Personal Contract Plans are not better or worse than Hire Purchase agreements, they have different pros and cons. PCP agreements tend to have a lower monthly payment than HP agreements so depending on your situation it might work out better for you if that is a concern. HP agreements can be arranged over longer periods too which sometimes can give an advantage.

It will come down to your personal circumstances and we can help guide you through the process.

In most cases a person will have a car to part exchange or may have a deposit ready but that is not always the case. We can arrange finance for you without a deposit if that suits you. The calculations can be made around the car that fits your needs without a deposit and if the monthly payments are within your budget a lot of the times it is a better option to keep your finances in a healthier position.

Borrowing a deposit to bring the car payments down is never a good option. You will have to repay both the deposit and the car payments so you might be putting yourself under pressure. Remember, when you buy a car you may have to think about additional costs like road tax, insurance and some accessories that you had planned on getting.

As with everything in life there are pros and cons with any type of finance. Some of these are important and others are not. Credit union loans will generally have flexible repayment terms like weekly rather than monthly and will be easier to make regular higher payments. Credit union loans will most likely have higher interest payments (and in the case of a new car much higher APR%). Some people use a credit union loan to repay the GMFV at the end of a PCP agreement where they decide to keep the car.

Yes you can. The payments can be tailored to suit you but they are not always lower than a HP agreement. Depending on the age of the car at the start of the finance, the mileage on the car and the deposit or trade in amount the payments can be calculated for you. Sometimes the right car is not a new car so we can make sure that we can steer you in the right direction.

Randles Bros have been in business for 100 years and it is the trust that has been built up between our customers and ourselves that has enabled this. Main dealers have better equipment, better trained mechanics and do more checks on used cars than the average used car dealer. We also get cars directly from the source, our existing customers, so we know the history of those cars – in most cases having sold them from new and serviced them.

Our sales people have also been required to do a lot of training from Nissan to best understand the newest technologies to be able to advise you in future technologies, where the market is going and how to best position yourself in a constantly changing motor industry.

Nissan have been at the forefront of the electric car journey for a decade now. The Nissan Leaf was the pioneering electric car and has approximately half a million units sold worldwide. Most people will recognise that the market is going through a lot of change and that we need to be ready to go electric sooner rather than later.

Petrol, diesel and hybrid cars are not going to disappear anytime soon, by 2045 NCT certs will not be given to cars using fuel and new cars sold from 2030 onwards will have to be electric but in the meantime some people are going towards hybrid.

Petrol and electric are probably the best bet in the short term and within a short space of time that will probably be leaning more electric.

The term hybrid refers to any car that uses a combination of an electric motor and battery with a petrol/diesel engine. That is normally divided into self charging hybrids, plug in hybrids and mild hybrids but that is going to change with the introduction of ePower hybrids next year.

Self charging hybrids to not require you to plug them in, they will charge from the petrol engine as you drive them around. Plug in hybrids have the ability to plug in to charge independently to deliver a small amount of range without using petrol. Mild hybrids have a smaller battery that boosts the power of the car and increases its fuel efficiency.

ePower looks to be a real game changer in this space however, driving entirely as an electric car while using a petrol engine as a generator for this battery, giving the maximum range without ever having to plug in to charge.

Used car values are higher than they have been at any time in recent history so it is a great time to take advantage of that if you were thinking of trading in. Diesel is not dead certainly and there are still people who benefit from driving diesel cars. If you don’t do a lot of driving though then you should really be considering making the change to petrol. Petrol cars are a lot more efficient than previously and a lot of people who have been buying diesel cars have been doing so out of habit rather than calculations.

If you do a lot of mileage then wait to get yourself an ePower vehicle or go fully electric if you have the ability. If you don’t do a lot of driving then changing to petrol now will stand to you in the long term.

Cars used to have bigger engines in almost every car but now most cars have quite small engines. The Qashqais use 1.3 engines while Jukes and Micras use 1.0 engines. This is to reduce the emissions that the cars produce. The result is that these engines are normally paired with a turbo to give the power while the smaller engine uses less fuel than the older engines and is both better for the environment and your pocket while still giving a great driving experience.

There are a number of reasons that you should maintain your car at the main dealers. Resale value is increased if you maintain your car with us as most people value that service history higher than a local garage, especially during the first 5 years of the cars life. This also makes sure that the car gets the correct parts at all times and keeps up your warranty in line with the manufacturers requirements.

Make sure you get advice from the service department before you service your car anywhere.

You probably don’t want anything with too big an engine so ideally something under 1.3litre. Smaller cars can be easier to manoeuvre too and maybe look out of parking assistance features parking sensors (although they can be added if you need). Most newer models will come with Bluetooth handsfree but make sure to check as it is a vital feature these days.

You also don’t have to start your car ownership with a very cheap car, a lot of times a small deposit and monthly payments can get you into a newer, more reliable car than if you just buy something unreliable. The service that you get from a main dealer and the peace of mind that comes with it will be worth the extra.

Everyone is different but as we get older generally people prefer cars with a higher seating position. It is better for a number of reasons; easier to get in and out of, higher driving position is often better for your back, better visibility out of a higher car and easier to judge the size of the car where you can see more. Nissan Juke and Nissan Qashqai are great examples of this. People who go for cross overs like these rarely if ever go back to a low car.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are really good technologies for integrating your phone to your car. For the past number of years cars that had Bluetooth were future proof and that is still important for your car. CarPlay and Android Auto are basically the next evolution of that. They allow you to plug in your phone to your car and use handsfree calling but also allow other features like navigation and messaging to be used. Things like podcasts are important elements too, allowing a world of entertainment to be accessed without touching your phone.

ISOFIX is a standardised car seat fitting system and it allows for easier and safer installation of car seats using that system in cars with it. There is usually a symbol showing you where the points are and most cars have 2 ISOFIX points on the outer seats in the rear of a car. Some models, like the new model Nissan Micra also have an ISOFIX point on the front passenger seat, allowing you to safely install the car seat on that seat too.

Most car seats that use that system have a way of telling that the seat is securely fitted. It is also quicker and easier to fit car seats using ISOFIX as well as reducing the likelihood of incorrect installation.