Car ownership

How to fit a bike rack to your vehicle

Yellow-ish green 4x4 with roof rack and bike rack attached. Luggage container and red box on roof rack and three bikes on bike rack. Greenery and mountains in the background.

Bikes can be a great way to explore while you’re camping, on a road trip, or visiting a specific trail. But if you’re taking your own bike(s), fitting a bike rack can be a bit of a hassle.

So, to help cut down that hassle for you, here’s our handy guide on how to fit a bike rack to your vehicle.

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Five accessories for your vehicle this summer

light green beetle with flowers painted onto the bonnet is parked on a dirt track. pov is a close up of the right side if the bonnet and light, which has eyelashes attached.

Whether you’re preparing for outdoor adventures, or just adding your own twist on your vehicle, accessories can transform your transport.

With summer in full swing, we thought about a few accessories that could take your vehicle to the next level. Or just be a bit of fun.

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Whacky weather: vehicle care in sunshine and thunderstorms

the photographer's left hand holds a hose with an additional attachment containing soap, spraying a white car parked on a driveway. a road curves around in the background with white houses lining the street and two cars just visible either side of the white car being cleaned.

We know it’s a British stereotype to chat about the weather, but come on. Summer 2023 is already a weird one. After one of the wettest winters on record, the UK is now seeing scorching temperatures, warm thunderstorms, and weather warnings.

When it’s 30 degrees one minute and thunder’s echoing around your house the next, vehicle care can get confusing. Here’s the latest on what to prepare for, and how to prepare.

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Travelling with pets: expert advice

young, black lab cross looking out of the closed window of a car with its mouth open in a smile and the sun shining on its nose

Over half the UK population has a pet. We’re a nation of animal lovers, so when we’re travelling with our pets, we want to keep those furry friends safe.

From the Highway Code to general good practice on keeping everyone in your vehicle safe, we’ve put together some key tips for driving with pets.

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Vehicle insurance or breakdown cover: what covers what

picture showing the back of a line of parked cars

We talk about breakdown cover a lot, it’s our bread and butter. But sometimes it can be confused with vehicle insurance – something you legally need to drive in the UK.

Breakdown cover is a form of insurance for your vehicle. But, it isn’t vehicle insurance. Nice and confusing, we know.

So, to simplify things a bit, let’s break down what vehicle insurance actually is (and how it’s different from breakdown cover).

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Expert advice: how to check for a flat battery

two red and two black jump leads placed on top of a car engine

With cold weather, or cold snaps, we see an increase in the number of call outs for cars with a flat battery.

The reason for this is simple: the older a battery gets, the less able it is to hold its charge in lower temperatures. And the colder the weather, the thicker oil gets, so the starter motor needs to draw more current from the battery to turn the engine over.

Put these together and tired car batteries are far more likely to fail. Here’s everything you need to know about your battery. 

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EV home charging: get the right charger for your vehicle

EV home charging cable plugged in to back left red light of a matte silver  car on a driveway.

As electric vehicles become more popular, EV charging points are popping up in more public places.

But there’s nothing quite like the luxury of having a personal EV charging unit at home.

After the effort of finding the right car, finding the right charging unit shouldn’t be a hassle. That’s why we’ve connected with Rightcharge to help you find the right charger for your vehicle, from the right installer, and all for the right price.

Here’s everything you need to know about EV home charging units.

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How to check if a car is insured

white car in foreground with blurred house in background

It’s illegal to drive without car insurance in the UK, so if you’re ever wondering “is my car insured?” it’s crucial to check. If your car isn’t insured, the penalties can be pretty expensive.

Police have seized over 2 million uninsured vehicles since 2005 and uninsured drivers cost over £2 billion to the UK economy. If you don’t check your car insurance, the police will.

Here’s all the important info you need to know.

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What will the new taxes on electric cars mean for drivers?

taxes on electric cars
EVs might have cheaper fuel and maintenance costs but tax rates are changing (Picture iStock/Marcus Lindstrom)

The government’s recent autumn statement revealed new taxes on electric cars. We investigate whether electric vehicle (EV) owners will be out of pocket and what the changes really mean for drivers.

Car tax changes for EVs

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What is synthetic fuel and is it really the future for our cars?

synthetic fuel
Using synthetic fuel could keep thousands of combustion engine cars on the road (Picture iStock/Sharfsinn86)

You might have heard of synthetic fuel. It’s a way to power regular combustion engine cars in a less polluting way.

If we’re learning one thing, the planet does need to clean up its act. Burning fossil fuels to get around isn’t great for anyone’s future. But neither is it possible to immediately change all our cars to zero emissions electric vehicles (EV). And that’s where synthetic fuel comes in.

What is synthetic fuel?

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Noise cameras being tested to target boy racers

noise cameras
Cameras will target cars with noisy exhausts and drivers who rev loud motors like Lamborghinis (Picture iStock/Jaap2)

The government is trialling noise cameras in a bid to cut down on anti-social drivers with overly loud exhausts.

The cameras have been tested throughout the UK and the scheme’s £300,000 second phase is now being rolled out in areas that have a problem with noise.

Cameras will be installed in Bradford, Birmingham, Bristol and Great Yarmouth over the next two months. Boy racers driving cars with aftermarket and often illegally loud exhausts blight all the areas.

How do noise cameras work?

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Expert advice: why breakdown cover is a smart idea

why breakdown cover
Breaking down usually happens when you least expect it (Picture iStock/Andresr)

You might think you have a relatively new, reliable car and don’t need breakdown cover. You probably won’t be surprised when I reveal we attend thousands of calls every year from drivers who have broken down in relatively new, apparently reliable cars.

Here’s a classic example. It’s been a cold night, you go to start your car in the morning and when you turn the key you just get a click and nothing else. Flat battery.

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Increased car cloning causes innocent drivers trouble

car cloning
Cloning cars usually starts with stealing a number plate (Picture iStock/Jens Rother)

If you’ve been hit with an unexpected fine for speeding, driving in a bus lane, parking or not paying a congestion or emissions zone charge you may have unwittingly become a victim of car cloning.

New research shows an alarming increase in fines issued by Transport for London (TfL) to cars with altered identities. The number overturned because they were given to cloned cars was up nearly nine times between April 2021 and April 2022.

We look at what cloning is and what to do if you suspect your car has been a victim of it.

What is car cloning?

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We rate the fuel tracking apps that help you to save money

fuel tracking apps
Do you know how quickly you are using fuel? If not you need a fuel monitoring app (Picture iStock/GeorgeClerk)

We all know the price of fuel is going up. But do you know how much you really spend filling your car up? And if you don’t, how do you know if any steps you’re taking to make savings are working?

What you need is an app on your phone that records what you’re spending on petrol or diesel. But which one? We’ve tried five of best-rated fuel tracking apps so we can tell you the ones that are worth looking at.

How fuel tracking apps work

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Ways to stop your car’s catalytic converter being stolen

catalytic converter theft
Drivers are increasingly starting to protect their catalytic converters from thieves (Picture iStock/Michael Vi)

Catalytic converter theft continues to be a problem around the UK. The Centre for Infrastructure and Asset Protection (CIAP) claims thieves stole 2,254 catalytic converters – also known as cats ‑ in March 2022, up by 11 per cent from February.

The CIAP, with backing from the police, now wants to roll out its SmartWater marking for cats nationwide so that more drivers can benefit from it. We look at how drivers can stop crooks making off with this valuable part of their car’s exhaust system.

How can you stop your catalytic converter being stolen?

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Is pay-as-you-go insurance the right cover for you?

pay as you go insurance
Low mileage drivers should look at pay-as-you-go insurance (Picture iStock/Kameleon007)

You might well use pay-as-you-go for your mobile phone. It does after all seem fair enough to only pay for what you use. So what about pay-as-you-go car insurance? It’s becoming increasingly popular with drivers and according to comparison site Compare the Market, a fifth of car owners could save money by insuring in this way.

How does pay-as-you-go insurance work?

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