Has anyone else experienced a similar problem and found anyone of help at the DVLA.

The other day a DVLA van clamped my car whilst they called for a tow truck, guy said the car was showing as untaxed. On noticing that it did appear to have a valid tax disc he removed the clamp and advised I move it before the truck arrived and then ring the DVLA.

Phoned the DVLA, what a helpful bunch of people, I explained that I had personally bought the tax through one of their post office agents three months before, had been given a receipt at the time and could supply the name of the PO and the disc number. However that was of no interest, their stance is that the car isn't taxed, therefore I should buy a new tax disc, not at a post office, it would have to be at a DVLA office. In addition if I asked nicely and filled out some forms they'd take the disc that I'd paid £400 for and investigate further.

I phoned the PO and they were very helpful, they tracked the disc to their paperwork and provided a DVLA transaction number that they only get when the disc is scanned and the transaction is complete. In their opinion it's a DVLA problem as the transaction has gone through. So phoned back the DVLA and got the same spiel, eventually though I got transferred to someone who seemingly wanted to help. I explained that imho I'd done all I could from my end and that the onus should be with the DVLA to resolve the problem. He seemed to accept that and gave me a fax number for their investigations team. So faxed all the information I could gather and a week or so later, nothing.

When I ring up I get the runaround, passed from one clueless jobsworth to another and I'm at a loss as how to get this resolved. I'm still driving the car, I'd be lost without it, needless to say I'm concerned that the cameras or the police aren't going being very interested in my excuse. Read more

My mother has just received a notice of intended prosecution from the Police for careless and inconsiderate driving, this relates to apparently scratching another car whilst backing out of a space in a multi-story carpark.

She was very surprised at this as she was not aware of having touched a car whilst backing out but on inspecting her own car found a small amount of paint and a rubber mark as it from a tyre. Presumeably there must either have been a witness or a camera to record this, otherwise how do we know that it was not another car scraping along her vehicle that left the paint?

Assuming she is at fault here, I would have expected that she be asked for her insurance details in order for a repair to be carried out. Instead she has received this Notice of Intended Prosecution. This does seem rather OTT in the circumstances.

Is this normal? Also can someone be prosecuted whilst on private property?

I would be grateful for any thoughts on this. She is actually a very careful driver and good at manoeuvring the car, never having touched another vehicle whilst parking in the past and is very upset about the prospect of being prosecuted.

Olly

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Hello, I am considering the small estate from Volvo. The V50 and have looked at the company's website which shows a feature of being able to fold the front passenger seat flat to create a continuous flat load bay floor. Is this really true, as I have also read that to fold the back seats down it is necessary to lift up the bench seat and remove the headrests, so I dont see how the load bay can be flat all the way to the front.

Can the bench seat be removed completely?

what is the maximum width of the load bay, at the smallest point it looks to be 1 metre.

Further, I have seen a picture, whereby the load bay floor can lift up and there is space underneath, in the form of a polystyrene moulding (no spare wheel), can this floor and polystyrene moulding be removed too? Read more

Open a paper or turn on the radio or TV these days and all the talk is about going gree, downsizing cars to save on fuel, tax and so on but...

Are small cars such as the Yaris, Micra, Fiesta, Polo, etc, etc totally impractical for a tall people? Are they bad for the health of those who are tall or even overweight?

As more and more of us apparently aim to buy smaller cars are we doing our health a long-term injury? Are smaller cars more at risk of injury to the occupants in a car on car collision? What happens if you suddenly need to move something big or visit a DIY shed to buy that new garden mower?

As much as I would love to buy a small car I just cannot see how, for the reasons above, they would be practical unless - as is the case with virtually everyone I know who owns one - you are part of a two car family and your other car is a big 4X4, MPV or large saloon or estate. The only people I know who have a small car as their only car are retired couples.

I am 6 foot 2 inches tall, am single, have no family but I surf, so have need to carry a surfboard on the roof of my car, but otherwise I have no real need for a 'big car' other than that occasional trip to the airport with luggage in the back or a visit every now and then to a DIY shed. I have begun, for green reasons and economic reasons, to think about a Yaris but, heck, it is a push to fit in one and I expect, apart from being easier to park and cheap to run, there would be serious downsides in being to transport anything 'big' if I ever needed to... oh, and in such cars I have to push the seat so far back that no one could sit behind me anyhow... but this is the same for Focus, Golf, Asta, Mazda 3 and so on.

Or maybe car makers just don't think of tall people when they design and build cars? I can understand why so many people opt for easy to get in and out MPVs - if you are tall low seats in a great many cars are a strain on back, thighs and knees when you get in and out... an osteopath friend tells me that a great many people have cars that are too small for them and get in and out of such a car everyday when they would have no intention of walking around in shoes that were too small.

Oh dear, I meant to ask a simple question about superminis but seem to have got distracted.

I would be interested to hear thoughts and views on such cars and how practical or impractical they actually are. Read more

I've looked all over my 2006 1.2 E Polo to find the pollen filter, and checked the manual but I still can't find it!

Before I ring a dealer and make a fool of myself, does anyone know if it even has one? Read more