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If you are an F1 fan, as I am, you regularly hear of ‘marbles’ on the race track making driving difficult if you move off the driving line and into the ‘marbles’. If this has left you confused the marbles aren’t little glass balls they are particles of rubber from the tyres as they wear down.

Race tyres are made of much softer rubber than the tyres that you have fitted to your car but our normal road tyres, when they wear down, emit ‘marbles’ in the form of fine particles of rubber adding to the particulates in the air. The same happens when you brake.

Tiny particles are released as the pads wear down, not as dangerous as when the pads were made of asbestos but still bad for the environment. As a result of the particles still at fairly high levels the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced in its latest Clean Air Strategy that it will be looking into these particulate emissions with a view to working with International Bodies to come up with some new standards for tyres and brakes.

The aim will be to reduce the toxic, non-exhaust emissions, termed as micro-plastics, that are currently polluting the air and water. The study also called for action against older, heavily polluting diesel vehicles with proposed charges to be introduced in all major towns and cities. Frankly, anything that improves air quality is OK by me but we still need clearer guidelines from the Government regarding the dangers of diesel vs petrol – it is long overdue. By Graham Hill

Years ago I was the ‘Man To Go To’ for many middle eastern members of their various royal families when they wanted to buy anti-terror protected cars. Most were top of the range stretched or LWB Mercedes S Class. We would buy the cars from the factory and delivered to a company near Gatwick who would carry out all of the security modifications.

It generally took about 3 months, the car with its armour plated body and bullet-proof glass and special bullet-proof tyres (yes there is such a thing) ended up weighing about 4 times its original weight and cost around 4 times the original cost.

They obviously didn’t need finance but each car had to be overseen by me personally but on the bright side I made a lot of money out of each car. They generally kept the cars in garages under West End houses for use when they came over for a visit.

They tended to keep them for 2 years then part exchange for a new car. On average, after 2 years they had travelled less than 1,000 miles. It cost them a fortune but such was their paranoia regarding safety and security. Who would have thought that many years later a specialist armour plating company would modify a fairly standard family car and for it to be available from a franchised dealer (so I’ve been told)?

An anti-terrorist car in their line up – what’s it all coming to? And I’m not talking Bentley, Mercedes, BMW or Jaguar. I’m talking Skoda – a Skoda Superb Estate. The cars are modified by a British based company and takes about 4 weeks to modify but when the bodywork has been modified and the glass replaced by bulletproof glass the car will meet PAS 300 standards for ballistic and blast protection.

The modified car will weigh much more making the acceleration lower than the standard car’s, 0-60 in 8.4 seconds with the top speed dropping about 20 miles per hour. Rather than bullet-proof tyres they have modified special wheels that will still work even if the tyre is full of holes.

It seems that if you have the money you can have one but with a price tag starting from £118,688 I think I’ll pass. Although I seem to recall reading that some police forces were looking at Skoda Superbs as replacements for current cars – maybe this is why! By Graham Hill

Sadly it seems nearly every week we see the results of another terrorist attack on the news resulting in horrendous injuries and death. In several instances, we have seen vans and cars ploughing into innocent pedestrians but where did the vehicles come from?

Read about a jewel robbery or a security van heist and invariably the vehicles used by the crooks were stolen. But if you think about it nearly every vehicle used in a terrorist attack, aimed at killing and maiming people, was a rental vehicle.

Which must call into question the checks carried out on those people hiring vehicles. It has led to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) having high-level talks with anti-terrorist police.

As Gerry Keaney, CEO of the BVRLA said, he would never have expected to be involved in anti-terrorist talks this time last year – certainly a sign of these unsafe times. I guess if it is made difficult for terrorists to rent vans and cars for their terrorist attacks they will do what others do and steal cars – or is that not acceptable as part of their religion? By Graham Hill

We certainly live in some very confusing times!

The simple answer is no. Let’s take cars. The fact is that we have the second highest number of new car registrations in Europe. So whether we are selling into Europe or importing into the UK, from European countries, it makes commercial sense to keep consistency between all of us.

The problem is that we have always had a seat at the table when deciding on EU laws regarding safety, minimum standards and emissions. And not just a seat but a very influential seat. After exiting the EU we will have the opportunity to make our own laws and safety rules moving forward but without consistency with the EU, any changes to imports to conform to our new rules will potentially make them more expensive.

On the other hand if our rules differ UK based manufacturers will end up making cars for the UK different to those being exported from the UK into Europe. And I’m not just talking about where the steering wheel is fitted.

So will we ever be completely independent?

We will still be able to make representations in the same way that we make representations to foreign countries regarding the use of slave labour in making goods that are imported into the UK. But that isn’t as influential as sitting at the table being part of the negotiations and the decision-making process. Having said that it wouldn’t make sense for us to go our own way when it comes to meeting common objectives such as environment and protecting lives. So most experts believe that these areas, post BREXIT, will remain unchanged.

I also agree with others that we should come away with a free trade agreement. Unlike the free trade agreements between the EU and Canada, that took a painfully long time to agree with the main sticking point – a cheese made by Greece I believe and being called the same name in Canada. That sort of argument shouldn’t exist so it should be fairly simple because we already have a free trade agreement as part of the Customs Union and Single Market Agreements which will end as it stops us negotiating trade agreements with non-EU countries.

But, as I see it, the free trade agreement part of the Customs Union could simply be modified with a few accommodations to keep everyone happy. If we can’t achieve a solution it is estimated that new cars from Europe will cost 10% more and components 4.5% more.

As an old friend of mine, Gerry Keaney, CEO of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), pointed out, if we don’t get a trade deal it will not only affect the cost of cars but also the cost of service and repairs, insurance costs and ultimately inflation and productivity. I’m sure the negotiators have the message loud and clear – we must come out of Europe with a tariff-free trade agreement. By Graham Hill

Data, data, data – nothing but data and BREXIT is all we ever hear about on the news and frankly, it’s getting on my manboobs! Having said that I’m about to add to the pain because apparently there are fisticuffs taking place between manufacturers in order to win over car buyers.

Years ago it was a sunroof, if the car you had your eye on didn’t have a sunroof you would drop it in favour of maybe your second choice of car that did. Then it was air conditioning and CD players. Apparently, it is now the tech that is fitted into your car as the data that it can collect has been estimated to be worth over $750 million (£555 million) by 2020.

So the battle is on to provide the technology that gives the car manufacturers greatest returns because according to Auto-Express this is just the start. Once Autonomous (driverless) Tech kicks in it will really take off. The thing is that the control of much of the data when you connect to the Internet via your car is collected via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, whichever you connect through.

This could mean a loss of potential profits so some established companies like Jaguar Land Rover and VW Group are investing in startups that are coming up with apps that can take over from the two providers mentioned above. The idea is to come up with apps that drivers can’t live without but are only available in their cars.

Thus moving us away from whether a car has a feature such as Park Assist (self-parking) to an unbelievable app that may tell you something but collects data at the same time. Whilst some manufacturers are spending money on developing their own apps Volvo has taken a different approach.

Thir boss, Hakan Samuelsson, admitted that their new infotainment systems were being developed around Android and Google Assistant. You’ll be able to interact with it and buy third party apps for your car much as you do at the moment for your smartphone. When asked why he isn’t following the same route as many of his competitors he admitted that Volvo,’Isn’t clever enough’ to compete. ‘You’ll have access to thousands of apps this way and they’ll all be better than the ones we would have written.’

So whilst we’re not there yet with so much diversity amongst the car manufacturers, when it comes to their attitude towards their Infotainment Systems and Internet Apps, the time will soon come when we select our cars, not based on things like air con or sun roofs but what apps we can access. By Graham Hill

I remember when the Government announced that they were going to scrap the paper Road Fund Licence. I don’t think that there was anyone who thought that it was a good idea and could immediately see that those who didn’t like to pay for their road tax would be encouraged to do it even more.

The fact is that the number of untaxed cars on the road has increased by threefold losing the Government £107 million per annum in revenue. The latest stats produced by the Department for Transport shows that 1.8% of cars on the road are untaxed compared with 1.4% in 2015 and 0.6% in 2013, the year before the Government did away with the paper tax disc.

The figures equate to775,000 vehicles on UK roads without tax. That was an incredibly good idea then. At the time the change took place the Government suggested that it would lose £10 million whilst drivers got used to the changes. It is actually over 10 times more.

An RAC spokesman said that ‘It appears that the paper tax disc acted as a visual reminder to prompt drivers into renewing their road fund licence.’ ‘Arguably, more drivers are now prepared to try their luck and see if they can get away with not paying any road tax at all or are simply forgetting to re-tax their vehicle.’  By Graham Hill

What Car reported a problem experienced by a reader who bought a £68,000 2015 registered Jaguar F Type Convertible V8 R AWD. The car had covered just 1,800 miles and the driver was delighted until, whilst crawling along in traffic on the M25, ah the memories, the pedestrian airbag under the bonnet deployed.

The bonnet would no longer close making the car undrivable. The car was returned to Lookers, Jaguar in West London. He was told that the airbag needed to be replaced and re-calibrated at a cost of £2,000. I was shocked to read that he agreed to pay for the repair.

If a fault becomes apparent within the first 6 month of ownership the law is on the side of the buyer, the seller must prove that the fault did not pre-exist. Within the first 30 days he can reject the car which is what I would have done. To make matters worse the airbag deployed again, without warning, and whilst driving over a speed bump.

Again Lookers insisted that the airbag had deployed legitimately, took 24 days to repair the car and increased the cost to £3,820. Incidentally the 30 day rule applies to used cars as well as new cars – as does the rest of the Consumer Rights Act.

He complained to Jaguar who took 4 months to respond. They still insisted that the deployments were legitimate and refused to refund any of the cost. This was after he provided photographic proof that the car hadn’t been damaged, there were no police reports of him hitting a pedestrian – hardly likely whilst driving on the M25 from where he was recovered.

He then wrote to What Car. They were incensed and wrote to Jaguar only to be given the cold shoulder. After receiving the same response from Jaguar as Mr Magee they recommended that he contact the Motor Ombudsman, the ‘Independent Arbitration Service’, run by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. I added that bit.

If you think they are independent you have dogs poo for brains. By their own admission on their website they are increasing business to their members, those whom they investigate, as consumers perceive that they are safer in the hands of those signing into the Motor Ombudsman service.

It used to be called Motor Codes – they changed it to the Motor Ombudsman, no doubt to give the impression that they are similar to the Government funded Financial Ombudsman Service. My advice would be to download a copy of my PCP report which contains loads of advice and contacts.

He then needs to register a complaint with Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Bureau. He should also take up a complaint with:

European Consumer Centre UK  Trading Standards Institute (TSI)
Sylvan Court 1, Sylvan Way
Southfields Business Park Basildon
UK – Essex SS15 6TH
Tel.: +44 (0)8456 04 05 03 (Monday to Friday: 10:00am to 3:00pm)                                 email: eccnet-uk@ec.europa.eu

Once you get the European regulators involved things start to happen. The problem is that so few people know how to deal with issues when it comes to cars. By Graham Hill

Most people are not aware of the way their car is set up to deal with a puncture. According to tyre maker, Continental drivers suffer a puncture once every 44,000 miles or 5 years. And much has happened over that period if you haven’t suffered a puncture over the last 5 year period.

Some drivers still think that they have a full sized spare in the boot and are shocked to find that there is just a puncture repair kit. Unfortunately, they only get to find this out when they get a puncture. It would, therefore, be wise to check as you never know when you will suffer a puncture.

The reason why we’ve moved to tyre repair kits via skinny emergency spares from full-sized spares is given as the need to reduce the weight of cars in order to improve fuel consumption.  and reduce emissions. In fact, it is probably more to do with cost as a repair kit costs about £20 whilst a wheel and tyre will cost the manufacturer more than £100.

Some manufacturers will allow a skinny spare for an extra charge with space in the boot. To give the situation some perspective What Car carried out a survey of 251 new car models and found just 8% had full sized spares, space savers were standard on 30% and tyre repair kits were fitted to 55%. The rest were fitted with run-flat tyres.

So how does a repair kit work? Most consist of a sealant that is squirted into the punctured tyre via the valve with the help of a compressor connected to an in-car 12v socket. What they don’t always make clear is that you must drive the car soon after you’ve inflated the tyre in order to spread the sealant around the inside of the tyre.

You should be able to drive the car for up to 300 miles which should be ample to get out of trouble and to a tyre repairer in order to have the puncture repaired. The problem with the sealant is that it only works in one in five punctures. If the hole is more than 5mm wide or in the sidewall it won’t work.

The tyre will also deflate a day after repair. The sealant may also prevent the tyre from being repaired. Only if it is water based will you be able to repair the puncture as the repairer can flush out the sealant. Currently, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Seat, Suzuki, VW and Volvo have repair kits in their cars that are water-based.

If you wanted to have a space saver wheel instead of the repair kit, research showed that only 52% of the cars that had a repair kit could have the repair kit swopped for a space saver wheel. Prices vary from £30 on a Kia Picanto to £275 on an Alfa Romeo Stelio SUV.

Space savers are only meant to be used temporarily, they only have 3mm of tread and whilst they shouldn’t be driven above 50mph there is no limit as to how far you can travel on these skinny wheels. Finally, there are run-flat tyres. They have extra-stiff sidewalls that are designed to resist the effects of deflation so you can continue your journey after a puncture.

Unfortunately, they are more expensive to buy and following a puncture you will need to change the tyre rather than have the tyre repaired. Some tyre fitters will repair run-flats but the manufacturers advise against it. They also make the ride firmer so you should test drive the car first before buying. You may find the ride too firm.

With so many people suffering blowouts as a result of potholes it is recommended that you have a spare in the car, even if it’s just a space saver. By Graham Hill

A couple of weeks ago the Mail revealed a coverup scandal that is still having repercussions. Even the news on TV showed two men stealing a car from the drive of an unsuspecting driver as I recently explained in one of my reports.

One picked up the signal emitted from a keyless device inside the house which was bounced across to another device held close to the car which unlocked the doors.

The devices used can be picked up off the Internet for just a few pounds but worst of all is the fact that this problem has been known about for years – according to the Mail. It has been revealed that 5 years ago VW won a high court injunction to prevent details of security flaws being made public. But 3 years later researchers found millions of cars still at risk.

The potential theft problem, that affects millions of drivers worldwide, has been seriously covered up for years. Keyless entry has been about since 1995 and any of the cars with keyless entry are vulnerable to anyone with the equipment that the Mail found could be bought online for £100.

As I reveal in my PCP report, now complete and awaiting publication, the whole of the motor industry is corrupt. Not every person or company but whether it’s vehicle recalls, supply, finance, data, dealers – there is corruption and abuse everywhere. Now we find out that even when cars are at risk of being stolen in seconds drivers aren’t aware of the vulnerability.

Even with the mass of evidence collected by the Mail, Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), responded by saying ‘Industry takes vehicle crime extremely seriously and any claims otherwise are categorically untrue.’

Oh really Mr Hawes? Read the bloody Mail report and repeat that statement. In the meantime, if you have a keyless entry car and you park your car in a place where it can easily be driven away from, once the car is unlocked, you need to protect the key when in the house. You can buy signal blockers from Halfords or online for just a few pounds. By Graham Hill

Franchised Dealers More Professional Than Garages: Surprisingly a survey carried out by the National Franchised Dealer Association found that franchised dealers (52%) were more professional than National Chains (24%) and Independent Garages (21%). 46% thought franchised dealers were knowledgeable and reputable with 41% believing they’re reliable. 90% of respondents think that franchised dealerships are the best place to buy a new car and 87% think it’s the best place to have your car serviced. 45% said independents were friendly and 42% called them good value. I’m sure the report wasn’t biased in the slightest!

UK Roads: According to the AA 46% of motorists say that mainland Europe has better roads than the UK.

Car Thefts: Between 2012 and 2016 there were 3,696 convictions for car theft in the UK according to insurance company Churchill. This represents about 50% of those charged.

Car Faults: According to Green Flag drivers wait on average 10 weeks before addressing car faults.

Misidentified Dashboard Symbols: According to Buyacar.co.uk the dashboard symbols that cause most confusion are: Speed Limiter (60%), Stop/Start System (60%), Head-Up-Display (38%), Lane Keeping Assist (25%), Heated Steering Wheel (10%).