Motoring News

Porsche make sports cars. Right? Some pretty cool cars like the 944 Turbo. That’s what we know them for, right? Bitching cars we drewled over as kids, and still covet as grown adults!

Well, turns out they put their expertise to work in all sorts of other areas, but still serving all ages of man from baby & toddler to senior citizen. So, sit back in your Porsche arm chair, using your Porsche laptop, smoking your Porsche pipe and read about the Porsche gadgets for all ages. (more…)

The Sexy Green Car Show 2008 kicks off tomorrow at the End Project in Cornwall, in the South West of England.
The SGCS aims to showcase the best green cars around, future green motoring initiatives and also boasts “an exclusive worldwide car launch from a British manufacturer”. A taster of some of the events at the show:

• eco-carwashes, green MOTs and tyre pressure checks for your own car
• see how to reduce your carbon emissions by up to 15% with the smarter driving simulator
• pedal-powered racetrack for the kids, with a trail deep into Eden’s rainforest.

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Welcome to UK Car Reviews.

This site has been hosting independent user submitted car reviews since 2003. In that time we’ve had a few redesigns, and tried to build the content with the help of site users like you so it becomes more useful for everyone. We really appreciate the help our users have given us over the years.

There are a number of other car review websites out there on the interweb. We don’t try to copy them. I am not Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Tiff Needell nor Vicki Butler-Henderson! I’ve probably driven less than 20 cars in my lifetime. Most of the reviews here I think are from similar drivers. We’re not pro’s, but have had experiences that we like to share with each other and benefit from one anothers reviews.

We relaunched the site in March 2008 using the fantastic Wordpress platform, with a customised Royale theme.

We’ll shortly be reinstating the “Submit a car review” functionality so you can submit your own car review. In the meantime, please register and get involved by commenting on the reviews.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoy the site.

Ford has sold Jaguar and Land Rover to India-based Tata, the country’s largest motor manufacturer. The two companies are reported to have fetched £1.15bn ($2.3bn), reports the Telegraph.

The sale ends Ford’s 20-year ownership of JLR, in which it has invested billions of pounds into the two carmakers. While Land Rover is profitable, Jaguar has been a perennial loss-maker and a drain on Ford’s finances.

Susanna Woods reports over at the ICM Commercial & Business News site: (more…)

Long time no post…

We’ve added an airport parking section to bring you information on places you can leave your car before jetting off on your hol’s. We’ve kicked this off by listing APH who provide Gatwick parking, Heathrow parking, Manchester airport parking and Birmingham airport parking as well as providing a booking facility for car parks at all other airports.

High street lender The Co-operative Bank has signed a five-year deal with RAC to provide and service car loans.

As well as receiving a competitive rate, RAC car loan customers will also get a free vehicle examination (worth up to £156) to help them choose their new car wisely. Existing RAC customers who take out a car loan will also get a free RAC Vehicle Status Check on their potential new set of wheels.

Other benefits of the RAC car loan* include:

* 6.9% APR typical on loan amounts between £7,000 and £25,000
* Loan terms from one year to seven years
* Option of having the loan agreement delivered the following day
* Free next day transfer of loan to the customer’s bank account (working days only and when the customer opts for courier service).

Frank Wilson, director of RAC individual sales, said: “This is a very exciting deal which will enable both businesses to combine their expertise in providing great value propositions for customers.

“By signing up with The Co-operative Bank, RAC is using its expertise and motoring heritage to offer a car loan with a great rate and benefits that could provide peace of mind for car buyers.”

And John Hughes, director of retail banking at The Co-operative Bank, said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with RAC. This deal will provide customers with the opportunity to obtain loans at a very competitive rate with the knowledge that they are receiving a financial package backed by our ethical approach to banking.”

The AA Motor Insurance has received the “Top UK Car Insurer” award from an online survey. Customers voted The AA as best car insurer for 2006 in the independent UK survey.

The AA certainly beat competition from other well known insurers to come top of the survey. Around 150,000 current users of the UK’s largest review site rated 100 different car insurance companies. The AA scored an impressive 78% for most value-for-money car insurance service. Also 82% of customers had recommended the service to a friend.

Some of the excellent customer comments that contributed to the award included delight about the speed and reliability of making claims:

* “My claim was dealt with very quickly”
* “Excellent customer service” and a “competitive price” were repeated reasons for customers rating The AA so highly
* Other customer praise was received for the company’s “improved” online purchasing process with its “clear, simple and easy to follow process”

You can read reviews, comments and ratings for The AA and other car insurance companies right here at ukcarreviews.co.uk.

Catalyst Computer Systems, a leading provider of dealer management systems (DMS) in the motorcycle industry has signed an exclusive contract with HPI to allow dealers access to vehicle ID checks.

This facility automatically supplies vehicle information to the dealer, including specifications and key dates in the vehicle’s life, simply by entering a registration number into the Catalyst system.

Jim Moffat, Catalyst’s sales manager, says: “By subscribing to this service, our dealers will benefit from a number of business efficiencies. For example, when booking in a bike previously unknown to the dealer, for either repair or service, accessing this data will both speed up the booking-in process and ensure the data captured is accurate. We think this will greatly enhance the functionality already offered by our DMS.”

When subscribing to the Vehicle ID Check service, dealers can also link to HPI via Catalyst for full HPI checks, which reveal a vehicle’s potential hidden history, such as plate transfers, theft, outstanding finance and write-offs.

Daniel Burgess, HPI’s automotive director, says: “HPI’s expertise in checks for the car market is unrivalled, and this knowledge is now available to motorcycle dealers through one of the leading suppliers of motorcycle DMS systems.”
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Acording to the BBC, the cost of car insurance is going to increase considerably as the market follows steps taken by Norwich Union to cover their payouts to the ambulance chasers.

Car insurance costs look set to rise following a move by Norwich Union, the UK’s second largest car insurer, to raise its rates by an average of 16%.

The firm said its hand had been forced by a similar rise in claim costs over the past two years, during which time insurance rates had remained static.

Norwich Union said claims for personal injuries had been the main reason for the rise in its costs.

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Have you ever noticed how car insurance companies brand themselves? You could easily be forgiven for thinking that toddlers are the decision makers when it comes to which car insurance company to use, as it seems cuddly toys or cartoon-style characters are the the way to go in this cut-throat industry.

Let’s take a look at the guilty parties:
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Edworthy’s - one of the leading online car accessories specialists - have beefed up their range with new headlamp covers, light brows, stone guards, acoustic shelves and subwoofer boxes. Plus new ranges from ABC Design Lighting, Rieger and Auto R.

ABC Design Lighting
Specialise in aftermarket light replacement such as Lexus style rear lights, replacement side indicators and much more. Competitive pricing!

Rieger
One of the World’s largest and most respected supplier of body kits and body styling products for a huge range of vehicles. Rieger unique design make their products in demand.

Acoustic shelves and subwoofer boxes
A popular seller at edworthys.co.uk. Added the Subwoofer boxes which are bespoke to each vehicle. Many cars with smaller boots would lose a lot of space having a typical subwoofer box fitted but a bespoke fitted solution you maintain the best of both worlds.

Auto R body styling

Great body styling company offering a huge range of products to the market. Auto R also supply a large range of Japanese vehicles which are typically harder to supply.
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Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover & Volvo are to invest £1bn in the UK into the development of more environmentally friendly vehicles.

The plans include a CO2 emission reduced Ford Focus that can get up to 70 mpg.
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The AA are now offering a chunky 25% off UK breakdown cover purchased online at their website.
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A driving lesson and a half from the Saab team.

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As I mentioned a few weeks back, we’re redesigning UK Car Reviews currently in order to be able to bring our users a more up-to-date batch of reviews and news.

One of the features we’re adding in response to your feedback is more graphics. It’s pretty bare at the moment, I must admit. I’m hoping to add photos to at least most of the car reviews we have, and will adding a feature to allow future reviewers to upload photos with their reviews.

So, this post is a plea for your car photographs.

We’re especially keen to get photographs for our current reviews, but willl gladly receive any of your car photos, as if we don’t have your car currently, we’ll be aiming to have it soon.

So, if you have any photos you’d be happy for us to publish online here of ANY model of car, please email it to us at .

If there are any webmasters out there who have a number of photos we can use, then I’ll happily credit you with a link as a thank you.
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The RAC have relaunched their website - www.rac.co.uk - with a new look.

They’re also offering a £5 discount on breakdown cover sign ups made online, with cover starting from £34!
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It occured to me today that many of our regular readers might not know that we offer RSS feeds, and probably even more that aren’t really sure what an RSS feed is.

Let me explain…
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A listing surfaced at ebay recently for a Blue 1997 Peugeot 406 LX. The car seems in fine shape all appart from being photographed after crashing into a ditch to swerve a rabbit.

Here’s the flawless sales pitch…

This will be the 3rd bucket of shiite I’ve sold on ebay - does this make me an official used car salesman/tw*t?

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“The home of car accessories” Edworthys are giving away a set of TSW alloys and Yokohama tyres in an online comp.

All you’ve got to do is answer this question:
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