Thursday, 7. October 2010
Kwik-Fit are to carry out some major training programmes of staff following a recent BBC Watchdog report. They have said they are going to invest a further £1 million in training as a direct result of the allegations made by the BBC. They are to also increase their mystery shopper programme in an effort to identify and stop overselling by staff. The company is said to operate a zero tolerance policy in cases where Read more »
Thursday, 7. October 2010
Buying a used car from a dealer? Then you should be more aware of your rights according to the Office of Fair Trading, who have reported that the number of complaints against dealers, for faults that have come to light within the first 3 months, has increased by 18% during the first half of 2010. The Office of Fair Trading Direct received over 38,000 complaints and, as Michele Shambrook of the OFT pointed out, ‘Most of the faults that come to light are the dealer’s responsibility.’ Had a bad used car experience when purchased from a car dealer, please let me know? By Graham Hill
Tuesday, 5. October 2010
Now here’s something you probably didn’t know about. We all know that if we are convicted of speeding and receive the automatic points on your licence you must declare that to your insurer immediately and suffer the increase in premium. Some insurers don’t increase the premium if it’s your first speeding fine but others do so check with your insurer. But here’s the thing, what happens if you are caught speeding, but as an alternative to a fine and points on your licence, you are given the Read more »
Sunday, 3. October 2010
It would seem that magistrates have gone soft, as a result of the recession, if you have accidentally reached the automatic driving ban of 12 points on your licence. Some say this is wrong and that the ban should be automatically imposed, especially in extreme cases like the driver who was allowed to keep his licence even after he amassed 54 Read more »
Thursday, 30. September 2010
The gap is starting to open up between petrol and diesel at the pumps again, pushing drivers towards petrol cars. There is also continued concern that people that take diesels fitted with particulate filters, as all new diesel cars have to have fitted, do not understand that they need to run the car at over 50mph for at least 20 minutes in one session per month in order to create the chemical reaction that clears out the filter. If this isn’t done the filter clogs and needs to be replaced costing hundreds of Read more »
Thursday, 30. September 2010
Auto Express has launched a campaign to force manufacturers to disclose known problems with their cars. At the moment the manufacturers only have to make public known safety faults that are subject to recall. For all other problems, such as reliability issues, these do not have to be made public. The AA, RAC and Retail Motor Industry Federation have all joined with Auto Express to put pressure on manufacturers to make public their technical service bulletins – the documents that detail the Read more »
Wednesday, 29. September 2010
The dangers of using insurance comparison sites has been highlighted by incidents in which payouts could be avoided by the insurers because drivers have been confused by some of the questions that may have been handled differently and more clearly if an actual broker helped you to compete your application form. As most people know insurers have to be made aware of any modifications that have been fitted to the car. If the mods have not been declared the insurer could refuse payout in Read more »
Monday, 27. September 2010
Another amazing piece of news is that my blog is number one! When I was much younger I had aspirations to become a singer and maybe top the charts, make a fortune and have lots of screaming teenagers throwing themselves at me whilst I disappeared off down the road in my E Type Jag. OK, with a voice like mine it was never going to happen and I’ve dated a few nice ladies over the years and of course driven some Read more »
Thursday, 2. September 2010
As if by magic, after writing the earlier gadget of the week article, I immediately read about the car manufacturers up in arms because the EU has just added another item of safety technology to their growing list of compulsory fitments, you guessed it Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS). They feel it is unnecessary and adds around £250 to the cost of the car (methinks they should pop down to Maplins). Whilst the manufacturers argue the toss over whether this addition will actually save Read more »
Saturday, 28. August 2010
This week our gadget of the week should be called dopy gadget of the week or more money than sense gadget of the week. It’s in fact a polish for your car, priced at, wait for it, £275 for a 270ml pot or a pound a millilitre! The polish is Raceglaze’s Signature Black Label Wax which contains a high content of carnauba, apparently one of the most prized car care products – bit of an understatement that one! But the best is Read more »