News

The Renault Megane began its life in 1995 and its popularity and versatility has spawned a number of successors, with a wide range of vehicle styles and types falling under the current Megane range. Originally it was intended to replace the Renault 19 and it became the first car from Renault that used safety as its key selling point. There have been many versions of the Renault Megane over the years, but the current batch of models have been released over the past year and represent the most advanced iterations of the Megane line up to date.

The Toyota Yaris was first launched in 1999 and quickly won European Car of the Year in 2000, with the same basic shape and styling maintained until 2005. The Toyota Yaris quickly became one of the most popular superminis on the market and the range was bulked out with a more family-friendly version called the Yaris Verso, which was designed to put practicality above all else without relying on an over-inflated size.

The Honda Jazz entered the UK market back in 2002 and despite its slightly mundane looks it managed to gain popularity because of its status as an extremely practical and spacious vehicle that was still, in effect, a ‘small’ car. The market for family vehicles is always competitive, but it was by making intelligent design choices from the offset that Honda was able to make the Jazz a tough contender. For example,

The BMW 1 Series is now available in 3 distinct styles; the 5-year-old Hatchback design, the 2-year-old coupe or the 1-year-old convertible. The 1 Series is one of the most distinguished cars in its class and as such is also one of the most expensive, with the BMW badge adding a considerable amount of credibility to such a small car and ensuring that the driving experience is one of the 1 Series’ best features. The 1 Series offers the unique quirk of rear-wheel drive, which no other small hatchback can match, as well as providing a completely even weight distribution between the front and rear, which combined with its looks, has unsurprisingly made it the second most popular BMW vehicle on sale today.

There is little doubt that the recession has bitten longer and harder than many imagined. Understandably, consumers are taking the opportunity to keep motor insurance costs down by trying to find the best car insurance deals that they can. However, one sinister consequence of the recession has seen a rise in the number of people prepared to consider crashing their vehicles in order to make an insurance claim. More than 1,000,000 drivers are estimated to have considered crashing their cars in order to make an insurance claim and of those a staggering 350,000 are estimated to have done so.

Despite the proliferation of websites offering the best cheap car insurance, there are significant numbers of people prepared to take the risk of driving without insurance. Over the past year over a third more people are estimated to have taken to the streets without car insurance. Much of the increase may be due to financial difficulties in the present economic climate. However, new legislation will make it an offence to have a vehicle without insurance. Recent surveys have suggested that more than two thirds of drivers think that there should be tougher penalties for uninsured drivers. The consequences of being involved in an accident with an uninsured driver can be devastating with insurance companies being forced into trying to claim some of the costs back from the insured driver.

As a motorist, there are times when all the trouble you take to keep your insurance costs down and the time invested in finding cheap car insurance quotes can be written off in a few minutes of accidental madness by someone trying to park their car. Aviva Car Insurance has asked its customers to name the top ten worst places to park in the UK.

Despite the availability of cheap car insurance quotes online, many drivers in the United Kingdom are still driving their cars without insurance. Some of the country’s largest cities are therefore blighted by uninsured drivers. As many as 13% of drivers in London do not have insurance followed by 12% in Merseyside and 10% in Manchester. Following these, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire are badly hit with 7% of uninsured drivers each. Some of these issues can be attributed to the economic downturn:

In the over 65 age group, only 28% of drivers owned their first car in their teens. Today two thirds of people in the 18 to 25 age groups owned their own car as a teenager. This can be attributed to the change in attitude towards driving for younger people, a more affluent society and changes in driving habits. However, many of today’s younger people are driving more powerful cars. This has meant an increase in the number of accidents and as a consequence spiralling premiums for young people. A significant proportion of today’s younger motorists struggle to find young drivers cheap insurance.

Although perhaps not the first thing many couples think of when they get married, being married could save you money on your car insurance premiums. Whether you are married or have entered into a civil partnership. However, much of this is based on the fact the female drivers tend to be less of a risk then their male counterparts and so premiums are lower. If both partners are male, the saving may not be applicable.