The price of replacing car parts...

Aston Martin admirers should take note of this story and possibly feel glad this didn’t happen to them.

A £175,000 Aston Martin DBS lay broken in one of the most exclusive areas in London after thieves targeted the luxury car’s wheels. The car was left stacked up on bricks in Eaton Square, Mayfair earlier on this week.

However, it seems as though the thieves’ scheme to take all four wheels from the car was foiled as pictures show the driver’s rear wheel was left on the car with a rather contorted jack poking out from underneath the car. The metalwork around this wheel was also left damaged.

An Aston Martin expert estimated that the damage could cost up to £30,000 to fix, with the wheels are tyres alone easily costing £4,500 to replace. The body repair work could cost up to £3,500 and as the car was not properly suspended when the wheels were unceremoniously removed, there could be damage to the brake discs which could cost the owner several thousand pounds to repair with one newspaper suggesting a figure of up to £20,000.

In spite of wishing we could afford a posh car like the Aston, at Megavaux, we’re pleased that the Vauxhall parts we supply are available at a less heart-stopping price!

Why I love my Vauxhall Corsa

This is my Vauxhall Corsa. Her name is Vivienne and she is 14 years old. Funnily enough, I’m not much older than the car!

Vivienne has a 1.2 litre engine and probably missing most of the horsepower she was born with. Sometimes I wish she was a little more ‘gutsy’, but when you buy a small car because you a.) can’t afford the insurance on a bigger car and b.) don’t have 2.4 children and don’t need a big estate car, there has to be some give and take!

I’ve had my Vauxhall Corsa for almost 3 years now and she is just as lovely today as the day I first decorated her with flowers. My Corsa might be old, but unlike my first car, a dilapidated Peugeot 106 with four gears and a manual choke, Vivienne has been reliable. She has refused to start on only two occasions – both because her engine wasn’t turned over for two weeks. She’s never failed an MOT, although the garage has provided me with short lists of advisory things to do. This is fair enough as all vehicles require maintenance. Whether your car is old or new, you can’t be complacent about keeping it running properly as demonstrated in this article about the need for car maintenance.

My Vauxhall Corsa is reliable because I look after her. I love the freedom my car gives me as it means I can go where I want, when I want. As I live somewhere relatively awkward, I can’t rely on public transport to get me to work or to the supermarket for a week’s shopping. Because of this, I need my car to be reliable and my Corsa is exactly that.

Maintenance really is the key to keeping your car running smoothly, how else could my 14 year old Corsa be in better shape than my boyfriend’s 6 year old Seat?

Here are my key tips for keeping your car working well for you well into its dotage:

• Check oil and water regularly. The moving parts in the engine need to be lubricated so low oil levels can cause damage to your engine.
• Check your tyres. Low pressure increases fuel consumption as well as making your vehicle less responsive when you need it most.
• Get strange noises looked at as soon as you notice them. I ignored noise at the back of my Peugeot for weeks and one day, the exhaust pipe just fell off!
• Clutch control is very important. You could drive without a clutch but you would ruin your gear box and that is a big job for your mechanic. On my Vauxhall Corsa, there is a little clip on the cable that stops it from ‘slipping’ and snatching from you. However, if you’re heavy-footed on the clutch, you could wear the cable – again, on my Peugeot the cable just snapped because I was using it far more than I should. I have learned my lesson now.
• Go down to your local breaker’s yard. I always go to Megavaux for spare parts for my car because they know their Vauxhall car parts, they’re really good guys there and its much cheaper going to Megavaux than going to a cowboy mechanic who charges you for work and parts that they haven’t done or used!

January News

January has been a nightmare for drivers thanks to the devastating snow and ice, grinding the UK to a halt. With stories emerging that temperatures hit -16 in parts of Scotland, we have certainly learned the weather is a harsh mistress and that in the UK, we are poorly prepared!

Drivers were stuck in their cars for hours at a time and we happily echo advice issued by the emergency services – only make essential journeys in your car in such extreme weather conditions. We would also say that if such weather is predicted, carry a ‘survival pack’ in the boot of your car consisting of the following items if at all possible:

• A large bottle of water
• A flask containing a hot beverage
• A reflective jacket or reflective strips that can be placed on your person should you be required to leave your car
• Blankets
• Snacks to keep you going just in case you are stuck for hours
• Fully charged mobile phone so you can inform loved ones that you are safe

This isn’t an exhaustive list but it should be a good starting point for those anticipating being caught in extreme weather conditions. Before making the essential journeys, check the met office website and the highways agency.Also, see our Ezine article about how to start your car on a cold morning.

Moving on to this month’s driving news, the snow affected the millions of UK drivers although many hit the news as gritting vehicles were slow to respond to key areas. However, one story that made headlines that will cause many to scratch their heads in confusion is the two men who drove their Peugeot down a frozen canal – before plunging through the ice.

Cheating death after the Peugeot car broke through the ice, the two men who were inside the car when it plunged into the freezing water were branded by the police as ‘stupid’, although we suspect stronger words were used down at the station.

The thoughtless duo drove half a mile down the frozen canal before the inevitable happened. Police tracked them down and charged them with reckless conduct. With the emergency services struggling to attend genuine accidents and emergencies at this difficult time, this was clearly a poorly thought out plan and the thrill seekers aged 22 and 24 will find out their fate when they attend Livingston Sherriff Court next month for sentencing.  

Also in the news...
Children’s cartoon Peppa Pig was embroiled in a safety row – because parents raised concerns over the fact that when the cartoon pig was in a car she did not wear a seatbelt.

One parents complained that her daughter had refused to wear a seatbelt because Peppa didn’t. We think that this is ridiculous and blame this on bad parenting rather than Peppa Pig. If I had said this to my mother when I was a child, I would have been punished for being so silly! Cartoon characters are not role models and any parents should be stronger when dealing with a petulant child.

However, to be seen as taking these complaints seriously, the creators of the Bafta Award winning cartoon aimed at children aged two and above admitted that they were “naive” when they began making Peppa Pig. Future episodes of the cartoon will feature Peppa wearing a seatbelt. Another win for the overbearing parents involved it seems.

This is brought to you by Megavaux, supplier of Vauxhall Van Parts