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Do you know how long points stay on your licence for? Most people think 3 years but in fact speeding offences stay on there for 4 years and others stay on for longer. For example drink driving points remain on your licence for 11 years. Even though speeding points stay on your licence for 4 years they are only valid for 3 years.

So if you have 9 points on your licence after 3 years but clock up another 3 points in the 4^th year you wont lose your licence under the totting up system. The expired points can be removed from your licence by the DVLA but you will have to pay a fee of £20 for a replacement ‘clean’ licence. Are you confused by the points system, let’s discuss? By Graham Hill

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Years ago when run flat tyres were introduced they seemed like a great idea but drivers were then told that they couldn’t mix up run flats with conventional tyres and you couldn’t get a puncture repaired. Once the tyre had been punctures, whilst the run flat would get you home the bad news was that you then needed to replace the tyre. However, I have found out that this isn’t necessarily the case. It was highlighted recently when a lady driver managed to get a nail in her run flat tyre fitted to a Read more »

A few weeks ago I had a bet with an old friend of mine over one of the critical sectors that I believed had been omitted from the new EU Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) which came fully into force from 1^st February. The question was over Hire Purchase. I knew that the sister product, known as Conditional Sale, was included but it was my understanding that Hire Purchase was excluded and was therefore simply controlled, as it always has been, by our existing Consumer Credit Act. Confused? It gets Read more »

A good friend of mine reports on the crooked activities of the motor industry and has recently expressed his concerns over the direction that many of the online (bucket shop) advertisers as well as even some lenders are going. The latest scam revolves around delivery of your new car. The driver turns up with your car and an invoice for £250 delivery charge. They even carry with them a GPS credit card terminal on which you can make the payment. They point out the charge was included in Read more »

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Drivers are travelling less miles according to figures issued by the Department for Transport for 2010. Provisional figures show that vehicle use is down by 3.3% since 2007 which means that we drove a massive 8.3 billion miles less last year. From 1993 to 2007 car use continued to rise peaking at 251 billion miles in 2007. However, 2010’s total of 242 billion car miles means that we are back to 2002 levels. If you include in the figures all vehicle types the total is 306.6 billion miles in 2010, also Read more »

It seems that every week I read a similar story in Auto Express about a driver who has bought either a new or used car that has turned out to be a complete dog then struggled to get their money back. The fact is that the law is very clear on this point. If you buy faulty goods and a fault is found immediately or within the first 6 months you can return the goods and insist on a full refund. And the supplier must give you a full refund. On the other hand you can give the supplier the opportunity to either repair or replace the goods without losing your right to insist on a refund. In the latest case that Auto Express came to the rescue on a buyer of a new Hyundai i30 found the car starting to judder. The driver gave the dealership the opportunity to repair the fault which they attempted without success. The dealer and Hyundai offered a replacement but couldn’t guarantee that the fault would not exist in the replacement. This was 8 months later! The driver decided that he simply wanted his money back, which he received, after Auto Express stepped in – as a ‘gesture of goodwill.’ A gesture of bloody goodwill! It’s his legal right and he should also be entitled to compensation for the inconvenience. This infuriates me because dealers, supported by the manufacturers, feel they are above the law. It’s a disgrace but I really think that Auto Express should employ the services of a solicitor to bang off a formal letter each time they have a similar case to point out the driver’s legal entitlement and tell them to stick their ‘gestures of goodwill’ where the sun don’t shine. Have you experienced similar problems with a dealer not honouring your legal rights? Here’s a little graphic that I found on a Government website that may explain your rights a little easier than my wording:

By Graham Hill

As fuel prices continue to rise the Government is under continual pressure to shelve the fuel duty hike. In April the duty will rise from its current 59pence per litre by inflation plus 1p, estimated at 3 to 4 pence per litre. Diesel is already at an all time high and still rising without the duty hike, causing the AA, RAC, Auto Express, RMIF and others to call on the Government to put the brakes on. The RAC pointed out that there have been 8 tax rises applied to petrol over the last 2 years making the Read more »

Knowing what you are doing when it comes to car finance is so important. I know I bang on about it all the time but let me be quite clear if you guess and get it wrong it could end up costing you a fortune. In a recent edition of Auto Express a lady bought a 5 year old Mini Cooper S Convertible for £10,500 from a main dealer under the Cherished Car scheme. On her way home a warning light came on and the ABS cut in when it didn’t need to. Already a clear case of faulty goods. She returned to the Read more »

Image by velkr0 via Flickr

Big and brash Boris announced in 2009 that London would be the ‘Electric vehicle capital of Europe.’ The aim was to have 25,000 charging points by 2015 which I’m sure caused many manufacturers to sit up and take note believing that the UK was the electrical way forward. Unfortunately that ambitious target has had to be cut somewhat, by 23,700 in fact. Yep, the new figure for installation by 2013 is now down to 1,300. This is a further drop since this time last year when the figure was set at Read more »

I have read several reports recently complaining about the motor insurance industry, it’s pretty much in turmoil with anomalies, inefficiencies over charging and deceit. I reported recently that some companies are now charging substantial arrangement and documentation fees in order to keep the monthly premiums low. We all know that there are a trillion terms in each policy making straight comparison very difficult so we tend to go for the cheapest and hope for the best. By that I mean try Read more »