Potential buyers of new and used Fords and Vauxhalls are being warned of an unusual quirk in their resale values.
Auto market analyst EurotaxGlass's says that it has found the latest models of the Focus and Astra are deprecating at a far slower rate than their bigger brothers, the Mondeo and Vectra.
When considering ...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010A third of all motorists are failing to observe the laws of the land and not belting up in the back says new motor insurance research.
Fewer than one in two Londoners say that they belt up when riding in the backseat of a car, compared to the virtuous south west where three quarters told motor insurance researchers th...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010The future of Italy's historic Monza race circuit has been thrown into jeopardy after a judge ruled that racing there produces too much noise.
The court said that any motor sports events held there in the future must make sure that it conforms to sound emission limits far below the volume produced by Formula One vehic...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Cars are coming with an ever greater number of bells and whistles as part of their standard spec, and for a little more you can add some extras that a few years ago would only have been seen on the Jetsons.
But some of the bonuses could prove to be turkeys when you come to trade your old motor in, warns a leading auct...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has issued some alarming statistics about the safety of fleet vehicles on the UK roads.
The information was gathered through the IAM's 'Drive and Survive' training course, a safety program for business drivers enabling companies to cut their motor insurance costs. The company&...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Almost half of all pedestrians killed in road crashes between 10pm and 4am on the weekend are more than two times over the drink driving limit, say government figures.
Statistics show that of the pedestrians killed with alcohol in their blood streams, 38 per cent were over the drink drive limit, and 25 per cent were m...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Women are charged on average over £500 more than a man when buying a new car, What Car research has revealed.
Fully living up to their Swiss Tony reputations, What Car caught secret footage of dealers charging more and pressing harder for sales when speaking to women than to men.
Despite the fact that women sa...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010High tech number plate recognition cameras being used by the police to crack down on drivers without motor insurance cover and crooks are misreading plates, the home office has admitted.
A Home Office minister has revealed that one in five readings is currently coming up wrong, meaning thousands of drivers are being w...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Criminals are staging car crashes to defraud motor insurance firms of tens of millions of pounds every year, says the motor insurance industry.
The scams are easy to carry out and often feature fake witnesses and passengers to add to their authenticity. Catching the gangs involved is almost impossible say the police.
...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010A sudden cold snap may catch many drivers by surprise; say motor insurance companies, leaving a string of flat batteries and frozen cars in its wake.
Motor insurance companies say that calls to service help-lines can increase seven fold in cold weather, with battery problems alone up by 75 per cent.
It can work out t...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Ever since modern immobilisers were invented, cases of key theft have risen, with motor insurance policies often taking issue with payouts in cases where they judge drivers to have been careless with their keys.
A welsh electronics firm has come up with an answer to the problem, however, with a transponder device that...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Motor insurance firms and safety campaigners are warning motorists that the increasing safety and toughness of new cars may actually be making them more dangerous. This is because while the average service period of cars has grown considerably, some components, such as tyres, may well wear out between times say motor i...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Volvo has scored top marks in the motor industry's anti-whiplash ratings. Alongside Saab, Volvo was one of only two manufacturers to receive the top motor insurance rating. Volvo achieved an ‘All Good’ rating, with top ‘Good’ scores for every model tested.
The vehicles were tested by Thatcham o...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010New research has suggested that almost a third of readings from speed guns are wrong. The findings mean that thousands may have wrongly received licence points, had to pay higher motor insurance premiums, or even lost their licences over faulty equipment.
Researchers testing the handheld radar devices found that nearl...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Dodgy designs of car bumpers are costing UK motorists £250 million every year, says recent motor insurance research. This could lead to higher insurance premiums, loss of valuable no claims bonuses and unnecessary inconvenience.
The motor insurance industry testing discovered that under all the secure plastic an...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010BT has launched an innovative scheme that uses satellite tracking to locate stolen cars. Users of the BT Trackit system use a special smartcard to 'login' when they start the ignition.
If someone does not use the smartcard, a transponder concealed in the car alerts a BT call centre and the satellite tracking is turned...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Drivers who do not regularly check their tyre pressure could be wasting £6 on every £50 fill up, motor insurance companies have warned.
There are also less tangible costs, with tyre life reduced by almost a third when they are run under-inflated.
"While the safety message surrounding driving with the...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Motor insurance theft claims have halved in the past five years says the motor insurance industry.
The fall is nothing to do with a decline in the number of would-be car thieves, say motor insurance companies, but modern cars have far more sophisticated security systems. Typical types of modern security include GPS tr...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Car gadgets that help ease the stress of driving, improve safety and cut motor insurance quotes are becoming more and more essential to business drivers says a new report.
Almost two thirds of business drivers polled told motor insurance researchers that their car was a home from home as they spend more time behind th...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010Millions of parents are putting their children's safety at risk in the car, says recent motor insurance research.
Motor insurance researchers found that over half of all parents would not check a child seat after they had an accident, compared to 92 per cent who said that they would remember to check their lights.
Al...
15:36 Mon 24th May 2010
