Motor Talk
Clocking: call for EU-wide database and cross-border deal to ease crisis
Tightercross-border cooperation and an EU-wide database on mileage are needed immediately to cope with the growing car-clocking crisis, it is claimed today.
Big names topping import list having impact on 'Irish-car' values
We hear so much about the surge in secondhand imports it is easy to overlook the sheer volume of specific models being bought - and the impact that is having on 'Irish-car' values.
We can't go on kidding ourselves about 'clean' cars any longer
* Some time back Tom de Castella took his 23-year-old 1.8-litre VW Golf petrol and his dad's 2009 Skoda Octavia diesel and had them 'properly' tested for NOx etc.
Motoring Advice: Are the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids worth it environmentally?
I only learned to drive five years ago, in my mid-30s, when I bought a 1998 Ford Fiesta for €300. I live in Dublin and cycled (still do) everywhere.
Motoring advice: How much would I expect to get for my 2012 Hyundai i40 with 56k miles?
I bought a 2012 Hyundai i40 for €22,000 two years ago. It is a high spec. I liked the look of it but it is too big and I really only drive it around town.
Motoring advice: Help! I'm new to buying cars and feel most of the dealers I speak to use it to their advantage
I'm in my early 30s and have had a full Irish licence since March. I have a Citroen C4 hatchback...
Motoring Advice: What can I get for €14,500 with enough power to pull a cow box?
My husband has a Toyota Avensis 08 (135,000km annual mileage 12,000kms) and is looking for a 4x4 type to pull a cow box. He is a farmer but...
How to pass the NCT
Is your car due its NCT? Give it a better chance of passing first time with our tips, writes Geraldine Herbert
The car that started the SUV revolution
Some day in the fast- approaching future our children and their children will go into museums to gaze at crude iPads, chuckle at primitive PlayStation 4 games consoles and howl at our...
A buyer's guide to PCPs
With more than 30 per cent of new cars sold on Personal Contract Plans, PCP deals are one of the reasons why car sales have steadily recovered since the market crash of 2009. The idea is simple: buyers put down a deposit or trade in their old car, followed by monthly payments made over three...
Motoring advice: How do I know when low mileage is not legitimate?
A friend of mine is helping me buy a second-hand Ford Focus from a person we've known for a good while. The 13-reg car has only 37,000km on the clock. It is an import. Do you think that is very...
Johnson & Perrott to invest €15m
Johnson & Perrott is to invest up to €15m to build a new dealership cluster for its Cork City-based motor dealership division, creating a minimum of 30 new jobs. The company claims this will be the most significant investment in the motor industry in Cork for 10 years.
Goodbye petrol and diesel - Leading economist predicts all vehicles will be powered by electricity by 2025
No more petrol or diesel cars, buses, or trucks will be sold anywhere in the world within eight years. The entire market for land transport will switch...
Anton Savage: 'We might disagree with Michael Healy-Rae on drink-driving but his argument is reasoned'
IT looks like TDs Michael and Danny Healy-Rae have swapped jobs. Only last week, I mentioned the theory that the boys cover the widest...
'We don't want to rush things like Trump' - Healy-Rae reacts to planned automatic ban for drink drivers
An automatic driving ban for anyone caught drink driving is among tough new measures Transport Minister Shane Ross intends to impose to reduce...
'It makes more sense for me to rent a car than pay sky-high Irish insurance premiums'
Insurance premiums are so high that it can be cheaper to rent a car on a regular basis. That is certainly what education expert Sue Whyte...
The Mini Cooper Convertible brought back happy memories but it is pricey
The heat at the beginning of last week couldn't have come at a better time.
Mercedes flirts with ladies; drifting to glory; Duster's new Prestige update; The Late, Late
MERCEDES is flirting with the ladies big time. Apparently they are planning on becoming the 'leading choice' among the premium car brands...
What you should do if your car gets recalled
With close to 154,000 cars recalled in Ireland in 2015, the chances are at some stage, if you are the owner of a car, that it will be recalled.
A reminder of the cost of driving while tired
The two-year jail sentence for the driver who killed 31-year-old Olivia Dunne and seriously injured her then three-month-old baby Eabha in January 2014 when he mounted a footpath after probably...
Anton Savage: The NCT has much bigger problems than refusing to test smelly cars
The NCT has been getting a bit of stick this week. One of its testers refused to test a woman's car because it stank of her three dogs, so she rang...
Unleash your inner racing driver at the Porsche Experience Centre
As the needle on the speedometer zips toward the red line and we nudge closer to the bend, I am reminded by my instructor to "brake, brake hard". A few laps around this very twisty racetrack...
Passing the test
It was a proud day for Sam and the Spray household last Monday when my partner's four-year old Hyundai i10 sailed through its first NCT.
Top tips to choose your first family car
Buying a family car for the first time can be a challenge - how big does it need to be, are there critical safety features, and what on earth does ISOFIX mean? If until now all that mattered was...
Letter: Forget the survey, I still love my Renault
Hello — I enjoy the Motoring page in the Sunday Independent.
Self-driving cars are on the way but lads bar stools shouldn't expect salvation
Oh, how I love this internet of things. My very intelligent and totally connected colleague, Adrian Weckler, was able to link his attendance at the...
MD of BMW Ireland: 'I will buy a hybrid, just not yet'
Paulo Alves, the managing director of BMW Ireland, is a happy man. But it isn't just the boom in sales that is making the Portuguese native smile. He got married this year, has a new dog and travels on...
Keep it clean and well-oiled
The dividend from looking after your car well was spelled out for me by a taxi-driver on a very blustery Friday night. He was driving a 2005 Toyota Camry which was immaculate inside and out with lots of veneered wood and leather. He proudly told me that the big saloon, which Toyota no longer...
Ten things to boost your trade-in value
Thousands of you are going to upgrade your car in the New Year. You have an idea of your budget and what you want. But what about your trade-in, the car that has got you this far?
Review: Toyota Yaris is 'comfort, space and a pleasant, easy drive'
The Toyota Yaris was given a bold new makeover recently, taking on its baby sibling Aygo's X shaped front grille and adding a much needed injection of life to an old favourite.
We old people need our cars, but are we fit to drive them - and who will make sure of it?
The news of a horrendous accident in which an aged driver mounted the pavement and killed a young mother raises many questions that call for...
Rebuilding Volkswagen's reputation means challenges ahead for its board
There can't be many places remaining in the Western world where the social fabric is so inextricably entwined with a single corporation as Wolfsburg in Germany. Company towns were...
Die-hard fans of Love/Hate can snap up Elmo's 1998 Honda for less than €1k
Fans of gangland drama Love/Hate now have the chance to own a piece of the show, as character Elmo’s Honda Accord coupe is on sale.
Windscreen discs are gift to fraudsters: dump them
Have a look at your windscreen. You are obliged by law to find space on it for the most wasteful and counter-productive pieces of paper imaginable: the tax, insurance and NCT discs.
RSA Expert: We need to behave better when dropping our children to school
Something you hear quite a bit at this time of year is a collective groan at the increase in traffic on our roads, especially in towns and cities, as...
Why it is time to STOP the confusing surge in road signs
The explosion in the number of road signs in some parts of the country needs to be tackled afresh.
The 'she-spot' debate: Are female-only parking spaces practical or sexist?
Few topics are as controversial in the war of the sexes as the one over who is better at parking. Countless contradictory "scientific" studies emerge to reignite the long-running argument. I am...
The hackers are out to get you at home or in car
Zooming down Route 40 in St Louis, Missouri, a man at the wheel of a Jeep began to notice things going badly wrong with his car.
Ten things we’ve learned about the revised BMW 3-series
A Revamped BMW 3-series goes on sale here this month. The saloon will cost from €37,140 on-the-road (OTR) and the Touring (estate) starts from €39,510 (OTR).
A skoot around town
It's literally a "no sweat" commute, feels a bit like skiing and could revolutionise urban travel in Ireland - if you don't mind reverting to childhood pastimes and looking slightly eccentric.
Cycle of rage and anxiety
IT isn't that surprising that a survey released last week found that 5.30pm is the most stressful time to drive on Irish roads, with one-in-five drivers saying that they feel most anxious behind the wheel around then.
What’s new for 152? All the super models heading to a showroom near you
A HUGE spike in buying is expected as soon as the July 1 deadline arrives. Order books are healthy but insiders say they expect heavy buying in the...
The top 5 new compact SUVs for around €20,000
Competition in the fast-growing compact crossover sector shows no sign of slowing down with five new entrants in the past couple of months alone. If you're in the market for a high-riding family...
Top 10 tips to reduce the cost of your car insurance
•1. Think before you buy - Research the insurance costs before you buy your vehicle then consider the year, make and model.
The inside track for women on how to get the best deal on a car
We women have a reputation for our love of shopping. For men shopping is a chore, whereas we like to stroll through clothing collections and detour through the designer shoe department; in short,...
International Rugby star Jack McGrath talks Rugby and cars
International Irish Rugby player Jack McGrath brought Bob Flavin out for a drive in his Nissan Qashqai and talks about his first game for Ireland, where it all began and what's next.
International Rugby star Jack McGrath talks to Indomotoring
International Irish Rugby player Jack McGrath brought Bob Flavin out for a drive in his Nissan Qashqai and talks about his first game for Ireland, where it all began and what's next.
Top five hot hatchbacks for under ten grand
There's nothing like that hot-hatch feeling, knowing that you are in a car that can be as fast as a supercar but you can do the weekly shopping and pick the kids up from school. We wondered...
Gina has never been on a race track so we wondered would it make her a better driver
I am always going on about track days teaching drivers a better way to drive. It was time to put my money where my mouth is so I brought a...
VIDEO: Never been on a race track, this girl racer learns from the experts
Bob is always going on about track days teaching drivers a better way to drive. It was time to put my money where my mouth is so I brought a...
Why luxury carmakers want to make a €1m car
Seen Furious 7 yet? You should. Among the film's hard bodies and the muscled engines, there's a sexy little number that stands head and haunches above the rest: it's called the Lykan HyperSport.
