Automatic car washes dying out as the hand car wash cleans up

Car wash

The number of mechanical car washes has halved over the last 15 years

A Saharan dust cloud is expected to hit the UK on Thursday. Brits on the east coast are being warned to expect warm weather and high pollution levels as unseasonable temperatures hit us. But if the dust does make it and your car is covered, how will you clean it off? According to a new report, the days of the mechanical car wash could be numbered.

The growing popularity of hand car washes has prompted the decline in so-called ‘rollover machines’. Now the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) claims the number of automated car washes has halved over the past 15 years. It says that since 2000, the mechanical car washes on UK garage forecourts have plunged from 9000 to 4200 this year.

Why are hand car washes becoming so popular?

A report from five years ago by researcher Datamonitor revealed that the UK spends £523m a year on car washes. But according to the PRA, mechanical car washes are increasingly standing idle because hand car Continue reading →

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To chill or not to chill: when to use a car’s air-conditioning in the winter

Driving in winter with air conditioning

Once upon a time, air-conditioning in cars was the ultimate luxury, available only on the most expensive motors. Now it’s a standard feature in the most affordable cars on our roads: the small Dacia Sandero, Skoda Citigo and Vauxhall Viva city cars offer it. But drivers often think that it will be more economical and save on fuel if they don’t use it over winter, when the air rarely needs cooling. So the question is this: to chill or not to chill in winter?

Should you switch a car’s air-conditioning off in winter?

Air-conditioning expert Sam Sihra from Alpinair, in West London, has been servicing cars’ air-conditioning systems since 1972. In his view, switching off a car’s air-conditioning system for weeks on end when the weather is cold, and perhaps only running it occasionally, is a mistake.

Why should drivers use air-con in winter weather?

Air-conditioning is the best way to dehumidify, or dry, damp air. With it running, the inside of a car’s windows won’t mist up; switch it off and it could seem as though you’re driving in dense fog. Equally, using the air-conditioning is a great way of de-misting the car if it steams up when you first get in it on a cold day. Continue reading →

James Mills 3 Comments

Expert advice: Driving through flood water

Driving through flood water

Driving too fast through a flood can cause mechanical damage to cars. Experts recommend no more than 3-4mph

With more heavy rain forecast, it’s vital drivers know how to deal with flooded roads. The waterlogged carriageway might look innocuous enough, the prospect of entering deep water quite an adventure. But it can be one of the most perilous – and expensive – things drivers do. So if you encounter a stretch of flooded road, the first thing to do is attempt to avoid it. If that’s impossible, here’s what you need to know.

How deep is the water?

Never consider driving through flood water unless you know how deep the water is. Once you’re committed it’s impossible to do a three-point turn if you discover part way along that the water is deeper than you thought. Discretion really is the better part of valour here. Assuming there are other cars on the road, park out of the way and watch other drivers try it. See where the water comes up to on their cars and if there are any points where it’s deeper than you first thought.
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Mike Shaw 5 Comments

Why December is the best month for buying a car

Buying a car

Selling cars can be a thankless task in the middle of winter

It’s the end of the year and a brilliant time for buying a car. Whether you’re looking to buy new or used, it’s the period in the year when car dealers are under the most pressure to make sales. Which is great news for buyers. Here’s why, if you’re considering a car purchase, December is the best time to head down to the dealership.

Why is Christmas such a good time to buy a car?

Think about it. Buying a car is probably the last thing you want to do. You’ve got presents to buy, holiday to take, don’t forget forking out for the other half’s Christmas present, and then there’s paying to feed the 5000 on the big day itself. You’re not alone. Frequently at this time of year, the inside of a car dealership can feel like someone’s forgotten to unlock the door. If you go in willing to do business, any half-awake sales exec will snatch your hand off.
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James Foxall 2 Comments

Road safety week: upgrading a car’s headlamp bulbs

Stay safe this road safety week: upgrade your car's headlamp bulbs

Improve road safety and upgrade your car’s headlamp bulbs (Picture © Ford)


This year’s national Road Safety Week promotes the message that drivers should use their car less and live more. It’s a heartfelt and honest sentiment, but not necessarily entirely practical for those who rely on their car to commute, get the children to school or carry out their job. So what simple but proven things can drivers do to make them and our roads safer?

Upgrading a car’s headlamp bulbs is an ideal starting point at this time of year. For one, it’s an affordable improvement that won’t deplete the Christmas present fund. A pair of the best-performing halogen headlamp bulbs costs around £20 or less, and even the least mechanically minded motorists should be able to fit them.

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Expert advice: how to keep your car motoring with our winter checks

Winter checks

Hopefully we won’t see too much of this. But it’s good to be prepared…

To coincide with 2015’s Road Safety Week, it seems sensible for us to carry out some simple checks to ensure our cars are up to everything that winter weather can throw at it. Of course, at Green Flag we know from experience that there are some things no driver can predict. But there are plenty that we can. To help less experienced or less confident drivers be prepared for bad winter weather, I’ve compiled these six simple checks that take just couple of minutes to carry out and can minimise the chances of a car breaking down in harsh winter weather.

Check your tyres

Even if this winter is a relatively mild one, as it has been so far, it’s likely to be pretty Continue reading →

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Assess your reaction time at the wheel with online instant test

Reaction time test

Drivers think texting at the wheel is a bigger safety threat than drink driving


Did you know that being a regular driver can make your reaction times quicker than not driving? Or that for some people, not having enough sleep has as much of a negative effect on their ability at the wheel as having too much to drink? The startling results come after a new internet game was released to give drivers the chance to test their reactions.

Do you have the reflexes of an 18 year old?
Click image to open interactive version (via JustPark.com).
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James Foxall 2 Comments

Stealth speed cameras offer fast track revenue for cash-strapped police

Stealth speed cameras attacked by critics

‘Police, Camera, Action!’ used to be best known as an ITV television show that screened clips of reckless drivers failing to outrun the police on Britain’s roads. But increasingly the title is being adopted by more cynical drivers who feel that police are treating speed cameras technology to raise revenue.

The mood among motorists changed markedly after Olly Martins, Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire, revealed to the Home Affairs Select Committee last week that he could raise up to an extra £1million from cameras.

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How to check a used car’s V5C logbook and MOT are genuine

How to check the V5C and MOT documents are genuine

It would be nice to imagine that when buying a used car, every vendor is as trustworthy as a girl guide and each handshake worth as much as a legally binding written contract. Sadly, there’s no shortage of unscrupulous, shady characters who make Tony Soprano seem positively saintly. And that’s why it’s important to check a used car’s V5C registration document and MOT.

The V5C is essentially the authorities’ record of who owns, or is responsible for a car. When someone selling a car produces it, a buyer can use the V5C to check that the vehicle is what it claims to be, and that the person selling it is the car’s owner and entitled to sell it.

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James Mills 3 Comments

Winter tyres or 4×4: What’s best for cold weather driving?

Winter tyres

Is four-wheel drive better than winter tyres in the snow? (Picture © BMW)

The clocks have gone back, it’s getting dark ever earlier, and the forecasters say it’s going to be a cold winter. It means the roads are wet and greasy, or even worse, could be slippery with ice or snow. And that means regular two-wheel drive cars like most of us own can struggle for grip. It’s little surprise that so many drivers consider swapping the family saloon for a four-wheel drive SUV at this time of the year.

However, there could be a simple, more affordable approach for drivers other than forking out for an SUV, or indeed any four-wheel drive car: fitting winter tyres to their current car. Here’s how drivers can keep moving this winter.
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James Foxall 2 Comments

Clocked cars: How to spot a mileage altered second-hand motor

Clocked car

Anyone can adjust a car’s mileage now using a lap top computer

The number of clocked cars on UK roads is on the increase. And that means ever more numbers of drivers are at risk of buying a car that’s had its mileage tampered with.

Adjusting the miles a car has covered, popularly known as clocking, is actually legal. Selling a car that’s been clocked isn’t. The result is that there are numerous companies offering ‘mileage correction’ services, perfectly legitimately. This practice is set to be banned in 2018. In the meantime, car history check company HPI claims one in 20 cars on UK roads has a mileage discrepancy. That’s 1.65 million potentially clocked cars on our road. Here’s how you can tell if the car you’re interested in is one of them.

How do you spot a clocked car?

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James Foxall 3 Comments

VW diesel engine crisis: Latest FAQs for owners

VW diesel engine crisis

Cars including the VW Golf 1.6TDI have been affected (Picture © Volkswagen)

The VW diesel engine crisis rumbles on. So we’ve got the answers to the most frequently asked questions for the 1.2 million UK owners of affected cars. In September 2015, news broke that German car maker Volkswagen had fitted a ‘defeat device’ to the engine software of some of its diesel cars. This was designed to cheat emissions tests, primarily in the US, by knowing when the car was being tested and cutting dangerous nitrogen oxide outputs down to a legal level. These were then put back up to be illegal to improve economy when the car was on the road.

VW diesel engine crisis: Which engines are affected?

The engine at the centre of this is the EA 189 engine. This is an engine architecture so it’s not as simple as saying it’s just an engine with a certain capacity. It affects the 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesels that comply with EU 5 emissions laws. These have been fitted to models as diverse as the SEAT Ibiza, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3 Cabriolet. Petrol engines are unaffected.

VW diesel engine crisis: Are other engines involved?

The US environment regulators have now found that the ‘defeat device’ has also been used on the larger 3.0-litre diesel engines. These engines are in models that were built between 2014 and 16. They include cars such as the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi A4 and A6 and Porsche Cayenne. It is currently unclear if UK cars are involved.

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Vauxhall Zafira fire fears: advice and contact information for Zafira drivers

Vauxhall is offering a free safety inspection to owners of the Zafira B (above) built between 2005 and 2012

Vauxhall is offering a free safety inspection to owners of the Zafira B (above) built between 2005 and 2014 (Picture: © Vauxhall)

The Vauxhall Zafira is one of the most popular family cars of its type, bought by drivers who typically need to ferry a small army of children on the school run during the week and then zig and zag their way to dance classes and swimming lessons at the weekend. But owners of the MPV (multi-purpose vehicle or people carrier) have begun a high-profile campaign on social media after their cars burst into flames.

Approximately 130 people have reported overheating problems occurring behind the glovebox. A number of cars have suffered more seriously, bursting into flames as they were being driven, prompting the car maker to examine around 20 burned out Zafiras.

Vauxhall has now responded to the potentially deadly issue. The Luton-based car maker has issued advice to Zafira owners, and if you’re one of them, or have a friend or member of the family who drivers a Zafira, here’s what you need to know.

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Great Scott! It’s Back To The Future day: all about the DeLorean time machine

Back To The Future original artwork

What’s the date? 21 October 2015, of course! (Picture: © Universal Pictures)

Great Scott! It’s Back To The Future day. Which can only mean one thing – we don’t need roads where we’re going. Actually, we do, but that’s just one of the predictions that Back To The Future II, the 1989 smash hit starring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd, didn’t get right.

Fans of the successful Back To The Future franchise, which began in 1985, are getting just a little bit excited. Because today, 21 October 2015, marks the date that Marty McFly (Fox) and Doc Brown (Lloyd) arrived at in the future after travelling through the space-time continuum in Doc Brown’s DeLorean DMC-12 time machine. The famous scene appeared in Back To The Future II.

So for the benefit of all those who missed out on one of the most popular films of the 80s, and those who were there but, ahem, have fuzzy memories of it all, here’s what you need to know about Back To The Future’s star character – the DeLorean DMC-12 time machine.

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Expert advice: DIY checks to prepare your car to pass an MOT test

How to carry out DIY checks on your car before an MOT

Even without a ramp at home you can easily carry out DIY MOT checks

Carrying out DIY checks on your car before you take it for its actual MOT inspection is surprisingly easy to do and could save you money. Passing the test is a legal requirement for all cars more than three years old. But for many of us, the MOT is a bit like having the outside of your home painted; we know we need to do it but we don’t look forward to it because it can bring to light remedial work that will hit the wallet hard.

According to the Driver Vehicle Services Agency (DVSA), which oversees the annual MOT test, around 40 per cent of cars fail. Yet many flunk their MOT for reasons that even a novice mechanic could spot. Follow my tips for your own basic DIY MOT test, and you could stop your car failing on the simplest points.
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Mike Shaw 3 Comments

Tyre labels: What they mean and why they’re just the start for buyers

Tyre Labels

Labels are supposed to make buying tyres easier. But have they succeeded? (Picture © Emissions Analytics)

In November 2012, tyre labels became a fundamental part of the way we bought tyres. Realising that for many people purchasing tyres was a puzzling process, the EU attempted to demystify it with labels for all car tyres. They look much like the labels you now see on white goods or new cars. But rather than energy ratings and exhaust emissions, they carry information on the tyre’s performance.

The aim behind tyre labels was to make it easier for buyers by enabling them to assess the best, safest tyres possible for their budget and motoring needs. And by showing fuel efficiency, another aim was to enable buyers to choose tyres that would help their cars’ economy. It also enabled customers to compare products, which to the untrained eye – and many expert eyes too – look virtually identical.
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Convertible roof repair: cleaning, caring for or replacing you car’s hood

Convertible roof repair
With the chimes of Hear Comes The Summer now a distant memory, drivers of soft-top cars should think about convertible roof repair before the winter weather sweeps in.

The life of a fabric or vinyl hood for a convertible, cabriolet or roadster can be greatly extended by cleaning it correctly and then reapplying a waterproofing agent. At the same time, any nicks and tears can be patched up, much like a child’s pair of jeans, and electrical or mechanical problems can be fixed without resorting to a complete replacement of the hood.

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James Mills 3 Comments

Engine flush and fuel additives: Are they worth the money or not?

Engine flush

Regular oil and filter changes should be a routine part of car ownership

When it comes to finding out whether drivers should use engine flush products or fuel additives, the internet will send you round in circles. Some say the products, added to a car’s oil or fuel to clean the engine’s internal moving parts and boost performance, are worth their weight in motor-protecting gold. Others claim they’re not worth the time or the effort.

The basic theory behind both these kinds of products is that by running them through the engine, you’ll clean out any deposits left by the engine’s combustion process. Proving whether they work is easier said than done. Here’s what the experts say.
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James Foxall 5 Comments

Should I fill my car with premium fuel?

Should you fill your car with premium fuel?

It’s a familiar scenario. You drive onto a petrol station forecourt and pull up alongside the pumps. Staring back at you is a range of multi-coloured nozzles labelled with an equally confusing array of names: Fuel Save, V-Power Nitro+, Synergy, Synergy Supreme+, Regular Fuels, Ultimate, Momentum. The list goes on, with all retailers offering standard and premium fuels. The question is: should drivers fill their car with premium fuel?

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James Mills 6 Comments

Private land parking problems: numbers complaining shoot up

Private land parking problems

Drivers can even be penalised for overstaying in supermarket car parks


Private land parking problems? You’re not alone. A new law in 2012 banned drivers being clamped on private land. But that doesn’t appear to have stopped over-zealous private companies issuing fines to anyone who flouts frequently unclear signs. The extent of the problem was recently revealed when a parking enforcement company was punished by its trade body for penalising drivers after doctoring CCTV footage to show they were parked longer than they actually were.

Private land parking problems: What is the legal position?

When you park on private land you’re actually entering into a contract with the land owner. If you don’t pay, or outstay the time you have paid for, although the threatening letter might look like a fine, it’s actually an invoice. This is for breaching the contract you entered into when you parked on their land.
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