Having scuffed the painted rear bumper, I have been looking for a cost-effective (cheap) reversing aid that doesn't require holes to be made in the bumper cover..

I have a found a system sold by Incardiscount of Tewkesbury. The system is £80 and appears to use a thin microwave strip to detect close objects rather than ultrasonic detectors. Does anyone have any experience of this system in particular or microwave detectors in general? Read more

i live in the north east and over the weekend a car accident claimed the life of friend of mine (who was driving) and the front passenger. To make it more cruel they were both in their early twenties, so had not really lived. i've always been after a safer car but this has put more emphasis on safety.

interestingly, but just coincidence another life was lost in the north east on that same saturday evening, the only similarity was the cars involved. they both drove vauxhall caviliers.

no i know these are very old cars and safety wasn't even an issue those days, but even my 406 gets a 44% ncap test result, which just doesn't make me "feel" safe.

I have now changed my plans slightly and i'm going for mainly safety over anything else and have short listed 5 cars.
new Laguna
new Megane
Rover 75
new Mondeo
new Vectra

not that i need a big car, it just gives that extra reassurance over a old mini!

now bearing in mind that i wanted reliability in my choice as well i think the 75 comes out top.

discussion, what are the views on all the cars and hopefully experiences of the laguna as that is the safest? Read more

Just had to share this one with other backroomers.

Parked outside Halfords waiting for eldest son to drag himself away
from bicycle dept. when a fancy looking small Pug covered in chrome and alloy
bits and pieces pulled up at the side of
me and out gets young driver with a bit of a stunner girl friend.
I was just about to call after them that he'd left the engine running when he
turned round, pointed his key at the car and switched the engine off.
What a poseur thinks I (or something like that). Two mins later said
youth (who looks about 15) comes out of Halfords and when about 10
metres from car points the remote control at it and starts the engine.
Hmmm thinks I, a first class poseur (or something like that). In jumps
youth and stunning girlfriend and promplty stalls the car. Sad to say
the thing didn't want to restart for some reason. Last I saw of them he
was stood outside the car frantically prodding at his remote control. Looking
for the rewind function I suppose. Laugh, I nearly pee'd myself. Read more

Do folk have favourite examples of car-related marketing spiel that makes no sense at all?

To give you an example, Mazda sent me some info. on the appealing new "6". However the effect was rather spoilt by the inept wording of the covering letter which included the following phrases:

"Our...diesels let you enjoy the *ride and handling* of a petrol engine.." (It's not usually the ride and handling that put people off oil burners.)

"...petrol engine develops a *thrifty* 120ps" (What's the attraction of an engine that's mean with its horsepower?) Read more

My local auction had a sale of Japanese imports the other day, 4x4s, people carriers, sports etc. Some of these had SVA certificates, others did not, all had no MOT and were straight off the ship, unregistered in the UK and sold as seen. They were all going for low prices- has anyone on here bought a car in this way? Does the low price outweigh the risks ie no history, no mot, unwarranted miles,possible crash damage? How much hassle is it to get a SVA yourself? and is there difficulty in insuring them?- I heard Elephant won't touch them. Thanks Read more