LINGsCARS Blog

Changing this information for the Skoda Karoq Estate 1.0 TSI 12v (115bhp) SE Technology Estate 5dr 999cc Petrol Manual, I noticed most other websites still use old values. You should trust that I work harder to give you the correct info!

Your car belongs to the finance company on whose documents you agreed to the contract. Many different wear and tear agreements are issued, but it is safe to say that they all are similar to the industry standard issued by the BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association). I have condensed the advice into an easy to read PDF file. If you have things to fix, I recommend 1st call to people like Dent Devils, mobile Glass Repair, etc. Cheap and often works. They usually come to you, in van. Easy. Treat this car like your own car and you will not go far wrong. If you sold a 2-year-old car privately, you would fix exact same problems. Common sense helps!

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.

The CO2 for this Skoda Karoq Estate Petrol Manual is better than it was, at just 119g/km. It is a bit different if you look at a slightly different trim level.

My Skoda Karoq Estate 1.0 TSI 12v (115bhp) SE Technology Estate 5dr 999cc Petrol Manual gearbox is only £165.61 inc VAT per month with 9 months initial payment, followed by 23 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 Skoda Karoq 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! £165.61 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.

Winning the environmental award (2008 Best Environmentalist in the car industry) was very pleasing for me as it meant I was being recognised for my hard work. I’m the the ONLY new car supplier to display and promote environmental info for ALL new cars, on the web! Please note I have pioneered availability of environmental information on the internet. Using the internet to research and buy new cars is the most environmentally friendly method, by miles.

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

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

You sound like a crazy mad person. Speaking as another crazy mad person.
Jackie Hopton, Wakefield, WF2 0TF
garyhopton_@blueyonder.co.uk

In 1993 exhaust emission limits, (generally referred to as the Euro 1 standards) were introduced for new cars which resulted in the adoption of advanced emission control techniques, e.g. catalysts. More stringent emission limits came into effect in 1997 (Euro 2) and 2001 (Euro 3) and 1st January 2005 (Euro 4). Euro 4 came fully into force on 1st January 2007 and now covers most new cars on sale.

Visit my full letters page click here

Getting letters in the post is really nice. It makes a lovely change from getting email. This one was sent by Ashley Wilcox from Brighouse. Amazingly, the postman didn’t steal it!

Ashley says…
Thank you for giving me a wonderful service, everything was straight forward without complications. Delivery of my Fiat Panda was excellent. Keep sending the sweeties, and I will say more nice things!

Ashley Wilcox
Brighouse
HD6 ***

Editor Note: You know Ashley, Pandas (animal) actually come from my hometown, Chengdu. So it always makes me smile to deliver same-name car. Even though car breaks down more often than animal. Good job animal is Chinese, not Italian – Ling

Visit my full letters page click here

How much do I spend on stamps??? It must add up because I send every customer a nice thank-you letter. Angela Brady replied with a letter back to me about the Audi A5 Coupe that was delivered, new. Here it is:

Angela says…
I cannot praise LINGsCARS.com highly enough for her efficient and professional service. I had originally seen Ling on Dragons Den and originally was concerned that all the transaction was carried out by e-mail but I need not have worried as Ling and her staff kept me fully advised from beginning to end of my Audi A5 Coupe order. From my first enquiry there service was second to none offering me several alternatives until finally I came to a decision and from then on I was kept fully informed of all stages of the order. Nothing was too much trouble and the whole transaction went through so smoothly without any stress to myself and the end result was a very happy customer. I would strongly recommend Ling to all my family and friends and I like to think that I can contact them at any time if I had a query. I think of Ling and her staff as friends and would not hesitate to use the company again. You will not be disappointed with LINGsCARS.

Angela Brady
Luton
LU2 ***

Editor Note: Angie, that’s brilliant! So pleased you are happy. As you deal with your own customers every day, glad you recognise my service. Thanks so much. Have a great time in the A5 Coupe – a lovely car! – Ling

CO2 affects fuel consumption directly. Less CO2 means less fuel burnt. So, I’m reporting this change on the Renault Clio Petrol Manual. Have a look at the new figures.

Personal Contract Hire is exactly the same as contract hire for businesses. This is the beauty of getting a car like this, as you benefit from FLEET BONUSES! However, VAT makes a difference. Businesses get the rentals shown ex-VAT (they can often reclaim half of it), whereas private purchasers have it included in the rentals.

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.

The CO2 for this Renault Clio Petrol Manual is better than it was, at just 114g/km. It is a bit different if you look at a slightly different trim level.

My Renault Clio 0.9 TCE Iconic 12v (90bhp) Hatchback 5dr 898cc Petrol Manual (5 Speed) Petrol Manual gearbox is only £151.03 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 Renault Clio 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! £151.03 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.

Cold starts – drive off as soon as possible after starting.

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

You be crazy, but I love it.
Dan Craggs, Barry, CF63 1FS
dancraggs_@gmail.com

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.

Everyone moans that things go up and up and up. Well, the CO2 on the Volvo XC90 Estate 2.0 T5 Gtron Momentum 16v (250bhp) (7 seats) Estate 5dr 1969cc Petrol AWD Automatic (8 Speed) Petrol Automatic has just come down! What a result! This post is to let you know.

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 also took the decision to code into HTML and make available for printing the “Comparative Labels” or the “fridge” type labels you see at Comet and Curry’s on new fridges and washing machines. No other UK website bothers (or wants) to give their customers this information. One day they will be forced to do this. I have made my code freely available for any dealer who wants to use it, and published a tutorial on how to include this in their websites. This was published on the Automotive Management forum on 26th October 2006. To date, no dealer has contacted me to use my code.

For this brand new Volvo XC90 Estate Petrol Automatic, the latest CO2 figure is just 184g/km. When I chose this trim, it was because I have a few of these available. Different trims will have different CO2.

My Volvo XC90 Estate 2.0 T5 Gtron Momentum 16v (250bhp) (7 seats) Estate 5dr 1969cc Petrol AWD Automatic (8 Speed) Petrol Automatic gearbox is only £487.60 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 Volvo XC90 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! £487.60 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.

Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the Government Economics Service, produced the UK Government Environmental Report on the Economics of Climate Change. I was so pleased to win an Environmental Award in 2008, myself. I am determined that LINGsCARS.com will go further than anyone else in this industry to exceed the legal minimum information disclosure. It is probably the case that my customers have the smallest environmental footprints of any new car customers in the UK!

Do not compromise safety but be aware that the use of onboard electrical devices increases fuel consumption.

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

Amazing and very funny site.
David McGuire, Blackpool, FY2 0DP
satellitedave_@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.

Visit my full letters page click here

Customers often send me letters, I have 1524 in total! It keeps the postman busy. These letters are all hard copies, and none are invented. This one is from Stephen Lake

Stephen says…
Dear Ling,

Apologies for not dropping you a line sooner, but the first month with our new Nissan Qashqai has gone so fast. Thanks for your help and offering such a blinding deal. You deserve the business for your fun attitude and prompt replies to queries. Do you always work at 8pm???

The car arrived on time, immaculate and by a very polite and cheerful driver. Well done, you! We will be back.

ps. The offer of a free lunch is still on, to beat your own free lunch offer – at our restaurant!

Stephen Lake
Shrewsbury
SY1 ***

Editor Note: Stephen, yes, like you I often work evenings :). I have given you hyperlink for the free lunch offer. There are 50,000 visitors to my webpage every month, so many of them will be very pleased at your “FREE” offer. Hahahaha! Now, you will be damn busy! Here is your Dec 2007 evening menu:

Roasted butternut squash soup – £ 4.95
Ham & tomato risotto with melted cheese – £ 5.25
Cold venison & sultana terrine with port vinaigrette – £ 5.75
Crumbed smoked haddock croquettes with chopped egg & winter salad – £ 5.50
Stilton & spinach soufflé cake with apple, onion & coriander salad – £ 5.25
*
Roast turkey, herb stuffing, chipolata & bacon rolls & cranberry sauce – £ 12.95
Rib-eye steak with mushroom, parsley & Worcestershire cream sauce – £13.95
Loin medallion of pork with crackling & honey & lemon gravy – £ 12.95
Quenelles of salmon mousselline with dill cream sauce – £ 12.95
Aubergine, mozzarella & cashew nuts on blinis with tomato sauce – £ 11.95
*
Traditional Christmas pudding with brandy custard or fresh cream – £ 4.95
Apple & cranberry tart with Chantilly cream – £ 4.95
Chocolate mousse torte – £ 4.95
Almond & raspberry Pavlova meringue – £ 4.95
Saffron & citrus poached pear with vanilla ice-cream – £ 4.95
or
Cheese selection & biscuits – £ 5.75
*
Coffee or tea – £ 2.00
All dishes are home-made using only fresh, quality ingredients & main courses are served with carefully prepared vegetables.

Yum Yum!

Here is mine:

Out of date FUKU fast noodles, chopsticks – £ FREE!
Chinese Nescafe or tea – £ FREE!
Dodgy marshmallow or dry plum – £ FREE!

No competition, eh? Sorry about that! – Ling

Visit my full letters page click here

Customers often send me letters, I have 1524 in total! It keeps the postman busy. These letters are all hard copies, and none are invented. This one is from Adam Fisher

Adam says…
We are loving our new Nissan Qashqai, called Nobby. We even get to wave to other fools driving the same car, too! Ling was very efficient but disappointingly quite serious, sometimes. I was looking forward to some banter! Anyway, great car, great service. The sweets were shite, though! Sorry 🙂 Good delivery. The chap who delivered was lovely, but didn’t know diddly squat about the car, though.

Adam Fisher
High Wycombe
HP14 ***

Editor Note: Adam, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhh! My God, you must have caught me at a busy time! Some customers get very weird about me giving too much banter 🙂 Maybe I was just in a bad mood that day? Hmmmm. I will try to disrespect you next time, eh? Glad you love Nobby, I will shout at the dealer to get the delivery guys to learn where Nobby’s knobs are. Glad you hated the sweets, hehe. – Ling

I am Ling and my Nissan Juke 1.6 Acenta 16v (112bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1598cc Petrol Manual (5 Speed) Petrol Manual 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?

As a bonus to add to your lower motoring costs, you will get every subsequent year’s road tax sent to you free of charge, saving you up to £385 per year, or £1,155 on a 3-year contract!

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 161g/km for the Nissan Juke Petrol Manual. There are a few cars in this range, so different specs will give slightly different CO2 values.

My Nissan Juke 1.6 Acenta 16v (112bhp) Hatchback 5dr 1598cc Petrol Manual (5 Speed) Petrol Manual gearbox is only £174.23 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 Nissan Juke 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! £174.23 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.

Do not compromise safety but be aware that the use of onboard electrical devices increases fuel consumption.

Read this, I have this comment up, displayed on LINGsCARS.com:

Thank you so much for having such a fun and original website. This is one of the best sites I have been on. I have very much enjoyed my visit. I wish more people were as witty as you.
Shelley Enright, Sheffield, S26 5LX
bladesbird_@btinternet.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.

Visit my full letters page click here

Does your cat eat letters when they come through your letter box? Mine does. Here’s a letter it missed, from Marie Richards in East Preston. Bloody cat!

Marie says…
Ling and Guy offer a great service, backed up by honesty and integrity. My car was delivered as agreed and in good order. I would recommend this service to all. I love the website as well ‒ completely mad!! Dealer Service ‒ Good ‒ Only gripe was dirty car on delivery.

Marie Richards
East Preston
BN16 ***

Editor Note: Marie, thanks so much for the comments, you are really kind. Hope you are loving the Fiesta. So great to deal with you. I kick the dealer in the ass for dirty car, but they blame rain on the way, so sorry. – Ling

Looking at my records, the Hyundai Tucson Estate 1.6 GDi 2WD SE Nav 16v (132bhp) Estate 5dr 1591cc Petrol Manual (6 Speed) Petrol Manual has changed today, so I have updated the environmental information on my website. You have to laugh that I can beat Hyundai to this update!

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.

Martin Callanan (Euro MP for the North East Region) said “Ling and her unique website LINGsCARS.com displays environmental information in a way that leads the UK motor industry. Following my discussions with her about greening the business, Ling has grasped the environmental nettle and is giving UK car buyers comprehensive environmental data on all new cars for sale in the UK to enable them to make an informed choice. LINGsCARS.com gives a fantastic amount of green information on her new cars, which the rest of the UK motor industry would do well to emulate. Using the internet is already the most energy efficient way of researching and buying a new car, so well done Ling for taking the personal responsibility to push this carbon data to the top of her agenda and to push environmental awareness a big step further”

The CO2 for this Hyundai Tucson Estate Petrol Manual is better than it was, at just 162g/km. It is a bit different if you look at a slightly different trim level.

My Hyundai Tucson Estate 1.6 GDi 2WD SE Nav 16v (132bhp) Estate 5dr 1591cc Petrol Manual (6 Speed) Petrol Manual gearbox is only £244.42 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 Hyundai Tucson 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! £244.42 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.

Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the Government Economics Service, produced the UK Government Environmental Report on the Economics of Climate Change. I was so pleased to win an Environmental Award in 2008, myself. I am determined that LINGsCARS.com will go further than anyone else in this industry to exceed the legal minimum information disclosure. It is probably the case that my customers have the smallest environmental footprints of any new car customers in the UK!

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

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

A lovely website, well thought out, great prices. Will definitely recommend you.
Jo Read, Birmingham, B49 6AR
jojo998901_@aol.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.