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It looks as though local councils are now to launch the publicised workplace parking levy. First to make the move is Nottingham City Council, much to the annoyance of one of their biggest employers, Boots, who have 3,000 affected parking places that will incur an annual charge of £253 per car rising to £350 per car after 2 years. The rule, approved by the government to start from Read more »

If you drive a diesel car you probably know that it is fitted with a particulate filter. It is there to remove the dangerous particulates from the emission gasses. Some believe that particulates cause more damage to the environment than CO2, hence the importance of having particulate filters fitted. But they are prone to clog up with the particulates, however, they are made to effectively self clean. It is important that you Read more »

Thinking of selling your car and taking out a lease on a new car? Well, according to Manheim, the car auction house, now is a good time for you to sell you car as used car prices have been shooting up recently. An 8 month old ex rental car with less than 8,000 miles on is now fetching £2,200 more than it was a year ago. Manheim auctions increased their average sale price by 4% in July over June whilst British Car Auctions saw a 3% increase. Year on year prices are up by Read more »

This is becoming a real technology week, we’re now onto Sat Navs that save you fuel! Yep, I kid you not. Whilst the sat nav on my last car, a BMW 7 Series, insisted on taking me round in a complete circle in the middle of London for a good ¾ hour last Christmas and after averting a traffic jam on the M25, on many occasions, insisted on re-routing me straight back into the midst of the logjam, they think they have the technology to calculate the route that saves most fuel! Bosch are currently Read more »

First Hybrid cars that mix n match petrol power with battery power and now all electric cars, heavily supported by prime minister Mandleson, that will save the planet and will be the future, must have, green accessory! Oh no it won’t! Well not if the already frugal Citroen C1, modified by the Electric Car Corporation, continues to cover just 70 miles on a full battery and at a cost of £16,850, twice the cost of the standard petrol version. No way Jose? Having said that Read more »

If you are a formula 1 fan like me you will often hear comments being made about tyre temperature and its effect on grip. Well it’s not surprising to learn that weather conditions can not only affect the handling of the car but also the fuel consumption. In wet weather grip decreases but did you know that fuel consumption increases by up to 10% in a downpour, so best you stay at home when it’s raining hard. Also grip increases in hot weather but fuel consumption drops by 1-2% for every 5 degree Centigrade increase in temperature.  By Graham Hill

Thinking of taking a used car next time? Over 8 million drivers do each year. The reasons for moving from a new car to a used car vary, maybe you’ve lost your company car through redundancy or a cash for car scheme or maybe you have seen the low prices that 2 and 3 year old cars have fallen to and would look to save some money, but after a friend of mine lost his Renault Megane for nearly two days in order to have his clutch replaced it reminded me that we are living in a throwaway society. Things don’t Read more »

With more cars being fitted with air conditioning it is worth remembering that it comes at a cost. When trundling along the motorway it can cost up to 10% more in fuel usage and sitting in a traffic jam this can rise to 20% so it makes sense not to drive around with the air conditioning on for the sake of it and certainly don’t, as a friend did a few days ago, Read more »

One of the things that makes a car look really ‘scruffy’ is a badly scratched or scuffed alloy wheel and yet it is so easy to damage but just as easy to repair. There are a number of companies that will offer a local service. They will call round and either fix the wheel(s) at the roadside or take the car away and bring it back later with the wheel(s) looking like new. This is quite useful to know because if you return a lease car Read more »

Now here’s a strange fact! When it comes to new cars the most popular colour constantly flips between black and silver with, strangely enough, white coming up on the inside rails. Who ever thought that white would ever make a return as one of the most popular colours for new cars, what next – chocolate brown or possibly beige? Anyway, for years the most popular colour for used cars has apparently been blue, replaced in the first quarter of this year, according to Manheim auctions, by Read more »