Former Man Utd ace jailed for selling stolen car parts

One-time Manchester United star Ronnie Wallwork has been jailed for his part in an elaborate car buyer scam.

The 34-year-old was sentenced to 15 months in prison by Preston Crown Court after admitting three counts of handling stolen cars.

Wallwork's crimes were inadvertantly discovered by undercover officers as part of 'Operation Solomon' who were trying to track down a gang of armed robbers who had shot a security guard in Preston's Tesco supermarket!

While checking out local scrapyards, officers soon discovered Wallwork had his own, entirely separate, criminal enterprise in operation.
It emerged he had sold a Volkswagen Touran engine and parts from a BMW 318i on eBay, while he was observed driving a Mazda Furano into the scrapyard three days after it was stolen from a car dealer.
The three stolen vehicles he was linked to were worth more than 43,000 pounds in total, the court heard.
The court was told how the former West Bromwich Albion midfielder had fallen into financial difficulties following his retirement from football and two failed business ventures and police believe he got caught up in the criminal sub culture of Newton Heath.
Wallwork - who was lucky to escape with his life when he was stabbed in a Manchester bar five years ago - played enough games for Manchester United to earn a Premiership winners' medal in 2000-01.

SELL A CAR

Motoring costs continue to soar

New research from the RAC has shown that the cost of motoring has soared by 14% over the last year, meaning car buyers are paying an average of £128 per week to run a new family car.

All told, the cost of running a new car for the year was found to be £6,689 a year, which compares unfavourably with the figure of £5,870 only 12 months ago.

The hike in costs is made of a 12.4 per cent rise in fuel prices compared to last year, while the average maintenance costs increased by 8.8 per cent.

Average insurance premiums have risen 14.38 per cent, car finance is now costing 9.85% more, while depreciation (decreasing car valuation) was the factor to rise the most – 16.67 per cent.

The cost index was based on a pool of 17 new cars with the results weighted by their level of ownership. Even taking depreciation and car finance out of the calculations, the day-to-day running costs were up 11.1% to £2,743.

"This year’s cost index highlights the tough conditions being faced by Britain’s motorists,’ said RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink. ‘With the annual cost of motoring approaching £7,000, the price burden of car ownership is hitting drivers hard.
The increase of almost three times the rate of inflation is crippling drivers’ wallets and something needs to be done to stem the tide."

Leading 'car-buying companies' branded rip-off merchants

An investigative piece of journalism from The Sun has seen the newspaper brand a number of Britain's best known car buying companies as rip-off merchants!

The detailed 'expose' involved The Sun getting an independent valuation on a wide-range of vehicles from motor industry experts Parkers, then comparing those figure with what the car buying companies could offer on each car.

Among the most shocking results was Trademymotor.co.uk's offer on a  Audi A4 Cabriolet which was more than £3,500 below the recommended value and a paltry offer from wewillbuyyourcar.com which fell over £3,000 less than the estimated private sale price for a modest Peugeot 207.

The Sun was also particularly critical of those companies which charge a 'transaction fee' (which they take out of the price they offer), including the well-known webuyanycar.com.

Health expert calls for political debate on car smoking

Just days after the British Medical Association recommended that smoking in cars should be made illegal, a leading Lancashire health expert has called for a political debate over the issue.

Officially, the professional medical association and trade union for doctors and medical students is calling for an outright ban on all smoking in vehicles across the UK, highlighting research which claims that the levels of toxins in a car can be up to 23 times higher than in a smoky bar.

However, Blackburn’s director of public health, Dominic Harrison, said a partial ban would be more appropriate.

He said: “The evidence around smoking with children in the car, even with the window open, is absolutely overwhelming as that is far too close to be smoking to a child.

“With children or passengers I think the issue is the same as smoking in an enclosed public space.

“I think we should test this with political debate and I would be quite interested to see what the public mood would be.

“I would suggest immediately no smoking in cars with a passenger and certainly not with children and I would make it a civil offence, similar to parking on a double yellow line, not a criminal one initially.”

A regular smoker  looking to sell a car can find the car valuation is often lower.

Women car buyers know what they want!

A new survey from BMW Financial Services has discovered that, when it comes to car buyers, it's women who know what they want!

 

The research showed that;

 

• 71% of women say they don’t choose a car to impress anyone but themselves and only two in ten take their partner’s opinion into account
• 69% of women aren’t afraid to haggle when buying a car

• 31% of women are happy to rent-to-own a car
• Over a third of women would like to be able to change cars or trade up more regularly

 

Women also have a different attitude to their male counterparts when it comes to car finance, with a third admitting to taking at least two days to make the choice over a payment package for the vehicle.

 

The survey also found that women, as a car buyer, are more open to making joint decisions for both the car itself  (50%) and car finance (53%), while men in particular, like to choose entirely independently.

 

The research also reveals that a third of British women drivers are happy to rent-to-own their car, which mirrors the recent uptake in car finance sales.

 

Joe Pattinson, General Manager Sales and Marketing at BMW Financial Services commented, “Finance is the car purchasing model for the future. As women adopt the rent-to-own approach as the more sensible decision, this is less of an indication of the economic climate and more a long term purchasing trend that is here to stay.

Former dealer jailed for "car clocking" scam

A one-time motor dealer - along with his three brothers - has been jailed for 18 months for "clocking" the mileage of cars and selling them on to car buyers.

The court was told that ringleader of the scam, Paul Price of Dewsbury, had traded honestly for many years but health problems and ensuing financial difficulties had led him up a path of "serious and deliberate fraud", alongside his three brothers Ian, Gary and Melvyn who were each given suspended 12 month jail sentences. A family friend, Gareth Hunt, was also handed a suspended sentence.

The four brothers were caught selling over 40 cars across West and North Yorkshire which had had the mileage readings in the vehicles reduced, in one case by more than 200,000 miles. The lower mileage readings helped artificially inflate the car valuation.

The sales took place online between January 2008 and August 2009 and in some instances bogus services documents were provided.

The activities of  the group originally came to light after concerns were reported to North Yorkshire Trading trading standards officers.

Sentencing them Judge Kerry Macgill said people who had saved up their “hard earned cash” to buy cars were entitled to believe the readings were honest.

Blackadder star cheats death forllowing 'super car' smash

Actor Rowan Atkinson has cheated death following a crash in his high-powered McLaren F1 supercar in Cambridgeshire.

The Blackadder and Mr Bean star is believed to have lost control of the £650,000 vehicle which spun off the road and hit a tree before catching fire.

The 56-year-old walked away from the wreckage and was looked after by another motorist until emergency services arrived at the scene.

Firemen tackled the blaze and an ambulance crew took him to nearby Peterborough hospital where he was treated for a shoulder injury.

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Crews brought the fire under control by 8.13pm. They made the vehicle safe and used one hose reel to put out the fire.

"There was one casualty but he was not trapped."

Atkinson is renowned for his passion for fast cars has written numerous articles about different vehicles for specialist car magazines.
As someone who regularly likes to buy and sell a car, his collection changes regularly, he also has a £125,000 Aston Martin Virage, a vintage Rolls-Royce, and an elderly Morris Traveller, which he regularly drives around the Oxfordshire village where he lives in a £1 million former rectory.

Bolton ace quizzed by police after death crash

Alonso: Quizzed by Police in Madrid

Footballer Marcos Alonso has been quizzed by police after a woman died in a car crash in Madrid.

The Bolton Wanderers defender is reported to have crashed a BMW into a wall near Real Madrid's former training complex, not far from the Bernabeu.

One woman suffered fatal injuries and another was seriously hurt. Mr Alonso's brother Miguel and former Real Madrid teammate Jaime Navarro were also hurt.
The emergency services said the car crossed into the opposite lane, overturned and collided with a wall.
Alonso - who was uninjured - allegedly failed a breathalyser test afterwards.
Alonso, 20, has already appeared before an investigating judge at a closed hearing and could face a trial accused of involuntary manslaughter.
In a statement, the court said: "Magistrates' Court number four in Madrid yesterday released the footballer Marcos Alonso Mendoza after naming him as a 'formal suspect' in an alleged crime against road safety, a crime of intoxication, of accidental killing and causing accidental injury.
Alonso, who joined Bolton Wanderers from Real Madrid last summer, was at home in the Spanish capital on a weekend break.
It is understood he had been on a night out with his brother and Mr Navarro when they met the two women.

Webuyanycar.com rapped for 'misleading customers'

Internet car buying company Webuyanycar.com has been slammed by a watchdog for misleading customers with inflated valuations.

An investigation into the company accused the company of offering one price online to lure customers, then offering much less when they turned up to sell.

In all, the Office of Fair Trading found 96% of sellers received less than the valuation and Webuyanycar inspectors were set targets to slash the offer price by as much as 25%.
The OFT investigation covered July 2009 to June 2010.
By August 2010, the company had 114 branches throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
Other concerns highlighted by the investigation included:

• Giving the misleading impression to consumers that their online valuation was only valid for seven days
• Failing to assess customer complaints in a "fair, reasonable, consistent and professional manner"
• Not making it clear that the next working day payment service - which cost customers £24.75 - was optional

The OFT said: "Consumers were given the impression that they would be paid the online valuation if the company's onsite inspection matched the condition entered by the seller online. But once at the appointment, some customers found other factors reduced the price."
Webuyanycar, which made a profit of £5million on latest accounts, insisted it has made changes since "the early days" when "we didn't get it right for every single customer".

Sales of new cars hit the skids in March

New car sales fell by nearly 8% in March – traditionally the motor trade’s biggest month to sell a car.

The new 11-plate helped dealers shift 366,101 vehicles last month according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ which was 7.9% down on March 2010.

In all, registrations in the first three months of the year were down 8.7% compared with the first quarter of 2010, at 558,336.

New car registrations have now declined in each of the last nine months, but the trade body claimed sales would have been up if you strip out sales from last year’s car scrappage scheme.

Chief executive Paul Everitt said: “motorists are buying more fuel-efficient and low emitting vehicles”, with new cars registered in the first quarter averaging record low emissions at 140.3g per km.

US car makers were the big losers, with Cadillac and fuel-thirsty firm Hummer not selling a single vehicle here last month.

Nissan was one of the big winners, with sales up 14%.

Individually, the Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car in the month, followed by the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Corsa.

Tesco cars launched - but no trade-ins!

Once upon a time Tesco used to just sell groceries. Not content with moving into clothing, petrol, banking and insurance, the supermarket giants have even branched out into buying up old gold.

But, now it has embarked on arguably its most ambitious project yet - selling second hand cars!

Tesco say they are offering RAC-inspected cars for sale at prices cheaper than many existing forecourt prices, due to their lower overheads.
The plan is that the cars will be delivered directly from seller to buyer, with no showrooms, and no sales commissions, etc.
The new site will offer up to 3,000 cars a week, mostly sourced from hire fleets and the leasing business. If you like what you see and buy one, you can pick it up at a handover centre at Longbridge, or for a fee it can be delivered to your door.
But, here is the catch!
There won't be any trade-ins, private sales or free car valuations available through Tesco Cars, and that, added to the inability to inspect the cars personally, will restrict the segment of the market that can be covered.
The launch of Tesco's site on Sunday follows the acquisition of a minority stake in online dealership Carsite. The supermarket group has an option to take full control of the venture over time.

American teen attacks mother after car loan refusal

Rachel Anne Hachero

A gifted Florida student has been charged with attacking her mother after she refused to help her buy a car!

American Police said 17-year-old Rachel Anne Hachero 'pistol-whipped' her mother at their home when she refused to co-sign a loan for a black 2004 Nissan 350Z.

After the attack, police said the teenager then pointed a gun at her mother's head and stomach and told her she was going with her to the Nissan dealership in Fort Myers, Florida, to sign for the car.

Hachero's mother told investigators her daughter ordered her into a vehicle and demanded she drive to the dealership or she would shoot her.
The pair then completed the purchase at Sutherlin Nissan, Florida, and Hachero left the dealership in the Nissan 350Z.
Linda Hachero, told police she went through her daughter's purse while she was at school and found the gun, drugs, and drug paraphernalia.
Mrs Hachero said she did not want to press charges against her daughter, who had recently been accepted to several prestigious Ivy League colleges.
Officers from Lee County Sheriff's office have charged her with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and battery.

Convertible cars soar in value as summer approaches

According to data from Glass's - the UK's car valuation experts - the price of 'convertibles' are beginning to soar as the weather gets warmer.

Last year, the average auction price for a general market convertible was £6,900, but by April 2010, the average price had increased to £8,000, representing a 16 percent rise for the quarter. Experts a predicting a similar rise in 2011.

Adrian Rushmore, managing editor at Glass’s said “from March 2011 we would expect to see the higher trade prices being reflected in higher forecourt prices as dealers attempt to protect, or increase, their trading margins."

Glass's also says that, on average, convertibles retain more of their original value than other market segments. After a period of three years, an average convertible can retain 42 percent of their value. Meanwhile, an MPV will keep only a third of its purchasing price when you want to sell it on.
NEED A FREE CAR VALUATION?

Police hunt for soccer ace's car

Police are still trying to track down a car stolen from the family home of Arsenal football player Theo Walcott.

The car valuation of the white VW Golf R32 with tinted windows, is estimated to be around £20,000.

The vehicle was snatched from outside the property in Felden where the premiership player’s parents and brother live, while Walcott was starring for Arsenal in his side’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Jewellery and laptops, valued at around £30,000, were also taken.

A 25 year old woman from Rickmansworth, who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been bailed by police until Wednesday, March 23.

Crazed Brazilian ploughs into cyclists. How was no one killed?

This is the horrifying moment when over 40 people were injured after a motorist ploughed into a group of cyclists in Brazil.

Miraculously, no-one was killed in the incident in Porto Alegre, but many of the cyclists suffered broken bones and severe cuts and bruises.

Miraculously, no-one was killed in the incident in Porto Alegre, but many of the cyclists suffered broken bones and severe cuts and bruises.Up to 130 cyclists were taking part in the 'Critical Mass' event, which blocks roads in a protest against motorists, and around 40 were struck by the car, which had followed the group for a period before ramming them in his black Volkswagen Golf.The driver of the car fled from the scene but police have a suspect in custody after they found the car abandoned at the weekend. Police say the man claimed riders surrounded his vehicle and began beating on it, so he panicked and - in fear for his life - ran away. However, the lead investigator in the case called that version of events 'fanciful'.

Critical Mass is a cycling event that is held around the world, usually on the last Friday of every month, and its aim is to take back the streets from motorists.

The events usually occur in a flashmob-style, without warning, and block roads.

However, critics claim the event is dangerous, causing public disruption in major cities without warning and it has even been attacked by some cycling advocacy groups because it causes confrontation with motorists and weakens public support for cyclists.

NEED TO SELL A CAR?

Football star forgets that he owned a top-of-the-range Porsche!

Talk about footballers earning too much money.

It has emerged that Stoke City's Jermaine Pennant left his £100,000, top-of-the-range Porsche at a Spanish train station for FIVE months - because he forgot he owned one!

Just dwell on that thought for a few seconds while you work out how your going to cope with rising fuel and food costs...or indeed how you are going to afford your next season ticket!

According to reports from Spain's Daily Marca, Pennant - who reportedly owns a fleet of sports cars - abandoned the Porsche when he left Real Zaragoza for a loan spell at Stoke City last August, with the Spanish authorities contacting him through his former club last week.

When he got the call Pennant was initially baffled. No, he said, the car wasn’t his. Which seemed a little odd as the registration was P33NNT, a plate that gave a significant clue as to the owner’s identity.

On hearing that, Pennant admitted the fact he owned the Porsche had simply completely skipped his mind and he promptly paid the five figure accumulative parking fees, whilst arranging for a friend to pick up the vehicle for him!

During his year in Spain, the 28-year-old earned £80,000 a week as a result of the country's lenient tax regime, in which high-earning foreigners pay only 24 per cent for their first five years in the country.

Beckham flogging his motor - on Ebay!

David Beckham has decided to sell a car - on eBay.

The soccer ace - who was ludicrously feted with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the BBC recently - has owned the sports car for the last two years.

But now wants rid of the matt black Porsche 911 Convertible Turbo which cost him over £100,000, even before he spent a further £45,000 customising it.

It features heated front seats and has the number 23 - the number shirt he plays in for current soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy and wore at Real Madrid - emblazoned in the interior.

The car was also fitted with blacked-out headlights, special alloy wheels, a sports exhaust and a six-CD sound system with speakers fitted beneath the rears seats.

Beckham sold the car recently to Los Angeles dealer Chequered Flag but it is believed he is the only previous registered owner of the vehicle.

Chequered Flag spokesman Neil Jaffe said: 'This is a very rare opportunity to acquire a unique supercar with unparalleled celebrity history.'