SEAT Exeo Prices Confirmed - Prices Revealed

SEAT has announced pricing and specification details for its new Exeo saloon.
Available in April, the car will cost from £17,740 -  and will be offered in S, SE, Sport and range-topping SE Lux trim levels.

Drivers will be offered a choice of three engines, all of which will meet Euro V emissions standards.

Most popular will be the common rail turbodiesels producing 141 or 168 bhp, while flagship models will get a potent 198bhp turbocharged petrol.  All three cars get a six-speed manual gearbox.

At launch, the new SEAT saloon’s 0 to 62 mph times range from 9.2 seconds (for the 141bhp TDI) through 8.4 seconds (168bhp TDI) to a spirited 7.3 seconds for the 198bhp petrol turbo.  Maximum speeds are 133 mph, 142 mph and 149 mph respectively.

Meanwhile, the Exeo is capable of up to 51.4 mpg (on the combined cycle) with an official CO2 emissions figure of as little as 143 g/km.

Among the equipment highlights are USB connectivity (allowing iPOD style music players to be used in-car); cruise control; steering wheel-mounted audio controls; dual zone climate control and stylish alloy wheels.

Drivers Face Negative Equity - Investigation

NOSE-diving car prices mean thousands of UK motorists are being plunged into negative equity on their vehicle loans, Auto Express has discovered.

And the shortfall adds up to a huge £272million!

The problem affects buyers who opted for PCP finance – which totalled £2.13billion in 2006. These deals typically involve making a series of monthly instalments, then one final balloon payment after two years, to secure ownership of the car.

This is known as the Minimum Guaranteed Future Value (MGFV) – which is
predicted in advance, and based on what the vehicle will be worth at the end of the deal.

But the slump in the market means these estimates are now way off the mark – as our table (below) reveals.

As a result, motorists who took out PCP finance deals two years ago are left with final payments which are much bigger than their vehicle’s actual value.

The Finance and Leasing Association described PCP as “a lottery”, and admitted most buyers were now forced to simply hand back their keys.

AA president Edmund King said: “This is shocking news. Many people will suffer.”
He added that the negative equity would have a knock-on effect for new buyers. “Those who’ve had their fingers burned won’t have any incentive to buy another for a new car,” he said.

Energy Prices Set To Soar Again... - Fuel Prices

PETROL prices may be about to get pumped back up. After a slump in oil prices gave drivers a break from rocketing fuel bills, the OPEC cartel of oil-producing nations agreed a huge production cut to try to force crude values back up.

Output was slashed by 2.2 million barrels per day in a bid to push prices up from the current per barrel to around . When petrol reached an average level of 119.5p per litre in July, that figure was 7. But some analysts say plummeting demand brought about by the global economic crisis will prevent a price hike.