A competition to find...
A competition to find Britain"s safest drivers has been set up. Motorway service station firm Moto has teamed up with the Institute of Advanced Motorists in the search for the nation"s "Road Stars" in different categories. Enter at www.moto-way.co.uk or pick up a form at any Moto service station.
Hall is managing director...
Hall is managing director of RAC Insure, and told Auto Express: "We have to acknowledge the idea of owning a car may soon be a luxury many can"t afford. And we should perhaps not be surprised that some break the law, such as by driving uninsured, to cut costs." According to new RAC figures (see table, below), the average car costs í‚á£101.75 a week to run - that"s more than í‚á£400 a month. And adding to the burden is the news that recent rises in petrol prices are pushing up the bill by a further í‚á£102 a year. According to the motoring organisation, drivers should reduce their costs by opting for vehicles powered by diesel. For example, a Ford Mondeo owner can save í‚á£7 per week by swapping from a petrol model to an oil-burner - that"s í‚á£373 over 12 months.
The problem is being made worse by soaring bank interest rates. Car finance costs have been hit by an 11 per cent rise over the last quarter - an average increase of í‚á£94 - caused by escalating borrowing costs.
The figures are taken from the RAC Insure Cost of Motoring Index, which tracks the price of running 14 vehicles on a quarterly basis. However, it"s not all bad news; many of the cars registered a decrease in depreciation over the last three months, with the best performers being the Vauxhall Corsa and Land Rover Discovery.
The cheapest of the survey cars to run in the UK is the Toyota Yaris, at í‚á£0.29 per mile - despite the fact that total costs have increased by í‚á£53 since last year because of the fuel crisis.