Two tips for freeing off Citigo (and up! and Mii) seized back brakes (JB, Kendal): 1) Make sure the car can't run away - in gear with engine off and / or someone in the driver's seat applying the footbrake - then put a socket extension on the hub through an aperture in the wheel and tap with a hammer - twang! You will hear the brakes release. Skoda Assistance guy did this with mine. 2) If you can park on a slope, do so such that the car will roll backwards when you release everything. With a bit of gradient, the weight of the car should free the brakes off in that direction, and very little or even no clutch action required. Hth. Read more

I fully agree with Michelin's thoughts. The present idea of 3 mm being a minimum safe limit is probably based on tests with vehicles where all 4 tyres are equally worn. Why does braking distance increase on wet roads increase as the tread gets shallower? I presume it is because the risk of aquaplaning increases. If this is so, let us not forget that the rear tyre usually follows the path of the front tyre. The front one will of course have removed most of the surface water, so the rear tyre runs over a damp, rather than water covered surface. It should therefore be less susceptible to aquaplaning and still safe with the 1.6 mm tread. So, when the front tyres are worn down to about 3 mm, move them to the back to finish them off and fit new front ones. The tread depth of a new tyre is 8 mm (I think), so a 3 mm replacement policy means that you use 5 mm. Extending the wear limit to 1.6 mm as I suggest would give 6.4 mm use, that is an extra 28% life from the tyres. Read more

I've always been interested in the history of the UK car market to understand how trends and changes emerge and why often the industry doesn't see them coming eg the rise of the hatchback in the early to mid 70s, an emphasis on tall body shapes for mid size and larger cars (I don't accept the MPV moniker - they were tall versions of hatchbacks and estates which were equally multi purpose), the mainstreaming of 4x4 vehicles (at least in look if not genuine 4x4) for regular buyers who don't need 4x4 at all. Much of the emphasis on size has relied heavily on the development of powerful turbo diesels that can overcome the huge weight gains of most vehicles which otherwise would be painfully slow and thirsty. I don't think the recent consumer shift to petrol is going to work easily for such heavy and large vehicles - I wonder if they'll really be acceptably affordable to buy or run.

What's next? What trend is going to emerge in 2020 onwards? My two pennies' worth is that I hope vehicles start to get smaller outside relative to interior space inside and we see fewer cars that are unnecessarily tall/big. I had a holiday in Japan recently and was struck by how efficient most locally purchased cars are in terms of road space, parking requirement and ease with which people can park them. Many people drive boxy Kei cars and the roads feel less dominated by great lumps of metal moving modest sized people around. I'd love a Kei type car but all the models here of any range are oversized and particularly overwide.

What trend do you foresee (or would like to see?)? Read more

Hi All,

This is my first post. This is to do with AA Warranty which I think people should be aware of.I bought my car from Cargiant who sold me this 3 Gold Cover Warranty for £700.... Read more

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/10/have...e

FFS - What next? I despair- Oh - it's about right for the Grauniad Read more