So, you’ve taken your pride-and-joy along to a trusted MOT centre. You’re learned that it’s failed. Unexpected, but fair enough. Ah, but when you’re told the reason, your blood pressure goes nuclear. If you’d been failed for a proper reason, fair enough… but failing you for that? That’s just taking the…, etc, etc. Time to… read more
Picture the scene. You’re tootling along in a 30mph zone when a car zooms up in your rear view mirror. You can see what’s about to happen, so you tap the dashcam app on your smartphone. As he blasts past you at double the speed limit, the app opens your phone camera, focuses on his… read more
In Part One of this post, we looked at why Volkswagen needed the Golf, how it was designed, and how it turned around VW’s fortunes. But what happened after the Mk1? To answer that, instead of painstakingly picking through each model, we’ve picked three themes that we hope show how our expectations about cars have… read more
Can you remember a time when there wasn’t a Volkswagen Golf? For many people, the answer will be no: the enduring German hatchback has been part of our motoring landscape for almost five decades. And for some, it’s a car to get all misty-eyed about. Because for the millions who owned a Golf as a… read more
Every so often, we like to catch up with our favourite automotive giant, the Volkswagen Group. After all, as an independent South Wales garage specialising in servicing, repairing and MOTing VW Group cars, we have a vested interest in how they’re doing. In any industry, big challenges can create new winners and losers – and… read more
31st January 2023 was the fortieth birthday of a remarkable driving innovation. It marked a revolution in car safety, which in the four decades since its inception has saved many thousands of lives. Even more remarkable, this wasn’t an incredible technical breakthrough by motor manufacturers. It was a simple change in the law, compelling us… read more
Yesterday, the government started a consultation on reducing the frequency of MOTs. As things stand, a new car needs to have its first MOT after three years, and thereafter the car must be MOT’d once a year. The government is considering (a) extending the new-car MOT period to four years and (b) increasing the time… read more
At first glance, 2023 doesn’t look like an appealing prospect. Everyone’s on strike, the weather is permanently mental, and prices are squeezing many of us like a 500-lb gorilla. Wouldn’t it be best just to fast-forward to 2024? Probably, but that hasn’t stopped us looking for some silver linings in the year ahead. C’mon, let’s… read more
If you’re just returning to Wales from outer space, you may have missed the kerfuffle over the new 20 mph speed limit. Here’s the short version, courtesy of the ever-helpful RAC: In a global first, the Welsh Government has announced that all residential roads in the country will have the speed limit reduced to 20mph…. read more
In Part One, we looked at how trials of ‘noise cameras’ are about to begin, aimed at reducing the nuisance caused by excessively loud vehicles. But will all motorists get even-handed treatment? How do we balance the rights of different groups? And where do soft limiters fit into all this? Off we go… One rule… read more
