Discount Codes are valid throughout September 2010 only unless otherwise specified

Car Servicing

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Breakdown cover offer

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Tyre Offers

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Recalls

Q: Are recalls always dangerous problems & is the fix free?

Autotrader: Not always; they’re usually safety related, but not always dangerous – I had a car recalled for a new radiator cap!

(I can add that manufacturer recalls are normally fixed for free)

Q: If you are the second owner (e.g. you buy a nearly new car) how will you know about recalls?

Autotrader: Take a look at www.dft.gov.uk/vosa – you can search for recalls affecting the model you’re buying (the link to vehicle recalls is on the right under “Do It Online”)

Hybrids

Q: I’m wondering about buying a hybrid but not sure whether to wait a bit longer for newer models/more choice.

Autotrader: They’re getting better all the time. Peugeot 3008 diesel electric hybrid will launch soon – looks very interesting – see here for more details: http://bit.ly/98nNNl.

VAT Rise & Used Car Prices

Q: One of my readers asked whether car dealers will pass on the VAT rise in the new year or absorb it with discounts?

Autotrader: More on this at http://bit.ly/aOVCtr – I’d expect used cars to increase in price slightly.

(It’s worth having a read of the link – but the main point is that VAT is charged when a new car is delivered, not when it is ordered – so if you order a new car before the VAT rise but it isn’t delivered until after the VAT rise in the new year, then you wil pay 20% VAT anyway…) On top of this, many manufacturers have long delivery times at the moment.

The 60 Plate

Q: Is it too late to get a 60 plate car on 1st September?

Autotrader: Any new car ordered now won’t be delivered for a few weeks, but its worth talking asking dealers about it.

That means that Asda is guaranteeing cheap fuel (probably the cheapest in the UK) until after the bank holiday weekend.

I don’t know about you, but these prices are quite a bit cheaper than any garage near where I live (my nearest Asda is about 40 miles away). When I filled up a few days ago, I paid 118.9p/l for diesel – and that was the best price in the area.

The new document also contains a clear reminder that the V5C document is not proof of ownership. The V5C document records the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle - not necessarily the owner. It’s important to understand the difference. Proof of ownership can be proven by an original purchase receipt.

The new format V5C can be easily recognised by its red front page. The inside pages of the document are largely unchanged. You can see images of the new document on the DVLA’s website by clicking here.

All new cars registered from 1st September 2010 will have the new format documents and all V5Cs issued for cars that are already registered (when you change address, for instance) will also be in the new format.

If you have a V5c in the current format, you don’t need to do anything. The DVLA will only be issuing new-format V5C documents for newly-registered cars and to people who need to update their vehicle’s registered details.

Car Registration Document (V5C) Tips:

1. Never, ever buy a car without a valid, accurate V5C - check the seller’s name and address and the car’s VIN number and registration number against the document.
2. Always check the serial number of the V5C when you buy a used car. If the serial number on the V5C is in the range BG8229501 to BG9999030 or BI2305501 to BI2800000 then the document (and probably the car) is stolen – don’t buy the car and notify the police.
3. Valid V5Cs (new and old designs) have a ‘DVL’ watermark on the front page – hold it up to the light and you should be able to see this.
4. If any part of the V5C looks like it has been tampered with or is missing, don’t buy the car. There is no valid reason for making changes to a V5C document – whenever changes are required, the DVLA issue the registered keeper with a new, updated copy of the document.

For more useful advice on buying a used car, check out our Simple Car Buying Guide.

The scheme, which was first announced by Labour, has been confirmed by the coalition government and £43m – enough for at least 8,600 grants – has been guaranteed for it.

Electric cars (and vans) are now here – there’s no longer any doubt about it. It will be a while until many people own them, but the technology has been established and is developing fast. It will happen. The government is keen to encourage this as electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions (although obviously that electricity has to be generated somewhere).

Although electric vehicles are only suitable for short-range use at present, this will gradually improve (think how good mobile phone and laptop batteries are these days) and range-extender electric cars already offer much greater potential for long distance use.

(Range-extender electric cars are electric cars with onboard petrol-powered generators which can be used to power the engine when the batteries run out, thus enabling you to continue driving as far as you need).

The two new fuels have been in development for five years and are called FuelSave Unleaded and FuelSave Diesel. They will replace Shell’s regular unleaded and diesel fuels at all Shell filling stations in the UK will cost the same as the old fuels.

Can It Be True?

I won’t blind you with science, but Shell says that both the new fuels have special, completely new ingredients that help petrol and diesel engines work more efficiently, therefore reducing fuel consumption. Such claims are notoriously hard to prove, as so many other factors – like the type of car, the roads and the driver – can affect fuel consumption. (If you are interested in the technical details, click here)

Shell understands that people will be sceptical and has had a lot of independent testing carried out on the new fuels, using the same test cycles that are used to calculate fuel consumption figures for new cars. It says that the test results validated its claims of saving up to a litre per tank and that it’s also carried out more than 5,000 miles of real-world tests on public roads, in which “fuel economy savings were achieved in most cases” – with some vehicles even managing to save more than one litre per tank.

Win A Year’s Supply Of Fuel

To celebrate the launch of the new fuels, Shell has teamed up with Ashes cricketer and FuelSave Ambassador Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff to give you the chance to win a year’s supply of fuel while learning some fuel efficient driving techniques that will cut your car’s fuel consumption.

It turns out that Freddie Flintoff isn’t just a great cricketer – he’s a pretty keen driver, too. He’s hoping to get more than 100,000 people to sign up to his fuel-saving challenge and be in with a chance of winning a year’s supply of fuel. Freddie says:

I had no idea that by making a few simple changes to my driving habits, I could be so much more fuel efficient.

Freddie is living proof that his driving tips work – while learning about fuel saving he drove round a test track to see how far he could drive on one litre of FuelSave Unleaded. On his first attempt he managed just 4 miles – but by the end of the training he could manage 13 miles on one litre – a big difference.

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff honing his fuel-saving driving techniques on the track

Although you won’t be able to manage such a big improvement on public roads, a few small changes to your driving technique will make a big difference when it comes to fuel consumption.

Freddie’s tips make an ideal starting point if you want to become more fuel efficient – to find out more and be in with a chance of winning a year’s supply of fuel, visit www.shell.co.uk/freddieschallenge.

Technique Is Important

It’s important to remember that fuel-efficient driving techniques like mine and Freddie’s will do more to improve your fuel consumption than any fuel you can buy.

My personal best is a reduction of 10% in my car’s fuel consumption, which I achieved simply by following my own advice and using my right foot much more lightly, looking further ahead and keeping my speed down slightly on motorways. It can be done and it’s surprisingly easy, so why not give it a try?

To learn more about using good driving techniques to save fuel, have a look at these tips:

• Our own Simple Guide to fuel-efficient driving techniques
• Freddie Flintoff’s FuelSave Challenge tips (including a chance to win a year’s supply of petrol or diesel

I’m going to give the FuelSave Challenge a try, but in the meantime, I’m planning on carrying out my own FuelSave testing to see if I can reduce my fuel consumption with FuelSave Diesel – I’ll publish my results here when I get them.

Lots of people do. Some of them fail to get any interest, but don’t see why.

Let me help.

One thing almost all used car dealers have in common is that they pay someone to valet their cars before they go on sale – inside and out. This is a cost to them, so they don’t do it just for the good of their health.

Equally, it’s clear that just cleaning a car thoroughly doesn’t change any of the following:

• Its market value
• Its reliability
• Any faults
• Its service history (or the lack of it)
• Its mileage, age or number of owners
• The desirability of the make and model of the car

So if valeting a car before sale doesn’t affect any of the things above, why bother?

The answer is obvious – presentation. Dirt, grime, scratches and leftover snack food on the rear seats are a big turn off. Your brain knows that they are only superficial but you still don’t want to see them when you are spending a lot of money.

So why do some people think that the same rules don’t apply when they are selling a car privately?

A man who lives on my street recently bought a new car and decided to sell his old car privately. The car in question was a small hatchback, about 10 years old. It would have made a good first car for a young driver or a cheap runabout/second car for a family.

He placed a notice in the window listing most of its good points, recent work carried out, the mileage and the price – so far so good. What he didn’t do was prepare the car for sale.

He didn’t wash it on the outside.

He didn’t clean or tidy it on the inside.

He definitely didn’t polish or T-Cut the paintwork to bring it up like new or black the plastic trim.

He didn’t sell the car, either.

If you’d like to know more about how to sell a car privately, click here to read my Simple Guide To Selling Your Car.

However, this website isn’t for DIY mechanics – it’s for people who just want to make owning a car as easy as possible.

So are Haynes manuals any use for non-mechanics like you and me?

Haynes Manuals – An Introduction

First of all, let’s take a quick look at what, exactly, a Haynes manual contains.

A Haynes manual contains a lot of photographs and detailed instructions that talk you through most of the common (and some not so common) maintenance and repair tasks that will be required on a particular model of car.

Everything is vehicle specific – so photos and instructions should always relate to what you see in front of you when you’re looking at your car.

By and large, the instructions are quite good and each procedure is rated in difficulty and lists the tools that will be required.

If nothing else, Haynes manuals are a useful way to prevent yourself getting in over your head with a job that’s more complex than you realise!

Haynes Manuals For Normal People

If you aren’t interested in fixing your car yourself and always use a garage, Haynes manuals aren’t that useful – but they do still have two uses, in my experience:

• They will help you understand what’s involved when your garage tells you a certain job is required
• They will help you with small or urgent jobs that you may be forced to attempt yourself – such as replacing windscreen wipers, checking and topping up oil and other fluids and changing a wheel.

Haynes manuals are available for most older cars but are still being produced for newer models. They tend not to become available until cars have been around a few years and are out of their warranty period. (Cars that are still under warranty should generally be repaired and maintained by a main dealer, to avoid voiding the manufacturer’s warranty by using non-original parts.)

Where To Buy Haynes Manuals?

Most car accessory shops, book shops and all branches of Halfords have a good range of Haynes manuals in stock. Amazon is good too and at the time of writing is much cheaper than Halfords!

Childrens toys, clothes, camping equipment, food – the list is endless and, somehow, it’s all ‘essential’.

Many family cars – such as the Ford Focus – are fine for everyday use but don’t really have very big boots. It’s not difficult to fill them up – and it isn’t always safe or possible to just chuck stuff in the back, especially if you’ve got children (when carrying luggage in the rear of a car instead of the boot, always consider what might happen in the event of an accident or sudden stop – large or heavy objects moving around inside the car can be very dangerous)

A roof box is often a much more practical and safe solution. For a relatively modest cost, the luggage capacity of your car can be increased considerably – without compromising on passenger comfort or safety.

It’s true that roof boxes increase fuel consumption, but for occasional use, this probably isn’t a big issue. Heavily-loaded cars use more fuel anyway, so the difference may not be that great.

Choosing & Fitting A Roof Box

Roof boxes are generally fitted to a roof rack that you will need to purchase separately. If you’ve got an estate car, you’ll probably already have roof rails running the length of the car – all you then need is roof bars to put across roof – your roof box will then fasten to these bars.

Roof boxes are generally made from moulded plastic and are normally lockable. They come in all shapes and sizes and their capacity is measured in litres – as car boots are. This makes it easy to compare different roof boxes for size and also to compare them to your existing car boot for size.

Remember To Remove Them Afterwards!

Roof boxes do cause increased fuel consumption (even when empty) so remember to remove them when you aren’t using them. Driving around with an empty roof box is just burning money!

So is a bike rack (or ‘cycle carrier’) the solution?

Pros:

• You keep all of the normal passenger and luggage space inside the car and keep your muddy bikes outside
• You can get cycle carriers to fit on the roof, boot/tailgate and towbar of most models of car
• Basic cycle carriers can be had for under £40 – they don’t have to be expensive purchases
• You can carry up to 4 bicycles on one car

Cons

• Your bikes will be vulnerable to theft if you leave the car unattended
• Having a cycle carrier that mounts on a roof rack leaves you boot clear but can be awkward to load – can you lift your bike above your head?
• Rear-mounted bike racks often obscure cars’ number plates and/or lights. This is illegal, so you might need to use a light board to ensure that your lights and number plate are clearly visible.
• Any type of cycle carrier will increase wind resistance and therefore will increase fuel consumption.

Which Type Of Bike Rack?

There are three main types of bike rack:

• Roof mounted
• Tailgate/boot mounted
• Towbar mounted

To learn more about the pros and cons of each solution, check out the “Fitting a Bike Rack To Your Car” guide that I wrote last year.

Buying A Bike Rack

Most branches of Halfords have a reasonable selection of bike racks and many branches now also offer a fitting service – so the store staff will fit and explain the rack to you before you leave.