Figures for 2012 collected by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) showed councils in England and Wales had to compensate drivers whose vehicles suffered pothole damage to the tune of £22.8 million. Local authorities, who are responsible for the maintenance of B-roads and minor roads, are struggling to cope with the backlog of road repairs; in …
The oxygen sensor is a small but vital part of your engine, and one of the important parts responsible for keeping your car’s MPG as low as possible. Oxygen sensors are also known as O2 sensors, lambda sensors, lambda probes or EGO (exhaust gas oxygen) sensors. What is the oxygen sensor? It is a small …
Wheel alignment, often known simply as “tracking”, is the adjustment of the angles of a car’s wheels so they are set to the manufacturer’s specification. To handle and perform to its best, a car’s wheels must be “dead straight” in line with the car so that they roll freely when driving. If any wheel is …
Most recent diesel cars (any manufactured after 2008) are fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter, which traps soot from the engine before it exits into the atmosphere, and heats it to very high temperature to reduce it to very fine white ash. These use the temperatures generated by the engine to break down the soot …
There seems to be no stopping the oil companies, as the price at the pumps continues to rise to astronomical heights for a myriad of reasons, valid or not. Civil wars, international conflicts, hurricanes, lack of refining capacity… they all seem to conspire to increase oil, and therefore, petrol prices. In the face of rising …
A new European directive is calling for almost all pre-1984 cars to be made exempt from MOT tests. It seems strange that for once the EU appear to be advocating reducing road safety, but there we are. The directive suggests that cars which are at least 30 years old, out of production, and running to …
Being sensitive to your car’s sounds and the way it feels and reacts when driving will allow you to detect common car brake problems early on and potentially avoid making unscheduled diversions into the roadside scenery. Despite all the high-tech wizadry on modern cars, the brakes themselves (ignoring ABS for a moment) remain relatively low-tech – they …
One of the most overlooked parts of a vehicle, and one of the most common garage repairs is the timing belt, otherwise known as the cambelt. Your car’s timing belt may look like an accessory, but the fact is that if it fails, your car will suddenly stop, and, if you’re lucky, you will find …
Once you’ve identified a suitable tyre for your car (as if that wasn’t enough to think about in itself) new EU regulations mean all tyres have to have 3 more pieces of information provided for them so you can compare them when buying. The information is represented as three charts which provide a quick visual …
EU legislation requires all manufacturers to offer at least a 2-year, unlimited mileage warranty on all their new cars, which is transferable if the car is sold on. Different legislation (the good old EU again though) states that manufacturers cannot force buyer to have their cars serviced by their official dealership network, and cannot refuse …