Costs are generally going to go up, let’s face it. IPT (That’s insurance premium tax) rises 2%, which sticks an extra 2% on your renewal next year. Low road tax incentives for new vehicles are dropping out more and more, and the government has removed many tax breaks available to employees via workplace salary sacrifice schemes, which had allowed employees to obtain new vehicles via a company car mechanism. Fuel duty remained frozen again, which does at least not increase prices at the pump, but prices are sensitive to any weakness in the pound. In the current volatile market, expect pump prices to rise over the year anyway. However, it’s good news if you want to buy an ultra-low emission vehicle. There’s a lot of new investment into the charging...

With winter fast approaching, now is the time many people start to experience problems with their cars. It may be that your car has been running fine all through the summer months but as soon as the cold mornings start to hit, you find that it splutters for a while when you first start it or even worse it won’t start at all. Often these issues are relatively simple to rectify, it may be that your battery is on its way out and struggling to keep its power. Or possibly that there is an issue with the automatic choke on the vehicle. A quick visit to the garage for an all over health check should pick up on problems that may be happening in the morning when trying to start...

If you are having to sell a second hand car then you will probably be familiar with the hassle that comes with it. Selling a second hand car privately can be quite stressful. Firstly you need to consider what price you are going to try and sell your car for. Realistically there is no point thinking what you paid for the car, you need to find out what they are currently selling for. Looking at places like Auto Trader or even Facebook car sales pages will give you a rough idea. Be sure not to just pick the highest priced car and advertise yours at that price, as just because someone is selling one at that price it doesn’t mean they will get that price for it. Do give your...

A service is often between £100 and £250 for a car (and even more for a major service) and therefore many people with old cars tend not to bother so much with getting a service done. During a service the garage will change the oil and oil filters and this can really help keep the engine working as it should. The oil is there to lubricate certain moving parts in the engine and to take away some of the heat. Over time the oil in your car breaks down and becomes less efficient and can mean that the components of the engine do not work as well as they should be. If this happens it can lead to big problems and engine failure. Many garages now offer interim services or...

It is illegal to drive a car in the UK without a valid MOT certificate unless you are driving the vehicle to or from an MOT test station or to or from a garage where it is booked in to have work carried out that caused the vehicle to fail the previous MOT. There is a national vehicle database which stores information such as MOT’s, insurance tax meaning that the police and DVLA have quick and easy access to this information when needed. The DVLA do checks every month to see if a car has a valid MOT certificate and any that don’t are instantly sent to the ANPR of the police vehicle. If a vehicle with no MOT drives past or is spotted in a car fitted with an...