Cost of living crisis impacting Irish motorists
A survey of Irish motorists carried out by Ford has shown that a high proportion of drivers, in the context of the current cost of living crisis, are seeking to save money on their motoring in a number of ways. One in three motorists are either delaying or totally skipping their car’s annual service in an effort to save money. In the same vein, some 57 percent of drivers (nearly two thirds) have cut back on the mileage they do in...
European New Car Assessment Programme
What is the European New Car Assessment Programme and why is it important asks Geraldine Herbert What is Euro NCAP? The European New Car Assessment Programme is a voluntary car safety performance assessment programme that was formed in 1996 to help consumers, their families and businesses compare vehicles more easily and to help them identify the safest choice for their needs. What do they test? The safety rating is determined from a...
The introduction of E10 Fuel
There is a huge amount of confusion around the switch to E10 and staff in service stations nationwide are dealing with daily questions on the issue writes Geraldine Herbert What is E10 and is it compatible with my car? E10 is a biofuel made from 90% regular unleaded and 10pc ethanol. It will replace E5 as the new standard grade of petrol next month in order to reduce carbon emissions from cars. Ethanol is manufactured from plants,...
Ten things to know about the Volkswagen ID.2
VW has unveiled a small and affordable member of the ID family writes Geraldine Herbert 1. The ID.2 promises to be as spacious as a Golf and as inexpensive as a Polo, so a price range of around €25,000. 2. It can travel up to 450 km on a single charge. 3. It will be equipped with innovations such as Travel Assist, IQ.LIGHT or Electric Vehicle Route Planner. 4. Based on a new, smaller version of the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform it...
KIA NIRO IS VOTED WOMEN’S WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR SUPREME WINNER 2023
63 women motoring journalists from 43 countries across five continents choose their best car of 2023 The journalists judging the Women’s World Car of the Year have chosen the Kia Niro as the World’s Best Car for 2023. The announcement of the winner coincides with International Women’s Day, a very special date not only because it gives women a voice but also because of the link in many countries between the...
What to do when something goes wrong
What do you do if you’ve bought a car and now there’s a problem asks Geraldine Herbert I recently bought a car and now I’ve discovered a fault. What can I do? The first thing to do is contact the seller and let them know what the issue is and find out what, if anything, they are prepared to do about it. If you have bought from a dealership you are covered by consumer law so the car must be of merchantable quality. So given its age...