Winter Driving Tips!

A road safety charity is urging fleet managers to share potentially life-saving winter motoring tips with their drivers this month.

Aarons Autos is sharing Brake’s advice through its Fleet Safety Forum to help drivers stay safe in dangerous snowy and icy conditions. It wants managers to share its simple ‘A, B, C’ guide to safer motoring in winter.

(A)Avoiding driving at all if possible is the most important tip.
(B)Being prepared by planning journeys around the worst of the weather and making sure vehicles are well maintained and ready for wintry conditions is also said to be crucial to avoid accidents and breakdowns in the cold.
(C)Careful driving is the third tip, with people advised to drive slowly and be aware of the hazards all around them.

Brake’s research and information officer, Laura Woods, said driving can be risky in all weather conditions, but it can be particularly dangerous in bad weather.

Fleet managers should remind company drivers about the risks of winter driving before the inevitable cold snaps arrive this year, she said.

Winter Service Deal

Take advantage of our Winter Service offer and make sure your car is safe over the cold, wet and even snowy period we are entering.

We know that people are strapped for cash on the run up to Christmas but the last thing we and you want are unnecessary car repair bills due to not having it checked over.

How much do you pay?

Aarons Autos service costs

When we read this article we had to share it to prove how expensive repairing your car can be, as you read it bear in mind that our labour rate at Aarons Autos is only £48.00 inc vat per hour!

The hourly labour rate has dropped to £74.70, £8.18 less than it was 12 months ago, according the study by Warranty Direct.

Motorists are reaping the benefit of not only independent garages bidding for business but manufacturers becoming more competitive with a number now offering fixed price servicing.

“From this year’s results, it appears, for the first time, that consumers are starting to win the price war as labour rates finally start to fall across the UK,” said Duncan McClure Fisher, the company’s managing director.

“We’ve seen almost a decade of spiralling costs to keep a car on the road and it’s good to see dealers competing more on pricing.

“Service clubs, servicing plans, fixed priced servicing and scheduled servicing bundles are being increasingly used by manufacturers and dealers to attract and retain customers. At the same time, consumers are getting smarter and learning how to shop around for better deals.”

With cars effectively being computers on wheels, drivers have also gained from laws forcing car manufacturers to make the computerised information they hold available to non-franchised independent garages.

Despite this, there are still some franchised dealers charging huge amounts with the top hourly rate reaching £200.40 – a couple of pounds down on 2011 – but nearly £50 up on the top rate of a decade ago.

The latest survey also revealed some sharp regional differences, with labour rates rising by just over 20 per cent over the last 12 months, while they fell by nearly 19 per cent in Cornwall.

London remains the most expensive place to get a car serviced with an average hourly rate of £89.33, while Angus in Scotland is now the cheapest at £62.04.

A spokesman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders added: ”There is a lot more competition, which is why the price is coming down.

”Drivers are also benefiting from longer service intervals and garages bundling in MoT tests with the service.”

So this goes to prove that here at Aarons Autos we offer a great dealer level service for a great price.

Good Job :)

Hi Aaron

Just want to say that I’m over the moon with the service I received, all the problems with my Megane sport were fixed. A great bunch of blokes that know there stuff and are happy to get stuck in to sort out your problem rather than some garage’s that will just fit a new part and be done with it, even though I’m over 2hrs away its worth the trip this is defiantly a garage you can trust.I have no problem recommending them for general repairs/servicing or upgrades to your car.

Keep up the good work guys and I’ll see you again soon.

Lee Wade

Hampshire

01-10-2013

We love getting feed back from our customers especially when they have travelled such a long way for our Megane Hub Bearing repair. Thanks Lee

VOSA Cracking Down On Vans!

VOSA (the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) says it intends to ramp up roadside inspections and other enforcement activities in a bid to improve standards of van operation.

At the 3rd event in the Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence conference series (taking place in Dunblane next month), the keynote address will be by Gordon MacDonald, VOSA’s traffic enforcement policy manager.

Focusing on the impact of the recession on operator practices, he will outline VOSA’s views on the operational standards required for vans across the UK.

“Van Excellence proves that operators are entirely capable of self regulation,” says Mark Cartwright, FTA’s head of vans.

“FTA applauds the efforts of VOSA to increase general operational standards and we are delighted that VOSA has agreed to come along and provide its views on the issues facing van operators.”

If your company is feeling the “Pinch” of the recession why not give us at Aarons Autos a call to see what we can do for you from genaral servicing to full Fleet Maintenance, we are here to help.

MSVR Team Trophy

Norfolk N Chance Race Team take to Brands Hatch for the 5th round of the MSVR Team Trophy.

David Slater and Aaron Harding from Aarons Autos who had never raced at Brands Hatch had to take the plunge and drive there hearts out to try and win some silver wear for the Team Trophy Cabinet.

The start of the race went very well which gave us half a chance of a good finish, but as these races are one hour endurance races many things can happen between the start and the finish.

Unfortunately we finished fourth in class which meant no silver wear but a great day was had by all involved.

Please click on the picture to watch the video from our onboard camera.

Car Park Dings !

Cramped parking spaces are costing motorists approximately £500 million in repairs as careless drivers dent doors and bash bumpers.

According to a study, more than ten million car owners have returned to a parking space to find their car damaged after another driver has swung open a door and hit their paintwork or banged the wing mirror.

And shoppers at supermarkets are also to blame for squeezing through narrow gaps between cars with metal belt buckles and bags catching on paintwork and mirrors.

The survey by high street chain Halfords found two out of three drivers shell out more than £50 for minor repairs for scuffs and scrapes with 50% of damage to the car body.

Bumpers are also vulnerable, accounting for 14% of repairs and mirrors make up another 13%.

Despite the size of the average car growing, Department for Transport rules governing car park space sizes have remained the same since 1994.

Modern cars can be up to two inches wider than the 5ft 11 inch minimum space recommended by the government department, meaning even a Ford Focus at 6ft 1in wide is too large to fit a regulation bay.

And at 6ft 7ins wide, a BMW 3 Series would need to straddle two tiny spaces to have any chance of parking safely.

Halfords spokesman David Howells said: “There is a squeeze on the nation’s car parks and the consequences are hitting frustrated motorists hard earned money.

“The majority of drivers we questioned blamed their scratches and repair costs on inconsiderate drivers parking too close to them but our research shows that the actual size of parking spaces is leaving them little choice.”

Donna Howard of paint protection experts G3 Pro said: “Even the smallest scratch can be very annoying and reduce the value of a car by hundreds of pounds.

“But with car park operators looking to maximise visitor volumes and revenue, there is little incentive for them to exceed the recommended minimum size requirements.”

The survey of 2,187 motorists found that local supermarkets were the worst for cramped bays with shopping malls second and railway stations in third place.

Skipping Next Service?

More than one in three motorists on UK roads are planning on skipping their next service, new research has found.

When interviewed, 39% of motorists admitted to considering skipping their next service, while 10% confessed to never checking their tyres. More worryingly, 15% admitted they were currently experiencing a problem with their brakes but were not looking to repair them!!

Motorists in the South West are the most likely to skip their next service, with 45% of drivers admitting to doing so, while in drivers in Scotland are the most likely to maintain their cars service schedule, with just 22% planning to skip their next service.

“It is very concerning to find that so many motorists are thinking of skipping their next service — especially considering the number of drivers who don’t make their own checks on their car”.

“Tyres, brakes and lights are all crucial to road safety, so it is vitally important that they are regularly checked, and not just left until the MOT is due.”

Here at Aarons Autos we recommend that you have your car serviced at least once a year whether it be at the same time as your MOT or spread the cost and have it done 6 months after you MOT.

We also recommend oil, antifreeze, tyres and lights should be checked regularly to help decrease the chance of breakdowns.