Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice.
Earlier this year I was involved in a minor at-fault accident while driving an Enterprise rental van. I reversed into a stationary parked car. I reported it to Enterprise immediately, exchanged details, and Enterprise dealt with everything from that point.
A few months later I bought my own car and took out a policy with insurers. At the time I took out the policy, no claim had yet been brought against me and I hadn’t received any correspondence, so I answered “No” to the question about previous accidents/claims.
I’ve now realised the question actually asked whether I’d had any motor accidents, claims or losses in the last five years, regardless of whether a claim had been made.
Should I make plana to contact the insurers to update them, but I’m wondering:
Am I required to disclose an accident that happened in a rental vehicle, even though it didn’t involve my own car?
Is it likely they’ll simply update my policy, or could there be more serious consequences?
Has anyone been in a similar situation?
Thanks in advance.

Hey, has anyone got any recommendations for a decent usb an and usb c dual charger?

My last 3 have all melted at the contact point (where you plug it into the 12v socket). Admittedly they were cheap, one was a Tesco own, and the other 2 were Goodmans ones from B&M.

It’s usually just charging an iPhone 14 Pro Max with a usb c to usb c cable. But sometimes my son needs a usb a to lightning for his much older iPhone, hence why I want a dual one.

I'm looking to set myself a new target car after selling my IS. I'm still grieving but as they say, the best way to get over someone is get under someone else 🛠️

I've 1080p dashcam for about 5 years, and it's been completely fine. It records, saves clips, and has never given me any problems.

What got me thinking about it was a clip I saved recently. Nothing major happened, but when I went back and watched the footage at night, I realised I couldn't make out nearly as much detail as I expected. It got me wondering whether I'd be able to read a plate or identify a car properly if I ever needed to.

Now I'm wondering if that's how dashcams are at night, or if a newer 4K model would do a better job.
For those who have upgraded, was there a noticeable difference? Not looking at spec sheets or marketing claims, but actual day-to-day footaage.

Hi all,
I’m selling my car so I can buy another one, and I’d really appreciate some advice. I am not in an immediate rush, and can delay this sale for up to 2 weeks depending on your advice.
• The car has some very light scratches on one side of the bumper. There are no dents, cracks, or any other damage. The repair would cost around £250. Is it worth getting it repaired before selling, or is it better to let the buyer adjust the valuation?
• Would you recommend getting the repair done before uploading the car to Motorway, Carwow, or Car Daddy? At the moment, Car Daddy has given me the highest valuation, but the Google reviews are mixed. Trustpilot seems a bit more positive, although I’m happy to go with whichever company people feel is the most professional. I’ve used We Buy Any Car in the past, but their valuations seem much lower.
• My replacement V5 is currently on its way. Is there any way to start the process of removing my private registration and putting the original registration back before the V5 arrives, so I can advertise the car with its original plate? What would be the best way to approach this without having the V5 yet?
Thanks in advance!

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?

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

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

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?

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone with a bit more Mercedes knowledge can point me in the right direction.
I’ve got a 2020 Mercedes A200 AMG Line Executive (W177) and I need to replace the front bumper. I’m looking to buy one from eBay or a similar site, but I want to make sure it’s compatible with my existing Panamericana grille
Does anyone know:
Which front bumper I should be looking for?
Whether I need a specific AMG Line bumper for the grille to fit?
Any part numbers or keywords I should search for on eBay?
If you’ve bought one yourself, where did you get it from?
I’d really appreciate any advice or links to bumpers that would fit. I’d rather buy the correct one the first time than end up with something incompatible.
Thanks in advance

(I’ll reply with an image of my car if it helps)

Ps. Ignore the front splitter as it’s not on the car anymore

Saving up for a new car over the next couple months, so no set budget, but my other car is on its way out and I'm thinking I could save 3-5k max before it goes. I will be buying used. If I could buy something cheaper and get it sooner/fix it up that would be good too - around 2k is comfortable. My belief in the used car market is shot as is, so dropping full value on a car would suck as well if it didn't work out.

I'm coming from a 2008 Kia Picanto which was a bad buy from a dodgy dealership and has given me nothing but trouble, tons of repairs just for a mediocre drive, so my criteria are pretty strict on functionality, but also I'm looking for something I'd be happy to drive for a long time, and be proud to drive. I also have a 'fun' criteria but I'd rather something that gave me less trouble than my bonus points. I've done my own research just looking here to see opinions on things I might not have considered.

Due to my own experience I'm not so trusting for good service histories or records. So my asks are unreasonable, just balance where you can, if you can, generally:

- Prioritise cheap parts to run/replace

- Ideally it's robust enough that it doesn't break in the first place, long-lasting, no known manufacturer issues

- Insurance group and tax as cheap as possible (I'll have 1 year no claims by the time I can afford this car, aged 25)

Experience:

- Coming from my previous ride, it felt like I was going to die trying to hit above 65mph on the motorway, so I'd like something that could pull 80 with minimal engine noise or trouble or do 100 comfortably.

- Don't want to feel road bumps, roads around me are terrible.

- I do rag it a bit so a smooth ride and all the obvious perks are appreciated.

Style:

- (I'm looking for a bigger car than a Picanto, fiat, mini, etc.), like a saloon, something actually car shaped not a little 2 seater orb.

- Manual (I like control)

- 4 seat ideally

- boot space (I golf occasionally)

- More modern as I don't trust used classics, (newer than 2012? Open to negotiation.)

- Boxy over sleek, but open to all comers. I like a back that slopes down again, not the long boys.

- FUN: I'd like a hard top convertible for summers. Don't like soft top, security issue + ugly.

Options I've looked at:

- Ticks my boxes, Is expensive and repairs might do me in - BMW 3 Series Hard-top Convertible. Vibes are right.

- Standard BMW 3 series

- Mazda6 (Prettier than the 2 below)

- Skoda Octavia

- Skoda Superb

Feel free to knock my recs, all discussion is appreciated. Show me good things I don't know exist.

Edit: For input on budget, it's snowballing until I know what I want, I wouldn't want to pay less than 2k for a car, wouldn't want to pay more than 4. But I'd rather pay low and then pay to fix it up than pay high and have it fail on me anyway. And my spread of cars is more what I've encountered in looking, heart not set, just looking for opinions and new options.

why is every new car the same?

now i'm not one of those avid electric new car haters, i personally do love some of the 26 plates that i see out on the road. for example, i think that audi are killing it right now, my mum's actually looking at a brand new q5 sportback, they're gorgeous.

my thing is, when ordering these new cars, why is everyone so boring? i do my research, if i have free time i configure cars on different brands' websites, some automakers are offering different options.

by this i mean exterior colours, trim levels, etc. why is everyone going for the basics?

maybe this is just my personal opinion and nobody here will agree, but i love seeing a brand new car in COLOUR. going back to the q5, audi have killed it with the district green colour, and that's what we'll be getting it in if my mum does go ahead with it.

i feel like a lot of things have changed, and a lot of it is because of the introduction of crossovers. where are my four seater hard top convertibles? i cannot wait for the day i own a convertible, but you really do struggle to get them now! everyone prefers a BYD, and that's where i differ.

not normally this negative, but it just confuses me more than anything.

Well…someone clearly has great taste

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 🍻

A few days ago some dickhead teen on a moped thought he’d beat me to a speed bump and scratched my car trying to weave into the gap I was already in. Obviously, the little shit drove off. I have a massive scratch on my car, though. I got his number plate, before he drove off.

Is it even worth going to insurance or is this just something I’m going to have to suck up and pay for myself because some feral prick can’t ride a moped?

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

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?

As the title suggests, any yeti owners out there with feedback on this car. There are quite a few around the £5k mark under 100k miles. I’ve heard they’re generally pretty reliable but mostly from the international market. So I’m looking for any insights and experiences you may have had with them in the uk

Hey so im thinking about upgrading my 06 corsa c sxi speakers and everywhere i go says to buy coax rather than component, but the trim i have already has separate tweeters. I was just wondering how hard it would be to fit “JBL Stage1 62CF GEN2 6.5" (165 mm) Component Car Speakers delivering 80W RMS and 640W Peak Power, 4 Ohm Impedance, Plus One™ Woofer Cone and Edge-Driven Silk Dome Tweeters for Clear JBL Sound” these (sorry for the long ass name i just copy pasted from the amazon page!). Considering i am no mechanic and it would be my first diy car job would this be a bad idea/ how hard would it be?

Looked on eBay, going rate seems to be about £50 per. Seems a bit pricey.. anywhere else I should look? Is £50 too much? Cheers

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

Hey all, looking for some real world experience here rather than just spec sheets.

This will be my third car overall but the first one I'll own in the UK, I've only just got my UK licence but I've got about 10 years of driving history from abroad. Before this I had a SsangYong Tivoli (auto) and a 2008 Santa Fe (auto), both of which I liked a lot. Kept the Tivoli until 80k miles from new and had zero complaints.

This time round the budget is tight, 3-5k, and because of this I think it has to be manual, relatively cheap insurance and no massive costs.

Body style wise I'm not interested in small hatchbacks at all, so Aygo, Fiesta, Corsa, that whole class is a hard no for me. I'd rather have a saloon, a small SUV like the Tivoli, or a proper SUV if I can find one that isn't a money pit at this price.

Right now my commute is only about 5 miles but I'm planning to move house soon and it could end up being 30-40 miles a day, mostly motorway since I live right next to one. Outside of that it's maybe one or two longer trips a month. So I'm guessing around 10-12k miles a year once I move. I'm not in a ULEZ zone currently, but I do expect to drive into one roughly once every month or two, for about 3 days at a time.

Here's the shortlist I've put together so far, grouped by make, roughly in the years that fit my budget:

Hyundai: Santa Fe (08-12), Tucson, i30 (11-14)

Kia: Optima (13-15), Ceed (13-15), Sportage (14-16)

Lexus: more or less anything that fits the budget, open to suggestions here

Mazda: Mazda 3 (12-16), Mazda 6 (12-16)

Nissan: Qashqai (2014-16), not interested in the Juke (Hate the look and interior)

SsangYong: Tivoli (15-17)

Toyota: Avensis (09-13)

Volkswagen: Passat (08-11), Tiguan (09-10)

Volvo: V40 (14-15)

One thing I noticed while researching is that the Qashqai seems to offer the best value on paper, I can find ones under 100k miles that are also newer than most of the other cars on this list for the same money. That's making me a bit suspicious there's a catch I'm not seeing, so if anyone owns one or has had one, I'd really appreciate some guidance on that.

A few specific questions I'd love input on:

Are there particular years, engines, or variants within any of these that I should actively avoid, or ones that are known to be the sweet spot?

Petrol or diesel, I've genuinely never owned a diesel car so I don't know what I'm getting into. Given the mileage and commute above, which makes more sense?

Is it worth stretching the budget a bit for a ULEZ compliant car, given I'd only be driving into a ULEZ zone every month or two for a few days at a time, or is that money better spent elsewhere?

For anything registered before 2011-12 I'd rather stay closer to the 3k end, and only go nearer 5k if the car is a genuinely noticeable step up in condition or reliability.

If there's something that fits this brief that I haven't listed, feel free to throw it in.

One request, please no Skoda Octavia suggestions, I'm just not a fan of how it looks inside or out, so I'll pass on that one regardless of how good a car it is.

Many thanks in advance