2008 Singapore Motorshow

The 2008 Singapore Motorshow is now on. This bi-annual event started on the 26th of this month at at the Suntec City Convention Centre It will run on till the 5th of October.

Response to Anon - National Tyres and Autocare

Someone "Anonymous" left a comment on my post "Experience with National Tyres and Autocare". He or She said:

"hi there i work for national, the advert is not mis leading !! if you bother to read it properly it states, ON A RANGE OF BARUM AND AVON TYRES, SELECTED SIZES ONLY !! as for the tracking, the vocher (sic) sheet also states that prices are subject to change at any time, plus where else are you going to get tracking done for £15.00 any way ???"

In response to Anonymous, I am so sorry I forgot to read the SMALL PRINT. It does say that. Regarding the Wheel alignment offer, they have now increased the price to £12.50 from £11/ If it costs £15, why don't they just say so instead of misleading consumers.

This is precisely the reason why so many companies in the UK are unable to retain customers. They are so focussed on getting new customers by any means possible (including misleading ads). However, the most important part - retaining customers, is forgotten.

I left them a complaint on their web site and I am still waiting for their answer. A simple apology would have been enough and I won't have written the post and even if I had I would have written it in a more positive tone. Maybe "National Tyres and Autocare" got back to me and they were willing to even do the alignment for FREE. Amazing company". Unfortunately that didn't happen and I will go to the tyre shop near my house who are friendlier.

Remember it is cheaper to retain old customers instead of getting new ones. The old satisfied customers will bring new ones along with them.

Small 4X vehicle

My "Auto Story in Pictures Wednesday" post.

These kind of vehicles are used in the University of Warwick, Coventry by the Landscaping people. Not sure but I think they are Kawasaki 4X mules.

Fuel prices may go down in the UK

According to Sky News, petrol prices may fall in the country. I hope this is true even though I am not betting on it.

It's quite funny to see petrol pumps increasing the prices as soon as World oil prices go up. However, when the World prices go down, they will take their own sweet time to lower the pump prices.

According to the report, the most expensive petrol prices are in London. Even in Coventry itself, prices vary between pumps. The costliest in our area is the Texaco, while the cheapest is Shell.

First batch of MGTF LE500S leave Longbridge

A batch of MG Rover cars left the Longbridge plant in Birmingham today - the first time since April 2005 when MG Rover was taken over by Nanjing Automobile Corporation for £53 million. The first batch of 47 MGTF LE500S was sent to dealers all over the country. The will be launched to the public on 20 September 2008.

Only the first 500 cars to leave the world famous Longbridge factory will receive the LE500 designation. I guess LE stands for Limited Edition.

They say that the car will be available in 6 body colour choices but so far I have only seen the orange coloured cars.

The car is powered by a 1.8 16v 135bhp 4 cylinder dohc engine with 5 speed manual gearbox.

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, the latest fuel efficient car from Ford is set to hit European roads soon. Recently unveiled at the British International Motor Show, the car does 65 miles to the gallon (some say 63.5 miles to the gallon). It has been hailed as UK's greenest car.

However, it won't be sold in the US. The reason: it has a diesel engine and apparently the fuel is still not popular with Americans due to a negative image plus the fact that it costlier than gasoline.

Proton GEN-2 ecoLogic

Proton Cars UK has announced the launch of the GEN-2 ecoLogic range (Yes! That's how they write the name). Available in a hatchback or saloon version, the ecoLogic models are priced 10,995 and £10,795 respectively.The dual fuel models are able to run on either petrol or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).

This is not something new for Proton in the UK as the Humberside Police have been running LPG-converted Proton vehicles for over 10 years.



The Proton ecoLogic GEN-2 has a 1.6 litre engine and is available in a sporty hatchback or saloon version, priced at £10,995(OTR) and £10,795 (OTR) respectively.

Both cars come with reverse sensors, air conditioning with pollen filter, electric front and rear windows, automatic central locking and alloy wheels. All customers can get a black leather interior on the GEN-2 ecoLogic hatchback absolutely free for a limited time only. This will be optional in the future and customers would have to pay £100 extra for it.

Since I didn't hear anything about this in the news, thought I should spread the news around. Read their press release here: Half price motoring with the new dual fuel ecoLogic.