Funding your Fleet When it comes to fleet purchases, many companies will view outright purchase as the default option. A recent survey suggested that 60% of all fleet operators will look at their requirement for new vehicles and, without hesitation, contact the nearest car or commercial dealership and haggle the best deal they can on […]

The “World” Car Trend Ford has recently announced a glut of new models that will be marketed the world over. A series of “global cars” built in Ford factories local to the market that the vehicle is being sold in to. This trend seemingly started with the Fiesta model being made available in the US […]

For a long time now, manufacturers of vehicles have been championing the Petrol/electric hybrid car as the car of the future. Toyota, in particular, were an early adopter of this technology with a range that today incorporates a hybrid for every occasion from the diminutive Yaris right up to the Lexus LS luxury saloon. These […]

Removing Red Tape – Or an Invitation to Drive Uninsured? We all know we have to insure our cars and motorcycles and it’s so that if they get stolen, or get damaged in an accident, well we will get compensated for their loss, or our vehicle will be repaired, without us having to pick up […]

£5,995 Dacia Sandero – How Cheap Is That? Dacia Announces Prices for New Sandero Supermini on Sale in the UK from January 2013. I guess many of us would have heard of the Dacia brand, although not many of us have probably owned one, or even know someone who does.  Come to that, its built in […]

Mercedes Benz Want To Be Number One In The UK Charts by 2016 – Then On To World Domination! IOK, we are not talking music here, but it is the ambition of Mercedes Benz to become the UK’s number one “posh brand” and in doing that, outsell its German rivals BMW and Audi. So how’s […]

Poor Driver Vision Responsible for Nearly 3,000 Road Casualties a Year A recent report commissioned by a leading insurer RSA suggests that poor driver vision is responsible for around 2,900 road casualties and repair costs of £33 million every year, though I guess if we drill down a bit further, I suppose many drivers would […]

Overtaking On the Left Hand Side – Should it be Made Legal? OK, so the rules say “keep left – pass right” but is it time the law was changed?  Well this wouldn’t be necessary if it were it not for a group of pathetic right-lane-hogging drivers, who clearly get a buzz out of deliberately […]

Don’t Make the Dark Nights Scary For Your Car Protect Them from Vandalism or Theft Its easier to get away with doing something wrong when no one can see you do it and here in the UK, in the winter months, its dark for up to 12 hours a day and with councils now switching […]

As If You Didn’t Know That! Just read that having a fag when you get behind the wheel isn’t good for you, because scientists have declared that smoking inside your car, produces levels of pollution that exceeds official safe limits. Wow, they will be telling us Santa Claus isn’t real next. Now, I can speak with […]

Vauxhall Launch the Adam And Raided The Silly Name Box To Do It The Citroen DS3 is a stunning little car and has picked up from where previous fashion icon “and now estate agents favourite” the Mini left off. Its OK for a car to be popular and it can still be cool, but in […]

108.78MPG from a Ford Fiesta – Mind Blowing! OK, you’ve probably not heard of the ALD Automotive/Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon, as it’s not as famous as the London or New York Marathons, but what makes this one special is its on 4 wheels and not 2 legs and rather than trying to find the fastest […]

Volkswagen to Introduce a Budget Brand within 2 Years Despite owning a number of brands, such as Audi, Seat & Skoda, the VW Group are to add another brand to their portfolio, aimed at the bottom end of the market to rival brands such as Renault’s Dacia which arrives in the UK later this year. […]

Peugeot Win City Car Manufacturer of the Year Award at the Green Fleet Awards French car maker Peugeot has won yet another key accolade, being voted as “effectively” the best manufacturer of sub 120g/km cars, by outright winning the “City Car Manufacturer of the Year” award and demonstrating that across the range, they are leading […]

BMW Offers its London Olympic Fleet For sale to the Olympic volunteers “The Games Makers” Whilst no prices have been mentioned, German car builder, who made the “official” cars for the London Olympics (they happened earlier this year in case you had forgotten), are offering them for sale to the volunteers that made the games […]

TAXI! Biggest Wholly Owned British Car Manufacturer To Appoint Administrators When you think of London, its Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the majestic River Thames, but go outside of the sites and it’s the red double decker busses and black London taxi cabs that come to mind next.  Well, it seems as if a bit of […]

Road Causalities Down in 2011, But Road Deaths Up – But Compared to What? With the amount of safety features built into our cars these days, one might expect road accidents to be more survivable and that the number of road deaths would therefore reduce, and that previously non-survivable accidents would now be injuries rather […]

Road Safety Charity Wants Proposed 80MPH Limit Scrapped Unsurprisingly, road safety charity Brake is calling for the proposed increase in the motorway speed limit from 70mph to 80mph to be scrapped. Brake claim that evidence shows that 80mph limits would cause more people to be killed and seriously injured on our motorways and for good […]

More Speed Cameras for the UK as New Digital Cameras Make It Easier & Cheaper To Operate Them As if we don’t have enough already, a new range of smarter digital speed cameras has been unveiled which are likely to be popping up where you live in the coming months. Presently, “cash machines” sorry, I […]

Hyundai Will Produce Zero Emissions Hydrogen Powered Cars By The End of 2012 For so long, those that know have been saying that a Hydrogen fuel cell is the only way for future vehicles to be powered.  Space age stuff eh and of course, for those of you who remember “Hydrogen Bombs” of “H Bombs” […]

So You Can Now Buy A Renault Kangoo Van with a Mercedes Badge – But Why Would You? Badge engineering is common place now, with so many car makers offering almost the same thing, but with their own badge on it.  Latest to enter that market is Mercedes who have just announced their new “City […]

Toyota to Recall Up To 7.4 Million Cars World Wide and 138,000 in the UK A problem with the electric windows in some Toyota models has prompted Toyota to recall up to 7.4 million vehicles world wide for rectification.  The UK only has a small number of the vehicles which are affected and will mean […]

New Vauxhall Corsa Diesel Gets Green & Economical Vauxhall have announced details of  their cleanest and greenest Corsa ever.  The three-door Corsa 95PS 1.3CDTI ecoFLEX Start/Stop now achieves 85.6mpg while emitting just 88g/km (five-door: 83.1mpg /89g/km CO2). This is a 2.4mpg and a 6g/km improvement over the 2011 Corsa 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX (80.7mpg /94g/km). In […]

The Train Now Standing on the M1 is the 9.15 to London. (But it doesn’t end there) Back in the old days, Bruce Forsythe used to say “I’m In Charge” and I guess that’s what most of us think when we are behind the wheel, but maybe in the not too distant future, its going […]

There are lots of kind of whizzy bright new ideas being kicked around by car makers to make their cars either safer, more interesting or simply to steal a march on the competition but whilst they make look good on paper, more often than not, they never go into production, simply because they don’t actually […]

Don’t Turn Your Brain Off; When You Turn You’re Sat-Nav On There’s lots of talk and grumping and groaning about Satellite Navigation systems, with people complaining that they’ve been mislead by them, or taken somewhere completely different, or ended up on dead end roads or even worse, driven off a cliff or into a river […]

Will You Still Have Your Licence at 106 Years Old? Came across some information regarding driving licences in the UK. The information comes from figures released by the DVLA under the freedom of information act. I guess the headline figure is that there are now over one million drivers that are 80 years old or […]

I mean, how do you value something like that?  Well for Audi, securing the return of a 1939 Auto Union Silver Arrow Twin-Supercharger Type D, I guess is priceless, although it means they now own 3 of the 5 Auto Union racing cars that can be claimed to be original.  No purchase price has been […]

Survey Suggests We Think Speed Cameras Are OK. “Great Headline, But Did They Ask You?” We love stories that either surprise us, upset us, or even better still prove we were right all along.  We pick up on stories both from our own experience and from obscure publications or trade sources which many of the […]

“Taxi Sir”…..You Mean “Nissan Sir” Don’t You? Hot on the heals of winning the contract as the official taxi-cab supplier for New York City for the next 10 years, Nissan don’t intend to let the momentum drop as they now unveil their view of the “London Cab” of the future and what’s being called, “The […]

The UK is a Huge Market for Convertible Cars, but How Many Of Us Get Our Tops Off? Surprisingly, given our weather, Britain is one of the world’s biggest markets for convertible cars, but most owners never drop the hood according to a new survey from German car maker Audi. The survey took place in […]

We are kind of funny people here in Great Britain.  We are strangely polite compared to many other countries in the world and are happy to dutifully stand and queue even when spending our own money when frankly, we shouldn’t be queuing.  We are kind to animals and happy to give up our seats on […]

UK-Designed Ford 1.0-Litre EcoBoost named ‘International Engine of the Year’ Well, the headline pretty much sums the story up, but we are talking about something very special here.  We are talking “breaking the mould” in such a way that there simply wont be any going back and for petrol heads like me, this is a […]

New “Free” Audi Mileage Tracker App Will Allow You to Count the Cost of Your Business Travel. A new app that’s free to download is set to make business travel a little less taxing by using GPS to track your journeys and precisely calculate the business expenses they generate. Available from iTunes, the Audi Mileage […]

Could You Be The Next Bradley Wiggins?  Why Not Cycle To Work. OK, I am happy to accept most car drivers don’t like cyclists, but then to be fair, most motorists don’t much like anyone that slows them down or gets in their way, but there has been an old saying that if you cant […]

Do you feel like me that we already pay a good crack towards the road networks in the UK?  Do you think that paying up to 85% tax on every litre of fuel we use and by paying a first registration fee, then an annual road fund tax isn’t already a big enough contribution towards […]

Toyotas Everywhere?  Just Look At These Production Figures! Well, it took Toyota 76 years and 11 months to achieve it, but in June 2012, its worldwide cumulative production figures topped 200 million vehicles. Starting way back in 1935 at Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd.’s Automotive Department, and beginning with its first vehicle, a model G1 […]

Are We Being Told Our Cars Achieve A Higher MPG Than They Actually Do – Seems That Way! Fuel consumption is a huge issue, because just a gallon of fuel now costs more than you needed to take your best girl out to the pictures for a night, grab an ice cream in the break […]

London Closed For Business During The Olympics? Get a Gold In That Most British of Sports! We were all told how wonderful the Olympics would be for the UK, but fact is if you need to go anywhere in or around London in your car whilst the “runny jumpy” games are on, well chances are […]

Chancellor postpones Fuel duty increase. Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the 3p a litre increase in fuel duty that was going to be imposed from August 2012 is now going to be delayed until January 2013 and duty will be frozen for the rest of this year. Argument surround the increase, with both businesses […]

What was the 5th Most Popular (or Common) Car in June 2012? There is a fine line between common and popular.  Popular can mean that big numbers of people see the virtues in something and choose to select it, common however can mean that just too many people chose it and because of that, the […]

Want a Green or Maroon Car? – Well it’s only you that does “and it’s going to cost you”. Many things effect what your car is going to be worth when you want to sell but one of the most important is one of the most obvious and that’s the colour you’ve chosen.  Pick the […]

Things Being “A Bit Tight” Has Changed How Long We Keep Our Cars. We all know how difficult things have been over the last few years and that’s had an impact on the way we run our cars.  The average car today is something like 20% lighter on fuel than your average 7 year old […]

Taking Your Car Abroad – Some Advice To Make Sure You Don’t Get In Trouble. Just because you’ve taken your car abroad before, it does not mean that you should do so again, without checking up on the latest rules and regulations.   Many rules have changed and as you might expect, its hasn’t got more […]

Vauxhall Releases A Corsa With A Dark Side. OK, maybe this won’t seem that dark, but Vauxhall have just released details of their new “Black Edition” Corsa, which comes with a 1.4 Turbo engine, making it one of the pokiest Corsa’s you can buy. The 120ps stop/start engine will see the Corsa do the 0-62 […]

Based upon the Nissan NV400 which, to you and me, looks pretty much like a Renault Master or Vauxhall Movano, Nissans new range of “off the shelf” commercials are certain to appeal to operators of commercial vehicles who simply want to order a complete vehicle, rather than buying and ordinary van and then having the […]

“So that’s Another New Kit Italian Dads Have to Buy” Jeep, once a Stateside Icon is now owned by FIAT and in an effort to make it loved in Italy, its been announced that the Jeep will sponsor the Juventus football club for the 2012/13 football season, and the legendary (their words, not mine) Jeep […]

Its been confirmed that the remains of the Swedish motor brand SAAB who found themselves going bankrupt in December 2011 have been sold to Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) for an undisclosed sum. The owner of NEVS and its Chief Executive is Kai Johan Jiang who is a Chinese businessman who […]

The cream comes to the top as Ford sales are up on 2011 They are not the market leader for nothing (as they say) but a strong and extremely desirable product range, plus plenty of dealership representation has seen Ford’s market share this year increase over 2011.  May 2012 saw Ford car sales up by […]

Company Car Drivers are they actually Saving Fuel? Or is it Pedal to the Metal? At the same time as a report from a major leasing company suggests that company car drivers have changed their attitudes towards use of fuel and are trying where possible to save fuel, another piece of research is claiming that […]

A Match Made in Heaven? Not content with owning Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, MAN & Scania, and being in the process of absorbing Porsche, the VW Group has added another name to its list of brands and this time its prestige Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati. VW’s supervisory board is headed by 75 year […]

Fewer Hybrid Owners Would Buy another Hybrid to Replace It OK, this is data from the good old USA, but as we all know, hybrids were very much the thing to be seen in on the other side of the pond, if you were trying to demonstrate just how caring and how concerned you are […]

Report Says Company Vehicle Drivers Attitudes Are Changing as They Try To Save Fuel? Recent research by another leasing company suggests that business car driver’s attitude towards fuel consumption has changed in light of what’s referred to as spiraling fuel prices and that they are doing their bit to ensure their employers fuel bills are […]

Everyone knows, or kind of suspects that the cars we drive are getting cleaner and by that, I don’t mean they’ve been through a car wash.  Vehicle pollutant levels continue to reduce and a new report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders spells out just how successful the industry has been in developing […]

Lewis Hamilton Orders Custom Built Supercar and Splashes out Around £1.6million in the Process None of us would ever deny the danger that top racing drivers are exposed to, but similarly, not many of us wouldn’t change places if we had the chance to enjoy the fame, celebrity and huge wage cheques that go with […]

Obesity Costs Americans $3.87 Billion at the Pumps Each Year We read some funny stories as we delve into what’s new to bring you the latest in motor related news.  Well this one’s amusing and it’s from across the pond in the U.S.A. It’s a well known fact that many Americans are overweight and in […]

Fiesta Crowned as Best Used Car of the Year by Diesel Car Magazine I guess its inevitable that Ford product are going to figure wherever awards are being handed out, because although we see them on our streets everyday, we often take for granted just how good they are. Well respected publication “Diesel Car Magazine” […]

Top Cop Says Drivers Should Get 6 Penalty Points for Using Handheld Mobile Bernard Hogan-Howe who is the present Metropolitan Commissioner of Police has spoken out against the current £60 fine and 3 penalty points for using a mobile phone whilst driving, saying its not a harsh enough penalty. The Commissioner has suggested that 6 […]

Even Most Popular Cars Have a 1 in 5 Chance of Failing Their First MOT. This should be something that’s really boring, but its not, it’s actually really interesting, so take a moment to read and see how your car compares to others and if, by any chance you love statistics, well you are going […]

Britain’s A Great Place To Build Cars – Nissan, Honda, Toyota & Mini Know It, Whilst Vauxhall Confirms It. We all know the economy is going through tough times not just here in the UK, but across Europe and the rest of the world, so you would think that a company looking to manufacturer its […]

BMW Group and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announce that they have signed an agreement on collaborative research in the field of next-generation lithium-ion battery cells and have begun said research. The agreement follows the memorandum of understanding concerning a mid-to long-term collaboration on next-generation environment-friendly vehicles and technologies announced by the two companies on December […]

All manufacturers it seems are fitting cars with bigger fuel tanks, but what is certain is that mostly all cars are getting more economical. A recent economy run from Lands End to John O’Groats saw a new Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T-Spirit Tourer complete a 904.9 mile trip from Cornwall to Scotland on just one […]

New Cars for Old Car Prices? OK, some of us may have heard of the brand Dacia, but who out there has ever driven one or owned one or indeed wants one? Well let’s take a look and see if we are missing out on something. Founded in Romania in 1966, Dacia originally produced (old […]

80MPH Motorway Speed Limit Trial to Go Ahead? Whilst its not been announced for sure, it seems the government are to press ahead with trials of the proposed 80mph motorway speed limit. The government intends to roll out a trial in areas where variable speed cameras operate to monitor driver’s behaviour, before deciding if it […]

Revolutionary Vauxhall Takes European Car of the Year Award You’ve probably not seen one, or driven one and come to that, probably don’t know anyone who has and you will almost certainly, never own one yourself, but never the less, the guys who decide what’s best when it comes to new “European” cars have decided […]

Another New Ford To Look Forward To. Announcements from Ford in respect of new technology, new developments and upgraded product have become common place as the car maker continues to improve its range of vehicles. New models, many of them industry leading have been launched and have quickly become familiar household names.  S-Max and C-Max […]

This Time its Parkers Guides Best New Cars for 2012 (yep more awards) You’ve probably heard of “Parkers Guide” because it was a magazine you could buy that gave you an indication of what you’re car was likely to be worth if you were trying to sell it.  Problem was, that irrespective of what your […]

Does This Surprise You? What ever job you do for a living, or what ever industry you are involved in, you will know that you probably do it as well or better than your competitors, because you know you’re job, you know what you are doing.  Adding something completely different to your portfolio just because […]

You’ve probably heard of ‘MyCarCheck’ as they are just one of the companies that can investigate the past of a car you are considering to buy.  Well MyCarCheck has just revealed research which shows   that 1 in 6 cars we buy have previously been written off. That’s a massive 17.3% of the cars on British […]

Don’t Think Bike – Think Rider. A new press campaign is being launched to make drivers aware that the motorcycles they come across on the road are not just bikes, but people.  See the person behind the motorcycle helmet seems to be the message sent out by road safety minister Mike Penning. The campaign is […]

From July 2012 if you drive in France, it will be compulsory to carry a ‘Breathalyser Kit’ in your car and failure to do so will earn you an on the spot fine. We all know that motoring laws are different abroad and that we have to carry a warning triangle, a fluorescent safety vest […]

Using a Smartphone While Driving Can Be More Dangerous than Drink Driving, or Being High on Drugs! Wow, how frightening is that? Many of us have these posh phones nowadays that let us send and receive e-mails, check out E-Bay and look at our accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Social networking sites such as Facebook […]

Oh the Olympics – The Main Event Is Going To Be Congestion. It’s predicted that another cost of the London Olympics this year is going to be ever increasing congestion with figures of a 33% increase being claimed. Some roads in the City could slow to as little as 12mph during the July/August Olympic events […]

Yet More Car Awards – Does Your Car Figure? Do You Agree? CarBuyer is a motoring related website up there in hyper space and they have just released their opinions as to the best car in each category for 2012.  As with many things of this nature, there opinions are called “Awards”, so here we […]

Do you remember when Toyota had a recall and the press tried to crucify it, without good reason, whilst motoring journalists who knew better wrote pieces explaining why these recalls happen and why such big numbers of cars were involved, well one of the darlings of the industry has just announced a major recall, effecting […]

Interest From Drivers and Companies Surges. Peugeot have always made good cars and vans and today’s Peugeots are the best ever and it seems the hardest market of all, the company buyer and company car driver have realised that as Peugeot sales to businesses in 2011 hit over 54,000 vehicles. Despite the 2011 achievements and […]

Don’t Panic! – SAAB Parts Are Still Going To Be Available The demise of SAAB was a sad thing, particularly as it fought so hard to stay in business and if you have driven a late date Saab, perhaps something like the latest 95, you will know how nice they are. But now the pictures […]

CAR AWARDS – Do They Influence You? Or Should You Listen to Your Leasing Company? Just like TV, movies & pop music, the motor industry seems to covet the awards it gets for its products and makes a great deal of noise about any awards it gets in an effort to influence us to park […]

Young Drivers – High Insurance – High Risk?  Maybe it Depends Where You Live. None of us can have missed the fact that younger drivers pay more for their car insurance than older drivers do.  Much has been made of it on TV consumer programs highlighting how some young drivers are being asked to pay […]

Well Its Goodbye from Laguna & Goodbye from Espace as Renault Wields the Axe On Its Products and its Dealers Strange times indeed when a major car manufacturer drops vehicles that have become household names but that’s just what Renault have announced as Laguna, Espace, Modus, Kangoo car and Wind coupe are all chopped from […]

End of the Road for SAAB as Owners “Swedish Automobile” File For Bankruptcy Well it’s a sad day when any business finds it can’t keep trading and is forced to throw the towel in and go bankrupt and that’s just what’s happened for car maker SAAB. After almost 2 years of fighting to secure the […]

Wouldn’t it be great to never get a puncture and never have to jack your car up to change the spare? Well we are going to tell you about a new innovation that just maybe will make that possible, but before we do, let’s take a brief look at how the tyres we drive on […]

We all know about drink driving and how dangerous it can be and not many of us would ever consider doing it.  However something that might not come to mind so rapidly is the danger posed by people driving after having taken drugs. Like it or not, what’s often referred to as recreational drug taking […]

OK guys, if you are a fan of the late Ayrton Senna, here’s a chance for you to break open the piggy bank and buy a bit of the legend. That said, it’s going to have to be a big piggy bank as the helmet alone is expected to make around £50,000. The helmet which […]

Nissan Spanks The Record Books in the UK In 2010, Nissans Sunderland car plant became the highest producing car plant ever in British history, producing over 423,000 cars and at that time, no other car plant had even reached 400,000 in 12 months.  For 2011, Nissan have upped that record even further, producing over 480,000 […]

Ultimate Ford Transit Unveiled – But You Can’t Buy One! OK, this is a bit of a cheat, as you are not going to be able to go out and buy one, but Ford has released more pictures of what must be “White Van Man’s” dream. Everyone knows there isn’t anything like a Transit when […]

At a time when the government are talking about cars not needing to have an MoT until they are four years old and extending the regular test to every two years, rather than one, a whole raft of changes are being implemented which will make the current MoT test even tougher. The Vehicle and Operator […]

Below is a letter received by us from SAAB GB on 29th November 2011. The letter is self explanatory and is very sad news, however it would seem all is not lost yet and hopefully, SAAB GB will be able to recover from this situation, but as we are all just too aware, these are […]

If you’re going to be chased by the Flying Squad, the last thing you want is for them to be in one of the quickest cars around, but unfortunately for you, that’s just whats going to happen. Gone are the V6 Granadas, Consuls and Cortinas that Jack Regan and George Carter used in the 70’s […]

Jaguar XF Voted “Car of the Decade” by Auto Express Readers (but how?) Well, there is no doubt that the Jaguar XF is a very nice car and indeed, we’ve always enjoyed the ones we’ve used here at BVL headquarters, however over 300,000 readers of Auto Express Car Magazine have just voted for the Jaguar […]

Toyota has just announced it’s making a new Sports Car which will put a little fun and desirability back in their range. There was a time when Toyota offered pretty much the best ‘affordable’ sport car range of any volume manufacturer.  Cars like the Supra, Celica and the hugely popular MR2, helped to raise Toyotas […]

Un-restored 1953 Austin-Healey That Changed Motor Racing History Makes £843,000 at Auction. If you saw pictures of the car, you would think £843 would be more the right price for it, but At Bonhams Classic Car Auction at Mercedes World last week, the tattiest looking sports car you could ever see, made a massive £843,000. […]

60% increase in the proportion of morning after drink-drive accidents OK, the data we are going to talk about has been researched by the maker of a breathalyser called AlcoSense which you and I can go out and buy ourselves, but please don’t for one minute think this is in a effort to sell their […]

So Saab really has been sold?  Well if the latest press release is to be believed, the answer is yes and we have reprinted the official statement at the end of this article so that you can read exactly what they say. It’s been soap opera, a bit like Eastenders but without the shouting as […]

Super Safe All New Ford Ranger Makes Motoring History With 5 Euro NCAP Stars You cant help but be impressed with the way car manufacturers have responded to needs for increased safety and here is just another example of that, but in all honesty, a mighty impressive one. Later this year, Ford’s new Ranger will […]

First at 4 Years Old then Every 2 Years?  Right or Wrong? The government in the form of then Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has stated it’s looking to reduce the burden of the MOT test.  Those in the know suggest that the government believes that rather than a vehicle being 3 years old at it […]

The Astra VXR produces 280hp of power and a mighty 400Nm of torque Hot on the heels of the recently launched GTC, the new Astra VXR, which goes on sale next year and is set to become one of the most powerful cars in its class and the fastest production Astra in Vauxhall’s history. Based […]

Institute of Advanced Motorists Calls for Pilot of 80mph Speed Limit on Motorways In September the government announced that the motorway speed limit could be raised to 80mph. The IAM is calling for the government to pilot an 80 mph speed limit on a controlled and managed motorway to assess its practicality and safety, and […]

None of us feel comfortable being followed by a Police car, even when we’ve done nothing wrong.  Police cars come in all shapes and sizes and pretty much all makes, but in 37 of the UK’s 52 Police Authority areas, the chances are that it’s a Vauxhall that’s going to be behind you as Vauxhall […]

More Awards for Ford as Association of Car Fleet Operators Gives Ford 4 out of 7 Top Awards You’ve probably heard of AFCO (the Association of Car Fleet Operators) well as the name suggests, they know a thing or two about operating vehicles.  Each year, ACFO hand out a number of awards for the cars, […]

“Why Aye Man”. It’s 25 Years for Nissan. Seems like only yesterday when Japanese car maker Nissan opened its manufacturing plant in Sunderland, but 25 years have passed from September 8th 1986 when the first UK built Nissan Bluebird rolled out of the factory, to be followed by 5,139 in the first year of production. […]

Who Do We Have To Thank? The Department of Transport (DfT) have released figures that show that road deaths in the UK, fell below 2000 for the first time ever.  The question is “why” and who do we thank? Is it the road safety campaigners, the car makers, or perhaps even the last government? 1,850 […]

Phillip Hammond has announced a review into the 70mph speed limit that applies on Motorways, with a view to increasing it to 80mph. Speed limits have always been controversial and I am sure that you like us, know of many lower limits that exist across the country because certain people want them, rather than there […]

114g/km Ford Mondeo Shows its “Green Credentials” and gets an Award Often overlooked as an eco-car the Ford Mondeo has just won another award from What Car? and this time, it’s because it’s an low emissions car that delivers exceptional mpg! The car in question is the 1.6TDCI which produces just 114g/km CO2 emissions and […]

Its Silly Time – Whats Your Favourite Colour Car? We love surveys and research that give us pointless information and whilst I am sure there is some planner somewhere that will find this particular piece of research very useful, for us, it’s just a bit of fun. Manheim Auctions who have a number of big […]

There are certain products that are simply ‘cool’.  They look nice, they are ‘touchy feely’ nice and whilst we all know the iPhone fits in to that category, a couple of great historic English brands of car are demonstrating that its not just the preserve of companies in the Silicon Valley or Cupertino. OK, the […]

Is British Summer Time Daylight Robbery? A campaign to get our clocks changed across the UK, has just received the support of one of the UK’s top windscreen suppliers ‘Autoglass Windscreens’ as they believe, like many others do that the change would significantly reduce the number of road accidents. The “Lighter Later” campaign is run […]

Scottish People Just Love Spanish Cars as SEAT Scores Big Growth North of the Border We tend to think that car awards cover the whole country, but in fact, that’s not true as the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW) have just presented the ‘Scottish Car of the Year Awards” which were held in Glasgow […]

Highway Agency to permanently switch off the road lighting on sections of the M1 Motorway in Bedfordshire OK, you could discuss the impact of carbon emissions all day long and different people will have different views and light pollution I guess makes it more difficult to see the stars at night! Well for those two […]

Rumour has abounded for ages now as to how long a battery on an all electric car, such as the Nissan Leaf would last before it started to degrade and not hold as much power as it did originally.   The cost of replacing the battery has also been something that hasn’t been spoken about much, […]

227.070MPH Skoda – The Worlds Fastest 2-litre Forced Induction Production Car OK, maybe you can’t trot along to your local dealer to buy one, but who would ever have thought that you would have been reading about a land speed record holding Skoda Octavia? (no its not a joke) We love all of the new […]

MOT After 4 Years Instead of 3 Years – That’s What’s Proposed.  Good or Bad? I don’t know about you, but MOT time for the car is always something that scares me and after dropping the car off, I spend the day nervously waiting for a phone call from the garage to tell me if […]

Earlier today we received confirmation from SAAB GB that SAAB Automobile AB has filed for ‘voluntary reorganisation’ which is effectively bankruptcy protection. This is very sad and we’ve written much about SAAB’s attempts to recover over the last two and a half years and commented on each new deal as it was done, reporting that […]

Recent data released by the Government has shown that many of the speed cameras dotted around our fair country are simply being used to generate cash and don’t reduce accidents, or save lives.  Shocking stuff, but in all honesty, does that surprise anyone? At this point, I must make the point that as a company […]

6,000 speed cameras in the UK, producing around £90 Million in fines each year We seem to be looking at speed cameras a lot this month as new reports and stories seem to unfold.  The latest data comes following the DfT calling on local authorities to publish statistics about accident and causality rates both before […]

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 has already been voted as ‘Best Eco Car of the Year 2011’ We’ve seen all kinds of Hybrids over the past few years and whilst they all offer something, they all seem to come with compromises, often not making them the car that you and I could live with on a daily […]

What Car “Car of the Year Awards 2011” Announced We have always liked What Car Magazine for their open and unbiased reporting of what’s going on in the car industry and their informative reviews and articles and when it comes to issuing the ‘Oscars’ for the best cars out there, What Car have in the […]

As we write, this is pretty topical stuff as everyone has seen vehicles being smashed up and some set alight and burned out during the recent inner city riots. So we made it our business to find out just how you stand if you are an unfortunate victim. First thing, if you car is insured […]

Going Slow Can Be Dangerous? Look Out For The Driver Behind You. Many things annoy us when we are on the road and there normally isn’t one thing that universally sticks out as being the single thing most of us hate. However, a survey conducted by Confused.com has found out that a massive 60% of […]

Which? Magazine Annual Car Survey Releases Results of Owners Road Tests. Everyone has heard of Which Magazine as for years it’s provided a guide as to what’s good and what’s bad for a whole myriad of things that we are likely to buy.  OK, things have changed a little because for many of us, it’s […]

Holiday Road Trip – But Are You Ready and Your Car Ready? It’s the holiday season and recently the stay at home holiday or holiday in the UK has risen in popularity as difficult times mean that many of us can’t lash out huge sums on exotic foreign holidays.  It also means that for millions […]

Summer Breath Test Campaign Reveals Drink Driving on Increase. Following the summer drink driving campaign, statistics released by the Chief Police Officers Association have revealed that the percentage of drivers over the legal limit has increased in comparison to the same period last year. Some 88,629 drivers were breath tested in June and 6.1% of […]

Here’s How to Find Out. From early 2011, a new law gives the DVLA more power to combat keepers of vehicles that are not insured.  Whilst the law has been active for a few months now, we thought we would give you a reminder of just what it entails and what you should do, to […]

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) have recently completed a poll of 4000 people asking them if a 20mph speed limit zone should be adopted outside schools.  Not surprisingly, 67% of those asked agree it’s a good idea and are in favour of it. Taking it a bit further, 38% felt that also thought that […]

Stuck in a 49 Mile Long Traffic Jam! Satellite Navigation company TomTom have reported that data analysed from  their Traffic Centre has revealed that the “good old” M25 was responsible for five of the ten worst traffic jams during July 2011. The worst single tailback was on Friday 29th July at 5.45pm on the M25 […]

Think Bike – Yes You’ve Heard That Before, But This Time, Its Think About the Biker, Not Just the Bike. “Clunk Click Every Trip” was only around as a road safety slogan for a short while and once the majority of us had realised that it made absolute sense to use seat belts and buckle […]

But No Thanks To British Owned Companies It’s hard to think what British owned car companies we have left in the UK, but despite that, the car industry is thriving, with Great Britain PLC becoming a major exporter of cars to the value of around £25 billion a year and employing around 700,000 people. The […]

Back in 2009, when US car giant General Motors were facing bankruptcy, they were trying to unload as many things as they could in an effort to survive and one of those was Vauxhall/Opel.  A deal was almost agreed with a consortium led by Magna and the Russian’s Sberbank, however at the last minute the […]

Most improved car manufacturer is Nissan Auto Express conducts an annual survey called “Drive Power” and Nissan must be pretty chuffed with the results as the survey of over 23,000 car owners asking them to rate the cars they drive over 10 different categories such as performance, ride quality, braking and build quality found that […]

We have written much about companies being prosecuted under the “Corporate Manslaughter Act” and advised everyone to ensure that they put everything they can in place to make sure this does not happen to them.  Fail to do that and if you find your company is in court, you are defenceless! Under the Corporate Manslaughter […]

John Lennon may well have sung about the “4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire” but it seems the entire countries roads are full of holes and whilst the authorities don’t know “how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall”, new research suggests that its likely to cost over £13 billion pounds to fill them […]

Breakdown Cover company Green Flag, in association with University College London have come up with a most unusual set of statistics and can now tell us that being stuck behind a tractor on rural roads isn’t as bad as we all think! There are around 250,000 tractors in the UK and the research has shown […]

AUDI CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF ‘VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK’ Catch phrases are something that gets into the public psyche and whether it’s a comedy catch phrase or an advertising slogan, we all know them and many of us use them in everyday conversation.  Well, one of the best known advertising slogans around has turned 40 years […]

65.6 Average MPG & Just 114 Co2 Emissions Changes in engine technology have happened at a massive pace and the performance and economy of smaller capacity engines is almost unbelievable when compared to what they achieved just a few years ago. The latest example of this comes from Ford with their 1.6TDCi Diesel which when […]

Everyone despises uninsured drivers, in fact short of drunk drivers, they have to be the worst and most dangerous road users around and they need to be stopped. However changes in the law designed to do that are going to mean that as usual, the honest law abiding citizen is going to be inconvenienced in […]

A recent survey by a major finance house has revealed that the number of companies choosing to outright purchase their vehicles has dropped dramatically.  In fact, in the latest research, it shows that only 17% of the 300 companies surveyed now use outright purchase, compared to 38% in the last quarter of 2009. In the […]

Saabs owner Spyker Cars have managed to resume production of Saabs again following a partnership deal they have signed with Chinese vehicle manufacturer the Hawtai Motor Group. Production at the Trollhättan factory in Sweden had halted in April over disputes with suppliers over the doubt that the company had the ability to pay its bills. […]

Diesel Car Magazines Diesel Car of the Year Over 300 cars were tested by the team at Diesel Car Magazine and with its group of experts they arrive at what they feel represents the best diesel powered car across in 2011.  10 categories of award were made and of course, the ultimate accolade, “Diesel Car […]

Far from being cynical, when something or somebody gets reported as the most improved, it only makes me feel they were pretty bad to start with. Anyway, the latest JATO report of car Co2 emissions across Europe has reported car maker Volvo as most improved with average emissions of 157.5g/km across the range. Volvo introduced […]

At least that’s what’s planned as Ford release details of their new ‘Driver Alert System’. Everyone knows that being tired or drowsy while driving is a recipe for disaster, but most of us don’t think we are too tired and if we have to go somewhere in our cars, well that’s just what we do. […]

Lamborghini announce their new “Sesto Elemento” Anyone who loves cars will know about the now almost legendary Bugatti Veyron Super Sport which was the most expensive sports car in the world. Well that’s changed as Italian car maker Lamborghini has just announced their new “Sesto Elemento” which has a ticket price of a massive £1.77 […]

New York, New York, It’s a wonderful Town – Well Nissan Thinks It Is! We’ve all seen movies set in New York and watched the ubiquitous Yellow Cabs wallow along between the sky scrapers but pretty soon that’s going to be a thing of the past as Japanese car maker Nissan have just won the […]

Good or Bad? Well there is nothing more certain here than that motorists are going to have differing views in respect of the latest powers being handed to the Police, allowing them to pull up motorists who they feel have driven carelessly and issue them with an on-the-spot fine and even penalty points. The questions […]

Maybe this is going to shock you (as it did me) but the chances of your getting stopped and breathalysed are miniscule as Home Office statistics reveal that 813,288 drivers were breath tested in 2009 and that’s just 2% of motorists. Clearly, the public perception of the chances of them getting caught drinking and driving […]

Yes, that’s the claim made for a pair of Michelin Agilis van tyres that were fitted to a Citroen Relay van operated by a courier based in Cumbria. Bryan Davidson had the tyres fitted to the rear axle of his 2004 Citroen Relay LWB High Roof van by a local tyre company and since then […]

There are lots of van makers, some better than others, but one of the biggest in Europe is Peugeot, but it seems only now that van buyers in England are waking up to what a good value and highly capable product these vans are. March saw a massive increase in sales of 27.7% placing Peugeot […]

Sometimes you read things that surprise you, and sometimes you don’t. Well, Licence Link who provide licence checking software have revealed that the average points on a mans licence is 0.579, whilst for women drivers it’s just 0.095 points. Thousands of driver’s details were checked and even when you take all the drivers that have […]

Wasn’t it Russ Abbott that used to have a show called “Mad House”?  Well as we all knew, or at the very least expected, the guys who wrote the scripts for Russ Abbott now seem to be making the rules in Europe. Frankly, I don’t know why we should be surprised because an illogical decision […]

Business as usual is the message as one of Britain’s biggest tyre suppliers Kwik-Fit announce they have sold the business to Japanese company “Itochu Corporation”. Not exactly a household name, but Itochu is one of the leading Japanese Trading Corporations with interests ranging from textiles and machinery to aerospace, electronics and energy and probably unknown […]

Even if you haven’t heard of car maker “Infiniti” you’re going to have heard of Formula One Team “Red bull Racing” as the reigning F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel is one of their drivers and in the next two years, the Infiniti branding is going to be carried by on their cars and on things […]

OK, we all know how convenient it is to just pop our cars up on the pavement and nip into a shop, or climb the kerb to make a parking space where there previously wasn’t one.  However, if we thought about it for just one moment, we would realise just how many problems we might […]

We all know that speeding is illegal and of course, potentially dangerous. Many of us would also admit that we have broken speed limits and that we have consciously done so.  Even lawmakers such as MP’s, Police Officers and Judges are caught speeding, so its not just Joe Public that seems to take the view […]

All the Awards in one Place and If you enjoy lists, well you’re going to like this! It’s hard choosing your next car, because to be honest, for most of us, we only have experience of the car we drive on a daily basis, or perhaps things we are being told by friends about their […]

There cant be any of us, irrespective of it we are walking, riding a cycle, a motorcycle or driving a car, that hasn’t been dazzled by a driver coming towards us with completely unreasonable and unnecessarily bright headlights. OK, its only momentarily, but it only takes a moment to have an accident and these HID […]

More from the “I can’t believe it” box as a team of UK researchers are claiming that within 3 years we could be pouring a hydrogen-based petrol substitute into our tanks. Now for the science as they say:- the new technology involves a fuel cell which combines oxygen and hydrogen to generate energy. Plastic nonobeads […]

New research claims that cars could in the future be powered by air.  Sounds crazy, but we thought the doors on the Starship Enterprise that opened when Captain Kirk approached them, or the communicator he used to talk to the Enterprise when he was on a planet were all crazy space age ideas, yet in […]

In a world where stooping for even a couple of minutes in the wrong place can earn you a parking ticket, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to beat the system, even if it was only once? Well this bad weather we are having might just be you’re opportunity, according to Safiya Hussain a […]

We report on some strange old surveys on these pages and some of them come from the most unusual of sources.  Well not to break with tradition, we are going to tell you about a study about the nations driving habits which has been completed by “Specsavers” the opticians and you just know at some […]

If you’re like me, you will find it amazing that you are going to find the worlds most exclusive and expensive super-car lined up bescide all the Vectra’s and Mondeo’s in your local car auction, well that’s pretty much what happened at British Car Auctions (BCA) when a 2006 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 went under […]

German luxury car maker Audi tell us they have sold 1,092,400 cars in 2010 and that’s the Ingolstadt-based car maker’s highest ever annual sales figure. So who’s buying these cars?  Well 229,157 units stayed at home in Germany, whilst China gave them a close run, taking 227,938 vehicles and that’s a 43.4% increase on the […]

Now I know you all love figures and statistics, so here we go, as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders have published details of the number of new cars sold in the UK in 2010. We have tried to simplify it all, but effectively, 2,030,846 cars were sold in the UK during 2010, which […]

Running a large fleet and being the registered owners of our cars, we get manufacturers recall notifications all the time and they aren’t just restricted to one car maker, but pretty much effect everyone who builds our cars for us.  Cars are complicated things and sometimes parts fail and I guess the real miracle is […]

In days gone by, you could usually pop along to your local car dealer and choose the car you wanted and chances were that the dealer either had it in his showroom, or perhaps hidden up in a compound full of vehicles somewhere.  If that wasn’t the case, they could usually check their systems and […]

The BMW 3 series is voted most reliable car. Is your car or van in the top 10 reliability lists?

As we near the end of year, we thought it only right that we run through the new cars that you might be spending your money on in 2011. There are some significant launches in 2011, one that’s destined to be one of the best selling cars of the year and the other that’s going […]

With many local authorities considering reducing, or switching off street lights at night, road safety experts suggest that the risk for pedestrians of an accident could treble. After comparisons were made between well lit and poorly lit areas it was found that where lighting was poor or inadequate that it seriously compromised road safety with […]

Recalls seem to be flavour of the week at the moment, with manufacturer after manufacturer pulling vehicles back to either adjust things, or fit replacement parts and the latest two come from Nissan and Lexus, so here’s the story of what’s gone wrong and how to fix it. Nissan is conducting a Voluntary Safety Recall […]

So it’s no congestion charge for you if you drive a sub 100g/km Co2 Euro 5 compliant car following a decision by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. This wasn’t an easy won victory, but comes following a campaign by Volvo, who believed it was unfair that a hybrid car that produced higher Co2 emissions […]

Well, It’s Really Not That Far Away. Remember when your average car used to do around 25mpg? Well it wasn’t too many years back and I can remember as a young salesman feeling particularly proud telling a customer if they drove their new car carefully, they might even get it to do 30mpg. We all […]

It’s estimated that a third of deaths on our roads happen whilst people are driving as part of their job, but does your employer provide you with any speed awareness training? I bet the answer is no. Recent research however suggests maybe your employer should be looking to implement some kind of training, or enrol […]

Dark Outside, Lovely & Warm – Where is The Perfect Place to Fall Asleep? – It’s Your Car or Van. With winter coming, the conditions we drive in will change dramatically, from lovely dry sunny weather where you can have your vehicles window open and get plenty of fresh air, to cold wet or even […]

We all know about electric cars, but I expect not many of us have used one, or even know anybody else who has, so any feedback as to if they do the job properly and what they are like to live with has to be valuable. There are around 350 electric cars being trialled in […]

Road Deaths at All Time Low Well its not often we hear some good news, but it seems road deaths in Great Britain were at an all time low during 2009 and clearly that’s good and its why this part of the Department for Transport’s report is grabbing the headlines. However the report covers a […]

Changes to the way driving tests are conducted in future will mean that learner drivers will not be able to find out in advance of their driving test, the route the ‘examiner’ decides to take. Presently, driving centres publish their test routes online, giving driving instructors an opportunity to coach learner students over that particular […]

You couldn’t have missed this, but cuts in road safety budgets are prompting some council’s to change how they use speed cameras, or perhaps even do away with them totally. In response, nine UK based road safety groups have got together to effectively defend the speed camera as what they refer to as “an effective […]

RAC to help, but at a price! A recent study by the British Insurance Brokers Association found that there are around 150,000 cases of drivers putting the wrong fuel in their car each year and that’s one every three-and-a-half minutes. I know none of us would be silly enough to do that, but just in case, […]

Written Off Car – Insurers offer £6571.94 less than car cost only 4 weeks earlier. I guess we all think we are not going to have an accident, but if we do, we believe our insurers are going to take care of us and make sure we are looked after and do their best to […]

Over in Switzerland where they don’t approve of anything going fast, speeding motorists have their fines calculated using a formula that takes both the income of the motorist and the severity of the speed into consideration. The fines seem to look at your daily income, and then multiply that by a number of days, based […]

For some time now, eastern car manufacturers such as Kia & Hyundai, have offered new car warranties that far exceed those offered by the “mainstream” car makers, such as Ford, Vauxhall, Renault etc. and whilst it would seem charitable to believe its because they’ve got that much faith in the products they make, I believe […]

63 people every day are injured by an uninsured driver 23,000 people injured and 160 killed every year by uninsured drivers, that’s the hard facts. The Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) run what’s called the “Stay Insured Campaign” which encourages drivers never to drive without insurance and works towards reducing the number of uninsured drivers on […]

GMTV Name The Stig – (as if we didn’t already know) BBC’s Top Gear is one of the most popular programmes around and that’s not just here in the UK, but in over 100 countries around the world, so pretty much everyone has heard of “The Stig” Wearing a white race suit and helmet with […]

Well we all knew that there would be cut backs in Government spending following the recent election but it seems that something as important as road safety is going to be hit with a cut of £17.2m, despite the transport industry and normal road users chucking millions into the Whitehall pot. Maybe, it’s the long […]

If you don’t live in London, well you probably don’t know, but Transport For London (TFL) has been operating a scheme for some while, allowing motorcycles to use Bus Lanes and its 18 month trial is due to come to an end on 5th July this year, however the “Motor Cycle Industry Association” (MCI) is […]

Toyota’s global reputation for industry leading quality and customer service is well-established, a fact recognised by numerous surveys and the experience of Toyota drivers. Despite this, Toyota wants to underline their long term commitment to quality and to their customers, by extending the warranty on all new Toyota passenger cars that are registered after June […]

In a recent poll commissioned by the RAC, it suggests that not too many of us care about climate change, as almost a third of company car drivers are not bothered by the emission levels of their next company car, even if it means they have to pay more in benefit in kind tax. When […]

Can a car be a work of art? Well many petrol heads would say every Ferrari style supercar already is; however on June 24th at Sir Elton John’s White Tie & Tiara Ball held at his home in Windsor, around 700 VIP guests got the opportunity to bid for a car that is more likely […]

Japanese car maker Toyota is planning another world wide recall, but this time is for their prestigious flagship brand Lexus. A fault has been identified in some of their V6 and V8 engines and it’s claimed that certain models of its high end Lexus product could suddenly stall whilst being driven. If a recall takes […]

We are all pretty keen on buying our next car as cheaply as we can, but something that’s often overlooked, is what we can get back for it when we eventually decide to sell it and buy our next car. There is no doubt, that bolting things on to our cars that were not meant to […]

Yep, you heard it, the Transport Research Laboratory have carried out a study which reveals that listening to sport on the radio whilst driving affects drivers more than being drunk at the wheel. The situation gets even worse, if you’ve any kind of emotional attachment such as supporting the team or player, or if you’ve […]

Well, someone is saying you’ve not and that someone is The Health & Safety Executive and VOSA. A series of spot checks in March and April has revealed that the majority of commercial vehicles fail to meet the standards for basic load security. The DFT lays out standards to cover how a load should be […]

The Department For Transport keep all kinds of statistics and I guess that’s so Government can decide what they need to do to keep us all moving, or perhaps cynically, can decide what we are doing now, that they can charge us for in the future. The DFT have just released some preliminary findings for […]

Way back in August 2009, we ran a story on our website about Nissan’s new, “all electric” vehicle, The Leaf. Well Nissan have just released the prices for “The Leaf” and if you fancy one, you had better start saving up as it’s going to cost you £23,350 when it arrives here in the UK […]

Some good, some bad that’s what it seems as London Mayor Boris Johnson announces the intention to increase the London Congestion Charge to £10 a day from most likely 4th January 2011. The good side is that TFL are planning to scrap the western extension to the zone by the end of this year and […]

As if We Didn’t Know Already That Well Henry Ford must be looking down with a smile on his face as two of the cars made by the company he started, way back in 1903 has just picked up a couple of major awards, but not as new cars this time, but as used ones. […]

Seems The EU Don’t Want You To Know! We all merrily troll along, trying to do our best and pretty much believing all we are told and where possible, acting on the advice we are given, as we are not cynics are we? So its pretty bad to find out that things that we were […]

Well, after Jaguar going east to India, it looks like Volvo could be heading east as well, but this time to China, as it’s likely a Chinese company could be the next to gobble up a prestigious European brand as Volvo’s owner Ford Motor Company, seem to have agreed a deal with a Chinese company […]

Most drivers will admit that they get distracted whilst driving.  So what distracts us most? Is it the array of hi-tech gadgets that are in most of our cars today, or is it the same things that distracted drivers 50 years ago? Every one of us allows them selves to be distracted from the already […]

Isn’t it nice when you come across sensible, common sense thinking?  Well the “Fuelcard Company” has announced that their “Keyfuels” fuel card is going to be accepted as a method of payment on the M6 Toll. We all know what a pain toll roads are, and finding change or rooting around for cash to pay […]

GM owned Chevrolet has announced they going to offer a five year warranty on a couple of its models.  Aveo and Cruze, will both get the extended warranty and in addition to that, they also get free servicing for 3 years or 30,000 miles. Mark Terry, Chevrolets UK Managing Director said that “Chevrolet car were […]

But Michelin & Goodyear Dunlop Disagree. Am I a cynic, or is it possible a tyre maker could want the minimum tread depth increased simply to sell more tyres.  Surely not, but you can’t help looking at Continentals latest call for an increase in the minimum tread depth without some scepticism, particularly when two of […]

Seems that no matter how we try to protect ourselves from becoming the victim of a crime, someone’s going to come up with a scam that’s possibly going to affect us and the latest one is to involve us in a car crash, then claim big time off your insurers, its called ‘Insurance Fraud’, or […]

Can Anybody Tell You? Fact is, depending on whom you listen to and what you read, the car you’re driving can range from being the best thing since sliced bread to the vehicle equivalent of a stale mouldy old loaf.  So who do you believe? Many different organisations publish their views on what’s good or […]

After months of ups and downs, rumours and speculation and failed take over bids, it seems SAAB is finally saved, and this time it’s for real, following what’s been referred to as a “binding agreement”. Spyker, the Dutch sports car manufacturer has agreed to pay General Motors $74 million dollars to take over the ailing […]

The latest blight on our freedom and ability to relax when driving, the “average speed camera” is being installed on the A13 from the Goresbrook interchange through to Canning Town. These little miracles of technology will be the first in the country to be able to enforce the limit, despite the road having multiple entrance […]

The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) has looked at 95% of our 4,400 mile Highways Agency network of roads in an effort to make the road infrastructure safer and they have come up wanting! Based on a star rating, with 4 being the maximum, the (EuroRAP) Road Protection Score rates roads on how well the […]

Below is the latest communication direct from Toyota regarding the highly publicised recall due to the possibility of the accelerator becoming stuck open. Along with the statement, there is advice on how to proceed and a list of “frequently asked questions” TOYOTA (GB) PLC Dear Customer Following our previous communication we would like to take […]

No problems reported in UK or Europe Toyota GB PLC can confirm that there have been no reported problems in the UK or Europe with the braking performance of the current, third-generation Prius, since its launch in August 2009. Toyota dealers in North America and Japan have notified Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) that they have […]

Dear Customer We have today announced a recall on the latest, third-generation Prius built before 27 January 2010 for a software update to the anti-lock braking system. We would like to sincerely apologise for the concern and inconvenience that this matter may cause. The recall is being taken in response to reports of inconsistent brake […]

This is going to be an article about cars and will hopefully go some way to explaining why a car might be recalled, why such big numbers are sometimes involved and how you are going to know about it if you drive an affected model, but first we want to make the point that recall’s […]

Appropriately called the C-Zero, because of its zero CO2 emissions and zero engine noise, Citroen’s new electric city car, will be launched in the UK in the last quarter of 2010 and might just change the way we all feel about cars of this type. The Citroen C-Zero is a full four seat car, with […]

Following the much publicised accelerator issue affecting some Toyota vehicles, Toyota have sent us the following communication, which outlines the problem, the vehicles possibly involved and the course of action you should take, if you experience the issue whilst driving. Toyota say, There is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, […]

International Motors Group who are the UK importer and distributor for Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu has found another little gem to offer UK buyers after signing an agreement with Chinese auto maker ‘Great Wall Motor Company’ and will be importing cars into Europe from 2010 onwards. To begin with, the countries targeted will be the […]

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime and Intelligence Service, the Ford Transit is the most common vehicle to be stolen. They say because the Transit is about in such large numbers, the market for stolen parts is huge, which makes them very popular with criminals.  The vehicles are usually stripped for […]

The FN50 survey is carried out by the countries premier fleet publication, Fleet News.  The survey asked the top 50 leasing companies to list the most reliable vans they operate. Now bear in mind that lease companies mostly pay for all of the repairs for their lease vehicles as part of the monthly rental the […]

Audi has always been one of our favourite brands and if you want the 4 interlocking rings on the grille of your car, you can buy yourself a basic A3 for just a touch over £15,000, but gradually, the top end Audi’s have been creeping up and up in price and with the launch of […]

After a winter of discontent and a summer of negotiations, it seems General Motors have decided no to flog off Vauxhall and Opel to Magna. Well that’s some change of mind after months of negotiations, but GM put it down to a change in the financial climate, as the business sector is recovering rapidly, giving […]

The most credible fleet publication, Fleet News, conducts a survey every year across the UK’s top 50 Fleet Operators and leasing companies to find out what have been the most reliable car and manufacturer. You can’t really question this survey, as the participants of the survey; jointly run over 1 million cars and they should […]

Car maker Kia Motors have commissioned a report called “cleaner driving” which reveals some interesting and surprising details about how congestion affects us all. Everyone hates traffic jams and according to the Kia report, commuters spend more than 2 full days a year stuck in stand-still traffic each year.  How they come up with these […]

The SMMT produce lots of interesting figures regarding all aspects of the car industry and one that’s taken my eye is the comparison between the Co2 that the cars we drive today, compared to what it was like 10 years ago in 1997. In 1997, over 77% of the cars being sold produced over 166g/km […]

We have written much about this, and everyone should be aware of just what “Corporate Manslaughter” is and if you’re not, scan back through our news stories on this website, or get your Google out, as its important that you know what your responsibilities are and if you need convincing about that, carry on reading […]

Hang Your Head In Shame. German car maker BMW, makes better more suitable cars than anything on offer in Britain! Well that’s the message we are going to send to the world as BMW has been chosen as the official automotive supplier of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The cars will be used to […]

The EU (remember them) are hoping they can force van makers to make big cuts in the amounts of CO2 produced by light commercial vehicles and have announced the targets they have in mind. The EU, say it wants to see an average CO2 figure of 175g/km and an average fuel consumption figure of 42.8mpg […]

Yes that’s an odd question, but a recent industry poll of around 2000 people concerning the ATA (Automotive Technician Accreditation) scheme asking amongst other things, who you would trust to repair your car, showed that in terms of public figures, well its Her Majesty you trust the most, or at least 16% of you said […]

Following the purchase of the assets of the failed West Midlands van maker LDV by a company called Eco Concept Ltd, it seems that the LDV name might yet be seen on new “Maxus” vans built in the West Midlands. Dr Ou Li, who owns the new company and had previously worked as a consultant […]

No one wants to spend money particularly in difficult times, but everyone agrees saving money has to be a good thing. It might seem odd, but reviewing the cars and vans you operate right now and looking at different ways of funding and running them, could do just that, “save you money”. I know, it’s […]

VERY IMPORTANT This is a little complicated, but if you are ever going to pull any trailer with a van, a 4×4 or a pick-up truck, you really need to read this, then take what ever action you need to as ignorance of the law will be no defence should the worst happen. On the […]

We reported last month on the intention by the Police to come down just as hard on drivers who have taken or used “drugs” before driving, as they do on drunk drivers and we like everyone are fully behind this move. Well it seems the boys in blue from North Wales are going to be […]

Strangely, it seems that after sending their driving licences to the DVLA, for a change of address, or renewal, some drivers have found that they are coming back with categories, or classes they were entitled to drive previously now missing. We are writing this, just in case any of our readers have their licence back, […]

Companies that run vehicles in London face more charges as London Mayor Boris Johnson has revealed plans to increase the London Congestion Charge from £8 to £10.  To add a bit more pain, currently, if you run 10 or more vehicles, you can claim a £1 discount on the £8 and that’s going to be […]

(At least we have a good excuse!) We all know that governments want to tax us on every single thing they can, but its finding a justification, or a good reason to do that.  There no point denying it, that’s what governments do and whilst the opposition will of course criticise the government when they […]

It’s in the eye of the beholder. You’ve probably heard that plans are afoot, to give the Police extra powers to issue on the spot fines and points on your licence for careless driving. Well this proposal has been heavily criticised by the Institute of Advanced Motorists and I have got to say, I am […]

We are all aware of the term “drink driving” well the term “drug driving” is set to become just as familiar to us all as the Government has indicated its going to get tough on what until now has largely been overlooked, ignored or swept under the carpet in all but the most severe cases. […]

The RAC Foundation in conjunction with Ipsos MORI, have produced a report based upon results of a survey on car use. Amongst the interesting findings is the fact that over half of motorists would rather risk getting stuck in traffic, than use public transport.  The report also says motorists are not convinced about alternatives to […]

Genesis, or Armageddon? It doesn’t come as a shock that innovative car maker Nissan will be one of the first main stream car makers to offer an all electric vehicle, as they unveil there new “LEAF” which will go on sale before the end of 2010 and it will produce ZERO emissions. Pretty much like […]

Forget all the green issues and congestion issues, road pricing is going to happen for one reason and one reason only and that’s to continue the revenue stream that government currently get from motorists. At the moment, we all pay tax on the fuel we use to run our cars and it’s around £3.25 a […]

Despite the difficult times we’ve all been through, there are still lots of interesting and exciting new cars and vans being released in the next 12 months for us to spend our hard earned cash on. Whilst its certain, that the car makers have shelved some of their plans because of the difficult market, it takes […]

It’s very sad when any business has to close its doors and lay of its staff and it’s particularly sad, when it’s another part of our dwindling manufacturing industry, such as Birmingham van maker LDV. Around 4,000 jobs will go with the announcement that LDV has gone into receivership and that’s awful, but there are […]

It’s always good to have some good news to talk about and latest figures from The Department for Transport give us just that, as they confirm that road deaths show there was a 14% reduction over 2007, to a low of 2,538 fatalities. 2007 figures themselves were pretty good as well, as for the first […]

True to form, Vauxhall’s new Insignia is getting the VXR treatment, following a long line of Vauxhalls that have been breathed upon to get our hearts beating and pulses racing. Its difficult to describe how its going to look, but basically, its getting a front and rear end job, 19” alloy wheels and lots of […]

(Oh you think so?) Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary has confirmed to press that the “pay as you drive” scheme has been shelved and that the government will “definitely” not now proceed with the road pricing scheme in the next parliament. Sounds a bit like a football club chairman giving his manager the vote of […]

New Mini has been popular since it was launched back in 2001 and at that time, you could get a new Mini one for a touch over £10,000 on the road. Since then, prices have risen and the cheapest  Mini One these days is over £12,000 and indeed, you can pay up to £25,000 for […]

After months of speculation, it looks like Saab has been rescued from the brink of disaster as a new deal, could see it emerge from the bankruptcy process it entered earlier this year. Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg, have signed what’s referred to as a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with General Motors to purchase the Saab […]

Its pretty clear that Korean car maker Kia really mean business in Europe as they have just announced the appointment of Paul Philpott (Kia’s current UK Managing Director) as their Chief Operating Officer for Europe. Paul Philpott, 42, is well know in the industry, and started his career with Ford Motor Company way back in […]

On June 1st 2009, Vauxhalls parent company General Motors announced filed for what’s effectively bankruptcy (but not as we know it) and reached agreements with the U.S. Treasury and the government of Canada, which it believes will accelerate its reinvention and create a leaner, stronger “New GM” positioned for a profitable and competitive future. Chapter […]

Clearly, if you’ve got a car that qualifies for the “scrappage scheme”, it really is time to get yourself down to your local dealer and scrap your old banger, as you’re old £100 car can return you a healthy £2000 against a modern, green fuel efficient and reliable replacement. So what impact has the scheme […]

Its ironic isn’t it that a company that makes a handful of cars a year can still be the most profitable part of the Italian motor group FIAT. In view of the trends in the motor trade at the moment, it must tell you something either about the amount of real wealthy buyers that are […]

Italian manufacturer Piaggio (famous for the Vespa scooter amongst Mod’s everywhere) have announced that their UK importer Perodua UK will be selling Piaggio’s single-seater Ape three-wheeler in the UK with prices starting at £3595 + vat. This quirky little 3 wheeler has a whole range of build options, with engines ranging from 50cc and 218cc […]

Vauxhall have announced the launch of sub 6 second Insignia.  Referred to as the “Über Insignia in Vauxhalls press release the new Insignia VXR is due to hit showrooms in early summer 2009 and again, according to Vauxhall, “has a level of dynamic prowess which aims to raise the bar in its class”, what ever […]

Nissan have just announced they the launch of Cabstar Recovery Vehicle (or car transporter to you and me).  Capable of carrying vehicles up to the size of Nissans huge Pathfinder, which equates to a payload of 2336kg the new vehicle is fitted with a light weight alloy body with a 4950mm x 1950mm load bed. […]

The Police force will soon be able to monitor our every movement and monitor our journeys on a national level, using a UK wide network of cameras that can automatically register our car number plates each time we pass one. Using (ANPR), or Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, which can be added to any high […]

Recent figures from HM Revenue & Customs showed that in 2006/2007 the number of benefit in kind company cars we are using, rose from 1.14 million in the previous year, to 1.16 million and that’s the first time we’ve seen any kind of year on year increase since the 2001/2002 figures. There have been many […]

One thing that Mini hasn’t been short of over the last 50yrs is special editions and Mini’s German owners BMW are sticking with that tradition as they release a number of new “specials” to commemorate Sir Alex Issigonis’s revolutionary little car that was originally launched in 1959. Top of the pile is the John Cooper […]

New rules on Capital Allowances on company cars came into force on April 1st 2009 and whilst they are designed to promote the use of “greener” vehicles, the ability of being able to offset 100% of your monthly Contract Hire or Leasing payment against your tax bill if you choose a car that produces less […]

For a long time now, there have been employees that have chosen to opt out of their companies “company car scheme” and for sure, in certain cases, well it made good sense to do that. But the question is, does it still make sense? Drivers that only use a car as a perk and don’t […]

Probably the most discerning car purchasers, strangely enough are the fleet buyers and maybe we can all learn a thing or two from them about buying cars. The decisions made by company fleet managers as to what vehicles to operate have to take into consideration not just what a car costs, but what its going […]

There have been lots of rumours that governments are determined to impose greater control over every vehicle user across Europe, through imposition of a spying device in every car on the road. Already drivers are policed to a substantial extent and it’s all done in the name of road safety.  OK, it’s difficult to argue […]

Chrysler claim to be the world leaders in selling what we now call MPV’s, they also claim to have invented the concept, with the launch of the Chrysler Voyager 25 years ago (we will look at the truth of that later) but since then Chrysler have sold more than 12 million vehicles worldwide. To commemorate […]

Plans are being considered to reduce the speed limits on rural single carriageway roads from 60mph to 50mph. Whilst its thought the move will be potentially unpopular, the government believes it will cut road deaths amongst motorists. Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick is reacting to figures which suggest that the rural parts of the road […]

Not content with offering the best new car warranty in Europe – Kia Motors has gone even further, now offering up to seven year’s warranty, even on a used car! From April, customers buying an Approved used Kia up to 18 months old with no more than 18,000 miles on the clock can get the […]

Unprecedented problems in the motor industry have led to cancellation of the 2010 Motor Show.  Or have they? The Motor Show used to be a great day out.  Thousands of us made what was then an annual pilgrimage to London to see our dream cars in the glossiest of surroundings. We took our wives, took […]

For years now we Brit’s could get on the spot fines for breaking the motoring laws in other countries in Europe. Hiring a car on holiday in Europe used to be a licence to be an anarchist as frankly, you could speed when you wanted, park where you wanted and run how ever many red […]

Whilst it might seem amazing that over 60% of us don’t know the drink drive limits in the UK, just ask yourself what you think you can drink and still be legal? From personal experience, I could only guess and even then the accuracy of my best guess can change depending on your constitution and […]

The government is considering incentives to encourage drivers to replace old polluting cars with new ones, according to Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson. In some countries, such as Germany, Spain and France, what are known as “scrappage schemes” are already in place where motorists are paid to trade in their old vehicles in favour of new […]

How many more schemes are greedy local councils going to come up with to take more money of the businesses in there area?  Well they’ve found a new one and it’s to charge them a fee, for each car parking space they provide for their employees. Yes, I know, it sounds like a joke to […]

Well we all got excited about the European Car of the Year, then look what happened; they gave it to a car that wasn’t even for sale anywhere in Europe at the time the award was given. Anyway, more excitement on the horizon as a group of 50 motoring journalists from around the world have […]

Well guys, seems the recession is only going to affect us normal folk, as Mercedes Benz owned luxury car maker Maybach, have just announced new versions of both the 57 and 62 limousines, aimed firmly at the super rich. Not sure what these look like? Well if you’ve ever seen Dragon’s Den, or perhaps ‘X’ […]

Suffer from allergies? Well Ford Motor Company is the only car manufacturer to have its cars independently checked by the British Allergy Foundation (BAF) and the internationally renowned test authority TV. The new Fiesta is the latest ford model especially designed and tested to help protect car occupants from potentially health threatening allergic reactions and […]

Around 1100 jobs could be safeguarded at Nissan’s Sunderland plant, as Nissan are to reveal their latest compact car at the 79th Geneva Motor Show. The concept is called ‘Qazana’  and the yet unnamed production car is planned to be built in Nissan’s super efficient Sunderland plant from 2010 and whilst that’s not been 100% […]

“Some companies make cars, others make history” is a strap line from Saab’s website, but it looks like Saab may be on the verge of leaving its mark in a way clearly, none of us want, as the Swedish manufacturer recently filed for what’s called ‘reorganisation’ which is effectively the same as Chapter 11 Bankruptcy […]

Dupont, who make automotive paint have just released their annual survey into new car colours for vehicles registered in 2008. We all know how important the colour of a car is to the user when they choose a new car, well whilst they are not thinking about it at the time they buy it, its […]

Most of us think that just a ‘little bump’ is going to be that, but did you know it could cost you thousands of pounds and leave you to walk home? Well research undertaken by The Thatcham Motor Insurance Research Centre into how bumpers protect your vehicle from damage, have revealed some amazing results and […]

OK, so what’s new there?  I can’t really remember at time when any motorist truly trusted any government over any road issues, or indeed on taxation issues, so when the two collide, its pretty obvious there isn’t going to be a lot of confidence that anything that happens is going to be for the good […]

A double win for Ford this year as the Ford Transit Connect was named as Fleet Light Van of the Year for the sixth time while its bigger brother, the Ford Transit made it 14 years in a row as it took top award as “Fleet Panel Van of the Year” The Association of Car […]

In a recent court hearing, a district judge ruled that even switching off an alarm on the phone was considered as “using the phone”. The driver wasn’t making a call, but a police officer saw the drivers hand and his thumb move across the keys. The judge ruled that it didn’t matter what the driver […]

Despite a relationship dating back nearly 30 years, Ford in the USA have decided that cash talks and have sold off part of its share in Mazda Motor Corp. The company said it is reducing its stake in Mazda from 33.4 percent to just over 13 percent. Under the agreement, the divestiture of Ford’s shares […]

Recent research has shown that many car fleet operators seem to be choosing petrol powered cars over diesel.  The research also indicated that the popularity of electric & hybrid vehicles is increasing also. There is a significant price difference between the cost of a gallon of diesel and a gallon of petrol putting lower priced […]

The VW Group has become the first manufacturer to contact us and warn us that the use of B30 Bio diesel in any of their group product IS NOT APPROVED and may invalidate the engine and fuel system warranties. This applies to all VW Group products, which includes Seat, Skoda, VW, Audi and Volkswagen Commercial […]

Territorial Dogs, Steamy Couples & Vehicles of Worship The RAC have just issued a press release, giving details of the weird call outs its patrols have responded to and we thought you might find it quite amusing:- No one day is ever the same for an RAC patrol as new research* reveals the weirdest and […]

Fiat Auto have decided not to go ahead with the planned re-launch of the Lancia brand in the UK, due to the effects of the world wide credit crunch. It seems however, that this isn’t the end of Fiat’s plans, but it’s just an issue of timing and it’s still intended at some point for […]

Auto Mundial (yep you’ve probably never heard of them) is a TV motoring magazine program that’s shown in over 40 countries worldwide. Well they’ve spent the last 12 months testing and reporting on cars from all over the world and from a group that included the BMW M3, the Porsche 911 and 4×4’s and city […]

Many good things have come out of Manchester, Oasis, Boddingtons and of course, Manchester United, plus a whole string of famous faces, but the people of Manchester have just proven that they are all stars by making a decision that has rocked the establishment and giving a firm and overwhelming no to plans to implement […]

In an announcement from Ford in the USA, Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO, has confirmed that the strategic options for Volvo are being re-evaluated.  Mr Mulally said that Ford are committed to making the best decision for both Ford and Volvo. The significant downturn in the global automotive market and economic stability world wide, […]

Whilst electrically powered cars are in their infancy, the concept has been given a boost in London with the launch of the first electric vehicle re-charge zone. Ten boroughs in London that form the South and West London Transport Conference Partnership (SWELTRAC) are installing re-charging posts allowing drivers to plug in and charge their cars […]

The Ford Transit has taken top spot as Britain’s most reliable van in this years FN50 reliability survey (for the second year running), probably confirming what most people who operate Ford vans are already aware of. One of the industries most respected fleet publications, “Fleet News” completed an analysis of more than 100,000 vans operated […]

But does that mean anything? Fact is, probably not. On the face of it, well done to Vauxhall, but when you consider how the award is arrived at, you have to question how it possible that a car that’s not even on sale anywhere in Europe until next year can win any kind of “best […]

But haven’t you forgotten something? If I told you that I had given up hunting foxes with hounds, but conveniently forgot to mention I go hunting for stags with a 12 bore, you might rightly think I wasn’t telling you the whole story. Well obviously that kind of thing happens in the motor industry as […]

You must have seen the adverts for the Lexus RX400h.  It’s a big 4wd vehicle, but this ones a little bit special, as its fitted with Toyota’s “Hybrid Drive Technology”. The advert headlines with “Put Your Carbon Footprint Down” and claimed the Lexus RX400h is a luxury car with a conscience, in fact, “A luxury […]

The Ford Focus is justifiably the country’s most popular new car and has just been voted for the second year running as the “Used Car of the Year” in the Auto Express Glass’s Guide Used Car Honours for 2008.  Significantly, the judges were unanimous in their decision to award the top accolade to the Focus. […]

You are a braver man than me, that’s all I can say! According to eBay Motors, buyers are becoming more savvy and increasingly researching resale values on-line before buying a second hand vehicle. The auction site reported the sales of “hybrid” cars seeing massive growth as people try to save on fuel costs.  On the […]

The Road Transport Laboratory have completed a study that claims sending a text whilst driving is more dangerous than jumping in your car when you’ve had a drink or two. In tests, the reaction time of drivers texting, dropped by 35%, whilst those who had drunk the legal limit for alcohol, only dropped by 21% […]

Earlier this year, the law changed forever.  Before April 2008, it was pretty much impossible to take a large company to court charged with manslaughter. Now that’s different and no matter what the company, if someone gets killed whilst driving at work, its going to be investigated. If a company is found guilty, the punishment […]

Most of us hate road signs, but in fact, many of us don’t notice them anymore as we just become oblivious to them. So maybe that’s why Transport Minister “Rosie Winterton” has embarked on a review of our current signage with the aim being to by using the latest technology to help cut down congestion […]

With a 3.0 litre D-4D engine and motorsport performance upgrade, Toyota’s new Hi-Lux Invincible 200 Double Cab pickup is billed as the most powerful ever available in the UK. The upgrade takes the power from 171ps in the current Invincible up to 197ps (hence the 200 name).  Torque is increased massively from 343nm to 430nm […]

Top London football team, Arsenal have signed a 3 year sponsorship deal with Citroen allowing them to become the clubs official car supplier. Citroen’s UK’s Managing Director, Xavier Duchemin says that Citroen share much in common with Aresenal, as both have a reputation for creativity, style and flair.  He sited teaming up with Arsenal as […]

Who do you think you are? Michael Schumacher. Driving god, Formula One legend and seven times F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher proved he’s no better than us when it comes to driving on the road after apparently crashing his Fiat van into a Kent used car dealerships security gate. The Dealer principal of Millfield Motor […]

Seems the Jeep Cherokee has been around for years, well in fact it has, as its first incarnation was way back in 1984, whilst it was on the drawing board as early as 1978 when a team from American Motors and of all people, Renault began designing it. There have been a number of facelifts […]

Alfa Romeo is hoping for big things with its new Mito compact which was on show at the London Motor Show recently. This new “baby” Alfa is the first small car that the Italian manufacturer has made for some years and its billed as being a quality small car, more aimed at cars such as […]

The market for cars such as Vauxhalls new Vectra replacement “the Insignia” is a pretty competitive place, with new Ford Mondeo, new Citroen C5 and new Skoda Superb all wanting a chunk of it and so pricing is going to be crucial. Vauxhall say the Insignia lead in model called the exclusive with the 1.8 […]

Renault has always been a wee bit balmy when it comes to making radical road cars.  Remember the Avantime, or the tasty little Clio V6, well it could only be Renault that did that and they’ve done it again. The car is called the Megane Renaultsport R26.R, and it’s a heavily revised version of the […]

A recent survey by RoadPilot Ltd has discovered that the majority of British motorists think speed cameras make them worse drivers. Its easy to say “well they would say that, wouldn’t they” but fact is that 1 in 3 drivers say they brake instinctively on seeing a speed camera, irrespective of the speed they are […]

The new Laguna really is a good car, a very good car and a major step forward, but lets face it, it aint pretty is it, or am I just being harsh. Here at BVL headquarters, we felt that the Laguna hatch was designed by committee and that they clearly never met until they came […]

An Australian couple has attained two Guinness Book of World Records and blown everyone away, by achieving a massive 90.75mg from their Peugeot 308 diesel. In a 25 day, 9000 mile journey along the Australian coastline, John and Helen Taylor managed to get 1192 miles on just one tank of fuel which is only 60 […]

Fords new Kuga was awarded a full 5 stars for adult occupant protection in its first NCAP test.  Proving it’s not just a pretty face, the kuga also went on to win 4 out of 5 stars for child occupant protection and 3 out of 4 for pedestrian protection. Seat’s Ibiza was the other big […]

We have always known how good Skoda products are and just what great value for money they offer and it now seems that fleets are wising up to this as well, for in April 2008, Skoda achieved its highest ever fleet market share, registering 2,015 new fleet vehicles in the UK, which represents 2.2% share […]

Nissan have announced details of their new Pickup. The NP300, is currently available in Single and King cab and will be available in Double Cab from July 08. Available in 4X2 and 4×4 formats this replaces the old D22 pickup and now benefits from a Euro IV engine. The range will also be enhanced by […]

Go ahead has been given to spend almost 90 million pounds of our hard earned cash on a 62 mile stretch of the A14. The stretch of road runs from Felixstowe in the East, and joins up with the M1 in the west and if you’ve ever driven that road, well you will know just […]

Figures show that 95% of all pedestrians’ casualties and 92% of all cyclist casualties are injured or killed on built up roads with speed limits which are under 40MPH.  Whilst that might seem shocking, if you think about it, it’s logical, it’s no surprise and it’s maybe what you would expect as not too many […]

WhatGreenCar? has awarded its first Green Car of the Year Award 2008 to the new Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic. The Focus has CO2 emissions of only 115g/km (65.6mpg on a combined test cycle) and, with a diesel particulate filter fitted as standard on the 110PS engine, a WGC? rating of only 33; the lowest […]

It’s in all of our interests to use the least amount of fuel we can, if only because of how much it costs and of course, for every gallon we burn, we chuck out CO2 into the atmosphere. The best way of doing this is by choosing the most eco-friendly cars you can and I […]

It seems that a much more measured policy towards transport in London is likely with the election of new Mayor, Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson has already stated that one of his first changes will be to begin consultation with the residents in the area which forms part of the “westward extension” of the congestion zone. […]

Recent statistics suggest we all spend around 5 years of our life traveling to and from work. The stats say on average, we spend 29 “working” days each year, with commuters in London spending even longer as their 3 hour average daily commute adds up to a massive 96 working days each year or 18 […]

I decided to start this item with the 450 a day figure, as it shocked me and I hope it does the same for you, because new figures released by The Department of Justice, equates to almost 165,000 of us each year getting caught using a hand held phone while driving. Police issued 164,900 fixed […]

Just days after Ruth Kelly, The Minister For Transport announced the that a high occupancy lane would be opened on the M606 and M62, the Government announced it has abandoned plans to introduce a similar high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the M1. Intended to be in place between junctions 7 & 10 on the […]

Well, you’re not going to be surprised to hear this, but a report by The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has found that one-third of all ministerial vehicles were amongst the highest polluting cars on the road. Presently, 30 of the 85 cars provided to Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are in the VED Band F, which […]

The Association of British Insurers has called for a minimum one-year probationary period for all learner drivers, and restrictions on the number of passengers young drivers can carry. It points out that motorists aged 18 cause 50 collisions every day – nearly three times as many as drivers in their fifties. We agree whole heartedly […]

It’s a strange place for a report to come from, but the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, say that traffic light cameras cause crashes rather than protect motorists, by provoking drivers into making abrupt sudden stops. Well any sensible motorist knows that’s the case, its only the Government who seem not to, […]

Drivers should be warned that if they are caught breaking traffic laws in any EU country in future, it’s likely they will be later prosecuted in their home country. Currently, although drivers breaking the law are liable to pay fines or suffer other punishments if they break traffic laws in foreign EU countries, this often […]

By now, the motorists in this country have become used to being slapped around the head by successive governments as for years they have been used as a cash cow for even the most flimsy of reasons. There were few surprises in Mr. Darling’s big red box, as all of us knew that we were […]

Although initially gripped by shock that two of England’s most prestigious and long established brands could be heading overseas to India, once things began to settle down, the picture changed dramatically as it became clear that this was going to be the first time in years that these two brands could actually have both financial […]

Whilst we all know we can’t rely on politicians to always do what they say they will, its getting pretty certain we can rely on them changing the goal posts when ever it suits them. Currently, electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid are exempt from the daily […]

Proposed changes to the London Congestion charge have angered car makers Porsche. The Mayor of London has announced that all cars that emit more than 225g/km of CO2 are going to be charged a whopping £25 a day for setting a foot (or a Pirelli) inside the congestion zone. Previously these cars were charged £8 […]

Following the launch of the very impressive new Mondeo in mid 2007, it’s going to be another big 12 months for Ford Motor Company as by the end of the year, they will have the most modern and latest released range of cars of any manufacturer. Ford have announced some really exciting products including a […]

OK, it might just be a £5 increase, but it represents a 10% increase as the governments “First Registration Fee” amount increases to £55 from April 2008, but never the less, with around 2.3 million plus vehicles likely to be registered in 2008, its another 11 million quid or so that going to be tucked […]

Whilst this might sound rude, in fact it relates to a twice yearly survey that’s carried out by The Institute of Customer Service. The UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) awards marks out of 100 and takes its survey from more than 6000 people and asks them to rate 12 key public sectors based upon consumer […]

It’s over 80 years that Volvo have been making cars now and that’s a long time, but in that time, Volvo have built a massive 15 million vehicles. The very first Volvo car left the factory on April 14, 1927 and it was called the ÖV4 which meant “Open vehicle” with 4 indicating the number […]

We all know how good Skoda cars are so it should be no surprise that the Czech car manufacturer has announced record sales in the UK for 2007. Cars such as the new Fabia and additional models such as the Octavia  and Roomster Scout versions have boosted Skoda’s sales in the UK to 40,713 vehicles […]

Its always good news for the customer when a vehicle manufacturer increases its warranty periods. It shows they have confidence in their product and gives everyone that runs one a greater piece of mind. Fact is, based upon our experience; Renault needed to do it more than most. Applying to vehicles registered from 1st January […]

Whilst we have never heard of Planet 4×4 Magazine, its always nice to win something and in recent test by Planet 4×4, the third incarnation of the Discovery has been named by the magazine as the “Britain’s most practical 4×4” In the tests, the Discovery 3 scored 93 points out of 100 (pretty impressive) and […]

Lets Just Pretend We Are Green – If we talk about it a bit, everyone will believe it. The Government are to keep van CO2 and fuel economy figures secret from us, despite data being available. From January 2008, new legislation will force manufacturers of all vans less than 3.5 tonnes to have them emissions […]

Arriving on the roads of the UK in spring 2008, the new Audi A3 Cabriolet is Audi’s first premium compact class “open top”. Audi claim the A3 Cabriolet will comfortably seat 4 adults, so that’s going to put it ahead of much of the opposition, which frankly are two plus two’s. The A3 Cabriolet has […]

The Honda Accord, has been voted as the most reliable car in the UK in this years Fleet News FN50 awards, whilst Honda also won the award overall as the top car manufacturer. In a separate survey, Ford picked up top honours in the light commercial sector with a clean sweep for both manufacturer and […]

To celebrate their involvement as support vehicles for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boormans latest motorcycle adventure the “Long Way Down” as featured in the BBC series, Nissan have announced details of two “Long Way Down” special editions. The first is based on Nissans superb Navara, with the other vehicle getting the treatment being the world […]

Tough new guidelines published by the Crown Prosecution Service recommend up to a 2 year jail sentence for drivers found guilty of dangerous driving caused by them using mobile phones or fiddling with their Sat-Nav or MP3 systems. CPS says where there is clear evidence that using a phone handset or toying with the cars […]

Nissan are shortly to launch a range of light commercial vehicles with special bodies that you can buy direct from the local dealer, rather than having to buy the basic vehicle then getting them converted yourself. The Good-To-Go range will include tippers, box vans, dropsides and refrigerated vehicles.  Kubistar, Primastar, Interstar and Cabstar will all […]

Whilst it’s been law for years now that car manufacturers have to provide information about a cars fuel consumption figures and the CO2 it produces, van manufacturers have pretty much got off scott free. Its always been claimed its difficult to arrive at fuel consumption figures for vans because they would vary so much depending […]

The nanny state is striking again as Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, in league with the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, are asking that tobacco-style safety warnings are introduced on TV car commercials as part of the awareness campaign against global warming and climate change. Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies would like 20% of the TV […]

If proposals put forward by Transport For London are ratified, cars that produce 120 g/km of CO2 or less will shortly be exempt from the London Congestion Charge, which is currently £8 a day.  Currently, only electric vehicles or Hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Hybrid were exempt from the charge and […]