2003 Mercedes E320 Cdi Transmission on 2040-parts.com

Insurance changes to make shopping around easier

DRIVERS renewing their car insurance could find it easier to shop around or haggle for a discount under new proposals set out by insurers. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it has written to the City regulator, suggesting that new minimum standards of information should be set across the market. The standards would mean that renewal documents for motor and home buildings and contents insurance would include the premium that the customer started the year paying alongside their renewal quote, so that they could be compared more easily.

Saturn alerts customers it is considering a spinoff

Saturn has begun alerting customers that it may be spun off by General Motors as an independent marketing and distribution company. In a letter sent to about 1.5 million Saturn owners Wednesday night, Saturn said it would have to line up products to sell--either from other manufacturers or from GM in the role of a vendor--after GM's current commitment to build Saturn products ends after the 2012 model year. "The Saturn Distribution Corporation already exists as an indirect subsidiary of GM," wrote Jill Lajdziak, general manager of Saturn, in the letter.

BAC Mono: Fancy a Drive?

RS Academy grabs the first two BAC Monos Last month we reported on a new single-seat road car that offers more thrills than a garage full of hypercars for less than the cost of an M5 – the BAC Mono. The brothers Briggs - Briggs Automotive Company – have created the beautifully built, finished and specified Mono as the world’s only single-seat production car (well, the only one that’s actually made it in to production, anyway). Weighing no more than Kylie after a heavy diet, the Mono can scoot to 60mph in just 2.8 seconds before running out of steam somewhere around 170mph.