Car ownership

Spare wheel versus repair kit: Which is best when you suffer a flat tyre

Spare wheel versus repair kit

Feeling a bit deflated? We’ve all had a flat tyre. But what’s the best way to fix it?

The spare wheel versus repair kit debate is one that gets many drivers revving like a racing engine, particularly if they’re buying a new car. The majority of new motors ‑ nine out of 10 according to website Honest John ‑ are sold without a full-size spare wheel. In most cases the spare is replaced with a repair kit that is designed to get you back on the road and to somewhere where you can buy a replacement tyre.

A flat tyre is likely to afflict every driver at some point in their motoring life. Changing wheels is the second most popular reason that customers call Green Flag out. And according to tyre maker Continental, drivers suffer a puncture on average every 44,000 miles or five years. So having something that can replace a flat tyre is clearly important. But in the spare wheel versus repair kit argument, which comes out on top? We investigate.

What’s wrong with the good old-fashioned spare wheel?

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James Foxall 27 Comments

Increasing car crime: drivers urged to protect their cars and keys

Increasing car crime

Do you know who’s got your car keys? Drivers are being urged to do more to protect their cars amid increasing car crime. According to new research, nearly half of drivers (43 per cent) will happily give their car keys to a complete stranger. That is compared to just one in 10 (11 per cent) who would do the same with their house keys.

The revelations come as the police, insurance bodies and car industry launch a campaign to make car drivers more aware of security. The latest figures show that car crime increased by 8 per cent in the first three months of 2016. Further demonstrating how serious the problem could become, the number charged with interfering with a motor vehicle was up by 19 per cent over the previous 12 months. This is a crime where the accused are caught attempting to steal or break into a car.

To help owners keep their cars safe, we’ve published the authorities’ 10-point plan for improved car security. Continue reading →

James Foxall 3 Comments

Drivers escaping bans: More car owners than ever keep motoring despite 12 or more points

Drivers escaping bans

Some drivers are keeping their licences despite breaking the law repeatedly

Drivers escaping bans despite reaching the 12-point limit are increasing. The threat has always been that if you accrued 12 points or more for driving misdemeanours you’d be banned for a period of time. But latest figures from the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) reveal that the number of drivers being allowed to continue driving despite having 12 or more points has grown by a quarter in the past year.

What does the law say?

Currently, if you accrue 12 points or more over a three-year period, you are banned from driving for six months. If you get a second disqualification within three years of that, you are banned for 12 months. Continue reading →

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Telematics: How new Alert Me is helping to make cars clever

Green Flag Alert Me

Breaking down could become a thing of the past with telematics

Technology that only a few years ago would have seemed like a dream is now coming to a car near you. The latest can predict if your car is going to break down. It’s estimated it could save British drivers 38,000 hours waiting for roadside rescue with their conked-out car.

Green Flag Alert Me plugs into the car’s On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port. From there, the matchbox-sized device monitors the car’s battery and electronic brain. This enables it to record changes such as the battery failing to hold its charge before the driver would ordinarily notice them. If it does see changes, Alert Me reports it to Green Flag over the mobile phone network. Green Flag then notifies the driver via a smartphone app. Continue reading →

James Foxall 2 Comments

Petrol v diesel v hybrid v electric: which is the best and cheapest to own?

Petrol v diesel v hybrid v electric

The plug-in Golf GTE looks great but how does it stack up against its more conventional petrol and diesel siblings? (Picture © Volkswagen)

The debate over which is the best fuel is becoming an increasingly hot topic among car buyers. Petrol v diesel v hybrid v electric: which really is the best type of car to own? To try to find the answer, we’ve taken Volkswagen’s perennially popular Golf, the only model available in the UK that uses all four kinds of power source, and crunched the numbers.

We’ve split our report into four sections. This enables us to look at how the different versions of the Golf compare to each other in key areas of price, performance, economy, and running costs. The cars are ranked by our favoured criteria in each chart with the model at the top the best. It’s a fascinating read.

Buying

Model Fuel Price Per month
Golf 1.0 TSI BlueMotion Petrol £20,765 £205
Golf 1.6 TDI BlueMotion Diesel £22,360 £302
e-Golf Electric £27,180 £345
Golf GTE Petrol/electric £31,055 £493

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Expert advice: How to make your car last forever

Car last forever

If the last owner had looked after it a bit better, this might still be running…

It would be great if we could make a car last forever like Irvin Gordon did. The American driver and Guinness World Records holder, runs a Volvo P1800S coupe that has clocked up more than three million miles and counting over the last 50 years. That might be pushing it a bit for most of us. But there are plenty of things we can do to keep cars healthy for as long as possible.

Whether your car is brand new or more than 10 years old, there are simple steps to keep it running smoothly: from being gentle with an engine as it warms up, to treating it to a regular wash. These are my tricks of the trade when it comes to making a car go the distance.

Make a car last forever: regular maintenance

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Mike Shaw 4 Comments

Car safety jargon buster: Know your ABS from your AEB and ESC

Car safety jargon buster

Everyone knows what airbags do but not so many understand SRS

Car owners are being confused with the initials car companies use for their safety devices. These acronyms, such as ABS and ESC are bandied about to describe vital safety equipment. But recent studies have shown showed that car buyers are being left so puzzled by the acronyms that safety is now only the 10th most important factor when it comes to buying a car. It’s considered less important than colour, appearance and brand.

We’ve devised this handy car safety jargon buster to help owners and car buyers figure out what the kit they already own or might be about to buy does.

Car safety jargon buster

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Expert advice: How to stay safe driving at night

Driving at night

The roads might be quieter at night but they can also be more dangerous

When we’re heading off on our summer holidays, many of us choose driving at night because the roads are quieter after dark. It can make for a quicker, cheaper and less stressful journey. But it can also be more dangerous.

According to government figures, around four out of 10 road accidents occur after dark. Considering there are generally fewer cars on the road at night, that’s a significant proportion.

Around 90 per cent of the information we use when driving is processed through our vision. When it’s dark, our ability to see things obviously decreases. That means it takes longer to spot pedestrians and other road users, road signs and traffic signals. So here are some tips for staying safe on the road when you’re driving at night.

Clean up your act

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Mike Shaw Leave a comment

Digital tech puts future classic cars at risk of disappearing

Future classic cars

McLaren has to use a 20-year-old computer to keep its F1 supercar running (Picture © McLaren)

Many future classic cars are in danger of extinction because the technology that helps them run is disappearing. The vehicles are the so-called digital generation: cars from the mid-1980s onwards that feature electronic components. The problem is such a serious one it has been flagged up by the Federation Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), the worldwide old car conservation body.  Continue reading →

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Expert advice: Simple car checks for a super summer holiday

Simple car checks

You don’t want your summer holiday spoilt by car trouble. Our simple car checks can help prevent it

Every summer, millions of British drivers set off in the car for their annual holiday. It’s an exciting time, but sometimes in the rush to get away simple car checks can be overlooked. And for thousands of drivers, the holiday is ruined by unexpected problems with their car – most of which could have been avoided.

I know the problems that strike drivers’ cars most frequently. So follow these simple car checks designed to prevent your car conking out when you need it the most.

Have your car serviced

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Find your car’s true pollution thanks to new on-road tests

Car's true pollution

You might think you know how polluting your car is from official figures. On-road tests will be more accurate

Finding your car’s true pollution would have been nearly impossible as recently as a few months ago. But now you can discover the true emissions  – harmful and otherwise – pumped out of its exhaust pipe. It’s courtesy of a company called Emissions Analytics which tests cars’ real-world performance for emissions and economy.

By measuring their miles per gallon and pollution output on the road, rather than in a lab like the official figures do, Emissions Analytics can build up a picture of how cars really perform. Just as you’ve probably found out for yourself that your car’s real-life economy differs from that claimed by its manufacturer, so its carbon dioxide (CO2) output is different too. Now, as well as your car’s true output of nitrogen oxide , you can find its real carbon dioxide output, as well as its genuine miles per gallon in every day motoring.

Which were the worst cars for real CO2?

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James Foxall 6 Comments

Driverless cars: Queen’s Speech will help make them reality in 10 years

Driverless cars

Some Volvos now have Pilot Assist which takes complete control at low speeds (Picture © Volvo)

Driverless cars will be a reality within a decade and a proposed new bill that’s part of the Queen’s Speech will pave the way for it. The Queen has revealed legislation that will be introduced to allow driverless cars to be insured with regular policies. The government hopes it will result in cars that are autonomous (control themselves) becoming a common sight by 2025.

Currently, the insurance industry believes 94 per cent of crashes are caused by human error. Driverless cars would cut this figure significantly. Independent organisation Thatcham Research, which works with the insurers to assess how expensive cars are to repair, has put together this timeline on how we’ll move into a world of driverless cars. Continue reading →

James Foxall 4 Comments

Expert advice: choosing engine oil for your car

Choosing engine oil

Your car needs engine oil. You need to choose the right kind

Cars are now so sophisticated that choosing engine oil has never been so important. Some require different oils to others. Get this wrong over a period of time and you could cause irreparable damage to your motor. On top of that, the engine oil you choose can make a difference to fuel economy and how long your car can go between services without performance deteriorating or vital components getting damaged.

On the upside, advances in engine oil technology mean that modern engines will cover ever greater mileages in their life time. Here’s my guide to choosing engine oil that will achieve that. Continue reading →

Mike Shaw 3 Comments

Hit by an unfair parking ticket? A new tool should make appealing easier

Unfair parking ticket

That familiar sinking feeling… Now there’s a new tool to help make appealing unfair tickets easier

Every year millions of drivers are hit with an unfair parking ticket – penalties that they don’t think they should have received. Now a new online tool has been launched to help drivers appeal these fines that they believe are unjust. The helpful portal was rolled out earlier this year by Brighton and Hove Council on the south coast. But by the end of 2016 it is hoped every local authority in England and Wales will be using it to help drivers deal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal more easily.

Most don’t appeal an unfair parking ticket

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How to recover a car’s missing service history

How to recover a car's missing service history

A car’s service history is important but it could be missing for perfectly legitimate reasons (Picture © Mercedes)

No matter what shape and size, or how cheap or expensive the brand, every car needs to be maintained according to a service schedule that is set out by the vehicle manufacturer.

Often, however, the paperwork associated with the servicing of a car can be missing. That can be for all sorts of legitimate reasons, such as losing it during a house move or being mislaid by an elderly relative who is no longer driving.

Thankfully, recovering a missing service record is possible – and pleasingly straightforward. But it’s important to understand the significance of a service record.  Continue reading →

James Mills 27 Comments

Dashboard warning lights and what they mean

Lots of brightly coloured lights but what are they telling you?

Lots of brightly coloured lights but what are they telling you?

It may be the one thing that every driver dreads, but an illuminated warning light on your vehicle’s instrument panel could save you and your car from expensive damage. This is what the symbols mean and what to do if they appear.

Chris Rutt, service delivery manager for Volkswagen UK says it’s vital drivers pay attention to their car’s warning lights. “They are designed to alert drivers to a fault with their car or van and aren’t as complicated as some drivers may think. A red light indicates the driver should stop the vehicle as soon as is safely possible to investigate further; an amber light is an advisory signal. So while there is no need to stop immediately, the reason for the light should be investigated as soon as is practically possible by a servicing agent.”

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James Foxall 17 Comments

Most reliable car makers – and they’re probably not who you think they are

Reliable cars

Cars like the British-built Honda Civic feature at the top of the reliability charts (Picture © Honda)

The Japanese might make the most reliable cars according to breakdown data but it’s the German car makers who have the reputation for dependability. A new study has revealed that people think German motors are more reliable than they actually are.

The data was released by WarrantyWise, a company that specialises in selling aftermarket warranties for cars. It surveyed 750 drivers for their perceptions about reliability. The results show that many people’s idea of who makes reliable cars flies in the face of reality. Continue reading →

James Foxall 1 Comment

Drivers with start-stop cars pay the price for choosing cheap batteries

Cheap batteries

Fit the wrong kind of battery to a start-stop car and you might be surprised at how quickly it fails

Drivers are paying more than they have to for replacement car batteries because they don’t realise that cars featuring eco technology need specialist equipment. Frequently, cheap batteries bought for start-stop cars then fail relatively swiftly because they aren’t up to the job they’ve been bought for.  Continue reading →

James Foxall 19 Comments

Expert advice: Why wheel balancing is important for every car

Wheel balancing

Garages use special machines to ensure wheels are properly balanced

Wheels, a bit like tyres, aren’t something most of us spend much time worrying about. But having correctly balanced wheels can make a big difference to how comfortably your car rides and how quickly components like tyres, steering and suspension joints wear out. Here’s all you need to know about having your wheels balanced.

How do you know when your wheels are out of balance?

As your speed exceeds around 40mph, you might notice the steering wheel start to wobble in your hands. The faster you go, the greater this vibration becomes, to the point where it can be quite uncomfortable to hold the steering wheel, or – if it’s rear-wheel drive – the car feels as though it’s shuddering slightly.

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Mike Shaw 6 Comments

Motor insurance: What you are and aren’t covered for

Motor insurance

You don’t want this to happen before you discover that you’re not covered

Motor insurance used to be so simple. You bought comprehensive cover and you were pretty much covered. Or so most of us thought. But as insurers have worked hard to make the cost of premiums appear more attractive, so drivers are less likely to be insured for the things that many of us take for granted. Read on to see what your insurance premium may not include, perhaps contrary to what you might think. Continue reading →

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