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My gadget of the week is a smart fob that transfers data onto your iPhone. It collects data from the car every time the driver switches off the engine, recording things like trip information, mpg, fuel level and tyre pressures. It also includes maintenance alerts and can even warn you if you leave a window open. If the driver then holds the fob next to the phone whilst running the app the information is transferred wirelessly Read more »

I recently reported that a large number of recalls don’t get the level of publicity that they should after Toyota took a beating over the brake recalls but were then found not to hold the record for the most numbers of single model cars being recalled this year. However it was put into perspective recently when Bentley had to recall 300 UK cars. The major concern affected Arnage, Azure and Brooklands models built Read more »

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 »

This week’s famed, Graham Hill’s car review of the week focuses on the revival of an old marque, the Aston Martin Lagonda. The rather weird 4 seater from the 70’s . The replacement was showcased in Geneva last year and frankly looked like a pile of poo! It was a sort of bulbous cross between a BMW X6 and a Chrysler C300 estate – it looked disgusting but the latest design, after they threw the old one into the recycling bin, looks the dogs dangly bits! A full luxurious 4 seater with plenty of executive Read more »

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 »

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 »

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 »

It’s turned out to be a pretty busy week following the launch of my new book, Graham Hill’s Simple Guide To Car Finance which I hope will get everyone driving a great car. Preparing for finance is vitally important at the moment as there is little money about to lend. So that tempting low APR or monthly lease rate, that gets you sending off your finance application, may lead to a decline if you are not totally Read more »

Halfords owned Nationwide Autocentres has revealed the top ten 3 year old cars and 5 year old cars to pass the MOT amongst the UK’s best selling cars. This information is normally very hard to find so Halfords have pretty much broken ranks by revealing the information that I print out below: 

 

The figures were based on the top 10 selling cars during the year of manufacture according to Halfords. One or two surprises there I have to say but it would be interesting to see stats for all cars, not just the top sellers, now that would be revealing! Are you surprised by any of the figures, drop me a note? By Graham Hill

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• 2.6 million motorists would risk driving without an MOT (money.marksandspencer.com)

The Graham Hill in depth review of a new car has this week focused on the facelifted Bentley Continental GT. It looks nice, as you would expect and frankly I would describe the differences in the look of the car as ‘subtle’. I’m told that every panel of the car is new but the door mirrors are from the Musanne. Great! OK when you get up close you can see that there are changes but they have kept the overall look very Read more »