WhyWaitForever - London
 |  |
WhyWaitForever - London - Cars
This page contains links to car makers, car purchasing, motoring organisations, parking and advice. After the home a car is the most important purchase in the lives of many Londoners. It is however becoming harder to enjoy the use of a car in London.
London Congestion Charge was brought in because journey times across London had fallen to slower than the levels experienced in the age of the horse.
A good number of Londoners do not own cars but hire them as and when needed. WhyWaitForever - London - Travel contains links to car hire companies. We should never forget London Transport runs buses and the Tube.
There are chaps of a certain age who irrespective of the car they own and drive, have on their desks a diecast car model usually by Corgi of their dream car. We may be at the end of the time of the pure internal combustion engine. ECOVEC might be the future with hybrid and electric cars.
Car makes and car
manufacturers
Car manufacturers spend fortunes on advertising. It may seem obvious. A car buyer desires that the car purchased should have sufficient people and transport carrying capacity for the buyers needs. It should be safe, reliable and economic to run. There are cars for poseurs who amble along the Kings Road in a red ferrari and can't get into the Boltons because of speed bumps but these are objects of fun.
Londoners have a knack of countering the best intentions of advertisers. Old salts will always bring out the hoary chestnuts of their youth; FORD stood for "Fix Or Repair Daily", FIAT for "Fix It Again Tony", BMW for "Bad Mans Wheels" and so on.
To many cars are anonymous commodity items that are all similar in shape and which have minor cosmetic differences. Car manufacturer's marketing departments spend fortunes selling brand names and values which at times seem far removed from stop start motoring in congested streets or lemming like bumper to bumper follow the leader on congested motorways. The selection criteria is simple cost weighted by reliability, safety, utility, performance and vanity.
- Alfa Romeo
The Italian car known for styling.
- Aston Martin
A personal favourite..
- Audi
The German one with the rings in a line..
- Bentley
The luxury car.
- BMW
The German executive and sales fleet favourite.
- Citreon
The French government and executive favourite.
- Fiat
The Italian giant.
- Ford
The US company with a large Dagenham site.
- Honda
The giant Japanese company that also produces motorbikes.
- Landrover
A UK car for on and off road.
- Mercedes
The German luxury car maker.
- Nissan
A Japanese car maker with manufacturing capacity in the UK.
- Peugeot
A large French manufacturer.
- Renault
The French giant.
- Rover
A UK company once again.
- Saab
The adverts always seem to me to be selling fighter aircraft.
- Toyota
The large Japanese car make.
- Vauxhall
The US General Motors brand in the UK.
- Volkswagen
The German giant and home of the Golf.
- Volvo
The Swedish car now owned by a US giant.
Buying and markets for cars
For as long as anyone can remember there is a differential in price between car prices in the USA, car prices in Europe and those in London. The difference is to the disadvantage of Londoners. The status quo may be about to rebalance.
- Autobytel
A new one.
- Autotrader
From the magazines with all the cars to sell.
- Broadspeed
Assists in importing cars.
- Carprices
Provides a large price database and private sellers can advertise.
- Carsource
Sources of cars.
- EComCars
All makes of UK dealer supplied cars at a discount.
- EuroCarPrice
They claim to offer the most comprehensive index of new and used car comparisons across Europe.
- Exchange & Mart
New and secondhand cars advertised by the classified advertisments newspaper.
- Fish4
Fish 4 Cars has a large database of cars.
- Parkers
Prices and advices on hundreds of model ranges including realistic values.
- P&O Imports
A major company planning to import.
- The Internet Car Company
They claim massive savings on all makes and models.
- Virgin Cars
The new entrant from the UK marketing giant.
- What Car
They claim to be the best buyers guide on the web.
- Your Auto Choice
Backed by Avis sells nearly new cars.
Used Cars
With few exceptions a new car loses around a quarter of its value within six months of purchase. Most of the loss occurs within the first hour of purchase.
So purchasing a second hand six months old car with low milage and with the warrenties and guaranties transferable and in force must be an option to be carefully considered. A full professional valeted car clean can even restore the cosmetic showroom feel. A second hand car will have been "run-in" so is ready for the full rigours of motoring.
For all cars even new the paperwork should be checked for completeness and to ensure that it matches the actual car. Independent checks with the manuafacturers and the Vehicle Licensing Office can assist in clarifying any discrepancy.
Less obvious is the need to have all the details for security alarms and alarmed devices such as the radio. The details should include keys, codes and contacts. Check where the car has been and can be serviced. Check where routine items such as bulbs and touch-up paint can be obtained.
Selecting a car can be a complicated procedure the motoring organisations are there to assist and provide independent advice.
Parking, Car Parks and Residents Parking
Parking in London is expensive. Sundays, overnight and public holidays are the only times when parking becomes slightly easier. Residents can purchase residents parking permits from their local council.
- APCOA
Burlington Car ParK in Mayfair near Regents Street.
- NCP
National Car Parks the largest company.
- PAS Gatwick
A private company licensed by Gatwick Airport.
- Parking Tickets
The mysteries of parking tickets and red routes explained.
- Purple Parking
A favourite of mine for more than secure airport parking.
Central London Local Councils
- Camden
Camden Council lying north of Westminster.
- Corporation of London
The City of London which is known as the square mile and contains the worlds major financial centre. The area is divided into wards run by Aldermen. One of the Aldermen is appointed the Lord Mayor of London for the year.
- Islington
Islington Council lying north of the City of London.
- Lambeth
Lambeth Council lying south of Westminster south of the River Thames.
- Hackney
London Borough of Hackney lying east of the City of London.
- LBHF
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham lying west of RBKC.
- Mayor of London
This is a recent innovation an elected Mayor of London.
- RBKC
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council lying west of Westminster.
- Southwark
Southwark Council lying south of the City of London south of the River Thames.
- Westminster
Westminster City Council lying west of the City of London.
Advice
- DVLA
UK Government Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency.
- OFT
UK Government Office of Fair Trading advice on buying cars. It claims to provide advice for those who don't know much about cars.
- TDFL
UK Government Traffic Director For London.
- Warranties
Motor warranty information.
Ownership
Every car has a registration document. When ownership is transfered from one person to another, parts of the registration document need to be completed by each party and sent to the DVLA. Once a new car is three years old the car is subject to an annual MOT test. Every car must have a valid road tax disc visible in it's windscreen. The car must be covered by insurance.
When buying a car it is always advisable to check that the car has a full service history. The easiest way is to check that the manuafacturers service history log book has stamps for every service.
Driver
Licencing
All drivers have to pass a two part driving test. The first part comprises a number of questions. The second part involves driving an examiner around a test route on ordinary roads.
Driving and Navigation
Car drivers in London drive quickly but considerately. The M25 around London is one of the busiest road in the world. It has few accidents in proportion to the number of journeys. Roads in London can be narrow. Some have speed bumps which can rip out the under carriage of low slung cars.
Navigation around London can be tricky especially if road maintenance work is underway. The outer ring road is the M25. The inner ring road comprises the North Circular north of the river and the South Circular south of the river. There are major motorways M roads and dual carriageways A roads which radially converge on the centre. A map or computer guidance system is essential.
London licenced taxi drivers all pass a rigourous test on "the Knowledge". It can take years to acquire sufficient knowledge to pass the test. So if you are new to driving in London don't worry if you get lost a few times.