Latest news with #WhatCar
Auto Car
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
How to get a Mini on your drive for £2000
Overall the Mini is a reliable, well built small car that shouldn't cause you any major problems. Indeed, it is not totally free from mechanical gremlins, but by now any recalls will have been addressed and dealers, as well as independent specialists, are familar with the issues that might afflict them. For more peace of mind, the Mini Hatch ranked fifth out of 19 cars in the small car class in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, with an impressive overall rating of 97.9%. Engine: Be wary of Cooper S Minis built between 2014 and 2015: a recall was issued to repair a defective crankshaft bearing and engines were either rebuilt or replaced. Check that the whole engine has been replaced because other parts may have been damaged by the faulty crankshaft. High oil consumption is common on hotter models so check oil levels and make sure the car is serviced every year. Exhaust: Ensure the Pro exhaust on the JCW cars is fitted properly. You'll know it isn't if the heat shield is rattling underneath the car. Suspension: Listen out for a knocking noise from the front suspension as the control arm bushings like to make a racket when they're worn. A new bushing is around £30. Body: Door seal rubber can rub away the paint on the inside so check for any damage. You can buy door-shut paint protection film to stop the issue from recurring. Check for clouding in the wing mirrors. New glass is around £20. Interior: Don't be surprised if the dashboard rattles, especially on higher-mileage cars. A creaky sunroof isn't uncommon either and some lubricant around the seal can assuage the issue. Check that the heated seats work and that the light doesn't go out on the dashboard when they're switched on. If they're faulty, then it could be either the heat element or control module that's to blame. An owner's view Rachel Lowe: 'I was looking for a step up from my 2013 'R56' Cooper and the F56 model was what I was hoping for in terms of reliability and performance. In the end, I bought a 2016 JCW from Scotland and the seven-hour drive home proved that this was the right car for me. It's very responsive, handles superbly and is surprisingly economical on longer journeys. I've added a few modifications, including a wrap, JCW Pro exhaust, front splitter/side skirts and the JCW Pro suspension kit. It's been very reliable and easily the most fun car I've ever owned.' Also worth knowing If you want the fastest version of the F56-gen Mini, your best bet is the John Cooper Works GP, launched in 2020. This track-focused hot hatch is an absolute riot to drive thanks to its lowered suspension, larger brakes and 302bhp turbocharged motor. There are plenty of special editions to choose from, such as the 1499GT, a play on the 1275GT of the original car. There's also the 1to6 Edition, a limited-run version of the JCW that was the last Mini to feature a manual gearbox.
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Another wheel has just flown off the EV dream
They will save the planet, they are quieter, they will rebuild local industries, and they even come with attractive tax breaks. Re-wind a couple of years, and there were plenty of reasons for buying a shiny new Tesla or Polestar electric vehicle instead of an old-fashioned, high-pollution, petrol or diesel car. And yet, one by one, all those arguments have been punctured. They won't help the environment as much as we think, they are mostly made in China, the tax breaks are gone, and now we learn that they are more likely to break down as well. If you were not already worried enough about where the heck you might be able to recharge your electric car during a long drive over the summer, now there is something else to fret about as well. You are more likely to break down than the other cars on the road. According to a poll of 30,000 drivers by WhatCar, EV's suffer from a higher breakdown rate than petrol, diesel or hybrid vehicles, with 16.8 per cent of owners reporting some kind of fault, compared to 15.4 per cent for diesel, the second worst offender. It gets worse. The faults on EV's were less likely to be something that could be fixed on the side of the road by an emergency repair service, meaning that motorists were less likely to be able to complete their journey, and might have to pay for an expensive towing service as well. And of course, if something does go wrong it will probably cost more to fix, with surveys suggesting that EVs cost 30 per cent to 50 per cent more to repair than petrol cars, while replacing the tyres if you get a puncture will be pricey as well, with each one, according to one survey, costing £77 more on average than traditional vehicles. Perhaps not very surprising, the insurance is more expensive, given that the costs are higher if anything goes wrong, and that has to be recouped somehow or other. The costs start to add up very quickly. An EV is turning into a very expensive choice. That is not what we were promised. One of the strong selling points for EVs over conventional vehicles was that because they had so few moving parts compared to internal combustion engines, they were far less likely to go wrong. And overall, they were meant to be far cheaper to run than the vehicles they were replacing. One by one, all the arguments for owning an EV have been falling apart. It turns out that they cost more to run. The tax breaks are gradually being withdrawn; as of this year, they are no longer exempt from road tax, and from Christmas they will have to start paying the congestion charge in London, and probably very soon in other major cities as well. On top of all that, they are handing the auto industry to China, destroying one of Europe's major industries, and given the environmental impact of the manufacturing process, and all the minerals that go into them, they might not even be better for the environment either. In reality, the drive to force us all to switch to EVs was top-down. I was state-planning at its very worst. It set arbitrary targets, lavished subsidies and tax breaks on an industry, only to withdraw them when they became too expensive. Perhaps worst of all, it backed an unproven technology that may well turn out to be an expensive flop. The wheels are coming off the EV dream – and once drivers are convinced that they are not the right choice, it will be very hard to persuade them to start buying EVs again.
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
EVs ‘most likely type of car to break down'
Electric vehicles (EVs) are the most likely type of car to break down, a survey of tens of thousands of motorists has found. A poll of just under 30,000 car owners found that just over one in 10, or 10.9 per cent, had broken down within the last two years. Of those who gave their car's fuel type, about one in six (16.8 per cent) said the car they broke down in was an EV, What Car? magazine's latest Reliability Survey found. This was a higher breakdown rate than for petrol, diesel or hybrid cars whose owners responded to the survey. Other data gathered by the magazine revealed that owners of diesel-engined cars are most likely to report a fault, with 31 per cent of its readers doing so last year, although that figure has declined from 50 per cent in 2022. The findings come after Jakob Pfaudler, the AA's chief executive, warned of a 'common misconception that electric vehicles break down less frequently than petrol and diesel vehicles'. Mr Pfaudler said in April: 'Currently, at least, that is not the case. The breakdown rate is, in fact, slightly higher for electric vehicles than for internal combustion-engine vehicles.' What Car?'s findings on reliability were based on about 17,300 drivers who gave their vehicles' fuel type, out of the 30,000 surveyed. Some 15.4 per cent of diesel drivers, 14.1 per cent of hybrid (petrol-electric) car owners and 10.7 per cent of petrol-powered motorists reported that they had been left stranded in their cars at some point since 2022. In total, around 7,700 petrol drivers responded, along with 5,100 diesel drivers, just under 2,900 hybrid owners and 1,600 EV motorists. In its survey, What Car? also asked drivers how often their broken-down cars had to be towed away, as opposed to receiving roadside repairs that got them running again. About two in five EVs had to be taken elsewhere to be fixed, the magazine found, compared with just 30pc of petrol cars. However, electric car advocates suggested that the survey's findings lacked rigour. Ben Nelmes, the chief executive of the consultancy New Automotive, said: 'Perhaps a better datapoint for the UK would be the MOT failure rate – after all, when a vehicle fails its MOT (and isn't remedied at the centre) then there's likely to be something fairly wrong with it. 'Battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) have a lower failure rate than petrol and diesel vehicles of comparable ages, except BEV and petrol vehicles that are three-years-old, where the failure rate is essentially the same,' he added. Ginny Buckley, the chief executive of Electrifying, an electric car buying advice website, said: 'The What Car? survey flies in the face of data from companies like Start Rescue, who last year reported that EVs are 59 per cent less likely to break down than their petrol or diesel counterparts,' she said. 'But when they do, the issues are often relatively minor – things like tyres, wheels, or the 12-volt battery – much the same as traditional cars. Expensive mechanical failures, which are common in older internal combustion engine vehicles, are rare thanks to the EV's simpler engineering and fewer moving parts.'
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Electric vehicles 'break down more often than petrol, diesel and hybrid cars', says What Car? and the AA
Electric vehicles break down and leave drivers stranded at the roadside more often than their petrol and diesel engine equivalents, owners reveal. Of the 30,000 drivers who completed What Car's latest Reliability Survey over the past two years, one in ten (10.9 per cent) said their motor had suffered a fault that rendered it undrivable. However, when reviewing the feedback from motorists by vehicle fuel type, the poll suggested that drivers of EVs are more likely to need to call for breakdown assistance. Of the battery car drivers who filled in the survey, 16.8 per cent said their car had broken down in the last 24 months. That compares to just 10.7 per cent of petrol car owners. Hybrids (14.1 per cent) and diesels (15.4 per cent) too had a statistically lower rate of breakdowns, the report said. And it also went on to show that when electric cars do suffer issues, they are less likely to be repaired at the roadside by a breakdown patrols, meaning drivers cannot continue on their journeys. The report comes in the wake of AA bosses claiming that EV breakdowns are more common despite a general misconception that they are more reliable because they have fewer moving parts than a traditional car. Electric vehicles break down and leave drivers stranded at the roadside more often than their petrol and diesel engine equivalents, What Car? and the AA have both stated this week EV drivers reported that only in one in four instances where their battery cars were stranded at the roadside did the breakdown company manage to permanently fix the issue so they could get back on the route. In contrast, two in five petrol car owners said a patrol had them back on the road again after being called out. Unsurprisingly, EVs were the fuel type most commonly transported (because they can't be towed due to the risk of damage to the e-motors if the driven wheels are rotated) to garages for repairs. In 40.6 per cent of EV breakdowns, the cars had to be recovered from the roadside, whereas only 29.6 per cent of petrol cars were towed to nearby garages or the owner's home. BREAKDOWNS BY FUEL TYPE Fuel type Broken down Permanently fixed Temporarily fix Towed Not towed Petrol 10.7% 40.1% 22.7% 29.6% 7.7% Diesel 15.4% 30.4% 26.0% 36.5% 7.1% Hybrid 14.1% 33.8% 30.1% 32.3% 3.8% Electric 16.8% 25.0% 20.8% 40.6% 13.5% Source: WhatCar? Reliability Survey based on feedback from almost 30k UK car owners The report comes just days after bosses at the AA reported that it is attending a higher share of electric car breakdowns that petrols and diesels. Jakob Pfaudler, CEO at the breakdown service provider, said EVs are prone not only to punctures and flat batteries like all cars with internal combustion engines, but also to a host of problems relating specifically to electric models, including jammed charging cables and technical glitches. Speaking to The Telegraph, he said it was a 'common misconception' that battery cars are less susceptible to faults than because they have fewer moving parts than internal combustion engine equivalents, claiming the breakdown rate is actually 'slightly higher' for EVs. Edmund King, president of the motoring organisation, added that EV drivers are more likely to be confused and flustered by warning lights in zero-emission cars and pull off the road to call for assistance. In stark contrast, he said petrol car drivers are typically more likely to drive to the nearest garage when confronted with warning signals, such as an icon suggesting low oil pressure. However, Mr King estimated that nine in ten breakdowns involving EVs could be dealt with at the roadside versus 86 per cent for traditional cars, with the battery models often needing a 'simple reboot'. Though this is in conflict to what drivers told What Car?. Drivers of EVs did have some positives to report relating to breakdowns... Jakob Pfaudler, the AA's CEO, said EVs are prone to a host of problems relating specifically to battery models, including jammed charging cables and technical glitches EVs are the fuel type most commonly transported to garages for repairs after a breakdown. They can't be towed due to the risk of damage to the e-motors if the driven wheels are rotated They told the automotive title that breakdown-related faults were typically resolved for free - more so than any other fuel type, in fact. According to the survey data, 89 per cent of faulty EVs are rectified at no cost to the driver, and only 3 per cent had to pay more than £1,500 to get their battery cars back on the road after a breakdown. That's almost as impressive as the record for hybrid cars: 91 per cent of these were fixed for free, and only 2 per cent of owners reported having to pay over £1,500 to have issues resolved. While petrol cars suffer fewer breakdowns than EVs and hybrids, they are more likely to land owners with repair bills: only 76 per cent of petrol cars were fixed for free, owners told What Car?. Diesels are the least likely to be fixed gratis, though: only two third of drivers had the cost of their car repairs covered. Who is providing the best breakdown service? What Car? also looked at the level of service provided by nine major breakdown recovery companies, and by independent recovery services. Respondents who had used a breakdown provider in the last two years were asked how long they had to wait for help to arrive and how good the service they received was. Patrols that arrived in an hour or less and got cars going again gained the highest marks; those that took more than two hours to arrive and didn't fix the car or recover it for repair were given the lowest marks. BEST RATED BREAKDOWN ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS Rank Provider Time rating Quality rating Overall rating 1 Britannia Rescue 5 4 5 2 Independents* 4 5 4 3 AA 3 4 4 4 Start Rescue 4 3 4 5 Emergency Assist 3 4 4 6 Green Flag 3 4 4 7 GEM Motoring Assist 2 5 4 8 Autoaid 4 3 3 9 RAC 2 4 3 10 Allianz 2 3 2 Source: WhatCar? Reliability Survey based on feedback from almost 30k UK car owners (Rating out of 5 stars) *Independents category includes responses from a number of independent recovery services and garages Overall, the best breakdown provider was Britannia Rescue. Its patrols attended three-quarters of callouts in less than an hour, and they enabled 53 percent of car owners to continue their journeys. At the bottom of the satisfaction chart was Allianz, which offers cover directly to car manufacturers, rather than policies that consumers can independently subscribe to. While it was marginally quicker to respond to callouts than the RAC, it was the worst for performing permanent repairs to stricken cars.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Government hasn't hit its own EV fleet targets despite pushing motorists to electric cars
The Government isn't meeting its own EV targets, despite pushing motorists towards electric cars by increasing taxes and running costs of hybrid, petrol and diesel. It pledged to electrify 25 per cent of the central government car fleet by 2022. In April the Government further pledged all central government cars and vans (except for the Prime Minister's gas-guzzling Range Rovers) will be zero emissions by the end of 2027. But new research from WhatCar? reveals the Government is falling short of its targets to electrify its fleets, with only 15 per cent of its cars and vans being pure electric. WhatCar? obtained information about 7,116 cars and vans operated by 21 central government departments via Freedom of Information requests, with the data received showing 22 per cent of cars are currently pure electric EVs and just 4 per cent of vans are, pulling down the overall total. The figures suggest many government fleets have so far switched to lower-emission vehicles, such as plug-in hybrids and hybrids, with 22 per cent plug-in hybrids and one per cent hybrids across the fleet. That leaves 3 per cent of vehicles powered by petrol and 59 per cent fuelled by diesel. Motorists are being actively pushed into fully-electric cars rather than hybrids after the Treasury massively hiked the cost of owning and running a hybrid car two months ago in order to hit targets to phase out the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The Government has given its fleets the opportunity to apply for exemption – which had to be filed by 31 May - for certain vehicles from going electric due to security and other reasons. These will be confirmed by 31 July. However, the WhatCar? figures already take into account vehicles that are likely to gain exemption from the EV commitment because it only includes cars and vans weighing up to 3,500kg. Across the central government fleet results, 35 per cent of cars are PHEVs, but there are zero plug-in hybrid vans. In fact, 96 per cent of vans are diesel. And the detailed results clearly show that some central government fleets are doing better than others at going green, with the DVLA responding 88 per cent of its cars and 67 per cent of its vans are electric. The DVSA on the other hand has only 11 per cent electric cars, and no pure electric vans. All of National Highways' 10 vans are electric, and while only 15 per cent of its cars are EVs, 84 per cent are PHEVs and just two per cent are diesels which marks it out as a better performing fleet. Comparatively the Ministry of Justice has 16 per cent EVs, but the majority are hybrid or PHEV: 44 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. 1,189 of its vans are diesel, as are 19 per cent of its cars. Border Force, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office didn't respond or provide enough information to be included, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and the Wales office have no vehicles. National Highways recently took a delivery of 91 Toyota bZ4X electric SUVs. These only make up a fraction of this government department's 1,300 fleet of vehicles The failure to hit its own EV targets comes after the Chancellor's Spring Budget hikes in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) road tax for plug-in hybrids and hybrids of up to 1,000 per cent. On 1 April the first-year VED rate for cars emitting 1-50g/km of CO2 rose from £10 to £110, while cars emitting 51-75g/km of CO2 went from paying £30 to £130. Many plug-in hybrids and self-charging hybrids fall into these brackets. But others, like the Toyota Yaris hybrid fall into even higher CO2 categories; the 76-90g/km and 91-100 g/km categories. The lowest first-year VED rate for petrols and diesel with emissions of 76-90g/km shot up from £135 to £270. But the Yaris hybrid puts out 91g/km CO2 at least and so owners are having to pay £330 now in road tax compared to £165 before 1 April. Experts have labelled it a 'shove, not a nudge' towards EV uptake. INCREASE IN VED FIRST-YEAR 'SHOWROOM TAX' RATES FOR NEW CARS FROM 1 APRIL 2025 CO2 (g/km) Petrol & diesel cars now Petrol & diesel cars from 1 April 2025 Alternative fuel (self-charging and plug-in hybrid) cars now Alternative fuel (self-charging and plug-in hybrid) cars from 1 April 2025 0 £0 £10 £0 £10 0 50 10 £110 £0 £110 51 75 £30 £130 £20 £130 76 90 £135 £270 £125 £250 91 100 £175 £350 £165 £330 101 110 £195 £390 £185 £370 111 130 £220 £440 £210 £420 131 150 £270 £540 £260 £520 151 170 £680 £1,360 £670 £1,340 171 190 £1,095 £2,190 £1,085 £2,170 191 255 £1,650 £3,300 £1,640 £3,280 226 255 £2,340 £4,680 £2,330 £4,660 Over 255 £2,745 £5,490 £2,735 £5,490 It's not just VED rates that are forcing people to go electric; company car tax changes – the rates for PHEVs will go up at a rate of 1 per cent increase for each year for the next three financial years – and other fees such as the increase congestion charge for PHEVs to £15 in 2021 have made hybrids far less appealing proposition for drivers. WhatCar? says it believes it is 'completely wrong' the Government is 'not cleaning up its own fleet at the same time it is penalising ordinary drivers for not going electric by slapping higher taxes on low-emission alternative vehicles'. Industry figures have also been unimpressed with the Government's lack of incentives, as grants for early adopters have long ended, and EV owners are now liable for VED levies as well as the expensive car supplement on EVs costing more than £40,000. Defra began its electric vehicle transition back in 2011 when the Environment Agency took on its first full electric car, the Mitsubishi i-Miev. In 2024 over half of EA's fleet of 2,500 cars are full electric, while 214 of its 1,562 vans are also zero emission Buyers of new EVs over this threshold are having to cough up an extra £425 on top of VED hikes for going electric. This has been so unpopular that a leaked letter from the Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, suggested the Government could increase the threshold from £40,000 to £50,000 to offer a respite and help drive uptake. While this was described as 'move in the right direction' it is not enough to improve consumer confidence, with WhatCar? backing calls for better financial incentives, such as halving the VAT on new EVs, and reduced VAT on public EV charging costs, to make it easier and more appealing for motorists to switch to EVs. This is Money has contacted the Department for Transport for comment.
