#fancyacar

Most people tend to go for japanese cars as they are the most reliable and parts are easier to get hold of. If you’re not sure what you like, why not have a quick nosey when out and about? You may see one that appeals to you. Always test drive the vehicle you would like to purchase before making any commitments so you know exactly what to expect as relying on what others tell you may not always be the truth.

There are groups which are petitioning against 4x4s and are trying to get road tax and congestion charge higher for those who choose to drive gas guzzlers. Most people do not agree that 4x4s are practical and watching a parent trying to squeeze inside the school gates in a huge tank is completely hilarious. Not only are they a hazard to other drivers on the road but also to pedestrians and the rest of the world. 4x4s contribute largely to pollution and the effects of the ozone layer which many people are trying so hard to preserve. The opinion of many are that there are greener and safer ways to drive so if you have the option to leave the 4x4 at home, then please do so. A large majority of people would agree that it is more of a status symbol than being an actual necessity.

Insurance companies do ask that you don’t travel unless you have to and if you have an accident whilst driving into work, then this is at your own risk. In some cases you can win the case if it wasn’t your fault but by claiming through your insurers it may cost you more and settling it yourself is most of the time much cheaper. You might lose your no claims discount and your insurance may go up the following year. So it is better to make a claim if you absolutely need to.

The results for this survey were compiled over a period of time and ranging in age of vehicles. It was found that vehicles over the age of 3 were more likely to be less reliable than those that were under. As most vehicles come with the standard 3 year warranty if anything were to go wrong during this time, you can be assured that the manufacturer would repair this free of charge. If you are thinking of buying a 4x4, it's worth speaking to a mechanic who could recommend which ones are more reliable and cheaper to repair as well what re-sale value you will get afterwards.

What is not clear is if the driver of the vehicle trying to scam the insurers doesn’t work out what happens next? I suppose they could get charged with fraud for trying to get money for a vehicle that isn’t actually theirs to begin with. This is another reason as to why insurance premiums are rising; all of these new fraud scams involving car insurance has a knock on effect. In this case, it means that car insurance companies are losing more money each year to due fraud so have to put up their prices to recover losses. If you suspect anyone of carrying out such scams, then report them as soon as possible as this sort of behaviour is not acceptable.

For years British motorists have been bearing the wrath and unfair clamping and towing fines that incur when parking on private land. As there are no current rules to how much a clamper can charge, rates are from £50 - £400 and another few hundred if your car is towed away. For the time being, you need a licence to be able to clamp cars but as most people know clampers rarely show you their badge number and some are rogue clampers that do it to con innocent victims out of hard earned cash. Licences for clampers will now be null and only the police, council and DVLA will be allowed to clamp and tow away vehicles. In 1992 when towing and clamping cars parked illegally was introduced, Scotland was the only place in England that had the practice banned within 6 months of it being put into place nationwide. In Scotland clamping cars is illegal on private land, only the police have that power. As this is a great victory for many, there are some people who will be greatly affected by this as it will mean there is no power to control parking. Small businesses that have private car parks will be forced to introduce new measures such as electric gates or barriers and even CCTV and their own fines issued. If vehicle owners do not pay the fine, then they can be taken to small claims court to make them pay the fine for parking on private land. Anyone who is found to clamp and tow cars will be fined and in repeated cases, they may find themselves serving time behind bars. A tow truck cannot tow your car if you are in it, so if you ever find that your car is being towed on private land then get in and call the police. There have been many motorists who have faced a standoff with tow trucks when they refuse to get out the car, in most cases they have won. Towing and clamping will still be enforced on public highways as there are still laws that need to be adhered to such as no parking on a bend and no parking on red lines. So if you see a traffic warden, they are just doing their job as they are regulated by the council and clamping and towing on public roads is still legal.  

Earlier this year it was estimated that insurance quotes would rise by as much as 13%; though most of us were sceptical the majority of drivers found that this was in fact very true. Drivers of all ages saw their premium go up even if they hadn’t made a claim in the last five years. The average price hike on renewal quotes at the beginning of this year was as much as £50. The beginning of 2011 will also see car insurance renewal quotes rise again and this will be the third year that car insurance has gone up. In 2009 car insurance renewal quotes went up by 10%, in 2010 they went up by 13% while 2011 will see quotes rise by as much as 50%! As more and more people struggle to find an affordable car insurance quote, many are simply taking the risk and driving without insurance. Others are being cheekier and staging cash-for-crash car frauds with the possibility of making a quick buck. For every £100 that was claimed for this year, it has cost insurance companies £123; this in turn has caused them to make substantial losses. The only way to recuperate these losses is to drive up the cost of insurance cover. Personal injury claims in the UK are the highest in Europe though we have less accidents each year. This has been fuelled by personal injury lawyers who encourage those who have been in accidents to sue rather than take some painkillers and time off from work. As always it will be new and younger drivers that will face the biggest hike in car insurance cover but the over 40’s age group will also face an increase of up to 30% so it would seem that everyone is being penalised. At the moment there doesn’t seem to be any laws preventing insurance companies for demanding so much money and as it is illegal to drive without insurance, we have no choice but to pay the ridiculous amount of money for cover. Although I do agree that the boy racers and those that have extensive modifications to their cars such as spoilers, tinted windows and alloys are a small minority, they serve no purpose other than ‘bling’ and should be banned. Insurance companies also have a clause stating that all accidents must be reported to them and not handled by you and the other party involved. But what they don’t tell you is that it is far more expensive to go through them and would save your no claims if you and the other party reached a mutual agreement. In one case a driver was involved in a minor accident where the front bumper was dented, the insurance company quoted in excess of £600 for repairs whereas the car manufacturer quoted £200 for the same work carried out. How is that fair?

As the government continues to find ways to increase revenue, one of the ways that this can be done is to penalise bad drivers for speeding and accidents. Currently if caught speeding, you face three penalty points on your licence and also a fine of £60. New measures will be brought in to encourage motorists who speed to go on speed awareness courses instead as this will generate more income to keep speed cameras on as funding cuts mean that there will be many that will be switched off. Currently speed awareness courses range in price depending on where you live; on average you can expect to pay £70 and it usually consists of 6 hours of workshop and classroom based teaching to show drivers the dangers of speeding and the consequences. Most courses are only a day but some places can split it to two half day classes. The new move will mean that the price for speed awareness course will rise to £100 if not more for a one day workshop on speeding. Soon drivers who break the speed limit by going up to 10mph over will be given the choice to go on speed awareness courses rather than being fined and given penalty points. Those who break the speed limit by more than 15mph will still be fined and given points on their licence. Many younger motorists will welcome this move as paying £100 for attending speed awareness programmes will be better than receiving penalty points. New drivers who have held their licence for less than two years receive double the amount of penalty points and find that they are soon disqualified from driving but having the option to pay £100 for a day’s course will be welcomed by many. Repeat offenders will not be given the chance to go on the speed awareness course and will have to pay the £60 fine and receive 3 penalty points. As our coalition government has cut the budget for road safety, this has been seen as the only way to generate stable income to cover the cost of running and maintaining speed cameras. With cameras already turned off in parts of the country such as Oxfordshire, councils are confident that with this new proposal, cameras turned off due to budget cuts will soon be turned on again. Internet forums have already started talking about the new proposal with many branding it as a waste of resources. There have been places nationwide that stopped the use of speed cameras as they found that they did not reduce the amount of accidents. Swindon have found that since they abolished speed cameras, accidents have reduced and roads are safer but research argues that speed cameras save an estimated 800 lives a year.