Car safety question mark

A recent survey confirmed that 1 in 5 cars failed their first MOT in Britain.

That doesn’t surprise me as few motorists, female and male, seem to do regular maintenance or visit local garages as often as they might. Only recently my next door neighbour found she had run her ’special’ 3 year old VW tyres flat and paid £400+ for a new set (after two years of not checking them at all). She was not a FOXY member then btw…

What concerns me most is the genuine possibility of existing MOT rules being slackened from a 3 year old first MOT test thence yearly (referred to as 3:1:1) to the EU model of a 4 year old first MOT test then biennial tests (referred to as 4:2:2).

Knowing that so few of us, women and men drivers alike, check our tyres regularly, let alone the performance of our brakes, or economic/environmental indicators like oil levels, this would be an all round bad thing in my opinion. I am seriously surprised that little seems to have been made of this whilst the UK’s back door seems still open to this EU approach…

Perhaps this is because those of us who trust others to know best (as many women do in a male-oriented and often female-unfriendly industry) will welcome a financial save of the test fee, £50.35, in tough economic times, without any thought to possible safety consequences…

I recall that the only EU country to do worse than us in this respect was Spain which could support the theory that if left a further year ie tested at 4 not 3 years old, more cars will be less safe and potentially more dangerous; never mind the added environmental considerations of all poorly maintained cars.

There is a sense that today’s cars are safer than they used to be and that young cars don’t need much servicing or maintenance. Certainly longer intervals between servicing means lower running costs to vital car fleet operators YET commonsense tells us that a poorly maintained car is inevitably less safe, less green, less reliable and less economic to run than one that has been loved, whatever its age.

Shameless FOXY plug - Realising this, what we do is encourage women driving cars [of all ages, women and cars ;-)] to claim FREE green and safety car fitness checks as part of their membership; these check tyres, oil levels, lights, emissions, brake fluid levels and so on, working with Bosch Car Service across the country. For details see http://www.foxyladydrivers.com/freegreenchecks.php

There are now moves afoot to either progress this EU 4:2:2 route or park it once and for all.

Dear Gordon - please see the BIG picture here and support the 3:1:1 route for UK motorists and garage jobs alike - it’s dangerous enough out there as it is and the standard of MOT centres is better policed than ever before.

FOXY Steph

Scrap the car scrap scheme…

In today’s environmentally minded society I am told that Government regulations intended to solve the car scrap problem are being openly flouted by unscrupulous businesses who are probably adding noxious materials to local landfill mass.

Official figures suggest that just 900,000 Certificates of Destruction (CoDs) and Notices of Destruction (NoDs) were issued in 2006 out of some 2 million cars that were taken off our roads.

By the look of it, more than a million scrap cars a year, many that used to belong to women drivers perhaps, could be reaching landfill together with their harmful oils, tyres, plastics and unused airbags. This despite End of Life Vehicle Regulations which came in to force in 2003, requiring cars to be properly de-polluted and recycled at licensed Authorised Treatment Facilities.

As I understand it, the problem comes through a loophole in DVLA records and is compounded by poor monitoring by the Environment Agency. Under a system called continuous licensing, owners are supposed to pay road tax until a CoD has been obtained from a licensed dismantler. However, a tick-box on the V5 registration form means that last owners, as well as unlicensed dismantlers and shredders, can simply de-register a vehicle. Un-licensed operators can then do precisely what they like to our environment; selling valuable scrap materials first of course then dumping the rest including untreated waste. I can’t see any way that they can be penalised or the last registered keeper, for that matter.

I don’t know what the solution is but I do know that most foxy lady drivers will be unhappy about this after working hard to run greener cars over the last year or so. I presume that insurance companies specify licensed dismantlers in their garage services dealings but I shall ask my contacts in due course…

I believe it is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that, at the end of a car’s useful life, it is disposed of in as environmentally friendly a method as possible.

But until everyone has to or knows they won’t get away with dumping polluting materials in similar ways, this is another example of bad practice being allowed to succeed in an industry with an appalling reputation. My point is that there are many good garage businesses that should be benefiting from this business instead…it’s a case of getting the rules right and then spreading the word.

Dear Gordon - please put this on your ‘another fine mess…’ wishlist to be sorted out PDQ…

Car insurance vs car sales best practice

I read in today’s Insurance Times that the FSA is concerned about insurance brokers failing to disclose financial relationships with insurers. Apparently this is having an adverse impact on consumers, as you might expect.

For example, broker A could receive contingent commissions from insurer B if he placed a certain amount of business with it, thus making him more likely to place that business with that insurer, whether or not it was in the client’s best interests.

The FSA is looking at forcing brokers to make a full disclosure of all commissions to put the spotlight on potential conflicts of interest.

Keep going FSA and perhaps the same open and accountable business values might enter the car showroom arena. Too many women motorists feel vulnerable here and I think it is appalling that there is clearly one price for those that don’t haggle but a lower one for those in the know.

Only a matter of time before ‘fair for all’ becomes a regulated selling norm, surely?

With us it’s personal…

My blog title is the Royal Mail’s trendy strapline which presumably cost them an arm and a leg to commission.

I have just received a letter from government owned Royal Mail asking if our business PO Box details are correct?

If the address is correct, they say ‘please ignore this letter’ but, if it needs amending ‘please write the new details in the spaces provided on the return card - no stamp is necessary’.

My point is, if the PO Box details were incorrect, I wouldn’t be reading their letter and vice versa.

In a nutshell, this mailing is a waste of time and money.

They then proceed to volunteer their address management services to help me maintain our motoring club’s membership database of women drivers…

I doubt I could afford the luxury of their services, unless their rates would be paid for by UK tax payers of course - as today’s meaningless mailing and redundant stationery was.

Back to my FOXY business now where every penny counts.

Yours grumpily today

FOXY Steph

Poor bank

In a valiant attempt to create a new and increasingly topical oxymoron I can find no sympathy whatsoever for ‘poor’ banks like the Royal Bank of Scotland. Yes I think it’s fair that their shareholders are expected to contribute towards the lean after so much fat but when the share price instantly rises due to financial speculation it looks like a pretty safe bet to me.

My interest is in how this affects their car insurance brands and the knock on effect for women drivers.

The wise companies, I’m thinking about the likes of LV= here, were ahead of the game, despite catching a financial cold. No more credit cards post 2006 and no new loans in 2007.

How come they could see what was coming yet Northern Rock and RBS presumably couldn’t.

Let’s see how Barclays fares later this week…

FOXY Steph

Be foxy - check before you buy a used car

I am always amazed at the number of female motorists who join our club after buying a nearly new or used car with fairly major problems that they didn’t spot before they bought it. More about this subject in this link…

Females fear fraud when buying cars online?

Fortunately we can help them (usually) but more women drivers need to be a bit less trusting in future I’d say! And pay a small amount for a critical car check, like the HPI check, to be sure that their new car is all it claims to be.

FOXY Steph

Spring weather in Sussex

How beautiful Sussex is in the Spring.

I have just returned from a business meeting in Surrey and thoroughly enjoyed the drive through a combination of country lanes and the winding A24.

OK so I was held up by a brick bearing lorry for a few miles but apart from that, and the speed cameras of course, this was the first day for some time that I’ve been encouraged by the weather… and the business meeting was a productive one too.

Roll on more of this, especially through the school holidays when I’ll want my screen-ager son to get out of doors for some fresh air.

Good luck Lewis on Sunday. And may the best football team win tomorrow (Portsmouth vs West Brom - I don’t support either but I’m delighted to see lesser teams having beaten the traditional Top Four).

Feeling happy today and looking forward to the weekend.

Yours foxily

Steph

Self supporting; a young cancer charity

When a very special, vital and great fun Auntie died in Ireland recently after a very brief illness I was more affected by this than I cared to admit.  I couldn’t go to the funeral which might have helped me grieve but ever since I have felt I wanted to do something to celebrate her life in a meaningful way.

Coincidentally and without knowing this, Graham, who looks after my business website, mentioned another website he had built for a cancer charity called Cancer Buddies Network. I had a look and was so impressed with the support concept that could have helped me then that I have agreed to donate all my motoring club’s joining fees starting in April to this excellent cause in memory of my dear Aunt Alice.

Having done this I feel better myself.  I hope we get a lot of new members in April!

My business is called FOXY Lady Drivers Club by the way, hence the name of this weblog.

If any of this rings a bell with you, have a look at the Cancer Buddies Network and if you know anyone, their family or friends, going through this or who have recently gone through this, make sure they know about this special support on offer.

Feeling a bit sad tonight.

Foxy Steph

Always check before you buy

Last year used car sales prompted the highest level of complaints in 2007 according to the UK consumer body Consumer Direct.

Nearly 42,000 were about used cars sold by independent dealers and a further 13,000 were about nearly-new cars bought from franchised dealers, where you’d expect stringent quality controls to be in place.

Speaking to female motorists on a regular basis it’s clear that few of us realise that we have no legal redress when we buy a used car from a member of the public and it turns out to be a dud. Worse than that, remarkably few of us carry out any checks to see if the car is either genuine or fully paid for before we buy it.

I wouldn’t buy a used car without a pre-purchase check to be sure it is what it says it is - there’s a real risk that some have outstanding finance for example, so I recommend the HPI check or an RAC one if the car costs less than £5000.

Otherwise buy a used car that comes with approved checks like Network Q and Ford Direct. Then you’re more likely to have a good car deal, some peace of mind and a sympathetic hearing if it then does go pearshape.

From my experience I find that many dealers sell used cars with a very short ‘warranty’ of some 1 or 2 months, without explaining that if the car goes wrong during the first six months they (the dealer) are required to prove that they did everything reasonable to check that the car was fit for purpose. Just recently I’ve heard of several cars that appear to have had no pre-sale check; they’ve just been wiped over and put on the forecourt.

Check everything thoroughly before you buy!

Yours foxily

Steph

As April approaches…

Hi there - this is my first blog so I hope you like it.

I’m always interested in new and innovative websites that cover my particular business area of motoring services for women.

Here are a couple I love and that are definitely worth visiting for a different outlook on everyday motoring matters.

http://www.chelfing.com

http://www.petroldirect.com

Let me know what you think of them on Tuesday.

Yours foxily [as in shrewd, canny and smart ;-)]

Foxy Steph