I've just bought this car from auction it has no service book and no MOT (a gamble I know but I got it cheap) how do I do about finding out its service history, and how do I get a new service book which I can get stamped?

The reason I sound so thick is because I have been driving company cars for the last 15 years and have got out of touch with the aggro of private ownership! Read more

FYI, was chatting with a friend last night who works at a Citroen dealership and got talking about the car market. He said they were doing pretty good as people were buying the small Citroens.

He then surprised me by saying that a VW dealership in South Wales had let 100 of its staff go in recent months. I assume it must have been in dribs and drabs.

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I'm looking at family size diesels for my son. He fancies a SAAB 9-3 (post 03 booted model.) I've suggested he looks at VW Bora, SEAT Toledo, Honda Civic. Want to avaoid paying extra for badges but I think I'd struggle to get him to look at a SKODA Octavia.
Any observations/advice welcome. Read more

Heading South yesterday late afternoon, hit crawling traffic from J27 to J19. Added an hour to our journey. Every gantry showed 40mph. The info boards just stated queue ahead. No information or how far the jam extended. If I knew how far, I would have diverted.

We passed a gantry showing 60mph so we thought right thats it. The traffic sped up. Then slowed down to the next gantry showing 40mph again. And many others after. When the traffic started moving past J19 the road was clear. If there had been a hold up it was gone.

Surely the muppets in the control centre should have turned the signs back off. All it did was create a concertina effect for many miles. It was the 40mph signs that created the congestion. Moving along past the North bound carriageway after we got going again the same was happening on that carriageway. In my mirror I could see 40mph flashing signs and again causing congestion. We didn't see anything to warrant the slow down.

I understand they are used to handle traffic flow but I feel it has the opposite effect in causing it. If there is an accident or other emergency then so be it, but I wonder if over zealous operators have a bit of fun with traffic control that suits them and not us.

If there is no obstruction to any lane get the traffic moving. Even the local radio reported that they had no idea what was causing the congestion. They offered "weight" of traffic. NO I screamed in frustration, its those gantries and the morons operating them. Read more

I made a rare trip to a bus/Coach station at the weekend, Pool Meadow in Coventry, from where I caught a coach to Stansted. Several large signs at the main entrance announced "Taxis and private cars uninsured in this area: Do not enter." This intrigued me. Is it actually possible to designate an area of private land where insurance is invalid? Would a hapless coach passenger being rammed by a runaway joyrider be unable to claim for any injuries? Could my parents post a sign and unilaterally declare the drive to their house an insurance-free zone?
I'm quite sure the signs are effectively meaningless. Meaningless but far preferable to the usual threats of clamping, towing, fines and the like in most other places these days.
Incidentally, if anyone from Coventry City Council is reading this, a drop-off zone for car passsengers at the coach station - like the ones airports have - would actually be useful, as coach passengers arriving by car don't generally relish a half mile walk through a dimly-lit city centre, CCTV cameras or not. Read more