The £54.85 MOT test is often seen as an annual expense drivers could do without, but it’s an important safety check that must not be ignored.
We’ve already shown how to cut the cost of the test by conducting your own pre-MOT inspection. Another way of ensuring you pay a minimum for your car’s yearly health check is to consider the many locations that can carry out an MOT test today. Here are the options drivers can choose from.
Owning a new or used car is more attainable than ever thanks to the increasing acceptance of finance agreements. However, using credit to buy or own a car means consumers are exposed to a world of jargon and acronyms, which can be daunting at best and confusing and misleading at worst. We’ve already outlined the most common ways of using finance to pay for a car. This guide explains the most common terms and abbreviations so that car buyers can easily figure out the difference between their GAP and GMFV along with other common finance jargon. Continue reading
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While the overall number of road accidents is falling, tyre-related crashes are on the up. Tyre industry experts agree that an important contributor is the lack of maintenance by drivers. Spot checks show the vast majority of tyres are under-inflated by around 15 to 20 per cent. According to tyre giant Continental, this can reduce a tyre’s life by a quarter and increase fuel consumption by 5 per cent. Yet tyre maintenance is remarkably simple and tyres that are correctly inflated are less susceptible to punctures and give improved handling and road holding. Here are some top tips from Steve Howat, general manager for technical services at Continental, on how to look after your car’s tyres.
Gone are the days of taking an engine to pieces and tinkering with oily bits of metal to extract more performance. Now a wide number of specialist companies can reprogram your engine’s Electronic Control Unit. It’s a process commonly known as ‘chipping’. And companies that do it frequently claim the procedure can result in improved performance, with as much as 30 per cent more power and 10 per cent more fuel economy. It typically costs around £200, but is it money well spent?
A car doesn’t have to have been completely submerged or washed away by a river to be so seriously damaged it’s beyond repair. Fortunately there are ways to tell whether a car has been damaged by flood water. And with flooding frequently affecting many parts of the country, hundreds of cars can suffer water logging.
As many as 70 per cent of flooded cars are written off by insurers. Rather than being left out of pocket (as the pay-out is typically less than a like-for-like replacement would cost), car industry experts believe many owners will try to shift their cars onto unsuspecting buyers.
Alan Cureton, Manheim auctions’ dealer sales director said: “We already know that some less-damaged vehicles are being offered for sale. Car buyers should be extra cautious about water damage over the coming months.”
To the unwary, it’s relatively easy to buy a car that’s been flooded and be none the wiser until things start to go wrong. If water gets into an engine it can result in catastrophic failure later in the car’s life, while electrical systems can take time to play up before failing completely. Follow our pointers on how not to make the mistake of buying a flood-damaged car.
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Getting rid of the Saharan dust that periodically blows up from Africa is vital to the future value of your car.
Dust is bad news for a car’s paintwork. Not only does it dull the finish of your once immaculate motor, it can also be very abrasive, causing millions of minute scratches to the surface it’s sitting on. And the duller and less appealing a car’s bodywork is, the less it will be worth when it’s time to sell it.
Cleaning a car involves slightly more than giving it a wipe over with a wet rag. We’ve taken advice from car care experts Autoglym to give you four simple steps that will enable you to return your dust-covered paintwork to its former glory…
Today, around three quarters of new cars in the UK are bought through finance deals. This increasing trend towards buying on credit has been driven largely by car makers increasingly promoting finance packages. At the same time, people are more accepting of buying expensive items using finance and the unstable economy has put an emphasis on monthly budgeting.
The finance package you choose to buy a car depends upon personal circumstances; there is no right or wrong way. But it pays to remember that there is still no substitute for shopping around and comparing different offers.
For finance, the aim is to get the lowest APR (annual percentage rate) and lowest total cost of the package over the agreed term. To help explain the differences between the most common finance products, here’s a guide to what is available in the showroom and on the high street.
With millions of used cars sold every year, there can be good and bad examples of the same model for the same price. Deciding on the right used car for you and making sure you buy a tidy version of that particular make and model comes down to taking a test drive. Following these steps should help you get the best car for your budget. Continue reading
More than seven million used cars are sold in the UK every year. That’s more than three times the number of new cars. Unfortunately, there are plenty of disreputable sellers around. And they’ll try every trick in the book to convince unwitting car buyers to hand over their hard-earned money for a dodgy motor. Here are some of the more popular used car scams that buyers from private sellers should look out for.
Like a check-up at the dentist, your car’s annual MOT test comes round quicker than you expect and can be a painful experience. It can also be more expensive than many drivers anticipate.
Last year, a staggering 40 per cent of the 26.9m cars that took the annual MOT failed. That’s more than 10 million vehicles. Of those, more than 3.5m were pulled up for having dodgy lights, something that could easily have been checked by owners before the test.
Here are the most common reasons for MOT failure (in 2012/2103) and a guide to carrying out your own pre-MOT test to minimise the chances, aggravation and cost of flunking.
Staying safe in bad weather means carrying the right safety kit in your car, just in case. I can speak from experience. Last winter my car became stranded on a snowy hill near home, but fortunately it wasn’t long before a passing local farmer offered me a tow using his tractor. Trouble was, neither of us had the good sense to carry a tow rope.
Buying what you need doesn’t have to cost the earth. But first, here’s what your winter kit should comprise, at the very least: Continue reading
It has been called the great pothole plague. An estimated nine million vehicles sustained pothole damage in 2013, leading to around £1.2bn worth of repair bills. With an estimated £10.5bn maintenance backlog on roads across England and Wales, there’s no quick fix.
So what should drivers do if their vehicle suffers damage caused by a pothole? Tyres, wheels and even suspension are routinely ravaged. But if your vehicle suffers such damage it is possible to make a claim for the cost of repairs against the highway authority. Follow these steps: Continue reading
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If your car is redundant for most of the working week, it’s likely to be a money burner. But with a little legwork it’s easy to turn it into a money earner. Here are 10 ways of using your car to generate income ‑ without resorting to mini cabbing or pizza deliveries! Continue reading
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It’s easy to forget just how boring long drives can be for kids. I distinctly remember half-term journeys with my parents where the only thing to do was fidget. And in those pre-DVD days, a TV/VHS combo was just too big to strap onto my mum’s headrest.
Not everyone wants to simply plug in a DVD player or hand over their mobile though, so here’s our top 10 (screen-free) ways to keep the kids entertained in the car. Continue reading
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With January 2014 the wettest month since records began, driving through flood water or heavy rain is becoming a daily reality for millions of UK drivers. But there are very real dangers to entering deep water ‑ for drivers and their vehicles. Howard Crook of Re-think specialises in teaching drivers to cope with floods. This is his advice on how to avoid damaging your car and potentially endangering your life.
Headlights in heavy rain
The Highway Code states that drivers must switch on their vehicle’s headlights when visibility is reduced, including when driving in heavy rain. This is as much to ensure you can be seen by other road users as seeing clearly yourself.
Adjust your speed to road and weather conditions
The speed limit may be 70mph, for example, but in very heavy rain you should slow down and leave a larger gap between you and the vehicle in front so you can see clearly and stop in good time. It will help avoid the risk of aquaplaning on standing water, too.
Avoid if possible
Green Flag advises against driving in flooded areas unless your journey is essential. Research your route and plan an alternative if you can. And make sure you have spare dry clothing, a flask of hot drink and a mobile phone with important numbers stored, just in case.
Depth gauge
Never enter water without knowing how deep it is. “This can be very difficult,” Howard Crook says. “Flood water is frequently full of silt and very dark, making it difficult to see the road markings. What are the features around telling you? Look at the kerb stones. Can you see them, or are they submerged?”
Rubble trouble
It’s impossible to know what’s happened to a flooded road’s surface. “It’s not unheard of for running water to wash asphalt away or rip up kerb stones and deposit other bits of debris that could damage the car,” Howard explains.
Flow decider
If you’re driving through flowing water, see which direction it’s running. Howard says: “Most people think water flowing across the road is the most dangerous. But water flowing parallel to a road can be just as hazardous. I’ve been in water over a road that is ankle deep but I could barely stand up because the current was so strong. This is because the road’s surface is very smooth so there’s no friction and it means the current could sweep a car into a watercourse.”
Look out
If you decide to try passing through flood water, head for the crown of the road which is typically higher than the edges. Drive in and look out of the window, or if you’re feeling brave, open the door. “If the water is up to you car’s sill, it could be deep enough to float your car. Stop and reverse out,” says Howard. If the water is deeper than 10cm – about a third of the way up your wheel – you should avoid driving through it.
Slow and steady
Your head and heart might be telling you to drive through the flood as quickly as possibly but actually you want to do the exact opposite. Land Rover experts advise entering flood water at about 1-2mph. If tick-over in first gear is faster than this, you need to slip the clutch and keep the revs up. Revving the engine can help prevent water entering the engine through the exhaust pipe.
Make waves
The idea is to push the water aside slowly. This will give you a small depression in front of your car allowing your engine to breathe. You want to avoid your engine sucking water in through its air intake which can result in astronomical bills. Watch out for over-enthusiastic drivers coming the other way too fast: their wave could flood your car. Once you leave the water, push your brake pedal gently to clear excess water from pads.
And if you do conk out…
Get out of the car. Letting water into it may feel wrong but it will reduce the chances of the car floating away. Switch on the hazard-warning lights, don’t leave the bonnet open (in heavy rain, this may only add to the engine damage) then lock the car and call for breakdown assistance.
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