Highly optimised UK user car site.

If you are looking for a used car in the UK, I know the perfect place to go to. No! You don't have to go there physically. All you have to do is put on your computer and go to BuyYourCar.com and search for Used Cars. This relatively new site has some great features that will appeal to both dealers and people looking for used cars. they believe that advertising online is more than just a simple listing and picture.

The site allows you to search their listings by make, model, details, price range, distance from postcode and type of seller (private, dealer or both). The results are automatically sorted by latest offers, price (lowest or highest) distance. The distance option is a welcome feature as we want to search for a car as near to our house as possible.


The site provides some great tips for people considering to buy a car, namely in deciding the value of buying a used car. There is a list of questions, which we should ask the seller, how to inspect a used car and so on. There is even a Used-Car-Buyer's Checklist which is absolutely essential.

As for the dealers who advertise on the site, they get 'Standard listings', 'Individual Listings', 'Dedicated pages in the site' and 'Dedicated pages that list stock by Make'.

All cars advertised are also entered into the NEW Regional Search which allows customers to search for cars in their area. For example in Birmingham.

Some other great features include an online enquiry forms and Google location maps with interactive directions.

This site has been highly optimised for Google search and thus highly recommended if you are selling used cars. If you don't believe me, search for the terms "Used Cars UK" on Google and find out for yourself.

New Honda Accord versions coming soon

Two new versions of the Honda Accord will be launched on the 1st of September here in the UK.

First is the new Sport GT 2.2 i-CTDi and the other is the diesel-engined Accord SE 2.2-litre i-CTDi.




The Sport GT as an accord with a sports suspension and comes in Saloon and Tourer models. Not really sure how different they are apart from the fact that the Saloon has 17 inch alloy wheels whereas the later has 16 inch wheels.

One new colour option will be exclusive to this version - Premium White Pearl (shown here).

I don't have much information other than

The Sport GT is on sale from 1 September, expected to be priced from £20,767 (OTR).

On the other hand the Accord SE is a entry-level diesel engine car. It has a 6 speed gear box with stability assist. It is expected to be priced around £18,600 (OTR).

UK personalised number site

One day I suddenly realised that my friend's car number actually spells out his name. Well not exactly but almost. He told me that he had to pay quite a bit for that but I was really impressed.

If you want one too, check out the Northumbria Numbers site. Search for your own personalised car number on their site. The possibilities are endless - you can have ageless car registrations, prefix type registration numbers and current style number plates.

Best of all, they will do the transfer paperwork for you. There are loads of reductions on their bargain page. Their site will try to find a personalised car registration to suited to your needs on their database. Customers can search by name, letters, numbers, car make etc.

Check out the site for general information on personalised number plates. This includes history of UK number registration systems and laws governing number plates and more.You can even sell you car number by filling up a form on the site.

Land Rover wallpapers and screensaver

Land Rover has come a long way since the the launch of the first ever 4x4 in 1948. The company is based in Solihull, England near Birmingham, and is a subsidiary of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company.

Land Rover now produces a number of four-wheel drive vehicles, including the Range Rover range. This vehicle range is Land Rover's flagship vehicle. It was first introduced in 1970 and is claimed to be the first first luxury SUV. the Range Rover is still among the most expensive vehicles in it's type. A new Rage Rover now starts from around £55,100 (on the road price). and is the Queen's favourite ride of choice.

If you love Land Rover vehicles, you should have one as your desktop. Check out the Land Rover Range Rover wallpaper below.

You can download other Land Rover wallpapers and screensavers from the Vcars website (http://www.vcars.co.uk). 

MG plant reopens

The former MG Rover plant in Longbridge, Birmingham reopened today. Three new 2-seater MG TF sports cars were rolled out of the production line at a ceremony marking the official reopening by new Chinese owner Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC).

The ceremony was attended by Senior Chinese government and company officials. Not sure whether any senior British Govt official attended.

At present, the Chinese firm employs just 150 people at the plant. However, the new owners have promised to create 1200 new jobs.

Industry analysts remain skeptical, however. Read the BBC report here.

For your information, the Rover brand name was bought over by Ford.

Free parking for green cars

The city council of London has abolished the parking charges of residents driving hybrid and fuel cell cars, in the borough of Westminister.

These are the latest in a series of eco-friendly moves by the local authority. previously electric cars did not have to pay any road tax or congestion charges. It is also the only place in the UK with free charging points on the streets.

The annual residents' parking permits was previously £78 for hybrid cars and £110 (it still is) for other cars. If other cities followed suit, I would be really tempted to buy a hybrid vehicle myself.

Lotus Exige GT3 Concept

Forgot to post this up earlier.
Lotus Sport, part of Lotus Cars Ltd (owned by Malaysia's Proton) launched the Exige GT3 Concept in Geneva, Switzerland on the 6th of March at the 77th annual Geneva International Motor Show.

This car features a new one-piece front clam-shell with fully masked front wheels and wheel arch venting. Quite aggressive looking.

The car is powered by a supercharged engine that produces 275PS (271bhp / 203kw) and max speed of 257kph (160mph).

It rests and runs on ten inch rear wheels with 255 width tyres.

The Exige GT3 Concept is expected to go on sale in late 2007 with an estimated price tag of between £50,000 and £60,000.

Aston Martin back in the hands of Britishers

A lot of Britishers will be happy today.

Ford Motor has agreed to sell controlling stake in Aston Martin, the luxury marque made famous by James Bond, to a U.K. led consortium headed by Dave Richards for £479 million (US$924 million). Read the official press release here. This is part of Ford's restructuring plan.

It's not totally in British hands, as the Consortium is backed by Kuwaiti investors, namely Investment Dar and Adeem Investment. Also Ford still retains a £40 million (US$77 million) stake (approx. 13% of its value) in the Warwickshire based company.

Related link:
- Aston Martin 'has great future'
- British Reclaim Aston Martin

Source of contaminated fuel

If you recall, I wrote a post on contaminated petrol in the UK on Friday, March 02. Well they have finally found out that there was indeed a contamination. It sounds stupid but silicon meant for diesel fuel was added into the unleaded petrol. This occurred in four tanks at a terminal in West Thurrock, east of London, owned by Dutch company Vopak. Harvest Energy shares the facilities with Greenergy, which supplies both Tesco and Morrisons. Asda buys fuel from Harvest Energy.

The problem arose because when the unleaded petrol containing silicon burned, it formed a thin layer of silicon-dioxide on the sensor, which controlled the fuel - air mix. I can see that the immediate result is an increase in the fuel prices overnight.

Jaguar C-XF coming to the UK

Jaguar's concept car made its debut on 7 January at the NAIAS in Detroit. It's a four-door sedan powered by a 4.2-litre supercharged V8 engine.

The car, which was designed in Whitley, in Coventry, has been called as the "sexiest four-door we've seen from Jaguar in years," by Dutch Mandel, editor and associate publisher, AutoWeek. The magazine named it the best of the best at the North American International Auto Show and also awarded the car the Editors Choice Award for Best in Show 2007.

The C-XF makes it's official UK debut at the official opening of Ricoh Arena on the 24th of February.

It will be built at Jaguar's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

Peugeot 207 CC coming soon

The eagerly awaited model from Peugeot will go for sale in March in the UK.

The car goes topless in only 25 seconds on the press of a button. It will be available in two 1.6 litre petrol engines and one diesel engine models. Both engines are made in the UK jointly with BMW.

The 207 Coupe Convertible is considered as the successor of the highly popular 206 CC.

Here are the prices:

1.6 16v 120:
Sport: £14,795
GT: £15,995
15,895

1.6 16v 120 Automatic
Sport: £15,795
GT: £16,995

1.6 THP 150
GT: £16,895

1.6 HDi 110 FAP
Sport: £15,895
GT:£17,095

Tags: 207 CC Peugeot

MG cars production to resume

Nanjing Automobile Corporation, the new Chinese owners of will resume production of iconic British MG sports cars at Longbridge. The company has indicated that it will reopen the plant in a few months and intends to employ a number of former MG Rover workers.

The last car rolled out of Longbridge almost 2 years ago in April 2005. The bankrupt of the MG Rover Group was then taken over by the Nanjing Automobile Group for an undisclosed amount.


2002 MG TF at Yate Car Show, UK. Taken by Adrian Pingstone

Passed the MOT test

Every vehicle in the UK has to go through the dreaded mandatory MOT test. The name derives from the now defunct Ministry of Transport, but is still officially used.

The test is carried out annually to most vehicles over a certain age to ensure that they are safe and roadworthy.

It's that time of the year for our car. So I went over to a nearby garage recommended by some of our friends - TPS Autos Ltd in Foleshill.

I was praying that everything would be OK and I wouldn't have to change anything. Unfortunately that was not to be and I found out that:
1. Nearside front brake pipe excessively corroded [3.6.b.2c]
2. Front headlamp aim too low [1.6]



I was a bit sceptical about the second fault and had a feelign the guy was ripping me off but I kept my mouth shut.

It cost me £45 for the test itself and £80 for the replacements and repair.
Total damage: £125/

Is that costly?

Cars are cheap in the UK but the cost of maintenance, insurance and other extras are really high.

Reminds me of a story I heard from a friend. The story goes that one guy found out that he would have to fork out more than the price he had paid, to fix the car. He just drove it straight to the scrap yard and sold it for a few pounds.

In case you are interested, the owner's name is Pritpal Singh and here's the full add of the garage:

TPS Autos Ltd
14 Boston Place
OFF Durbar Avenue
Foleshill
Coventry CV6 5NN

My only complaint was that they did not have a customer waiting area.

Find your nearest UK MOT test centre here.

Tags: Coventry MOT Workshop

Ryton factory to close

The Ryton factory in Coventry will close completely later this month. Peugeot had stopped production of the 206 before Christmas.

The factory has a long and varied history. It was built in 1939 to manufacture engines for war planes during the 2nd World War. They only started building cars there in 1946 with the Sunbeam-Talbot by the Rootes Group.

The Rootes group lost control of the factory in the 1960s due to financial difficulties. Chrysler Europe bought over the group and continued to build cars at Ryton. However, they too faced problems and sold the plant to Peugeot in 1978 for the sum of $1. AT that time it was known as the Talbot Motor Company. Peugeot built the first car there in 1985.

Some facts
- The Talbot names was dropped in 1995 and the company became Peugeot Motor Company Plc.
- Robots were first used in 1985.

- The plant stopped production of the 306 in 1999 and the plant was left producing only the 206.

- The closure of the factory by Peugeot leads to the loss of 2,300 jobs in Coventry.

The British should be thankful that Proton is not leaving Norwich.

Tags: Coventry Peugeot Ryton