delivery to your home or work and free collection from you at the end! £389.94 inc VAT per month is based on you driving 10,000 miles per annum, but higher mileages are usually available at a small extra cost. If you go over the allocated miles, you can pay a small excess mileage charge, usually between 3p and 15p per mile.

Remember I won the best non-franchise environmentalist 2008 in the Automotive Industry Awards. Don’t let these manufacturers fool you; LINGsCARS.com is the ONLY new car supplier to display and promote environmental info for ALL new cars, on the web! I have a Master’s Degree in Environmental Quality from Bournemouth Univeristy in 2000, plus a BSc in Applied Chemistry from Jinan University, Guanzhou in 1997.

Keep the pressure up – make sure the tyres are inflated to the correct pressure for the vehicle.

Looking at my pile of website remarks, I just found this one:

Very nice set up for the web page. I like the detail you’ve gone into.
Paul Dexter, Rhyl, LL18 2DE
dexteranddeedee_@hotmail.com

The other pollutants from petrol, diesel and alternative fuel engines are mainly Carbon Monoxide, Oxides of Nitrogen, un-burnt Hydrocarbons and fine particles. The first three are gases and are invisible. Fine particles are usually invisible although in certain operating conditions diesels will produce visible particles, appearing as smoke. Petrol engines will also produce visible particles if they are burning engine oil or running rich, for example, following a cold start. Unlike CO2, emissions of these pollutants are not directly linked to fuel consumption. Pollutant levels are more dependant on vehicle technology and the state of maintenance of the vehicle.

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Gotta laugh at some of these letters! It’s amazing how much time some customers put into writing them. Often it can take me up to 10 seconds to read them. Just like this letter from Thomas Marlow that I got a while ago:

Thomas says…
Easy and efficient service. LINGO message system first class. Personal service so much better than normal companies where you are just a number. Good delivery on my new Fiesta, on time as promised.

Thomas Marlow
Bridgwater
TA6 ***

Editor Note: Yo!!! Tom, you had some problems answering my messages from work, but we can blame that on your employers and their miserable attitude to staff happiness 🙂 I am so happy you then tell me the LINGO message system is first class. Have a great time posing in the new Fiesta – fantastic cars, these! – Ling

The impact of CO2 is important. I always compare my figures with the Government data, so when it changes, like on this Citroen DS3 Petrol Automatic, I note it here in my blog.

Oh, I get very mad about this, but I cannot say this in my advertising or some big leasing companies complain to me that I slag them off… The industry standard for contract hire is a 1x rental-initial-payment or (more usually) a 3x rental-initial-payment. That’s it. If everyone advertised this, you could easily compare the rental figures as the football field we are playing on would be flat.

Compared to improvements in the emissions of toxic pollutants, there has been less progress on reducing CO2 from cars. For a given type of fuel the CO2 emissions of a car are directly proportional to the quantity of fuel consumed. Until recently the average fuel consumption of new cars was unchanged relative to that in the mid 1980�s. This was because while engines have become more efficient over this period, average vehicle mass has increased due to additional features to meet crash safety requirements and the widespread addition of features such as power assisted steering and air conditioning. However, there are signs that in the last few years average fuel consumption has begun to drop in response to voluntary agreements by vehicle manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions.

The CO2 for this Citroen DS3 Petrol Automatic is better than it was, at just g/km. It is a bit different if you look at a slightly different trim level.

My Citroen DS3 1.2 PureTech Connected Chic 12v (110bhp) Hatchback 3dr 1199cc Petrol EAT6 (6 Speed) Petrol Automatic gearbox is only £189.23 inc VAT per month with 3 months initial payment, followed by 35 payments on direct debit. Business customers, make sure you deduct the VAT, when making decisions. As I can’t tell what type of customer you are (business or private), I can’t display the price any other way but to show VAT seperately (sorry!).

This price on my Citroen DS3 includes full road tax for the length of the contract, on all of my cars and vans! Free delivery to your home or work and free collection from you at the end! £189.23 inc VAT per month is based on you driving 10,000 miles per annum, but higher mileages are usually available at a small extra cost. If you go over the allocated miles, you can pay a small excess mileage charge, usually between 3p and 15p per mile.

Remember I won the best non-franchise environmentalist 2008 in the Automotive Industry Awards. Don’t let these manufacturers fool you; LINGsCARS.com is the ONLY new car supplier to display and promote environmental info for ALL new cars, on the web! I have a Master’s Degree in Environmental Quality from Bournemouth Univeristy in 2000, plus a BSc in Applied Chemistry from Jinan University, Guanzhou in 1997.

Keep the pressure up – make sure the tyres are inflated to the correct pressure for the vehicle.

I have so many of these website comments, they are overflowing on my desk!

I have recommended this site to many people, as you site is great.
Asha, Harrow, HA1 4DH
devilden2_@hotmail.com

Biofuels also offer a way to reduce vehicles’ impacts on climate change. The fuels are not entirely CO2 neutral because of the energy used to grow and process crops, but they can offer substantial CO2 savings over fossil petrol and diesel. Today most biofuels are sold in a blends of up to 5% with fossil petrol and diesel . These are suitable for use in all vehicles. Fuel standards may be extended in the future to allow more than 5% if it is concluded that this is compatible with existing vehicles. Some manufacturers offer ‘flexi-fuel’ vehicles that can run on bioethanol blends up to E85 – a blend of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol, as well as fossil petrol.

Look, another CO2 change! The Peugeot 3008 Estate 1.5 BlueHDi GT Line Premium (130bhp) Estate 5dr 1499cc Diesel Manual (6 Speed) Diesel Manual has moved slightly in the environment tales again. I post the new info, and publish on my website.

At the end of the contract, the car is collected from you and you have no further obligations. You do not buy the car, nor do you have a “balloon” payment. Simply give it back! Of course, the car should be fair and reasonable condition commensurate with its age and mileage. If it’s not, you’ll be charged for any damage. But to me that’s common sense.

When I asked Renault UK what they were doing to encourage franchised dealers to go beyond legal-minimum disclosure of environmental data, they simply said; “The majority of Renault dealers are autonomous businesses with a franchise to sell and repair Renault vehicles and as such, the internal running is outside of our jurisdiction. However, we train the dealer network, to ensure that they are aware of the different models and new technologies available. Some Renault dealerships may choose to advertise this information on their websites whereas some Renault dealerships would choose not to.”. Note that this statement is slightly misleading as Renault UK directly owns many of its larger dealerships, and in my extensive research no Renault dealer uses this information online. They could, if they wanted to. Their statement doesn’t seem to me to be very pro-active.

I have taken a typical model of this car from my website – the Peugeot 3008 Estate Diesel Manual. For this car, the CO2 is now just 106g/km. Other trim levels might differ slightly.

My Peugeot 3008 Estate 1.5 BlueHDi GT Line Premium (130bhp) Estate 5dr 1499cc Diesel Manual (6 Speed) Diesel Manual gearbox is only £252.37 inc VAT per month with 6 months initial payment, followed by 17 payments on direct debit. Business customers, make sure you deduct the VAT, when making decisions. As I can’t tell what type of customer you are (business or private), I can’t display the price any other way but to show VAT seperately (sorry!).

This price on my Peugeot 3008 Estate includes full road tax for the length of the contract, on all of my cars and vans! Free delivery to your home or work and free collection from you at the end! £252.37 inc VAT per month is based on you driving 10,000 miles per annum, but higher mileages are usually available at a small extra cost. If you go over the allocated miles, you can pay a small excess mileage charge, usually between 3p and 15p per mile.

The comparative or “fridge” label, is compulsory in car showrooms – except you’ve got to DRIVE there to see it! I won an industry award for displaying it electronically for all website visitors. I am the proud winner of the 2008 Best Environmentalist 2008 Automotive Management Award. Like me, Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair talks straight about cars versus planes. “The usual horseshit”, he says. One day, every car will be as Green as my Jolly Green Nuclear Missile Truck “Calm down dear!” – it’s only done 1,000 miles since 1970.

Plan ahead – choose uncongested routes, combine trips, car share.

Here is a comment about my website (I have disguised the email address)

Velle funnee site. keep it up, Ling. You fast getting a fan base on web. Take care.
Terry Ive, Eastwood, SS9 5QE
rizla01_@yahoo.com

Because of the need to maintain strict comparability of results achieved by the standard tests they cannot be fully representative of real life driving conditions. Firstly, it is obviously not practicable to test each individual new car; thus only one production car is tested as being representative of the model and may therefore produce a better or worse result than another similar vehicle. Secondly, there are infinite variations in driving styles and in road, car and weather conditions, all of which can have a bearing on the results achieved. For these reasons the fuel consumption achieved on the road will not necessarily be the same as the official test results.

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I always ask my customers if they have comments about getting their new car. Really, I am looking for criticisms (so I can improve my service). However, customers like Graham Moorhouse show that it is hard to generate real criticism. I can only improve if I know if anything is wrong. So, no thanks to Graham Moorhouse 🙂

Graham says…
Apart from a slight mix-up re delivery time, your service was impeccable. Also, the supplying dealer was spot on and perfect and very professional. I will definitely use you again. Your prices are very keen and I like your personal service. Please don’t change a thing.

LING IS KING!

ps. Just saw you on Dragons’ Den tonight, wicked! Great decision. Fabia is great, what a bargain!

Graham Moorhouse
Corby
NN18 ***

Editor Note: Graham, well, thanks. never been called a King before. I had great fun on the BBC. Really sorry about the delivery confusion, all my fault. Sorted out quickly, though. Glad you are pleased with the Skoda Fabia, these are great cars, so much cheaper then their VW brothers. – Ling

Visit my full letters page click here

My letters webpage must be just about the longest on the internet! Currently, there are 1524 letters on my website. Letters are great, as they are like a window on my customers’ happiness. My good customer Phil Ruddy wrote this one:

Phil says…
I enjoyed dealing with you and your staff. Your service is professional and yet fun at the same time.
The Qashqai is perfect and was delivered when you said it would be. Excellent – good service and prompt delivery. I would happily recommend you to anyone! See you in three years for my new car.

Phil Ruddy
Harrogate
HG1 ***

Editor Note: Phil, thanks for the kind letter. These Nissan Qashqais are hitting the sweet spots – they are cheap, good and newish. Everyone who has one, loves it. No one can spell it, most people struggle to say it :). Enjoy the car in posh Harrogate, I have made a note in my diary for 3-years! – Ling

Making your car greener is important, so it is nice when you can do it just by looking at the new Mazda 2 1.5 SE+ 16v (75bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1496cc Petrol Manual (5 Speed) Petrol Manual. The CO2 values have changed, making it more attractive.

Oh, I get very mad about this, but I cannot say this in my advertising or some big leasing companies complain to me that I slag them off… The industry standard for contract hire is a 1x rental-initial-payment or (more usually) a 3x rental-initial-payment. That’s it. If everyone advertised this, you could easily compare the rental figures as the football field we are playing on would be flat.

At the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in December 1997 all developed countries agreed to legally binding targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in response to warnings over global climate change. Following this the European Commission and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) came to an agreement in July 1998 that committed ACEA to reduce the CO2 emissions from new passenger cars by over 25% to an average CO2 emission figure of 140 g/km by 2008. This is one of the most significant industry agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and it has led to more fuel efficient vehicles being brought to the market. Similar voluntary agreements have now been reached with Japanese and Korean motor manufacturers. I dread to think what the Chinese are doing…

The CO2 for this Mazda 2 Petrol Manual is better than it was, at just 118g/km. It is a bit different if you look at a slightly different trim level.

My Mazda 2 1.5 SE+ 16v (75bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1496cc Petrol Manual (5 Speed) Petrol Manual gearbox is only £186.26 inc VAT per month with 3 months initial payment, followed by 35 payments on direct debit. Business customers, make sure you deduct the VAT, when making decisions. As I can’t tell what type of customer you are (business or private), I can’t display the price any other way but to show VAT seperately (sorry!).

This price on my Mazda 2 includes full road tax for the length of the contract, on all of my cars and vans! Free delivery to your home or work and free collection from you at the end! £186.26 inc VAT per month is based on you driving 10,000 miles per annum, but higher mileages are usually available at a small extra cost. If you go over the allocated miles, you can pay a small excess mileage charge, usually between 3p and 15p per mile.

One of my best awards was the 2008 best non-franchise environmentalist, awarded by Automotive Management. The web is fickle, I have noticed LINGsCARS.com is the ONLY new car supplier to display and promote environmental info for ALL new cars, on the web! My website won “BEST non-franchised WEBSITE 2007” in the Automotive Management Awards.

Try to avoid using your car for short journeys – use public transport, ride a bicycle or walk.

I get tired of typing out these comments, but… here’s one.

This site is so original.
Rory Hurren, Eastbourne, BN23 8HF
geoffery.hurren_@btopenworld.com

Dealers are also required to display a poster � in paper or as an electronic display, in a prominent position, showing the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for all new passenger car models displayed, or offered for sale through that particular showroom. In addition to the above, the directive also requires manufacturers to include fuel consumption and CO2 emissions data in all brochures and printed advertisements, provided that the literature relates to a specific model of car. These requirements were implemented into UK law by The Passenger Car (Fuel Consumption and CO2 emissions Information) Regulations 2001, which came into force on the 21st of November 2001.

Green output is important to me, so I tell you the Hyundai Kona 1.0 T GDi Blue Drive Premium 12v (120bhp) Hatchback 5dr 998cc Petrol Manual (6 Speed) Petrol Manual has changed, here are the new figures. I work hard to keep everything up to date.

Physical stock is always limited, as cars cannot be made to appear by magic, there are only so many sat in corner of field. So be brave, grab a bargain and avoid me having to make phone calls to disappointed people who have left decision too late. Remember that you have to pass finance before I can reserve you a car, so allow time for that!

A very important feature is to be able to compare many different cars – on my main car listing pages. No franchised dealer will allow this, as they are mainly representing just one brand, so how is the average customer expected to make comparative judgements?

Working it out from the tables, the CO2 is just g/km for the Hyundai Kona Petrol Manual. There are a few cars in this range, so different specs will give slightly different CO2 values.

My Hyundai Kona 1.0 T GDi Blue Drive Premium 12v (120bhp) Hatchback 5dr 998cc Petrol Manual (6 Speed) Petrol Manual gearbox is only £234.00 inc VAT per month with 6 months initial payment, followed by 35 payments on direct debit. Business customers, make sure you deduct the VAT, when making decisions. As I can’t tell what type of customer you are (business or private), I can’t display the price any other way but to show VAT seperately (sorry!).

This price on my Hyundai Kona includes full road tax for the length of the contract, on all of my cars and vans! Free delivery to your home or work and free collection from you at the end! £234.00 inc VAT per month is based on you driving 10,000 miles per annum, but higher mileages are usually available at a small extra cost. If you go over the allocated miles, you can pay a small excess mileage charge, usually between 3p and 15p per mile.

One of my best awards was the 2008 best non-franchise environmentalist, awarded by Automotive Management. The web is fickle, I have noticed LINGsCARS.com is the ONLY new car supplier to display and promote environmental info for ALL new cars, on the web! My website won “BEST non-franchised WEBSITE 2007” in the Automotive Management Awards.

Switch off – sitting stationary is zero miles per gallon, switch off the engine whenever it is safe to do so.

Read this website comment. I really try my best! (email address altered)

Hey, what can I say? Fantastic site!
D M Smith, Wellingborough, NN8 2ND
nucabs_@yahoo.co.uk

The external noise emitted by passenger cars has been controlled since 1929 when the Motor Cars (Excessive Noise) regulations were introduced. New cars are now required to meet Europe-wide noise limits. These have been progressively reduced from 82 decibels (dB(A)) in 1978 to the current limit of 74 dB(A) established in 1996. This means it would take 7 new vehicles to make the same amount of noise as a vehicle that just meets the pre-1978 limits.

Visit my full letters page click here

Inbetween all my bills and bank statements, I receive customer letters. Here one I pulled out to read from Peter O’Sullivan, but I actually got it a while ago. It is about the delivery of their Nissan Qashqai.

Peter says…
“The hassle free way to lease a car”

After seeing Ling on Dragons’ Den, I made a note to try her out on our next car lease, and I am so glad I did! She was abruptly honest with delivery dates (that means I did not make up sweet promises like other companies – Ling), at risk of losing the order. And she still delivered the Qashqai 4 weeks early at the lowest cost I could find, online or off! Fantastic! Good delivery, I received my car with 150 miles on it.

Peter O’Sullivan
Bacup
OL13 ***

Editor Note: Peter, wow, a sting in the tail of the letter, hehehe. You understand I cannot do the cheapest prices and fastest delivery, and then demand bespoke truck delivery of the dealers – I ask the dealers to get the car to you as efficiently as possible. The 150 miles will be adjusted on the contract, and my customers should note this. Often cars are delivered on trucks, but I can’t really demand that, the prices would rise. It’s such a small thing, so no moaning allowed! 🙂 So pleased you loved everything else and pleased the Mackams built your car faster then expected! Go drive!! 🙂 Free hyperlink for brilliant marketing company, askAMS, what a privilege, heheheh… – Ling