NEW CAMPAIGN TO STOP SERVICE SECRETS LAUNCHED
Friday 3rd September 2010
When new, the Mitsubishi i was
competitively priced in the showroom. Now, with supply limited by the
model’s demise, used values are strong.
The i is a fair investment, especially when running costs are as diminutive
as the car...
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Aston
Martin V8 Vantage
Few cars are immune to depreciation and Aston
was happy to meet the strong demand for the new car.
Today that translates into a fairly free supply of second-hand stock and
that, combined with a downturn in the luxury car market, has made prices
fall...
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Citroen
C4 Grand Picasso
Few car cabins deliver the wow factor created
by the C4 Picasso’s panoramic front windscreen.
There is no shortage of used C4 Picassos on the market and with
three-year-old examples changing hands for as little as £8,500 it looks like
a lot of car for reasonable money...
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Fiat Bravo
If muscle in the middle of the rev range is
your thing, then opt for the 1.9-litre Bravo diesel.
The 150bhp unit transforms what is a relatively small car into a stealth
dragster (it must be good: Alfa Romeo uses the same engine to propel the
pretty GT coupé)...
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Read Jason's used car reviews in
'The Sunday Times' Driving section.
Next show - ITV4
Sunday
5th September 8.00am 
"One of the most popular motoring shows on UK satellite and Freeview television"
When you buy a used car, do you always check that it has complied with any manufacturer recall's, or do you assume that any servicing would have taken care of probelms that might have arisen. But what if a manufacturer's fault didn't lead to a full safety recall - how would you be able to check that your new car is 100% up to date for safe motoring? Motoring groups are lining up to support an Auto Express campaign calling for all manufacturers to publish the details of known problems with their vehicles. Currently, firms only have to publicly acknowledge registered safety recalls. For all other faults, such as reliability issues, they are able to keep owners in the dark. The AA, RAC and the Retail Motor Industry Federation have joined Auto Express's call to force car makers to issue public technical service bulletins – documents that detail the symptoms, causes and fixes for known problems – in the same way that they do for safety recalls. Their investigation into the secret world of service bulletins brought to light shocking flaws in the system, such as the Jaguar owner who only found out on an Internet forum about a fault with his XJ8 that could lead to the engine cutting out at high speed. It also revealed how many independent garages are forced to send customers to franchised dealers as they can’t access vital technical information. “The use of these secret service bulletins by manufacturers, instead of full-blown public recalls, is a scandal,” said Auto Express editor in chief, David Johns. “It is often a calculated way of hiding important reliability and quality issues from owners, and avoiding responsibility for putting faults right. It is time action was taken to ensure complete transparency in this area.” Backing the Auto Express campaign call, the RAC’s motoring strategist, Adrian Tink, said: “There’s no reason why info like this should be hidden from motorists.” And Edmund King, president of the AA, added: “Anything that improves transparency in the mysteries of vehicle ownership would be a big help.” |
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