Vortech 3.47" 8 Rib Pulley on 2040-parts.com

Maintenance 'favours' end up costing more

GETTING help from family, neighbours or friends for basic car maintenance tasks costs the UK public an estimate £300million a year, according to a new survey. Over 2,000 people were surveyed on behalf of Halfords Autocentres and one in six said they regretted asking for help in the first place. 45% who subsequently had to pay a professional to rectify mistakes were left with a bill in excess of £100.

Happiness is a Jaguar XJ6 Coupé, says Michael J. Scott

My first Jaguar experience was with the purchase of an XJ6 Coupe which I bought because I thought it was very elegant.  The 4.2 straight six never failed to impress in the way the car just disappeared over the horizon in plush silence (apart from some wind noise from the door seals) and I loved the drama of opening two petrol caps and pumping in fuel from both sides of the car. After long fast drives to southern Germany I always arrived as fresh as when I started out. The car attracted admiring interest from everyone including little old ladies!

Renew your photo card driving licence!

Despite a fine of up to £1,000 for failing to do so, 2 million UK drivers are driving on expired photo card driving licences. Back in December, one of the Cars UK team had cause to hire a car – or at least try to – but was horrified to discover that his photo card driving licence had expired. A quick check across the team revealed one other expired photo card license and two who were still driving on the old pre photo card licenses.