The Welsh 20 mph limits: one year on and still unpopular

17th September 2024 marked the first anniversary of the controversial 20 mph limits on many roads throughout Wales. How have they been working out? A reminder on what roads are affected For those readers who don’t live in Wales, or visit that often, here’s a reminder of where 20 mph restrictions have come into place:… read more

In 2030, all new cars will be electric. Will we have enough chargers?

As we discussed in Part One and Part Two of this series, new petrol and diesel cars are due for the chop in 2030. If the current legislation remains in place, by 2030, the only new cars available will be powered by electrons (assuming that the ban extends to plug-in electric hybrids). This time, we’ll… read more

So when is the UK banning sales of ICE cars? And will we be ready? Part Two.

In Part One of this post, we looked how the goalposts kept moving for the UK ban on new ICE (internal combustion engine) car sales. The upshot of those shenanigans is that the UK is currently aiming for a 2030 deadline. There’s some uncertainty over what its scope will be – it’s unclear whether hybrids… read more

So when is the UK banning sales of ICE cars? And will we be ready?

A ban on selling new ICE vehicles in the UK is approaching – but successive governments keep moving the goalposts on when it will happen. In this two-parter, we look at the current state of play with the ICE ban and whether the UK can get there in time. Pick a date, any date… By… read more

How is the VW Group doing? A salesy-financey round-up.

We are the independent Volkswagen Group specialist garage in South Wales… and yet this blog hasn’t done a VW salesy-financey round-up in absolutely ages. In this post, we’ll put that right with a quick summary of how our favourite automotive giant is doing. The European background According to Forbes, European car makers are facing some… read more

Road Safety Campaigns: Do Shock Tactics Actually Work?

The recent road safety campaign by National Highways takes a gentle approach – but do the brutal approaches of the past work better? A few weeks back, National Highways launched a road safety campaign that it called, ‘Little changes, change everything’. It targets two driving issues: middle-lane hogging and tailgating. Take a look at one… read more

Servicing intervals – just how important are they?

Every car rolls off the assembly line with a recommended service interval. Here we unpick what that means, and whether it’s a big deal if you ignore it. What is a service interval? All manufacturers recommend that their cars are regularly serviced. The service interval is the recommended maximum length that the car should go… read more

Conservative vs Labour vs Lib Dem – Their Policies and Your Car

With the UK elections looming, what is each major party promising to the UK drivers? Good luck finding that out from their various TV appearances – any useful information has been buried under a steaming heap of spin, soundbites, evasion, recriminations and interruptions. But help is at hand: our at-a-glance guide tells you what the… read more

The Hierarchy of the Road: Never Heard of It, Don’t Follow It?

Last time, we looked at how drivers were coping with changes to the Highway Code, with a quick quiz thrown in. This time, we’re zooming on the most controversial change from the 2022 updates. Fixed Penalty Notices go through the roof A couple of months back, the Home Office released the FPN (fixed penalty notice)… read more

Reckon you’re a Highway Code expert? Try our quick quiz.

  Be honest, when was the last time you looked at your Highway Code? If you’re like 55% of UK drivers, it was the day you passed your test. For a forty-year-old driver, that could be 23 years. For someone who is 60, it could be 43 years. Given that the Highway Code has had… read more