Low Cost Vans

I have a pair of those really expensive wellies, Hunters, sitting at home by the front door. So shiny and pristine they look like they can’t wait for a big mud inducing downfall to go out and about and show their worth. But the thing is I can’t bear to get them dirty – they’ve actually been sat inactive for months. Guess I’ll have to bite the bullet when festival season comes along though – gotta have the look. If you’re wondering what this pre-amble has to do with vehicle related news… Well I was just comparing my wellies to how I think I’d feel if I had the latest pick-up truck – the Mercedes X Class - set to hit the forecourts next year. Branded as the first ‘premium’ pick-up truck, it’s venturing into an area where its rivals are yet to go. It’s an off-road beast with oversized tyres, an electric winch and as you’d hope, a fire extinguisher on the dash. But alongside this rough and ready side is gentile luxury. There’s black leather upholstery with lemon yellow accents on the inter...

Tea. Apart from being a conversational aide, tea can be a conversation in itself; revealing our somewhat bizarre individual habits and preferences. Today for example, I waited until I got in to work to have my first cup of the day – it gives me an easy first task in the office and helps me settle into the day. But my colleague on the other hand, can’t leave the house without having downed a few cups and as for amount of milk he pours in… well he might as well have a tea milkshake. But it gets really interesting when you look at tea politics in the workplace. As far as I see it there are two camps on the subject; one that thinks that every time you make a cup of tea for yourself (or even consider a cup), you should automatically ask everyone around you if they want a cup. If you don’t you are ‘sneaking off’, ‘being selfish’ or something else derogatory. Because tea, of course, is the great British social glue. However like all traditions, they change over time. A recent survey found tha...

For the last few days I’ve been in a fog. No not metaphorically, I mean an actual, weather related fog – yes for those potentially enjoying spring in other parts of the UK, we’ve been having mornings and evenings that Sherlock Holmes would be jealous of here in Wales. So just in case, like me, you’ve forgotten the driving fog commandments - thinking that they could be put in the glove box along with the ice scraper - I thought it’d be useful to do a quick reminder of some key safety tips… Lighting up Alongside being able to see, being seen is probably the other key element you would like achieve when driving in fog. But beware before you automatically assume that this means putting on the brightest headlights lights possible! Full beam lights in fog actually reflect the light back and you and thereby reduce your visibility. Instead you should be using dipped headlights as this will help other drivers see you from a distance. And as for fog lights? These should only be used when the vis...

Ok so call me a sucker for advertising but surely I’m not the only person whose self-image is somewhat malleable… Imagine myself in a Citreon and I become a little bit French; perhaps with a bag of fresh baguettes besides me. Put me in a Fiat and my Italiano side starts to emerge and I’m jazzily parking outside a cute little coffee bar. And when it comes to the mainly British made Mini, I’m right at home (well I guess I’ve driven out of Port Talbot and am a little near to London but you get the picture…). So my excitement about the new electric mini planned for launch in 2019 was tempered slightly by the recent news that it might not be produced in the UK. This car should be amazing; it’s said to be based on current existing models so it’ll still look cute as a button but its mechanics will be anything but – by the time it’s on the market it'll have the breakthrough in battery technology that’s currently being worked upon. But if it’s not made in the UK, will it feel a little bit d...

A video recording of your commute into work probably isn’t something you’d want as a keepsake, but it could be incredibly useful… A company which manufactures in-vehicle camera systems – SmartWitness – recently monitored 3,000 commercial vehicles that had FNOL (first notification of loss) camera devices installed and then looked at the wider insurance claim statistics in the UK. They found that if there is no camera involved, then 40% of insurance claims are disputed. But where there is a camera, that figure drops to just 2%! It also seems that the people driving with a camera in their car were just that little bit more aware of how well they were doing… The research showed significant improvement in driver behaviour, resulting in 19% less incidents than the national average. Unsurprisingly this type of camera is becoming more popular in the UK, but interestingly it’s long been a technology used by Russian drivers. And then there’s the cyclists on our roads - go for a drive around Bris...