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Is it time this subforum got an FAQ?
We keep seeing the same questions pop up again and again on this forum, so I think it's time we had an FAQ.
I'm willing to try and maintain this if people want to contribute suggestions and corrections. Here are a few starters.
Questions covered so far
The reason for this is due to diesel particulate filters in modern diesels. These gradually clog up with soot and to clear them out you need to do a good long run on a dual carriageway or motorway, where the engine will get nice and hot, in order to trigger the regeneration process that clears them out. If this does not happen then the filter will eventually clog up completely over the course of a year or two and you are looking at £1000-£1500 to replace it, this will wipe out any savings you may have made in fuel. See this article for an extreme example.
It is also worth noting that petrol engines generally warm up quicker, so will suffer less damage from shorter journeys. Ultimately diesels are most cost effective as motorway mile munchers to be driven by sales reps and other long distance drivers, petrols are best suited to urban use.
Obviously this is a general rule. If you are doing 30,000 miles a year in a 1996 Subaru Impreza Turbo and plan to switch to a diesel VW Polo you will probably make a profit. Likewise if your current car is a clapped out death trap that breaks down at least once a month costing you hundreds of pounds in repair bills then upgrading makes sense.
Failing that, just drive more efficiently.
If you are buying a 2 year old Cat D for £8,000 then that car may have been worth £10,000 before the accident, and so suffered £6,000 worth of damage. This would imply a significant impact and possible further troubles down the line. You are also going to run into difficulty selling the car and get a reduced resale value.
If you are buying a 20 year old Cat D for £100 then the car will have suffered £60 worth of damage, so chances are someone just reversed into the door and dented it. A lot of Cat D damage isn't even worth fixing at this age as the buyer of a £100 banger isn't going to care about a dented door. Obviously you should inspect the car thoroughly and know what you are getting into, but a £100 car is likely to have problems anyway so Cat D doesn't make a huge difference.
Only the council can issue a PCN (Penalty Charge Notice) which is legally enforcible and can turn into a fine if you ignore it. Consider whether you want to contest it or not but you must deal with this.
Private parking companies cannot do this, all they can do is issue an invoice for an alleged breach of contract. These are frequently dressed up to look like legal documents and use terms like "Parking Charge Notice" in order to confuse and mislead, but there are several points to note.
Good: My 2007 diesel Ford Focus 1.6 Style makes a grinding noise whenever I use the brakes. It is worst when the car has only just been started and gradually goes away over the course of a long drive. I only bought the car 6 months ago and it came with no service history, however I did get it serviced and MOTd when I bought it, which it passed with no advisories. I only use the car once a week for a shopping run. I have asked my son what it might be and he says it is because I don't drive it enough. I have not yet taken it back to the Ford dealer.
This will get you a much better response. Remember that people here give their time freely and not all of them can be bothered to ask you for this information and will simply move on to another thread.
In some cases it may be easier to take a photograph if the fault is visible. Use imgur.com to upload the image and copy the "BBCode" into your post to add the image to your post.
Other than that, just follow Martin's guide, and also have a play with the online quote engines and try different makes and models. Sometimes a larger "old man's car", such as a 1.8 Mondeo, can be cheaper to insure than a more stereotypical young person's car such as a 1.0 Corsa. This is most likely because the insurance statistics show a lot of youngsters crashing their Corsas, but fewer youngsters crash their dad's Mondeo.
However if the seller wants you to take it to them then ask them if they are willing to reimburse you your recovery fees. Ask them for their name and direct dial number to try and deal with them solely so no miscommunication can be had between people trying to deal with the same issue.
If you lose a days work then this would be no different to buying a car locally and having to arrange half a day off to sort the issue. If the car runs, try and get it to them unless doing so would cause more damage. If possible have someone follow you.
Check that it is as it is described in the advert. Take the advert with you to make sure.
If possible, take someone with you that knows about cars and buying cars.
Make sure the V5C (logbook) is the original, and the new keeper supplement and notification of new keeper form has no Tippex on it blanking out a previous buyer.
Run the checks. HPI it or ask to see the one the trader/dealer has done! Don't be fooled into paying £90.00 for a dealers one, you can do your own at a fraction of that cost, many small trader will supply you their HPI report for free.
RAC/AA car inspection if you're on your own to buy a car but make sure you've done your own checks first and are seriously considering buying the car, otherwise you'll pay out £150 three or four times over on different cars you look at. Many places will welcome an inspection of the car they are to potentially sell if they have nothing to hide. If the seller is unwilling or uncooperative, be suspicious as to why.
Ask questions, don't be afraid to ask if it has been in an accident; don't be afraid to ask for some time to look at the car on your own or on your own as a couple so you can talk freely about the car without eyes and ears of a sales guy trying to interrupt you.
Warranty: most places will try and sell you a platinum everything is covered even the fluffy dice on the mirror warranty, while some warranties can be good from certain places more often than not they're not worth the paper and ink its printed with so search about and read the fine print under the small print and exclusions.
Gap insurance, as above, sometimes you can save money just buy hunting around.
If the dealer/trader takes your deposit but then sells the car from under you to someone else then yes he has broken his contract with you and you should be entitled to the deposit back. If the dealer/trader takes your deposit but then calls you a day later after doing some remedial work but discovers there a big fault with the car and tells you he cant sell it to you as its not economical for him to repair he should have your cash waiting. He may offer you another car from stock of similar description and price, but you are not obliged to take this offer and can still have your cash back.
There are two options that are worth considering:
If you are only making occasional trips, or only expect a few days worth of snow, try snow socks. These are easily placed over your existing tyres and provide improved grip on snow. You can drive them for short distances over tarmac but this will eventually ruin them. These are good if you live on an unploughed/gritted residential street and the rest of your commute is on roads that are ploughed and gritted. Just put them on, drive to the end of your road and take them off again.
For more serious use, or if you are unable to use snow socks (e.g. due to disability), consider winter tyres. Sometimes these are mistakenly called snow tyres** but they actually offer improved grip and handling over summer tyres at any temperature below roughly 7 degrees C. The difference in your ability to get moving after switching a normal car to winter tyres is much much greater than replacing that car with a 4x4 and winter tyres also improve braking and cornering greatly. The biggest danger you will find is the driver of the posh 4x4 behind you who thinks they will be able to stop quicker than you.
There some inconveniences to using winter tyres. Unless you want to pay a tyre shop to swap over your tyres twice a year you will need to obtain a second set of wheels for your car. Ideally you should go for the smallest diameter wheel you can get that will still clear your brakes, these are cheaper to buy, the tyres are cheaper to buy and they actually work better! You will also need somewhere to store them.
The biggest objection to these tyres is the cost, but in practice it does not cost you more, other than the initial purchase of a set of wheel rims. The tyres cost about the same as a mid-range summer tyre and during the time you are using them you are not wearing out your summer tyres, meaning they will last longer.
* Ok, for the pedants the Reliant Robin (or similar) is an exception, but if you own one of these I am sure you know what you are doing and are probably not considering buying a huge 4x4!
** You can actually get proper snow tyres, but you are unlikely to see these sold in the UK. They are only really useful in countries like Finland.
I'm willing to try and maintain this if people want to contribute suggestions and corrections. Here are a few starters.
Questions covered so far
- Should I buy a petrol or a diesel?
- Should I replace my car with a newer model in order to save money on fuel?
- Any other options to reduce fuel cost?
- Should I buy a Cat D car?
- I've got a ticket for speeding/red light/mobile phone etc.
- I've got a parking ticket
- Help! My car has a fault
- How can I get cheap insurance for my 17 year old son or daughter?
- What do I do if the car I bought from a small trader or franchise dealer 200 miles away has broken down 2 days later?
- But I cant get the car there and my breakdown policy doesn't cover towing that distance, can I take the car to a local garage?
- I am going to buy a car what should i check for?
- I live in a town or city, what 4x4 should I buy to get me through the snow this winter?
- Should I buy a petrol or a diesel?
The reason for this is due to diesel particulate filters in modern diesels. These gradually clog up with soot and to clear them out you need to do a good long run on a dual carriageway or motorway, where the engine will get nice and hot, in order to trigger the regeneration process that clears them out. If this does not happen then the filter will eventually clog up completely over the course of a year or two and you are looking at £1000-£1500 to replace it, this will wipe out any savings you may have made in fuel. See this article for an extreme example.
It is also worth noting that petrol engines generally warm up quicker, so will suffer less damage from shorter journeys. Ultimately diesels are most cost effective as motorway mile munchers to be driven by sales reps and other long distance drivers, petrols are best suited to urban use.
- Should I replace my car with a newer model in order to save money on fuel?
Obviously this is a general rule. If you are doing 30,000 miles a year in a 1996 Subaru Impreza Turbo and plan to switch to a diesel VW Polo you will probably make a profit. Likewise if your current car is a clapped out death trap that breaks down at least once a month costing you hundreds of pounds in repair bills then upgrading makes sense.
- Any other options to reduce fuel cost?
Failing that, just drive more efficiently.
- Should I buy a Cat D car?
If you are buying a 2 year old Cat D for £8,000 then that car may have been worth £10,000 before the accident, and so suffered £6,000 worth of damage. This would imply a significant impact and possible further troubles down the line. You are also going to run into difficulty selling the car and get a reduced resale value.
If you are buying a 20 year old Cat D for £100 then the car will have suffered £60 worth of damage, so chances are someone just reversed into the door and dented it. A lot of Cat D damage isn't even worth fixing at this age as the buyer of a £100 banger isn't going to care about a dented door. Obviously you should inspect the car thoroughly and know what you are getting into, but a £100 car is likely to have problems anyway so Cat D doesn't make a huge difference.
- I've got a ticket for speeding/red light/mobile phone etc.
- I've got a parking ticket
Only the council can issue a PCN (Penalty Charge Notice) which is legally enforcible and can turn into a fine if you ignore it. Consider whether you want to contest it or not but you must deal with this.
Private parking companies cannot do this, all they can do is issue an invoice for an alleged breach of contract. These are frequently dressed up to look like legal documents and use terms like "Parking Charge Notice" in order to confuse and mislead, but there are several points to note.
- Their claim is against the driver, not the registered keeper, and unlike the council and police they have no power to require the registered keeper to name the driver, or admit to being the driver. They would have to prove this themselves.
- Under UK contract law, penalty clauses must be proportionate to the actual losses incurred. If parking is £1 an hour and you overstay by 2 hours then it would be reasonable to ask you to pay that £2. It would not be reasonable to ask you to pay a £100 penalty. If it is a free car park then they have suffered no loss by you overstaying.
- Help! My car has a fault!
- You car's make, model, variant, year and fuel type.
- As much detail of the fault as you can manage, including anything you have to do to make it happen and anything you can do to stop it happening.
- Any other information you can give us as to the car's general condition or service history, and how you use it.
- Any modifications, for example the previous owners bodged radio installation.
- Any steps you have already taken to try and resolve the fault.
Good: My 2007 diesel Ford Focus 1.6 Style makes a grinding noise whenever I use the brakes. It is worst when the car has only just been started and gradually goes away over the course of a long drive. I only bought the car 6 months ago and it came with no service history, however I did get it serviced and MOTd when I bought it, which it passed with no advisories. I only use the car once a week for a shopping run. I have asked my son what it might be and he says it is because I don't drive it enough. I have not yet taken it back to the Ford dealer.
This will get you a much better response. Remember that people here give their time freely and not all of them can be bothered to ask you for this information and will simply move on to another thread.
In some cases it may be easier to take a photograph if the fault is visible. Use imgur.com to upload the image and copy the "BBCode" into your post to add the image to your post.
- How can I get cheap insurance for my 17 year old son or daughter?
Other than that, just follow Martin's guide, and also have a play with the online quote engines and try different makes and models. Sometimes a larger "old man's car", such as a 1.8 Mondeo, can be cheaper to insure than a more stereotypical young person's car such as a 1.0 Corsa. This is most likely because the insurance statistics show a lot of youngsters crashing their Corsas, but fewer youngsters crash their dad's Mondeo.
- What do I do if the car I bought from a small trader or franchise dealer 200 miles away has broken down 2 days later? (Written by atrixblue.-MFR-.)
- But I cant get the car there and my breakdown policy doesn't cover towing that distance, can I take the car to a local garage? (Written by atrixblue.-MFR.)
However if the seller wants you to take it to them then ask them if they are willing to reimburse you your recovery fees. Ask them for their name and direct dial number to try and deal with them solely so no miscommunication can be had between people trying to deal with the same issue.
If you lose a days work then this would be no different to buying a car locally and having to arrange half a day off to sort the issue. If the car runs, try and get it to them unless doing so would cause more damage. If possible have someone follow you.
- I am going to buy a car what should I check for? (Written by atrixblue.-MFR-.)
Check that it is as it is described in the advert. Take the advert with you to make sure.
If possible, take someone with you that knows about cars and buying cars.
Make sure the V5C (logbook) is the original, and the new keeper supplement and notification of new keeper form has no Tippex on it blanking out a previous buyer.
Run the checks. HPI it or ask to see the one the trader/dealer has done! Don't be fooled into paying £90.00 for a dealers one, you can do your own at a fraction of that cost, many small trader will supply you their HPI report for free.
RAC/AA car inspection if you're on your own to buy a car but make sure you've done your own checks first and are seriously considering buying the car, otherwise you'll pay out £150 three or four times over on different cars you look at. Many places will welcome an inspection of the car they are to potentially sell if they have nothing to hide. If the seller is unwilling or uncooperative, be suspicious as to why.
Ask questions, don't be afraid to ask if it has been in an accident; don't be afraid to ask for some time to look at the car on your own or on your own as a couple so you can talk freely about the car without eyes and ears of a sales guy trying to interrupt you.
Warranty: most places will try and sell you a platinum everything is covered even the fluffy dice on the mirror warranty, while some warranties can be good from certain places more often than not they're not worth the paper and ink its printed with so search about and read the fine print under the small print and exclusions.
Gap insurance, as above, sometimes you can save money just buy hunting around.
- I have decided not to buy the car, can I get my deposit back?
If the dealer/trader takes your deposit but then sells the car from under you to someone else then yes he has broken his contract with you and you should be entitled to the deposit back. If the dealer/trader takes your deposit but then calls you a day later after doing some remedial work but discovers there a big fault with the car and tells you he cant sell it to you as its not economical for him to repair he should have your cash waiting. He may offer you another car from stock of similar description and price, but you are not obliged to take this offer and can still have your cash back.
- I live in a town or city, what 4x4 should I buy to get me through the snow this winter? (suggested by scotsman4th)
There are two options that are worth considering:
If you are only making occasional trips, or only expect a few days worth of snow, try snow socks. These are easily placed over your existing tyres and provide improved grip on snow. You can drive them for short distances over tarmac but this will eventually ruin them. These are good if you live on an unploughed/gritted residential street and the rest of your commute is on roads that are ploughed and gritted. Just put them on, drive to the end of your road and take them off again.
For more serious use, or if you are unable to use snow socks (e.g. due to disability), consider winter tyres. Sometimes these are mistakenly called snow tyres** but they actually offer improved grip and handling over summer tyres at any temperature below roughly 7 degrees C. The difference in your ability to get moving after switching a normal car to winter tyres is much much greater than replacing that car with a 4x4 and winter tyres also improve braking and cornering greatly. The biggest danger you will find is the driver of the posh 4x4 behind you who thinks they will be able to stop quicker than you.
There some inconveniences to using winter tyres. Unless you want to pay a tyre shop to swap over your tyres twice a year you will need to obtain a second set of wheels for your car. Ideally you should go for the smallest diameter wheel you can get that will still clear your brakes, these are cheaper to buy, the tyres are cheaper to buy and they actually work better! You will also need somewhere to store them.
The biggest objection to these tyres is the cost, but in practice it does not cost you more, other than the initial purchase of a set of wheel rims. The tyres cost about the same as a mid-range summer tyre and during the time you are using them you are not wearing out your summer tyres, meaning they will last longer.
* Ok, for the pedants the Reliant Robin (or similar) is an exception, but if you own one of these I am sure you know what you are doing and are probably not considering buying a huge 4x4!
** You can actually get proper snow tyres, but you are unlikely to see these sold in the UK. They are only really useful in countries like Finland.
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Comments
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implemented as above.0
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Thanks Atrix. I've edited those a little and added them to the OP.
Anyone else got anything to add or change?0 -
An FAQ will make no difference at all!
Go look at the parking forum which has stickies with all the info anyone could ever need RE: PPCs but it's still full of threads all asking the same questions.
An FAQ only works if people read it.... they don't!Always try to be at least half the person your dog thinks you are!0 -
implemented as above0
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An FAQ will make no difference at all!
Go look at the parking forum which has stickies with all the info anyone could ever need RE: PPCs but it's still full of threads all asking the same questions.
An FAQ only works if people read it.... they don't!
i can see where your coming from, but PC's often change the game, to make their tickets seem enforceable, a sticky done 2 years ago for e.g may not reflect on the ever conflicting stories that fly about today, so people will post their situation to get reinforcement and a contradiction to what mikey down the pub told them the other night about when he got ticketed and ignored it but then he was told by xyz they ae now taking people to court and winning etc.
here a FAQ would be handy, the laws regarding purchasing a car and what to look out for rarely change at all.
ofcourse, there will be many posts about things motor travel related here, that may well be covered but some cases are specific and the need to for their own thread is a must if the FAQ dont match the answer they seek or advice they seek. i think a FAQ on the mostly covered topics would help and a good idea.0 -
atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »i can see where your coming from, but PC's often change the game, to make their tickets seem enforceable, a sticky done 2 years ago for e.g may not reflect on the ever conflicting stories that fly about today, so people will post their situation to get reinforcement and a contradiction to what mikey down the pub told them the other night about when he got ticketed and ignored it but then he was told by xyz they ae now taking people to court and winning etc.
here a FAQ would be handy, the laws regarding purchasing a car and what to look out for rarely change at all.
ofcourse, there will be many posts about things motor travel related here, that may well be covered but some cases are specific and the need to for their own thread is a must if the FAQ dont match the answer they seek or advice they seek. i think a FAQ on the mostly covered topics would help and a good idea.
I'm not knocking the idea per se & the amount of work you have both put in is very impressive.
Experience tells me that few will take the time to read it.
Having said that, it can't do any harm but be prepared to be massively frustrated
Always try to be at least half the person your dog thinks you are!0 -
For the car buying one, I would be tempted to link to an offsite guide, if you know of one. The deposit one I'm going to put in though. Edit: put both in.
And yes a lot of people wont read it, but you can just point them at this thread then, which should save some time.0 -
This looks like a good idea. I'm considering whether to unstick the "Popular Motoring Sites" thread (I'm also aware that I need to update it but it takes a while to verify the suggested sites are genuine and not spam posts).
As Paradigm says, sadly sticky threads are not noticed as much as we'd like and whilst other vBulletin forums have the ability to change the colour and formatting of sticky threads so they stand out, MSE doesn't have this option. You only have to look at how many car radio codes threads are started on a daily basis despite the two specific stickies.
Another point I need to mention is that MSE guidelines to BGs state that sticky threads should be kept to a minimum (3-5 per board). I realise we have more than 5 at the moment. :A
That said, even if this can't be made a sticky for the moment, there is nothing stopping you from posting the link in relevant threads.0 -
The matched betting forum has 8 stickies, and that isn't much larger than this one.
Although from my experience, no one reads the stickies!0 -
A winter tyre section to stop the 4x4 threads getting hijacked?
Again, ideas good, people wont read it though. We all think our own problems are unique and for a lot of the repeat questions you're dealing with people that wont read through the already growing list of FAQ's and answers.0
This discussion has been closed.
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