MyCarGossip

MyCarGossip is an online motoring service directory based on reviews by women www.mycargossip.com

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Graduated Learner Licenses by Lucy Kessler

My mother was delighted with the article on BBC News about RAC suggesting restrictions to learner drivers. So I felt that, as a relatively new driver (I passed in 2010), I should read the proposed changes, and give my view, as someone who was almost affected.

The proposals would put a stop to quite a few things that I’ve done as a young driver. In essence, they want to introduce a graduated license for learner drivers, with three tiers:

1)      A minimum one-year period before one can pass their test (I passed quicker than that)

2)      Another prohibitionary year, with restrictions on passengers (including no-one under 16 without another driver in the car), and times you can drive. (I’ve driven with children, and late at night)

3)      A further two year period, where if the driver gets more than 6 points on their license, they forfeit it.

Currently, drivers do have the two-year period where they cannot exceed 6 points, but the other two steps are new. The RAC have based this system off graduated licenses in the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and say that statistics show that in those countries, the number of young drivers dying in car crashes has reduced by 60%. They also want learner drivers to experience driving in all conditions, including night and winter, and the one-year minimum learning period is meant to ensure they can achieve that. It all sounds like a very sensible idea – my mother certainly approves! I think my driving when I had just passed still haunts her nightmares…

But, this isn’t the first time the RAC have tried to introduce a graduated license. In 2012, the government decided not to accept the changes, and instead simply improved the Pass Plus, which is an optional additional test that young drivers take after they’ve passed, which means they drive on the motorway and on country lanes with a driving instructor, as well as being taught slightly more thoroughly about bad-weather driving. Paul O’Sullivan, the head of road user licensing for the Department of Transport at that time, said that they felt that the suggestions limited driving too much, because young drivers may need to drive at night, or with young relations. And I honestly think he has a point – certainly, one of the main reasons I learnt to drive was so that I could drive at night, and I could stay out beyond the times the Tube runs. And once I drove a car full of children/young teens because of an emergency that meant their mother couldn’t pick them up from the drama school I was helping at. While another mother would probably have agreed to help out, they all had their own children as well, and I was one of the best people to do it. Under the new driving suggestions, I wouldn’t have been able to help out.

Also, there are concerns as to whether the police would be able to enforce the rules, especially considering they’re already stretched thin. A different way would be for the government to promote telematics insurance, which often comes with the curfew suggestion, though of course that would not be compulsory. And I imagine that the people who do not take the insurance are probably the ones who need to the most! The one year minimum period strikes me as the best idea. It’s easy to enforce, since the DVLA have records of when provisional licenses are issued, and I think it would help learners experience more situations, and gain more confidence. And it would also stop any competition as to who will pass their test quickest, since everyone has to wait a year anyway.  So that’s my opinion – what’s yours?

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Self Driving Cars

If you could buy any car, what would it be? Personally, I’ve never kept that up to date with horsepower and engine size etc. I’m sure it’s impressive that the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (one of the fastest cars on the market now) can do 267mph, that’s not exactly useful, is it? I mean, my average speed while driving is probably much closer to 35mph once you consider the fact that you can’t drive down my street at more than 10mph, and I live relatively close to primary schools, which I don’t dare pass at more than 20mph. Even if I were to take the motorway, national speed limit is currently 70mph, and would only go up to 80mph if the change goes through. So, why would I shell out over 2 million dollars for a car that I can’t drive?

Now, a car that drives itself, that is useful. And so my answer is if I could buy any car, I would buy a reliable self-driving one. To be honest, at the moment, I’d have to settle for one that parks itself rather than drives. Still, self-driving cars are on their way, and will have their first UK test drives this year, as carried out by Oxford University. They’ve been on roads in America for a while (though are not yet available to buy), which makes sense since Google is one of the companies pioneers autonomous cars. They aren’t going to appear in the near future, however, especially considering that policymakers aren’t quite confident enough to allow them. A few American states have licensed experimental self-driving cars, but that’s as far as they’ve got. BMW, which is also developing autonomous driving modes, says that it hopes to have self-driving cars on the market as soon as 2020.

When I first read that figure, it seemed far closer than I expected. To me, self-driving cars still seem to be part of a sci-fi film, like at the beginning of Futurama, where all the cars are flying by themselves. But when I thought about it, I realised that a lot of the technology is here, and is being used. Cars with sensors that beep when you get too close to objects are now fairly common, and obviously that show that cars can detect obstacles. Satnavs are even more common, and they show that it’s possible for technology to plan driving routes, and know where it is on a map. And we have also seen self-parking cars, which are now on the market, which can handle one of the most difficult parts of driving (in my opinion, anyway). Volvo have just demonstrated a car which can drop you off, and then goes away and parks itself as instructed by an app, while the “driver” (if they count as such when they aren’t in the car!) can go off. Volvo suggest it will be most useful for places like shopping centres and airport car parks, since there are lots of obvious car parking spaces. This car is only 5 years from going on sale, and it demonstrates all the abilities a fully autonomous car will need, since it drives and finds car parking spaces.

The cars are facing two main difficulties – firstly, they need to get better at predicting unusual events, and dealing with those. Currently, test trials show cars can drive safely, but if they find out that there is a diversion, then they cannot necessarily follow it without help. Secondly, the policy makers need to feel more confident about them, since there is no point selling cars if they’re illegal to drive! However, as more and more people use self-parking cars without incident, and fully autonomous cars pass more and more road tests, policy makers will see whether or not they’re safe, and maybe by the time my children (not currently existing, but maybe within 10 years they will!) are learning to drive, they won’t need to. Which seems a shame, actually – what could you get a 17 year old, if not driving lessons?

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Squirrels damaging cars! By Lucy Kessler

I think it’s fair to say that cars and animals don’t mix. I’ve already discussed dogs and cats who find their way into cars and can get badly hurt by being inside the car whilst it is driven. Today’s news story focused on a different sort of animal, which is much more unwelcome.

It started with a couple in Florida who thought they had upset their neighbours, when they found a 6-inch gouge above the wheel of their Toyota Sequoia. When they went to the police, they were asked if they had any enemies, which had the couple quickly worried about who had done this. A few days later, another gouge appeared, and their fear increased. However it needn’t have, because when Nora Zeigler was taking the rubbish out the next day, she realised the culprit was slightly furrier than her average neighbour. A squirrel had been gnawing its way through her car, and caused all the damage that had been seen. The family are not quite sure what to do about the squirrel, who they’re now calling “Munchy”, but are gratified that it wasn’t a human enemy! Wildlife experts in the area say that the story is not that surprising, since squirrels try to find warm places to nest and occasionally find cars are the perfect place. They are used to gnawing their way through hard wood to find a nest, and so the metal of a car presents little problem.

And that’s not the first time that squirrels have been in the news for damaging cars. Two years ago, John Gold took his Vauxhall Axa in to be repaired; mechanics were shocked to find that there was a store of peanuts in the air intake, placed by an enterprising squirrel. The mechanics in question said he was lucky the squirrel hadn’t done more damage since the air intake is very close to the engine control unit, and anything done there would be much worse for the car.  Similarly, police were baffled by a string of crimes in Swindon, where many people found their car brakes damaged. The culprit was, of course, squirrels who had been chewing through the car brakes and telephone lines in the area. Squirrels have long incisors which grow continuously throughout their life, and need to use them to wear them down to a manageable size, which is another reason for their constant gnawing which makes them such a pest.

So what can you do, if your car is being attacked by squirrels? Well, the first solution is probably not to go to the police – naturally enough, they seem to keep assuming the culprit is bipedal! Secondly, you don’t need to worry too much about health – squirrels are relatively clean animals, and you are highly unlikely to contract rabies or similar from them. The greatest risk is of being bitten, which can cause damage due to their sharp teeth, and potentially require a tetanus jab. However, they are much more likely to run away from you, so you would only be at risk if you try to trap them.

One of the best ways to discourage squirrels is to use a natural repellent like Shake-Away, which you can put on your wheels and bumpers in order to deter squirrels. You will need to reapply it regularly, and after rain.  But don’t use poisonous substances, as that may well kill pets, or indeed a red squirrel, which are protected by law as an endangered species. 

There are also live traps you can buy, but only professionals should attempt to relocate the squirrels, since it is illegal to release them in the UK, and the squirrel could bite you if you try to move it. You can always phone the RSPCA or a pest control contractor, who will be able to trap the squirrel for you, or give you more advice on what to do. One of the best lines of defence is to try and remove all sources of food from your garden, so that squirrels never try to move in, though that is more difficult. However, if you do regularly put out food for birds, you may want to consider a feeder that stops squirrels having access to the food in order to discourage them. But, although it’s far more common than I imagined, squirrels still have more to fear from cars than the other way round!

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Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013

Who was lucky enough to make it to Goodwood this weekend? I unfortunately was unable to experience Goodwood 2013 myself as I was at a wedding. However, my parents were able to make it and they even did it VIP style and met the Italian former formula one driver Emanuele Pirro in the Cedar Suite for an exclusive experience.

They took some brilliant photos that they wanted to share with the members of MyCarGossip.

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An interview with Hannah

Here at MyCarGossip we had the chance to interview a female mechanic called Hannah Gordon who works in Suffolk and London. We found her through Twitter @femalemechanic1; she caught our attention with her eye catching Twitter biography which states that she is a “Female mechanic working in a man’s world.”

We wanted to catch up with and see how she finds life as a female mechanic working in a male dominated industry.

1.       How long have you been a mechanic for?

I was interested in cars from a very young age, probably from when I was 10 years old but I became a full mechanic at the age of 19.  

2.       Do you think it slowed down or speeded up the process for you being female or did it not make a difference?

I was lucky enough to do my mechanical training with a close family friend who taught me everything that I know. I personally have never been put down for being female by the people that I work with; however, other women might not be as lucky.

3.       When did you know that you wanted to become a mechanic?

I never actually wanted to become a mechanic; I was just always interested in cars. Even as a bridesmaid at the age of 6 they gave me a toy car to play with and I was always fascinated by fast cars. I picked the job up really quickly and enjoyed it much more than other jobs.

4.       Where did you train?

I trained on the job after being given the opportunity by a close family friend.

5.       You say on your twitter account that you are a female mechanic working in a man’s world, have you met many other female mechanics.

I have never met another female mechanic but I have spoken to some through Twitter. I haven’t worked with any other women before whilst being a mechanic.

I don’t feel like I need the support of other women in the industry because I have a strong support network with the people I work with and I know my customers well. However, if I was starting out on my own and didn’t have a support network it would be much harder and I think I would need the support of other women in the industry.

6.       Do you ever get any sexist comments from the males in your industry or are they mostly supportive?

I have had plenty of comments about being a female mechanic. I don’t expect everyone to accept it all the time. I have even had people refuse to have me work on their cars just because I am female. People’s perceptions are sexist, even women have sometimes been funny about having their car fixed by a women, but mostly it is men who I get the comments from.

7.       Do you have more female or male customers?

It is 50/50, I have a complete mix of male and female customers. In London more of my customers are male but in Suffolk it is a good mix of both.

8.       Do you think that more girls should be trained in basic mechanics?

I think it would help the industry if there were more mechanics. There just aren’t enough out there and even if they do start they usually don’t follow it through, perhaps this is because they come across obstacles. I am very lucky to have the backing of a great garage and my family and friends.

9.       Do you think that girls should have a basic knowledge of car maintenance from a young age?

I think it is a necessity for young girls to have a good knowledge of cars from a young age. They need to know the basic things that people don’t usually know how to do, like changing a tyre and checking their tyres, oil and other parts of their cars. It is important to learn these basic skills as it will keep them safe and save them a lot of money. I would really like to start doing some workshops for women to teach them basic car maintenance.

10.   How long did it take you to be fully trained and a confident mechanic?

It is a lifelong career you are always learning but it took me about 2 years to be fully confident.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~

It was great to chat to Hannah about her experiences as a female mechanic and we found it particularly interesting to hear that she has even had sexist comments from other women.  It is a male dominated industry and after researching it turns out that a lot of women attempt to go into mechanics but do come across obstacles that put them off.  Another female mechanic we spoke to said:

 “The motor trade was quite a difficult environment as a female. I found that you have to be 'broad shouldered' to work amongst the male mechanics. I enjoyed getting my hands dirty but didn't enjoy the language used a lot of the time.” 

We also read an article in the paper yesterday about a young girl called Hannah Miller who has been turned down for 50 jobs and she thinks it is all because she is a girl. She had a placement arranged to run alongside her college course but she was forced to leave because they did not have separate toilets for women. At one of her interviews she was even told that her potential boss was concerned she would not be able to lift things like her male colleagues. What chance do females have if they don’t have support from the men in the industry? This is the main reason why MyCarGossip is searching for all of the female friendly garages in the UK; it doesn’t just mean female friendly to their customers but also female friendly to women who want to work in the industry.

Is your local garage female friendly? Get in contact so we can sign them up and you can recommend them to other women. 

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A trip to the garage and a visit from RAC

Over the past week since I have been back in London I haven’t driven my car very much but when I did drive it I noticed that it was juddering and vibrating strangely every time I braked. I knew instantly that there was something wrong but I wasn’t sure what the problem was; I then saw a warning light pop up on my dash board that looked like this:

I looked up the sign in my manual and it said that there was a fault in the exhaust system and to go to a qualified workshop.

I called my local garage but unfortunately they were fully booked all day so I decided to call the RAC to see if they could tell me if there was a proper fault with my car.

The great thing about the RAC is that if you are paying for their breakdown membership, they will happily come to your house and check your car over and not charge anything. They arrived at my house about half an hour after I called them and he used a computerised machine to check my car, it came up saying that there was no fault.

The man, I think his name was Lee, told me that it isn’t anything major because it isn’t coming up as a fault on his machine but that I should still get it checked over at my local garage. He said that it might have been faulty petrol, which can sometimes make the car jolt when you brake and bring that warning sign up.

I apologised for wasting his time as there was nothing wrong with my car and he said that I hadn’t wasted his time and he was more than happy to check the car over. 

I tried to contact my local garage but they were still fully booked all day so I decided to take my car to Kwik Fit to see if they could check it over. I was a bit nervous about going to Kwik Fit because I felt that they had over charged me in the past when I needed to get my car fixed. However, after seeing the RAC I felt really confident in my knowledge of the problem and knew that I was in control of the situation.

Kwik Fit really surprised me and the man was very charming and helpful, he checked my car over and told me that it was fine but he said if the light comes back on I need to come back for a full diagnostic check. I didn’t get charged for this check either!

So basically my car was obviously feeling neglected because I haven’t been driving her much this week so she decided she wanted a trip to the garage. At least it was a great blogging experience.

I also learnt that people don’t mind checking your car for you for free if they aren’t busy. Even if it is a small problem you should still get it checked out just in case, luckily for me it seems like it wasn’t anything problematic. 

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Selfish Driving.

Today I was parking outside my office and I witnessed the most selfish driving. Firstly this particular person nearly crashed into my car whilst doing a three point turn and then decided to park right in the middle of a fairly busy road to deliver a package to a house down the street. She abandoned her car right in the middle of the street for a good 5 minutes and expected other vehicles to move around her car, or wait for her to return so she could move out of the way. I was so shocked by such selfish driving and it just made me question what makes people so selfish when it comes to driving?

Selfish driving can cause accidents, delay other drivers and also cause distress. I think people tend to be more selfish with their driving when they are in a rush, it's so important to leave enough time to get to places or to run errands so that you don't end up driving selfishly. 

  The reason that I am putting these pictures up is to make people aware that nearly all the time whilst you are driving there are people watching you and the way you drive does effect other people's lives. 

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Girl Power in the Motoring World

Girl power in the motoring world is at an all-time high with the number of private cars with a female registered owner has increased by 70% since 1994. 

After doing some research I have come across various studies which suggest that women are in fact better at buying cars than men. When it comes to making an expensive purchase 51% of females consult “a family member or friend who knows something about cars” before buying.  According to Nicola Johnson from HPI, this is compared to just 27% of men. 

Women seem to be more assertive when it comes to asking the important questions and they are not afraid to ask for advice and ask for answers even if they know them already. Men on the other hand don’t ask the important questions as they fear it will make them appear weak and uninformed. 

A poll by car retailer Quicks revealed that one in six women are made to feel uncomfortable by a car dealer and 43% felt patronised. The survey based on 1,000 women motorists showed that more than 40% would not buy a car unless they were with a male friend of family member. 

I interviewed Phillip and Laura at Alan Day Volkswagen in New Southgate the other day.  Phillip Smyrl, the general sales manager was explaining how female friendly their dealership is and how important it is to have women selling cars as well as men.

Laura King is the New Cars Sales Executive and since hiring Laura to sell cars for Alan Day she has excelled and has many loyal female customers. “Sometimes women just feel more comfortable buying cars from other women” said Laura. Laura makes sure she listens to what the customer wants and gives them time to ask all of their questions.

Alan Day puts a lot of effort into their customer service and after sales; Laura made a point of explaining how important it is for the customer to know that Alan Day are still there to help even after they have purchased a car. 

Do you use Alan Day in New Southgate? You can review them here:

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Curfew causes crash

Sometimes, I wonder if insurers have any common sense whatsoever. I want to say now, that I’m all for telematics as a way to lessen your car insurance. I get that I’m (at the age of 20) statistically one of the riskiest drivers, especially since insurers no longer differentiate between men and women drivers. The idea of having a black box rate your driving, and therefore pay based on your abilities rather than your age group’s abilities sounds perfect – as fair a system as you’ll ever get. But then cases like Oliver Pain’s come up, and it doesn’t sound nearly as sensible as it ought to.

What happened was that he and a friend were driving home. Oliver had an insurance policy that required him to stop driving by 11pm at night, and that was measured by iKube, which is a limited telematics box (in that it only determines time of driving, not speed as more comprehensive boxes do). So far, so sensible. Most accidents happen later at night, when people are more tired and have been going out. The hours between 11pm – 5am are the most dangerous for drivers, and Towergate (his insurance company) set the curfew accordingly.

If he broke curfew, he would have an £100 fine, which I do think is too steep, especially if they don’t take how late into account and charge the same fine if you drive at 11.15pm or 3am, but presumably he agreed to the policy and its fines. So, still no complaints. What confuses me is that the insurance didn’t penalise him for driving over the speed limit until you were 50% over, ie 75mph in a 50mph zone, which is almost certainly a dangerous speed, no matter your level of experience. In fact, if you go on the website for Towergate, it doesn’t mention any sort of fee for going over speed limits – the box purely measures the times you are out driving. I assume Towergate decided they didn’t need to fine for speeding, since it’s already an offence that will get you fined, and probably give you points on your license.  Or maybe they thought that the drivers don’t need a reminder to obey speed limits, but would need a fine before they remembered curfew. Or maybe they realised it can be quite safe to drive over the speed limit on some roads – I usually seem to be the only car on the North Circular who drives at the speed limit of 50mph, and if I weren’t a new driver and very aware of my insurance policy, I may be driving at 60mph or so like everyone else.

But the fact remains that the insurance policy Oliver had made it much better to break the speed limit than to miss being home by the curfew, even by ten minutes or so. And even if you haven’t read the story in the paper, you can probably see where it’s going now – Oliver Pain started speeding, presumably to get home in time. At 10.42, whilst driving at 57mph he lost control of the car when going round a bend, and crashed. Both he and his friend died from their injuries. Clearly it was the dangerous driving that was at fault, but the coroner thinks that his main reason for driving like that was to reach home before curfew, with the £100 fine giving him plenty of incentive to speed dangerously.

It’s certainly food for thought, if a measure designed to promote safer driving, seems to be making drivers more dangerous. But, on the other hand, this is one of the first times telematics seems to be at fault, despite having become more and more popular over the years. I hope Towergate change their policy – the box apparently noted maximum speeds of 74mph on that drive, so it clearly logged speeds. All they need to do is add automatic fines for going over the speed limit by 15%, which equal those for breaking curfews, and the situation will balance out. Alas, I’m not sure if they will – as I started by saying, common sense seems in short supply with insurance companies!

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Could painkillers make you an illegal driver?

Warning: May cause drowsiness. Do not take before driving”. I bet everyone reading this blog has read that message on almost all their medication, prescription or not. Once, I saw that message on a bottle of Calpol. Calpol for under 6s. Now, I understand driving while drowsy can potentially be dangerous. But, if you’ve got an under-6 at the wheel, I don’t think the danger comes from them being “under the influence”! 

Considering I’ve seen labels about drowsiness so often, I’m not sure why I was surprised to read that the government are planning to crack down on driving under the influence of drugs, both illegal or legal. And when I saw that, I was worried to find out that one of the drugs under consideration is codeine, which is a key part of many painkillers, like Nurofen Plus, which contains 12.8mg of codeine. Pure codeine is actually a controlled drug (class B), though obviously Nurofen Plus itself passes the government regulations by having a relatively small amount, and being diluted by other, less strong painkillers. Still, it’s food for thought that you can be convicted of DUI (Driving Under Influence), not just without drinking any alcohol, but also without using any form of illegal, or prescribed drugs.

The main trouble with all types of drugs is that it can be very difficult to predict how individuals will respond, and so the key thing, as always, is to be aware of how you feel and how safe you are to drive. For most people, a standard adult dose of Nurofen Plus won’t do anything to affect your driving, and the fact that you aren’t driving while in pain is more likely to help, than the fact you are taking a drug with sedative effects would hinder. But you should be aware so that you don’t go over the recommended dose on the package, and also be aware that some people (particularly those over 65) are more likely to be strongly affected by the drug.

What is actually more dangerous is when you start strong long-term medication. Strong painkillers like Oxytocin or Fentanyl can only be prescribed by your doctor. In that case, he/she should advise you about your ability to drive safely, and like for standard painkillers you should also keep an eye on how you feel at all times. It is recommended that you wait five days after you start strong painkillers before driving again, so that your body can become used to the drug.

You could also consider taking your first drive in quiet areas that you know well, so you can see how you drive, or even asking a friend who also drives to come with you and then they can keep an eye on your driving too. One of the main dangers is not from the drug itself, but if you mix it with another drug that also causes a drowsy affect, such as an over-the-counter hayfever medication, or indeed alcohol. In that case, neither drug is dangerous in itself, but the combination could cause dangerous levels of drowsiness.  For even stronger medication, like that prescribed for insomnia, or ADHD, they recommend waiting four weeks to see how the drugs will affect you, but your doctor would tell you that before giving you the drug in question.

So the tighter restrictions on drug use that might be introduced aren’t as worrying as they seem – they’ll mostly affect people who are on illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine, which have a much greater effect on driving than over-the-counter medication. But, as a summary, here are my top five things to consider before driving if you’ve taken any form of medication:

1)      Assess how you feel. Lots of factors can change how drugs affect you, so it’s very hard to have a one-size-fits-all policy.

2)      Wait a little bit before driving, so your body can get used to the drug. In the case of over-the-counter painkillers, 30minutes or 1 hour would be enough – but if it’s a strong medication from a doctor, you might want to wait a few days

3)      Don’t mix drugs if you can help it – either mixing two over-the-counter drugs, or in particular mixing drugs with alcohol.

4)      Don’t go over the recommended dosage on the packet, which is designed to be the safe level for most people, and should be a low enough dose to allow safe driving.

5)      If you’re worried, either don’t drive or ask your doctor for advice.

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Your Money, Their Tricks: Cars

It’s terrifying, isn’t it, when you look at your happily parked car, and realise that there’s something yellow on the window screen. It happened to me once - my heart sunk immediately, as I tried to remember whether I had double checked the parking restrictions, or if I’d parked with my bumper over the parking box, or if there was something else I could have got wrong. I shouldn’t have bothered – when I got there, I realised that the yellow square was actually an advert for a cleaner, cunningly chosen to be the same shade of yellow as a parking ticket. I immediately crumpled up the ad in annoyance, as my heart beat slowly went back to normal. As an advertising ploy, it definitely didn’t work.

Which is why I was immediately sympathetic with anyone given a yellow ticket by private car companies, who choose that shade on purpose to fool you into thinking the fine is valid. Your Money, Their Tricks (BBC 1) informed us that private car parks can’t actually fine you – did you know that? By law, they need to take you to court and prove that you were in the wrong, and only then can the court demand you pay back the money you owe them. But if you overstay without paying, many of them will send you letters or notices designed to look like legal penalty fines, and use that to intimidate you into paying without argument. Other tricks in their arsenal include labelling it “PCN” which is the same acronym as the government-issued Penalty Charge Notice (which you do have to pay by law). But they are actually issuing a “Parking Charge Notice”, and they can’t make you pay that without a court order. If you do think you overstayed your parking, you might want to just pay up and save the hassle, but if you think you were right to park, then you should use the appeal service. Either challenge the parking company directly, or if they don’t listen take your appeal to POPLA, who are an independent service that will advise you whether you can or cannot appeal.

And that was only one of the many tricks that Your Money, Their Tricks revealed this week. They also discussed false advertising, overly-expensive servicing and insurance tricks. It’s a good, fairly watchable programme with a fair amount of useful tricks. My favourite part was probably Sian Williams driving out of a private car park with a massive sign and megaphone shouting “I’m leaving the car park. I am leaving this car park”.

The other section I enjoyed the most was the tips on buying cars from dealerships. They recommend the best time to buy a car is at the end of February or August. Why then? Well, at the end of the month, car sellers may be rushing to meet their monthly targets, and therefore are more likely to give you a good deal on your car. And new cars usually come out in March and September, so if you buy just before then the dealerships are trying to shift off the old cars and make room for the newer versions, so they’ll be easier to haggle with then as well. I also learnt that the MPG (miles per gallon) figure, that all car companies have to state, are good for comparing between cars, but are probably not a representation of how far you’ll actually drive the car. Companies test the MPG in a lab under optimum conditions, with a perfectly flat treadmill, no passengers, and may also turn things like air con and lights off, to save battery power. Things like wind can slow down a car and make it less efficient – but in real life, you can’t just turn off the wind when you drive! Still, that doesn’t make MPGs useless – cars with higher MPGs are still more efficient, they just aren’t quite as efficient as quoted.

I think the programme definitely reminded me of how much there is to consider when buying cars, and the importance of getting second opinions. And some of its tips I’ll definitely try to remember – like always checking how much cars cost at other places, and always re-researching for insurance quotes every year, to see if you can get it cheaper. All in all, a good hour spent – but now to enjoy the sun outside!

Your Money, Their Tricks: Cars is on BBC Iplayer until 17th July

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Make cars women actually want to drive!

This morning I read in the Mail Online that Dr. Andy Palmer, the executive vice-president of Nissan said that there is a need to train more women as engineers to design female friendly cars. Apparently the research he did showed that half of all women are unhappy with their cars and feel that they are misunderstood.

I love my car, but I personally think that a Volkswagen Beetle is typically a female car. It comes with a large flower in a flower pot next to the steering wheel and has a very characteristic shape. The Beetle is a very appealing car and I have found that many women feel the same way.

My sister loves her car as well, she has a Fiat which again has a very characteristic shape and comes in many different designs and colours. At the moment Fiat are creating adverts that are really focussing on the female market. They have their new summer collection out at the moment and even a Fiat 500 that has been designed by Gucci. 

Andy Palmer believes that firms are failing to make cars that appeal to females and they are concentrating more on a car’s horsepower than what women feel are important aspects of a car. He makes a point of mentioning seats that fit women’s backs better than men’s, I actually suffer from bad back pain and if my seat was designed to specifically fit a female’s back I might suffer less. Andy Palmer also mentions the lack of space for prams and the predominantly male showroom sales staff. I also see women struggle to get their pram into the back of their cars, if I just had one child I wouldn’t want to drive a huge 4x4 just because I needed room for a pram. If smaller cars had larger boots or space in the back to fit a pram it would save the struggle of trying to make room to fit everything.

 As I wrote in my last blog, Girl Power In The Motoring World. The number of private cars with a female registered owner has increased by 70% since 1994. Women are buying cars a lot more frequently and there needs to be other showrooms like Alan Day Volkswagen in New Southgate that have a female friendly atmosphere and actually have women on the sales floor selling cars to other women.

Not only should women be selling cars but they should also be helping to design the cars that are being sold to the female population. If there were female-friendly cars as well as female friendly motoring services, women should be more comfortable and confident whilst purchasing a car. 

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Do you lock your doors whilst driving?

Yesterday I was shocked to read that a woman was forced to slam down on her brakes on the M25 when a maniac driver with a foreign number plate was tailgating her and undertook her on the motorway. The crazy driver then stopped his car in he middle of the fast lane, got out and punched her windscreen causing it to crack, he then got back in his car and drove off. 

The poor woman was obviously left completely shaken but luckily unharmed. I just couldn't believe someone could be so aggressive especially in such a dangerous situation. It wouldn't even cross my mind that someone would actually get out of their car and punch another person's windscreen. It is a situation that all drivers should be warned about.

  It is believed that the Mercedes is quite distinctive and other drivers may have seen it driving at speed on the motorway, if anyone saw this happen please report it, a situation like this is completely unforgivable and the driver should not get away with it. 

  Situations like this is the reason why I always lock my car doors when I am driving, you just don't know what kind of people are out there and who might try and get into your car. My sister's friend was driving home on Saturday night and stopped at a traffic light, whilst she was waiting for the light to go green a man ran up to her car and tried to open her door. Luckily her doors were locked but she was really shaken up by the incident and is still terrified about what could have happened to her. 

  Do you lock your doors whilst driving?

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My First Car story

My first car was a little second hand 3 door Silver Toyota Yaris called Cogsworth. I was part of the Yaris group with my 3 best friends also having Yaris's in various different colours and named after Disney characters. We all loved our new cars so much and enjoyed driving them around London listening to our music blaring out from our radios.

  I remember the day I passed realising the freedom that I had and driving to all of my friends houses showing off my new car. I picked up one of my friends and we decided to take a drive around London on a Sunday when there was no congestion charge and we could go wherever we wanted. I took a right turn on a road near to my house and started panicking as I realised I was suddenly on a really fast road that looked a lot like a motorway. This wasn't an ideal situation on the first day of driving without my instructor and I realised that you really do learn how to drive after you have passed. So I was driving in the opposite direction to town, the first time on a motorway and ended up coming off at Luton and having to find my way back to London. Luckily my grandma had bought me a SatNav  for my birthday, otherwise I would have been very lost!

  When I arrived back home after an interesting first experience of driving my new car I decided to take some pass plus lessons so that I was comfortable with motorway driving. I must say that now I feel very comfortable driving long distances on the motorway, in fact I prefer it to driving around busy London roads. 

  It was a very sad day when I had to say goodbye to my little Yaris and swap it for a slightly larger and sturdier car, a Volkswagen Polo, to drive up and down on the motorway to the University of Leeds. My parents felt that if I was going to be driving long distances on a regular basis that I needed to be in a car that didn't rattle at high speeds. 

  Do you remember your first car experience? What was it like? You can blog about it and enter the MoneySuperMarket competition you could win a model version of your first car in either 1:18, 1:24, 1:32 or 1:42 scale if the blog post is published on or before Wednesday 17th July 2013. 

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Regent Street Motor Show

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Whiplash claims

I feel sorry for the insurance companies. I know, it’s not what people normally say – certainly not after they’ve just renewed their insurance! Premiums are always going up, and one of the main reasons for that is false whiplash claims. The ABI (Associate of British Insurers) now think that over a quarter of whiplash claims are frauds – and what an easy fraud it is! With so few insurers checking whether the claim is genuine, all the person has to do is pretend to have had a sore neck for a few weeks, and they could get up to £20,000. But my sympathy here is mostly for the insurance companies – after all, it’s not their fault that people will always try to cheat the system, and I bet they’re no happier to pay out for claims they suspect are false than we are to receive the higher premiums that come as a direct consequence. As I said, it’s an easy injury to pretend to have, and the insurers have found that it’s much easier to just believe people than to try and force them to prove they have an injury.

Confused.com  the car insurance website, says that there is now technology which can test whether or not someone is actually suffering whiplash, or if they’re just faking it for the pay-out. But this tech has clearly not made it to the UK, which is now “the Whiplash Capital in Europe”. Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later, because as well as hitting insurance companies and drivers who have to pay the premiums, false whiplash claims waste a huge amount of GPs’ precious time, and  therefore the NHS money. Can you believe over half the GPs in the UK would have been phoned at least once this year by companies offering to buy details of car accident sufferers? And if the GPs give out this information, or if the companies get it by another source, then they phone up the people involved and nag them until they agree to seek a claim. And it’s easy to see why people agree to seek a claim – they can get an average of £9,512, just because! And they don’t have to spend it on medical expenses either – Aviva reckon an equal amount of people spend their claim money on paying off their debt as those who spend it on medical fees, and a massive 21% of people just spend it on luxuries like TVs or holidays.

Of course, it’s not all “poor insurance companies”. If they actually went to the injured person’s insurance company, and tried forcing the claim, I bet most people would fold before they went to the doctors to try and get proof of their injury. The reason they don’t is because they don’t want to seem to be the bad guys, and they’re worried that people will go to the doctors, and end up costing the company more in the end. But I bet most of the liars would refuse, and then our premiums could drop by about £60, which would certainly be a relief for me! And of course, that way the fakers won’t get away with lying and that would also be a relief – after all, why should they get the money if they haven’t actually been hurt? Not only does it hurt the other driver, who will lose their no-claims discount, but it makes people who’ve actually suffered whiplash, and use the money to pay their medical expenses, look bad as well. The other thing they could do is just stop people backdating claims – a large proportion of claims are dated from  2010 and 2011, which also seems ridiculous – surely if they were hurt three years ago, they wouldn’t have waited all this time to claim? Still, easier said than done, I guess – but I hope someone sorts something out!

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Checking Your Car in the Summer

Summer Car Checks.

So summer has arrived….well it is apparently here for the next two weeks. However, because our English summers are so temperamental we need to be extra prepared and make sure our cars are in perfect condition for every type of weather. 

So what do we need to do to look after our cars during the summer?

Check your engine coolant level:

Every motorist in the UK is risking a large repair bill if they fail to regularly check that their engine coolant is at the right level. It is so important to check your engine coolant if you want to prevent your car from overheating during the summer. The coolant level needs to be in the middle of maximum and minimum marks, you should try and check this once a week to make sure it hasn’t dropped. It is best to check the levels when the engine is cold, if the coolant level has dropped, you need to take it to your local garage to check there aren’t any leaks. Coolant levels should stay at the same level in between services. 

Check your oil Level:

You should be checking your oil level at least once a month to make sure that it is at the right level. Your car oil level should be between the minimum and maximum levels on the dipstick, if you can’t see the min/max sign on your dipstick then check your manual. Mine has cross hatches instead of a maximum/minimum mark.

If you have cross hatching on your dipstick, make sure the oil level mark is within the cross hatch section of the dipstick. If it is over the marks, you need to drain some oil out; if it is at or below the marks, you need to add oil.

Check your tyres:

It is important to monitor your tyre pressures, checking them every couple of weeks during the summer. According to the AA, high temperatures can often aggravate tyres and cause punctures.

The correct tyre pressure for your tyres can be found in your handbook or sometimes on the side of your car door. You also need to check your tyre tread depth, by law, your tread depth needs to be at least 1.6mm.

Tyre treads are used to diffuse water which may be lying on the surface of roads, the bigger your treads are, the more water can be broken up and your car is less likely to lose control because you will have more grip. If you tyre tread depth is less than the legal limit, you risk being fined.

Windscreen wash:

It is important to make sure that you windscreen wash is full. This may not seem like an important thing to check, however, glare from the sun can be made much worse by a dirty windscreen and this can cause accidents.

Check your car battery:

Your car battery will have gone through a lot during the winter months so it is always best to take your car to your local garage to check your battery is in full working order. Many garages will actually this for free and it means you can avoid an unexpected breakdown. If you are going to be doing long drives during the summer months, it would be a good idea to get your garage to check your brake pads, discs and also brake fluid as well.