Strangest Car Names

Seeing the announcement of the new Kia Proceed at the Paris Motor Show got me thinking about some of the more idiosyncratic names that manufacturers have given their cars.

1. Peugeot Partner
   
2. Mazda Bongo Friendee which counts double as it is also sold as a Ford Freda.
   
3. Honda HR-V Joy Machine
   
4. Mazda Carol
   
5. Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg
   
6. Nissan Laurel Medalist
   
7. Toyota Masterace
   
8. Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton
   
9. Dodge St. Regis - many of these were smashed up in the filming of the Blues Brothers, one of my favourite movies.
   
10. Dacia Duster
    
11. Buick Park Avenue
    
12. Chevrolet Royal Mail
    
13. Pontiac Star Chief Executive
    

You've probably noticed that most of these cars are of japanese or american origin. Luckily, if you feel drawn to drive a car with an exotic name like one of the above, there is one insurer who will have heard of it! With great rates for japanese grey imports and american dream cars too, we can give you a great quote on your strangely named pride and joy.

****Update***
Skoda have just announced something called a "Joyster"!

Ill-advised driver shows off in front of police

If you're going to show off by doing a doughnut in the middle of the street, it's probably best to check that the white car coming towards you does not have blue lights on the top.

Mummy, I just bought a car!

Dumb parents of the week, Rachel and John Neal left their computer logged on, with all passwords stored, then acted all surprised when little Jack, 3, "a real whiz" according to his mum went shopping online.

The first they knew about his venture into the world of Ebay was when an e-mail arrived congratulating them on the purchase of a £9,000 motor.

Next morning, Jack came down the stairs and proudly announced, "Mummy, I've bought a car."

Articles here & here.

The motor in question was a 1991 Nissan Figaro in Barbie pink. This one, in fact.

When Jack's a bit older, perhaps he'll wish to join the illustrious company of Vanessa Feltz, Wayne Hemingway, Joss Stone and Eric Clapton, who all drive Nissan Figaros.

And if he wants to insure his Figaro, there's no better choice than Adrian Flux. Our cherished department specialise in Japanese grey imports, like the turbocharged Figaro, and a 23 year old male in a Sleaford postcode would pay as little as £380*. So all Jack needs to do is get 20 years older overnight.

*That's on a limited mileage policy and assuming a full NCB and no motoring convictions

Norwich Union & Indian Call Centres

So Norwich Union, as well as raising their premiums by a huge amount, are now 'downsizing' 4,000 of their workers and transferring 1,000 call centre jobs to India. At least the staff cuts will reduce their overheads, so they'll be able to cut premiums... D'Oh! It also raises questions about their stated reason for the redundancies - that they needed fewer staff.

Whilst hopefully they won't have any incidents with customer's personal details being sold by unscrupulous workers, they ought to bear in mind people's experiences of offshore workers.

Most people have an Indian call centre horror story. I tried to get some train times once, only to be told that there was no such place as Cheltenham in the UK. The man was so insistent that the "Centre for the Cotswolds" did not exist that he was not even swayed when I told him I had lived there for 21 years of my life.

They should also take a close look at the consumer research being done into the Indian call centre phenomenon.

For example, there was a survey reported in the Observer which makes for very worrying reading. 51% of respondents described themselves as "appalled" by foreign call centres in the insurance industry. 87% said that they thought overseas call centres were not good for the UK economy. And a mere 28% thought that the reduced costs associated with foreign call centres would result in cheaper premiums.

Only 5% thought that levels of customer service would improve as a result of offshoring. Among the complaints were factors such as difficult accents, poor knowledge of the UK and the use of formulaic scripts at every stage of the call.

The people who commissioned the survey? Well of course it was Aviva - owners of Norwich Union!

Here at Adrian Flux, we employ 300 local staff, we're hiring more as I type and we don't have any foreign call centres. That means when you call us for a motor insurance quote, you will be speaking to a knowledgeable enthusiast based right here in Norfolk.

Favourite fictional car

Lloyds TSB have done a poll to find out which star car is the one most people would like to own.

The winner was KITT from Knight Rider. KITT, as afficionados will know, is a Pontiac Firebird TransAm. In the TV show it had a host of features, like Turbo Boost, Ski Mode and various gas attack type things. Of course the most notable thing was that it talked and had a somewhat camp demeanour and frequent lovers tiffs with the Hoff.

I tried getting a quote on a TransAm from Lloyds, but their online quotes engine didn't want to know - didn't have any Pontiacs listed at all in fact. We can cover a 1988 model valued at £6,000 for £185.*

If you've fitted a red swishy light, new interior and electrics and stolen Professor Stephen Hawking's voice sythesiser in an effort to create an exact replica of the "real" KITT, your premium may be a little more. Particularly if you've added a "Super Turbo Boost" button that actually works! But you can still get your own quote from Adrian Flux...

Fans of this particular car can get extra value, though. A Firebird TransAm (various model years) was also used in the Smokey And The Bandit films, so if you ever get bored of pretending to be the Hoff (and who would?) you can pretend to be Burt Reynolds instead.

*That's for a 45 year old male driver in FK10 postcode driving 3,000 miles a year.

Flux on the BBC

Well, sort of. You may have seen Steve Coogan's latest comedy, Saxondale, where Steve plays an ex-roadie pest controller. In the show Saxondale has an unhealthy obsession with his classic Ford Mustang in yellow.

So far so good. Until Craig gets our copy of Mustang News, the essential read for all Mustang enthusiasts. They've got a feature on the car used in the show. One of the screenshots from the show has Saxondale reading his copy of Mustang News. (Getting there, promise). Only Craig would be observant (who said sad) enough to spot our ad on the back!

If you're inspired by Saxondale to get a Mustang you'll be pleased to know we can cover both classic and modern versions of this iconic car. We'll insure your Bedford Rascal too! And for Coogan obsessives, we'll do your Gareth Cheeseman Ford Probe and any number of Lexi as well.

Here's a Mustang quote: 06 Ford Mustang, Male driver, 25, BH21 postcode, Valued at £25,000, 2 SP30 convictions (6 points) - covered fully comp for £800. Get yours at www.adrianflux.co.uk

8 Fibs You Tell Your Insurer at Your Peril...

Lying is a major problem for insurance companies. But it could be even more of a problem for the drivers who lie in order to get a cheaper premium. They may well find out that their deception is detected only at the time they need to make a claim.

Some of the most commont pork pies people are tempted to tell their insurance company:

• Business use - not declaring business use for your car. This is especially tempting to part timers and home workers, but if you use your car for business purposes you need to tell us.
  
  
• Withholding motoring convictions - in some cases convictions will add nothing to the premium, in other cases they will add a smaller or larger amount, but Adrian Flux can offer you a good value quote, whatever your history, so don't risk driving around on invalid insurance - you'll only pick up another conviction if you're caught.
  
  
• Withholding criminal convictions - where others can't quote, Adrian Flux can. Again, don't risk invalidating your insurance.
  
  
• Fronting - insuring your car in the name of a parent or older relative. This is probably one of the most common lies told to insurance companies. This is why quotes are always rated on the youngest named driver. Honesty is always the best policy.
  
  
• Undisclosed modifications to the car - Adrian Flux can cover pretty much any modification going, from body styling to nitrous kits. Some mods add nothing and might even reduce the premium. In any case we will cover all your modifications on a like for like basis, so please tell us about them all.
  
  
• Lying about your claims history - If you're not detected when you take out the policy, you will be found out if you have to claim again. Insurers now have very sophisticated software, introduced to combat organised fraud, which analyses claims for patterns - all the insurance companies share the claims data to cut fraud to a minimum.
  
  
• Incorrect licence - some drivers will claim a full UK licence when they actually have a licence from another country. Not a good idea if you want the insurer to pay out in the event of a claim.
  
  
• Giving an alternate address - I heard of one case where a young man who lived and worked in central London had told the insurance company that his main address was in a Swansea suburb, where his parents lived. The massive savings on his car insurance were more than negated when he had to make a claim and investigators found out the truth.

If you are tempted to lie because you feel you may be refused a quote, then come to Adrian Flux. We can find an insurance policy for almost any driver, but you should always tell us the whole truth, or you policy will be worthless when the time comes to claim, even if the thing you lied about is irrelevant to the incident. We will always do our very best to help you, and unlike companies that provide quotes from a computer screen, our underwriters can take all factors into account when calculating your premium. Give us a call on 0800-083-8833.

Admiral researches the blindingly obvious

They have to keep the bloody parrot occupied somehow between wall to wall TV adverts, and it seems they've got him running their research department for them, now.

At least that's the only explanation I could come up with. Who else but a birdbrain would commission research that found out that drivers of fast cars are more likely to be caught speeding!

Specifically people driving cars with engines over 2.5 litres are 69 percent more likely to be caught speeding than drivers of cars with engine sizes below 1 litre.

So it's easier to get caught speeding in a high performance BMW than in a Smart or Micra. Well, thanks guys, I'd never have guessed that...

In other shock news, fire has been found to be generally quite hot, and water a little bit wet.

They also remind people that getting caught speeding will send you insurance premiums up. Here at Adrian Flux we take a more enlightened view than most of our competitors. We know that speeding tickets are an almost inevitable consequence of driving in the 21st century and so we don't stack punishing loads onto our policies just because you've picked up a fixed penalty or two (or three or four...)

For example a 30 year old male driver of a Ford Puma 1.6 living in postcode CW1 with 3 SP30 convictions and 4 years NCB would pay just £315 for comprehensive cover with a £250 excess.

And a 50 year old male living in postcode PR5 and just back from a 6 month ban after 4 SP30s would pay only £500 to insure his Jaguar XJ8 with 4 years NCB and a £300 excess.


Check our website for further information and more sample quotes.

Norwich Union move will add to uninsured menace

Fiddy's not the only one without a valid insurance certificate. Various sources estimate between 1 million and 2 million uninsured drivers on Britain's roads. What that means is that 1 person in 20 (at least) is driving without insurance, most of them young men.

So how do you think those statistics are going to be affected now that Norwich Union have decided to add 40% to the cost of motor insurance for young male drivers? Especially when the fines for uninsured drivers are less than onerous.

You don't need a degree in rocket science to work out that a cost-benefit comparison is going to lead to more drivers simply ignoring their requirement to purchase third party insurance cover. That can't be a good thing.

However, it may also be about to become much more expensive for the insurance dodgers. The MIB has an article (pdf format) about the new automatic numberplate cameras currently being rolled out across the country as the police gain new powers to crush uninsured cars.

50¢ Fiddy - Car RAP

Good old 50 'Fiddy' Cent (Curtis James Jackson III to his mum) has got into a spot of bother with the law. Driving his customised silver Lamborghini Murcielago around downtown Manhattan, he managed to attract the attention of the local police by making a dangerous lane change. (It would obviously be improper to suggest that he might have been pulled because he looked just a little bit black.)

His real trouble started when he was asked for his documents. Fiddy had apparently left his license at home and had apparently forgotten to insure the £100,000+ motor as well.

A crowd had gathered and as Fiddy got out of the car he is understood to have said "Wozzup people" before the police cuffed him. Fiddys crew were soon down the station to sort out the mess, but the multi-millionaire rapper still faces a stiff fine of around $220. Let's hope he doesn't starve...

You can see pics of fiddy getting pulled at the Sun, and the Access Hollywood folks have got a video of his car being towed.

In fairness, it must be difficult to get any kind of insurance when you've been shot as many times as Fiddy.

Still if you do want to insure a Lambo, why not give us a try - insuring a supercar is never going to be cheap, but a 50 year old driving a £100,000 Lamborghini Gallardo would pay just £1,350 for a fully comprehensive insurance with us.*

*2005 model, KA2 postcode, 7 years NCB

Auto erotica

Some people love their cars just that bit too much...

From Reuters:

A Slovak driver who crashed into a bus shocked rescuers who found him unconscious and half naked with a vacuum pump on his penis.

Police said the 42-year-old man, driving an old Citroen in the town of Levice, had ignored a "give way" sign.

"It's very likely he had auto-sex while driving, it is a matter of investigation. After the accident he was found lying in the seat, his pants were off and it (the pump) was placed on his penis, I've never seen anything like this, nor have my colleagues," police officer Peter Polak told Reuters.

The man was taken to hospital with head injuries.

Perhaps he should have paid a visit to http://www.car-sex-positions.com/

Or perhaps not...

First post for a while as I've been on holiday.