Guides
Straight answers about your car
What that noise means, what a job should cost, and what actually matters when you buy. Written for people who own a car, not for mechanics.
Buying and selling
Buying From a Dealer or Privately: What You Gain and Give Up
Buying from a dealer or privately is a trade between price and protection. Here is what each side actually gets you, and when the cheaper route costs more.
8 min read
Car Depreciation Explained: The Cost Nobody Sends You a Bill For
Car depreciation is usually the largest cost of ownership and the least visible. Here is how it behaves, what accelerates it, and how to lose less to it.
8 min read
How to Sell Your Car Privately Without the Usual Hassle
How to sell your car privately: what actually adds money, what wastes it, and how to handle viewings and payment so the whole thing stays straightforward.
8 min read
Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid or Electric: Which Suits How You Drive?
Petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric? The right answer depends on your journeys and where you park, not on which technology is winning. Here is how to work it out.
9 min read
What a Service History Tells You, and What It Quietly Hides
A service history is evidence, not a guarantee. Here is how to read one properly, what a gap actually means, and the entries worth more than a stamp.
8 min read
What to Check When Buying a Used Car, in the Order That Matters
What to check when buying a used car, done in an order that finds the expensive problems before you have fallen for the paintwork. Twenty minutes, no tools.
8 min read
Electric cars
Charging an Electric Car at Home: What Actually Matters
Charging an electric car at home is what makes one cheap to run. Here is what to know about chargers, cables and the habits that decide the cost.
8 min read
Do Electric Cars Wear Tyres Faster? What Actually Changes
Do electric cars wear tyres faster? Usually yes, and the reasons are weight, torque and quiet cabins. Here is how much, and what actually reduces it.
8 min read
How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last? What the Evidence Shows
How long do electric car batteries last? They degrade gradually rather than failing, most of it happens early, and how you charge matters more than mileage.
8 min read
Running costs
How Long Does a Car Battery Last, and How to Tell It Is Going
How long does a car battery last? Usually a few years, but how you drive decides it. The warning signs arrive weeks before it strands you, if you know them.
8 min read
How Much Is a Car Service? What Actually Drives the Price
How much is a car service depends on things you can see before you book. Here is what sits behind the number, and how to compare two quotes that look different for good reasons.
7 min read
How to Cut Car Running Costs Without Neglecting the Car
Most advice on car running costs either saves nothing or stores up a bill. Here is what genuinely reduces the total, and the false economies that do not.
8 min read
What Is AdBlue and Do I Need It? A Diesel Owner's Guide
What is AdBlue, why your diesel will refuse to start if you run out, and how to top it up yourself without paying forecourt prices for the privilege.
8 min read
Why Is My Car Using More Fuel Than It Used To?
Why is my car using more fuel than usual? Most of the causes are small, cheap and invisible, and two of them are sitting under the car right now.
8 min read
Seasonal
Driving in Snow and Ice: The Techniques That Actually Work
Driving in snow and ice is mostly about doing everything earlier and more gently. Here is what genuinely helps, and what four-wheel drive does not do.
8 min read
How to Get Your Car Ready for Winter, Without Overdoing It
How to get your car ready for winter: the few checks that genuinely matter, in the order worth doing them, and the things people worry about that do not.
8 min read
What Is Aquaplaning, and How Do You Avoid It?
What is aquaplaning, why it happens without warning, and the three things that decide whether it happens to you. Two of them are under your control.
8 min read
What to Do If You Break Down, in the Order That Keeps You Safe
What to do if you break down: the first thirty seconds matter most, and the instinct to stay in the car is right in some places and wrong in others.
8 min read
Servicing
Car Filters Explained: What Each One Does and When It Matters
Your car has four filters doing four unrelated jobs, and they are the cheapest parts on the service list. Here is what each does and what happens when it clogs.
8 min read
Coolant and Antifreeze Explained: Why the Colour Matters
Coolant is not just antifreeze, and the colours are not interchangeable. Here is what it actually does, why it expires, and why mixing types is expensive.
8 min read
Do I Need Wheel Alignment? The Signs, and What It Actually Fixes
Do I need wheel alignment? The clearest evidence is not how the car drives, it is how the tyres are wearing. Here is how to read it before you pay for anything.
8 min read
How Often Should You Change Engine Oil? The Honest Answer
How often should you change engine oil? The interval in your handbook assumes a driving pattern most people do not have. Here is how to read it properly.
8 min read
What Is a DPF, and Why Short Journeys Ruin It
A DPF traps diesel soot and burns it off, but only if the car gets hot enough for long enough. Here is how it works and how people accidentally kill it.
9 min read
When to Change a Timing Belt, and Why It Is Not Optional
When to change a timing belt: the interval is by age as well as mileage, there are no warning signs, and it is the one service item you do not defer.
8 min read
Diagnose it
Burning Smell From Car? What Each One Usually Means
A burning smell from car vents or under the bonnet has a handful of likely causes, and they are not equally urgent. Here is how to tell which one you probably have.
7 min read
Car Air Conditioning Not Cold? What That Usually Means
Car air conditioning not cold any more? It rarely breaks suddenly. It fades, and the way it fades tells you whether this is a refrigerant job or something else.
8 min read
Car Pulls to One Side? Work Through It in This Order
When a car pulls to one side the causes run cheap to expensive in a predictable order. Here is how to work through them without paying for the wrong one.
7 min read
Clunking Noise Over Bumps? What the Suspension Is Telling You
A clunking noise over bumps is your suspension reporting play somewhere. Here is how to narrow it down by when and where you hear it, before you pay anyone.
8 min read
Clutch Slipping? The Test That Confirms It in Thirty Seconds
A slipping clutch shows as revs rising without speed following. Here is the test that confirms it, what wears one out early, and what to expect on cost.
8 min read
Engine Management Light On? What the Colour and Behaviour Mean
Engine management light on and no idea how urgent it is? Steady amber, flashing amber and red mean three very different things. Here is how to tell.
9 min read
Tyres
Can a Punctured Tyre Be Repaired, or Does It Need Replacing?
Can a punctured tyre be repaired? There are clear rules, and where the nail went decides it more than how big the hole is. Here is how to know before you call.
8 min read
The EU Tyre Label Explained: What A, B and C Actually Mean
The EU tyre label explained in plain English. What the fuel letter, the wet grip letter and the decibel figure are measuring, and which one to care about.
9 min read
How Long Do Tyres Last? Mileage, Age and What Shortens Both
How long do tyres last? Mileage varies enormously with driving and car, and age matters separately. Here is what decides it, and what you can change.
8 min read
How to Check Tyre Tread Depth, and What the Tyre Is Telling You
How to check tyre tread depth with a coin, where to look, and how to read the wear pattern. Uneven wear is a symptom, and it names the fault.
9 min read
Run Flat Tyres Explained: How They Work and What They Cost You
Run flat tyres let you keep driving after a puncture. Here is how they do it, what you give up in exchange, and whether to keep them when they wear out.
9 min read
Should You Replace Tyres in Pairs, or Is One Enough?
Should you replace tyres in pairs? Sometimes one is fine, sometimes it risks the drivetrain. Here is what decides it, and where the new pair should go.
8 min read
