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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It’s something we do in our cars on a daily basis but do you know your PCNs from your FPNs and your wardens from attendants? Our quiz is designed to give your parking knowledge a good workout.
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We’re seeing a seismic shift in motoring with the wholesale switch to electric vehicles (EVs). Not only are some EVs a bit different to look at, there’s a whole new language around them. I thought it would be helpful to explain some of the electric vehicle terms we’ll need to use.
From the beginning of July 2022, all new cars sold in the UK will have to be fitted with a speed limiter. We investigate what this means for car owners and how it will change driving.
We regularly fill our cars with petrol but how much do we actually know about the golden liquid that keeps them going? If you’re anything like us (when we compiled this quiz), probably not very much! Even so, petrol is a truly global phenomenon with plenty of history. Take our quiz to find out how much you know about it.
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Many of us think of winter as being the most testing season for cars. But actually summer throws up just as many challenges. Here we look at some of the main ones and offer some handy summer motoring hacks that will help you to preserve your car’s value and ensure safe, comfortable and trouble-free motoring.
We take air conditioning for granted now that it’s fitted in even the cheapest cars. But how much do you actually know about it? And will some of our questions about what keeps you cool make you all hot and bothered? Take our air conditioning quiz to find out.
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Security experts are warning car owners that they shouldn’t attempt to track down and retrieve missing cars, or tackle car thieves themselves.
Car theft is on the up. New Home Office figures reveal that last year 101,198 cars were stolen in England and Wales. And police are struggling to tackle the blight which is seeing nearly 300 often high-end cars go missing every day. But why can turning Sherlock Holmes be so dangerous for drivers?
You might have noticed that there’s a jubilee to celebrate this year. It’s now seven decades since the Queen came to the throne. A lot’s happened and cars in particular are almost unrecognisable compared to what they looked like in 1952.
Our cunning Jubilee quiz has 10 motoring teasers taking in knowledge from the last 70 years as well as some Royal-specific questions. You might not know all the answers but hopefully you’ll have fun guessing.
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It looks like there’s going to be a lot of dancing in the street during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.
According to our research1, one in seven Brits (that’s around eight million of us) are planning a street party over the Jubilee four-day weekend.
But what does this mean for anyone hitting the road?
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Imagine waking up and finding someone else’s car dumped on your drive. It might sound strange but it happens. And astonishingly there’s no simple fix because one of Britain’s strange laws means it’s not immediately illegal.
You read that right. The 1991 Road Traffic Act handed over parking enforcement to local authorities. They can fine drivers for parking on public roads. But a drive is private land and the council has no jurisdiction over that.
The land owner isn’t allowed to remove the rogue car either as that could make them responsible for damaging someone else’s property.
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The model for how we pay for our roads has been broken by the uptake of zero emissions electric vehicles. From 2030, the sale of brand-new internal combustion engine cars will be banned in the UK. That means the government has to start working out how to replace the money it makes from petrol and diesel cars.
Every year a survey of the nation’s roads reveals a depressing picture of the country’s pothole crisis. The latest ALARM survey highlights that £17m was paid to drivers in England and Wales after their cars suffered damage from potholes.
But aside from running the gauntlet of them every time you take to the road, how much do you actually know about potholes? Take our quiz to find out. We hope you learn something about potholes in the process.
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Before you hit the road for a bank holiday getaway, make sure you download the Green Flag app.
This bank holiday, thousands of drivers will be hitting the road, and we’ll be here to help 24/7 if any breakdowns try to ruin your journey.
But, with a few quick and easy checks, you can help prevent a breakdown from happening. So, before you set off, give these a read (and give your vehicle a bit of TLC).
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the new E10 petrol so I thought it would be useful to answer some of them.
E10 has been the cheapest petrol on garage forecourts since September 2021 when it replaced E5 as the forecourt standard. It gets its name because the bioethanol content was doubled to 10 per cent. Bioethanol is an alcohol-based fuel that is made from plant bi-products. The government chose to do this because it believes it’s a simple way to reduce the CO2 emissions from petrol cars.
Read on and I’ll answer some of the most popular questions about E10 petrol.
At some point this year, you will have to pull into a motorway services. But the kind of experience you have – supreme or shoddy – will depend on which services you use. A new survey has revealed that there’s a huge difference between the best and worst.
Car dealership Brindley Group carried out the study. It looked at user reviews on TripAdvisor, Google and MotorwayServicesOnline for all 100 of the UK’s services on our 29 motorways. Researchers then collated review marks to award an average score out of five for each site.
Today is the first of the two annual new-car registration plate changes for 2022. Number plates are such a fixture of motoring you see them whenever you look at a car from the front or back. But how much do you know about them? Take our cunning quiz to find out.
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It’s obvious driving and sleepiness don’t mix. But some new research shows just how much of a threat tired drivers can pose to other road users.
It’s not only nodding off at the wheel that can be dangerous. Tired drivers struggle to anticipate hazards, drive too quickly and aren’t as aware of other road users. They’re all the traits we associate with drink driving. Hardly surprising that statistics show driver fatigue may play its part in up to one in five road crashes.
There are so many rules of the road that driving instructors can’t be expected to tell you everything. That, after all, is what the Highway Code is for.
But just in case the regulations have changed since you took your test we’re outlining some of the things most of us do, that we shouldn’t. Some can even result in hefty fines.
Buy a new car and by law it must come with a warranty. And increasingly, if you buy a used car, particularly if it’s manufacturer approved, it’ll also have a car warranty.
These guarantees vary in length from between seven and three years if it’s a brand-new car; between one year and three months if it’s a used car.
But they come with a strict set of terms and conditions. Drivers must abide by these if the warranty is to remain valid throughout its term. Here are five things you should steer clear of if you want to maintain your car warranty.