Cars

[SteveH]

Motorists have been warned about the price of petrol, diesel and fuel over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Fuel prices have reached the price of pre-pandemic levels, hitting drivers venturing out on the roads over Easter.

The average cost of a litre of petrol and diesel at UK forecourts is £1.25 and £1.29 respectively, according to Government figures.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/every-driver-uk-issued-bleak-20312286

[DVT]

I last fuelled up on 3rd February - cost of petrol was £1.199 per litre (£5.45 per gallon) - Shell Black Cat.

Their price now is £1.279 per litre ( per gallon) (£5.81 per gallon which was the same price as I paid exactly a year earlier.

My car has a lease allowance of 11,000 per annum, but has only done 4,000 since Christmas 2019 when it was a year old ... it currently owes me over 10,000 miles !!!  On the plus side, I have saved about £2k.

[SteveH]

Two car related stories today

Eight driving laws you are probably breaking without realising      https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19234348.eight-driving-laws-probably-breaking-without-realising/


Bizarre 'Batmobile' turns heads and baffles onlookers in Snowdonia    https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/bizarre-gyro-batmobile-turns-heads-20386599

A Carver One, a “man-wide” urban vehicle designed by a Dutch firm to combine the advantages of a car and motorcycle in town traffic.

[SteveH]

British motorists are facing the biggest drop in car insurance costs in almost six years, a price comparison website has found.

Confused.com says the average cost of car insurance has fallen by £87 in 12 months due to lower risk of accidents.

This comes as average mileage dropped by 43% during the pandemic as driving habits changed.

The cost of insurance for men fell by £91, a 14% fall year-on-year, while female drivers are saving £82.

Confused.com's latest Car Insurance Price Index, in partnership with global insurance broker Willis Towers Watson, tracked six million insurance quotes during the first quarter of 2021.

Yet if you've received your car insurance renewal in the last three months, you might have seen your insurance premium go up by an average of £45 - an amount derived from the insurance quotes tracked.

The price comparison site says this shows motorists are likely to pay more if they opt to stick with their current insurer.

cont  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56808145

[SteveH]

How to tell if your vehicle is incompatible with new E10 petrol ahead of major fuel change this autumn
Fuel retailers will be required to make E10 the standard by September this year - but some vehicles aren't compatible

E10 petrol will replace E5 as the standard fuel from the summer and most motorists shouldn't be affected.
Around 600,000 vehicles won't be compatible with the new fuel though and they face higher petrol prices.

So what does this mean for drivers? And how can you tell if your car is incompatible? Here's what we know.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/how-tell-your-vehicle-incompatible-20425156


Check if your vehicle can run on E10 petrol...........  https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol

[SteveH]

More on a "Points to ponder" theme than cars, the figures in this article I found surprising, unless I am being naive .

"12,000 women have points on their provisional licence, compared to 53,000 men and data shows that 12,000 drivers are at risk of losing their licence straight away.

When broken down by age group, learners in their 20s are the worst for having penalty points before passing their test.

The DVLA data shows that 26,552 provisional licence holders in their 20s already have one or more endorsements on their driving record and 65,054 learner drivers have points on their licence before passing their test.

Men are four times more likely to get points on their provisional license.

Drivers aged 16-25 are fined £40.7 million from motoring offences each year, and nine young drivers are caught driving illegally every hour in the UK.

165 young drivers caught speeding every day, costing £6 million in fines annually, while 8 in 10 motoring offences result in a ban for young drivers.   "                      ref Liv/echo

[SteveH]

A box of tissues for DVT please .................     

Welsh motorist won £30,000 car in online giveaway - but this happened just two days later
Adam Griffiths, 27, was the lucky winner of a Mitsubishi Evo IX and £1,000 on Monday, April 26

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-motorist-won-30000-car-20496957

[DVT]

Not my place to comment - you can form your own opinion from the press report!  Several factors come into play.

I do note that the car had just had a MoT, so presumably this was not a new car as seems to have been advertised.

[Hugo]

If you have the money or in this case you have the luck anyone can own a car no matter how powerful it is but no one questions the persons ability to drive the care safely.     
I believe the Caterham Company made you take a test drive in their most powerful car before they sold it to you which made sense

[DVT]

When I bought my current car a couple of years ago I was told by the dealer not to put it in R mode if the roads were wet.  Handling in dry conditions is probably the best of any front-wheel-drive car, but the wide and soft tyres do not work well if raining or there are standing puddles.
I have yet to get it to the maximum speed claimed by the manufacturer - 169mph !!!

[Hugo]

Don't try to reach that speed on the A55  DVT  as there at least two sections of average speed cameras on that road.      We came back from Anglesey on Tuesday and it was 40 mph on the eastbound lane and we had to stick to it but the car's top speed is not much more than that anyway.                                  

[SteveH]

I have made my mind up, it is definitely the SUV........ 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43pCsO7hRNo

[DVT]

A few years ago I competed on a rally as co-driver in a Lotus Europa - and that is how I had to get out!!!  My excuse was the roll cage restricted my easy egress.  Unsuitable car for stage rallying (tarmac surface) but we did finish third overall!

These days I do find it a bit of a job to get in and out of my current car due to the rally-style seats (standard fitting for the model).  My excuse now is age!!!

[SteveH]

A long time ago, I got a lift to work in a frog eyed sprite, I had to kink my head to my left shoulder, to get out............. and that is how I stayed for the next fortnight, very painful, I do remember the cure, after trying everything else, someone brought me horse liniment, smelly, but effective.. 

[Nemesis]

I drove an MG Midget for a number of years when I was younger--great fun, so my OH decided that we would have another one about 10 years ago. Neither of us could get in and out and by the time we had got out to put the hood up and got back in during a sudden storm we were soaked .Never again.!