Quality car repairs & servicing from trustworthy mechanics in Worcestershire
Garages advertising cheap MOTs may not be as cheap as they seem. The ‘bargain basement’ MOT test can just be a marketing ploy to get your car on the ramp, before finding a reason to fail the MOT, with quotes for repairs then running into hundreds if not thousands of pounds. Continue reading “Pass Your MOT Test”
A shocking report by the British Lung Foundation has warned that over 430,000 children a week are travelling in cars polluted by cigarette smoke.
Using official NHS data, the charity discovered how 185,000 children are exposed to smoke in the family car every day, with 430,000 11-15 year-olds exposed to secondhand smoke in cars per week.
Doctor Noel Snell of the British Lung Foundation noted that, “Given the data only covers children between 11 and 15 years old, it’s entirely possibly that the total number of children affected could be in excess of half a million. “
“Smoking may be on the decrease now that e-cigarettes are all the rage, but there are still no shortage of cars with the smell of cigarette smoke,” says Pershore Car Servicing MD, Rob Campbell. “Many of those cars are 7-seat compact MPVs, so clearly family transport. Are these drivers only smoking when the kids are somewhere else?”
Many used car valuation specialists have tried to determine the effect of cigarette smells on the price of a used car. Dealers have traditionally presented different reactions, sometimes depending on whether or not they are smokers, but Campbell advises non-smokers to make sure they mention it when offering a car for sale.
“The smell of cigarette smoke is a huge turn-off for buyers, and will only rise in unpopularity. I would value a smoke-smelling car much lower than a car with a fresh-smelling interior, so “owned by non-smoker” is always worth mentioning in any classified ad text.”
A report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has found that a third of drivers admitted to driving a car that did not have a valid MOT. Some of the drivers surveyed had used their un-roadworthy vehicles for six months or more.
The SMMT report showed that two-thirds of drivers who had driven without an MOT left having their car tested for up to a week after their MOT had expired. A quarter of drivers had left it a month, and almost 10% said they had left it six months. Forty percent of drivers aged 18-24 had continued to drive after their MOT expired.
“The cost of motoring has gone through the roof in recent years,” says Pershore Car Servicing MD, Rob Campbell. “It’s no surprise to find that people already under pressure to make ends meet and fearful of an expensive MOT failure sheet which could take their car out of action for weeks have been deferring their MOT tests.
“Pershore Car Servicing is all about honest work at good value for money,” says Campbell. “We’ve been in business in and around Pershore for over twenty-five years and our team of mechanics has more than a hundred years of combined experience. Good local garages supplying honest, old-fashioned service are recommended by owners and find more business as a result. When professionals look after your car, you need never fear an MOT test again!”
What Car recently revealed research claiming that two-thirds of new car dealerships failed to provide customers with a suitable car to test drive.
Carried out amongst a sample of 48 dealers, almost half of the dealers surveyed could not provide a specific car to drive when requested. Worst amongst those surveyed was BMW, which was unable to fulfil the request for test drives 100% of the time.
Ford emerged ahead of the rest, with dealers capable of providing the requested cars 75% of the time. Volkswagen was second in What Car’s list, with dealers scoring a 50% success rate.
“Given the plethora of niche vehicle upon niche vehicle from car manufacturers, this is not a huge surprise,” said Motoriety’s man in the trade. “UK new car sales are going OK at the minute, and most special cars are sold pretty quickly, including dealer demos. Ford’s success in providing demos is to be expected, and can likely be ascribed to a simple range of models with reasonable levels of options available, and their high rate of production to a standard fleet spec.
“More often than not, it is used car departments which can more easily supply test drive cars to order. Many used car buyers are bonused on what sells, so they are very in tune with what customers are chasing. Though used car enquiries would appear to come from browsers locating the cars on the Internet, the skill of a good used car buyer anticipating consumer demand has a strong bearing on used car forecourt activity from a dealer’s point of view.
“In new cars, demo ordering is down to a new car sales or general sales manager and, while that is also led by experience, they are also obliged to order what will sell easiest, to protect their profits. So, while car company X might manufacture a 1.6-litre base spec in their C-sector platform, the 1.4 petrol and diesel engines will sell fastest, and the hard-to-shift models will usually only come in to order. Thus finding something mid-range to test drive could be a challenge.”
How does your car dealer stack up for service? Set price servicing at car dealers often leaves out important components like brakes and plugs. Why pay for a glorified oil change?