news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7268854.stm

The influential Commons Public Accounts Committee of MPs has apologised to motorcyclists after wrongly suggesting 40% of motorbikes were untaxed.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh blamed the error in last month's report on the Department of Transport, saying it now estimated the figure at 9.8%.

At the time he accused motorcyclists of "cocking a snook at the law".


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I think I can remember a series of cars relatives had with this, or similar steering when I was a kid.

Six Inches play in an Austin A40 (Or was that A60) Cambridge. Did your `Auntie Ethel` also drive down the road `sawing` at the steering?
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I have a 1.1 106 N reg(1996) and I have just replaced the Lambda sensor and the cat as they were Knackered. The problem is that I still have an idle speed that is too high. Sometimes when the engine is warm, the idle will drop but not always. Any Ideas?

{year, engine added to subject header as per the 3 separate requests to do so} Read more

Friend at work wrote off car after it spun after hitting a shed load of wooden panels at a roundabout on a dual carriageway.
Q:If the person or firm responsible for the load is identified, are they liable for all the accidents it causes?
I think they are, but in the world of insurance who knows?


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Felt it was important to post the following advice here as it is a scam that we are increasingly seeing and although on the face of it you would say "who would fall for that", naivety and a bargain can blind the astutest of people. This scam is prevalent on line, on all the car selling sites.

The vehicle is offered for sale at a significantly reduced price, potentially 50% of value, possibly less. The vehicle is a UK car, but the owner is now living abroad, often Portugal or Spain, they need to sell the car to buy a LHD. They will include shipping costs in the price and offer that you pay the amount into Escrow, with the shipping company, who will only release the cash to them when the car arrives.

Of course the car never arrives and further investigation shows that neither does the shipping company, despite what appears to be a flashy website. As for the vehicle, the ID is taken from a car that does exist, one that has often only recently been sold via an online site, therefore if you carry out a status check, everything will appear to be in order. Of course this is a paper car and they have simply lifted the pictures and the reg number.

We have seen a number of customers scammed this way recently, many of them bright people who just couldn?t get past ?A Bargain?. One gentleman even went to Dover on the day in question to pick up his £20k car which he had bought for £10k, despite our advice against it?..

Few points to think about here when buying?.

1. These days there is no such thing as a bargain, in our experience any vehicle that is for sale at more than 15% below market value probably has something to hide
2. If you advertise your car for sale, make sure the VRM is hidden and at least make it more difficult for these people to get the ID in the first place?

If in doubt, walk away, a £20k car is not a bargain at £10k if it doesn?t exist !
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