An article on the BBC website, states that the largest volume of complaints came from buyers who purchased a second hand vehicle from an independent dealer — this was in fact the biggest consumer complaint of the year and has been for the past four.

Often garages fail to offer the free repairs that should be included under the Sale of Goods Act and consumers are left out of pocket.

The OFT have also noticed other worrying habits taking place in the industry — some dealers pretent to be private sellers, whilst others illegally state a car will be sold as seen (offering no refunds).

However, despite the worrying results on show, the OFT belives that current consumer protection laws are adequate to deal with the industry.

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An article in the Swindon Advertiser, states that some cab drivers believe the state of the industry may even be a risk to passenger’s lives. As drivers work twice as many hours to make up for a lack of customers (a result of the the overcrowding)  it’s understandable that their senses become softened and they may begin to feel tired on the job.

Drivers believe that the deregulation of private hire taxis in 2006 is the cause of the large increase in private hire vehicles on the road.

However, a report from the Office of Fair Trading indicates that restricting the number of cabs on the road only encouraged illegal taxis to fill the gap, whilst reducing the quality of service that the public receives.

In the north of England, private hire cabs are also facing trouble. A spot check on 28 private taxis in Bolton, led to more than half of the vehicles having their licence revoked, for various reasons — some licence related and some due to vehicle defects.

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This means that many potential house buyers continue to rent, which is great news for the landlords out there — the buy-to-let sector is feeling confident about itself again!

With that in mind, the Guardian has recently ran an article on what it takes to stay at the top in the buy-to-let game — Fergus Wilson, who’s been a landlord for over two decades gives his best advice.

One piece of advice is to try and avoid large families. Fergus implies that more children, means more mess — whilst this is not a problem in itself, when tenants are unwilling to put money towards damage caused by their children it could cause problems.

High rise flats should be avoided — particularly in the north. According to Fergus, these properties will be hard to sell for many years to come.

One more piece of advice: never take tenants with the same surname as you — name mix ups aren’t uncommon and thanks to modern bureaucracy can take a long time to correct!

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Due to racist violence, Asian cab drivers are the most at risk and are more likely to be the victims of a murder than members of another ethnic group.

Taxi driving, as an industry, has the highest murder rate compared to any other industry. This of course excludes the numerous assaults and other issues that arise in late night taxi cabs.

One way drivers can attempt to lower the risk is by training to avoid conflict and resolve issues of aggression and lewd behaviour. There are companies that help taxi drivers with these issues. One such company, Mathieson Training, can help drivers diffuse situations before they escalate out of control.

Interestingly, cabbies are being told to be quieter when picking up fares. Sometimes customers pick to use a taxi instead of public transport for the solitude it provides. If someone wants peace and quite and a taxi driver won’t allow it, the situation may become surly — this is another way that taxi drivers could help prevent passengers from causing trouble.

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The park is owned by Green Parcs and was investigated by police last year after a cheque error. The investigation showed that static caravans had been sold to multiple owners without the purchasers’ knowledge.

Residents of the park claim to have proof of their purchases in the form of hand-written receipts and legal documents.

Married couple, the McLeans, have been asked to pay £6,000 within two weeks or face eviction. They’re also dubious as to whether payment can be requested before the conclusion of the police investigation. However, Green Parcs director has stated that the matter of caravan ownership was separate from the fraud investigation and will be dealt with in the civil courts.

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Visit London are offering the chance to win a night in the little hotel — the caravan will be visiting various tourist destinations across London, with stops planned at London Zoo, Alexandra Palace, The London Eye, Covent Garden and the Old Royal Navy College.

The Airstream is an American caravan and is longer than most UK and European caravans — at just under 30ft long  there will be plenty of room for a relaxing night in the capital. Guests will be treated to their choice of breakfast as well as their favourite newspaper and the option of room service.

The caravan itself is beautifully furnished (note: it’s not the caravan in our picture above!), featuring a double bed, sound system and a flat screen TV – plenty to do if the weather decides to be typically British and stays wet and cold.

The competition can be entered by clicking here. The deadline for entry is 7th March 2010.

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Whilst the closure threat faced by brands such a Saab and Vauxhall over the past year have concerned industry members and the general public, the announced winding-down of Hummer has yet to have caused a similar reaction.

Hummers have come under a lot of criticism as many countries take an environmentally-friendly stance. Not only are the vehicles incredibly large, but have been singled out specifically for their poor fuel economy, which can be less than 10mpg in urban areas.

GM has said that they will still provide service and spares to existing customers, as well as honouring warranties. It has not announced the number of jobs that will be lost.

In other GM news, MotorTrader has reported on Spyker’s purchase of ex-GM bran Saab.

The Swedish firm have already confirmed plans to launch a new 9-5 later in the year, and have other new models in the works, which they believe to be”Real Saabs, Saab Saabs.”

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Although there have been only a few entries so far, it would appear that motorhomes and campers are out in general — with more emphasis placed on camping items.

The most interesting item is a Swiss Army knife thought up by Alexander Hoxha that, rather than being laden with corkscrews, tweezers and cutting equipment, is used for medical purposes. The nano knife can hold two cartridges for injections, as well as built in body scan and projects holographic images.

A browse around the internet gives the impression that tents themselves will still be popular in the future. Network provider Orange believe to have designed a tent for the future. The tent fabric can harness solar energy and use it to power lights, an LCD screen and wireless internet.

Of course, with the state of the world’s climate and the current economic issues, it’s not impossible to imagine a world where “roughing it” is the norm and nothing to do with  a quick camping trip.

Currently the speed limit for HGVs under 7.5 tonnes is 70mph — the same goes for the current minibus speed limit.

The Government is planning on reducing the minibus motorway speed limit to 65mph, a 5mph reduction to the current figure, whilst HGVs under 7.5tonnes would have their speed limit reduced by 10mph to 60mph.

Another reason for the change in speed limit is due to newer vehicles having built in speed limiters. The new speed limits will ensure that regardless of the age of the vehicle, drivers will know what speed limit to stick to.

Other changes to the motorway speed limit see buses and coaches over 12 metres long, having an increase of 5mph added to their speed limit — from 60mph to 65mph, as well as being banned from the outside “fast” lane.

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The concept is to promote cab-sharing on three major routes across the city. Stands will be erected where queuing passengers will be able to share rides with other commuters.  This should reduce fares for travellers but also increase the amount of profit made by cab drivers.

The New York Times has provided an example of how both parties will benefit — a customer would pay about half the usual fare price, but the driver could possibly be ferrying four people, resulting in twice the usual fare revenue.

However, not all taxi drivers are looking forward to the scheme. The director of New York Taxi Workers Alliance believes that the scheme may reduce driver’s taxi business into a lottery — the lucky drivers will pick up four passengers at a time, but for every cab with four passengers there could be three cabs sitting empty.

However, whilst Taxi sharing is more common across Europe and other US states, New York is not completely alien to sharing cabs with strangers. A taxi stand in Yorkville, has offered sharerd rides for some time. The stand even has it’s own etiquette rules similar to those unconsciously kept on all public transportation – no chitchat! Perhaps this cab sharing system will make its way across to London, where black cab drivers have complained about a lack of business and tube prices are forever rising?

Quotiva Network is used by thousands of UK cab drivers to find a quick insurance comparison quote for their taxis. Private hire or public hire, let Quotiva find a taxi insurance quote that is right for you.