What has Honest John been asked this week?

[Web Version]( | [Update preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Facebook icon]( [Like]( [Twitter icon]( [Tweet]( [Forward icon]( [Forward]( [My car has been deemed a Cat N but I want to keep it as my husband bought it before he died?]( Posted by on 22 May, 2019 My car has been deemed a Cat N (uneconomical to repair) but I want to keep my car as my husband bought it before he died. I have been told my excess and salvage cost will be deducted from the settlement price. What is the salvage cost? And how can I stop them putting a Cat N on my car? [Read more →]( [What licence do I need to drive an Aixam or Microcar?]( Posted by on 22 May, 2019 What licence do I need to drive an Aixam or Microcar? I was told I need a provisional licence and a CBT. And where can I find one? [Read more →]( [I bought a car at auction but have discovered it has been clocked - where do I stand?]( Posted by on 22 May, 2019 I have won a car at auction. Before making payment to the auction company I checked the car history and found that the car has been clocked. The original mileage from the last MoT shows 135,000 miles but the auction detail mileage was 62000 miles. I called the auction company and they said it is in their T&Cs that mileage is not guaranteed. My question is where do I stand now? [Read more →]( [How can I clean bee droppings from my car paintwork?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 I keep bees and have an ongoing problem of cleaning the bee droppings off the paintwork of my black (should have thought it through!) BMW X3. It's quite easy to pick off the dried up droppings with fingernails on the easily reachable parts of the car but very difficult to do the roof. Is there a product which would remove them without also taking the wax polish off the paintwork? [Read more →]( [I've always understood that motorway X signs surrounded by a red ring are mandatory - but what if there's no red ring?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 I've always understood that motorway X signs surrounded by a red ring are mandatory, so if you don't obey them, you deserve what you get. However, I have also seen these signs without the red ring around them and have understood this to be an advisory warning only. Am I wrong about this? [Read more →]( [Can I change the classification of my crew van from N1 to M1?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 I have a 2010 Vauxhall Combo crew van with five fixed seats, five doors and four side windows plus front and full rear windscreens. The payload is 1995kg. The main use of the vehicle is for work (travel between areas for work, not carriage of goods for work) and for carrying my sports gear for weekend camping trips. Do I have a case to argue a change of classification based on the design and current use of the van? [Read more →]( [How long will the battery last on a used EV?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 Buying a second-hand electric car seems to be tricky. How do you know how long the battery will last? What other things would need looking at? [Read more →]( [I have received £8500 fines for driving in a congestion zone in Italy - what do I do?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 I have received a bunch of fines for driving in a ZTL (congestion zone) in Italy. I am aware that by law Italy can take a year to deliver the fines. Will they sell my debt to an international recovery agency so as to take me to court in England and affect my credit rating or not? The fines amount to £8500. I didn't realise I was in a restricted area 44 times. [Read more →]( [My local dealer charged me for work that wasn't done - what can I do?]( Posted by on 21 May, 2019 My local Subaru dealer recently charged me £400 to replace the spark plugs on my 2005 Forester. They charged three hours labour as they reckoned the plugs were seized. The car was still idling badly so I took it to a specialist who spent hours trying to sort out what was wrong. Eventually, he checked the plugs and found that two were seized in so obviously they had not been replaced by my local dealer. The specialist suggested two options - either I take the car back to my local dealer to get them to complete the job, or he could give it a try, at the risk of the plugs breaking or damaging the threads. In a worse case, it would involve removing the cylinder heads which would cost around £1000. I no longer trust my local Subaru dealer to do this job properly so could I get the work done by the specialist and then try and recover my costs from the local dealer? Should I ask my local dealer to complete the work properly, as they've invoiced me for it, even if they have to strip the engine? I'm furious as this has taken up hours of my time when they should have simply admitted what the problem was straight away. [Read more →]( [How do insurance companies calculate the value of a write off?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 On what basis does an insurance company calculate the payout figure of a write-off? If it decides to write off my badly accident-damaged car but I think the figure is too low, what are my options? [Read more →]( [Once a car has been written off - how long can you hold onto a hire car for?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 Once a car is deemed a total loss can your hire car instantly be taken back without an offer of settlement or even any acknowledgement from the insurance company? [Read more →]( [Am I covered to drive a friend's car from France back to the UK?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 A friend who I am visiting soon in France wants me to drive his originally registered RHD car back to the UK for sale. It's now registered in France with full insurance and their equivalent of an MoT. He tells me he has checked with his insurer and they say I will be covered on his insurance policy while driving in France with his permission And in the UK once I get it over here. This seems a very 'liberal' position bearing in mind our comparatively punitive and restrictive insurance market. Am I safe and legal to drive it on his insurance in the UK? [Read more →]( [What's the best speed trap/camera detector and is there a product that will detect and warn about speed limits on the move?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 Could you please advise on the best speed trap/camera detector and a product that will detect and warn about speed limits on the move? [Read more →]( [Could a cheap second-hand EV ever exist given the limited battery pack life?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 My most recent purchase was a three-year-old Skoda which cost just under £7000. I'd love to replace it at some point with an EV but I don't see how the same sort of second-hand price bracket could exist. By most accounts a Li-ion battery has a lifetime of 2-3 years (or about 300-400 charge cycles) so a second-hand plug-in over three years old would almost certainly need a new battery. The cost of the battery pack alone would come out at close to £5000 for even a modest car such as the Leaf. I certainly wouldn't want to go down the battery leasing route - the monthly leasing cost would be around the same as my current petrol costs, so would immediately negate any running cost savings. [Read more →]( [Are illegal number plates picked up by ANPR cameras?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 I know that number plates that will not pass an MoT are illegal, but will they be picked up on ANPR cameras like the new automatic fine for driving in a lane with a red X. There are some that I've seen that have had the numbers turned around, a 3 turned round making an E. [Read more →]( [Is it too early to buy an EV or better to wait until prices come down?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 Is it too early to buy an EV? Or better to wait a while for prices (hopefully) to come down and any initial problems to be ironed out? [Read more →]( [What fun car with four seats can I get for around £17,000?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 I am looking to buy a car between £15k and £17k that's fun to drive, sporty, good looking and practical with four seats. Any suggestions? [Read more →]( [Are prices for the 'new' Beetle likely to increase now they no longer make it?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 I have a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle. I am looking to buy a new car but as you can't buy Beetles anymore, is it worth hanging onto it for a while to sell it for more in the future? [Read more →]( [I bought a used SEAT that I discovered had the emissions fix - can I return it?]( Posted by on 20 May, 2019 I have just bought a 2014 SEAT Alhambra from a franchised dealer. Just after the deal was done I found, on the discovery of a 'complementary Adblue' record (gesture of goodwill following re-map), that the car was one affected and modified following the Volkswagen group emissions scandal. I don't feel that I want the car anymore - surely performance is compromised? It sounds laboured and seems to shift up very late in 'D' (it's a DSG). What can I do? [Read more →]( You are receiving this email because Honest Insights is a publication produced by HonestJohn.co.uk with your requirements and specifications in mind. It provides in depth site analysis comparative with wider industry trends. [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( HonestJohn.co.uk Ltd Unit 1 Eaglethorpe Barns Warmington Peterborough PE8 6TJ