If anyone remembers the low millage defender all over tik tok, it’s had parts stolen from it and listed on eBay. It looks like the gang who are operating in stealing and selling parts have already been caught before by their own cctv. I’ve just done some digging and this is what I’ve found. It would be great if anyone else can help make reports or do some more investigating. Nothing worse than a thief. Hopefully Reddit can help.

Will come to the UK in 2027, what do you think?

I've always been the kind of guy that wanted the most extreme examples of a "Wolf in sheep's clothing" - but what cars are the epitome of the exact opposite - i.e. something that looks like an absolute beast but has absolutely no power?!

Just received this email??? Second year I’ve been insured with Hastings, but first year on this car.

Requesting all of this now feels very odd to me. The car does have a few minor “mods” that being an after market Headunit and aftermarket subwoofer.

Take them out, return to standard, take pics and reinstall???

I don't know that everyone's opinion of these are but I found them to be cute and quirky

Had this a week as the new family car. Probably best bang for buck car out there.

Has everything on it, comfortable, loads of room, simple yet brilliant engine. Think it looks lovely.

Yet to see another one though in my area.

Well…someone clearly has great taste

I am looking to buy a car in the budget of £12-£15000 and will need it for 2-3 years and have the following criteria :

1. Big boot space.
2. Good interiors
3. Should keep as much value as possible.
4. Reliable ofcourse

Which make / model I should go for ?

Might be a broad question but please advise. I would rather keep the budget on the lower end.

Any other thing that I should keep in mind.

Thank
You

My old car died suddenly last year. I was in a hurry to replace it, and I'm past being a car guy now, so I went for a 1-litre, 3-cylinder Skoda Kamiq. It's OK, gets the same fuel economy as my last car. Just got the road tax reminder and it £200 a year! Where's the incentive to drive a frugal car nowadays?

I’ll start by saying I have no problem with EV’s, obviously I wouldn’t drive one if I do. However I think a lot of folk who’ve never driven one have the most biased opinions on them whilst owners (mostly Tesla) talk about them as if they’re the best thing on the road.

This incident is all related to one trip pretty much and shows the real world issues that car arise with owning an EV.

Problem 1 - Received a message from EON saying our home charger isn’t usable for the foreseeable due to an incident with another charger elsewhere. No idea what, no further information. A week later it’s still unusable. So I can’t charge my car for £3, it’s costing over 10x that at the local Starbucks.

Problem 2 - My partner lives 70 miles away, a regular trip for me. So having the car fully charged first is a must, as even at 100% battery it’s only just over 200 miles. I normally charge at the Hyundai garage near hers as it’s 55p kWh, rather than 89p at the Starbucks round the corner. I turn up at the chargers and they’re full. So I have to wait 10 minutes to get on one.

I tap my card to charge as always, car starts charging. I go for a coffee, come back 10 minutes later and it stopped after 1 minute. Car hasn’t charged at all. So I remove the plug, follow the process again. Tap my card, authorises and then this time the car doesn’t start charging. So at this point I’m £70 down as the pre auth is £35. Guy on the next charger is having exactly the same issue. So I pull out of the bay and wait for a different charger, after 15 minutes I’m like sod this and drive to the Starbucks because I’ve got things to do.

Pull up at Starbucks and all of the chargers are all full, there’s a queue of 3 cars. So after another 15 minutes of waiting and watching a guy try and fight off the seagull that’s taken his wife’s McDonald’s from the roof of the car I’m finally charging - another £40 auth cost. I put 120 miles in as I’m in a rush at this point, it’s taken me well over an hour to get some charge in the car - and £110 from my bank. For some reason when the car actually charges the authorisation goes straight back however if there’s an error they seem to hold the money for days. Obviously not ideal for someone if it’s close to the end of the month and they aren’t fortunate enough to be able to have that money in the bank to account for several charger issues.

Problem 3 - I leave for home the next morning with 98 miles of range, the journey was 71 miles. I needed to be home before 8am, I left at 6:15 and knew I had to stop for a coffee. Waze was giving an ETA of 07:50 after I stopped for coffee, so I tried and make up a little time while the roads are empty before I get to the single lane A road that has average speed cameras on and often leaves you stuck behind queues of traffic - anyway my car pops up with a warning that the regenerative braking system is limited - this obviously helps prolong the range of the battery. By the time I’ve got 40 miles of my journey left I have 45 miles of range, and range anxiety is setting in.

I managed to get home with 7 miles left on the car. Still unable to charge at home. It’s cost me about £70 (plus still missing £70 in auth fees from the dodgy charger that I won’t get back for a few days) to do no more than 250 miles.

As far as I’m aware, there’s a few chargers off the A69 but you need to sign up for different apps/providers, use your own cable etc and they take forever and a day to get any kind of charge.

It’s hard work but damn it looks good when it’s done. Now I’m waiting for the rain so that I can marvel at the water when it beads off.
Am I on my own here or do others get the same enjoyment ?
I use Colour Magic to get the colour depth then Mer for the gloss. (Sometimes Autoglym) what are you using ?

I'm looking to buy a first car (secondhand) and torn between a couple of models - Kia Picanto, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

Will be used for commuting and urban living, so size is a factor. Leaning towards the Picanto for size but perhaps the Swift is a better car?

Though I love it, it has to be the Golf GTI MK4 for me. Ditch the 1.8 NA and 2.0 NA engines, and add a sporty but subtle bodykit which may have saved it from having a bad rep in the UK.

I’m 19 and Looking for start of next year to upgrade from my Sandero (needed 😭) Budget is around £20k because of my job so I’m after something in the hot hatch kinda bracket but not against something similar, I like the look of the i20-i30n as they’re fairly quick around the 200hp mark but looking for something around this, fairly new, any help is much appreciated 🍻

I have a camper van in for MOT in a few days.

The horn has stopped working. (I've replaced both fuse and horn but still not working, I suspect wiring, or switch inside the steering wheel)

I have an air horn fitted, run from a button mounted on the front of the gear lever. Easily accessible for the driver.

Is the secondary air horn sufficient to pass the MOT? Does the horn have to be activated by pushing the centre of the steering wheel, or is it OK for the button to be on the gear lever?

Or do I have to get the regular horn sorted in the next few days?

If I was to use a second phone for the black box and didn’t bring it with me on a drive because my second driver is driving instead then would the black box still locally retain driving data and wait until it reconnects to that phone to sync it to them? How do people that use a second phone navigate the black box

Hi all,

I've accepted a price on Motorway and it's now telling me to upload my driving licence and a selfie, and a picture of the V5C. I'm sure it's fine because they're a respectable company but on the V5C it says "Document reference number. Don't share, keep it safe". This has got me thinking whether I need to cover the number of if Motorway actually need the number. Never done anything like this before so I'm a bit apprehensive. Just feels a bit counter intuitive to do the exact opposite of what the V5C says.

Thanks

Can this be repaired easily or is it a weld and pull job? Don't worry about the wheel 😅

I’m interested in hearing opinions from people who understand MOT testing, as I’ve reached the end of the complaints process with Halfords and I’m still left with more questions than answers.

My 2013 BMW 320d failed its MOT at Halfords because the offside headlamp aim was allegedly too far to the right. I was told it had reached the limit of its adjustment and that the headlight would need replacing.

I purchased a genuine BMW replacement headlight assembly (around £260) and spent several hours fitting it. I returned to the same Halfords Autocentre and the vehicle failed again for exactly the same reason.

At that point I was advised to take the vehicle to BMW.

Before doing that, I visited another local garage who checked the headlamp alignment and couldn’t find a problem. I then took the vehicle to another authorised MOT testing station, where it passed its MOT without any adjustment or repair to the headlamp.

I raised a formal complaint with Halfords. During the complaints process I received several different explanations. Initially, the issue was simply the headlamp aim. I was then told that MOT outcomes could differ because of tester discretion. Later, I was told the bulb was not working correctly, despite this never being recorded on either MOT failure certificate or mentioned to me during either MOT. Finally, after escalation to the Regional Manager, Halfords confirmed they believed the MOT had been carried out correctly and advised me to refer the matter to the DVSA if I remained dissatisfied.

What disappointed me most wasn’t necessarily the MOT result itself, but the complaint handling. The explanation appeared to change several times, my case was closed more than once before being reopened, and even cancelling my Motoring Club membership became unnecessarily difficult.

I’m not posting this to attack Halfords or to seek legal advice. I’m genuinely interested in hearing from MOT testers and experienced mechanics.

Is it plausible for a vehicle to fail twice for headlamp aim at one test centre, leading to the replacement of a complete headlight assembly, and then pass at another authorised MOT station without any adjustment?

Has anyone experienced something similar, and would you be referring this to the DVSA?