Friday, 22 July 2011

Getting the best deal on your car insurance

Do you know how to get the best deal on your car insurance?

If you drive, you need insurance. That’s a simple fact of life that all motorists have to budget for every year. Thanks to Internet online comparison sites, it’s never been easier to compare car insurance quotes online and get the best deal. But do you know what to look for when you’re scanning through pages of suppliers and tempting new deals?

It’s not just about the price

While the temptation may be to go for the cheapest quote, before you click ‘OK’, have a good look at the fine print. That cheap quote may have hidden extras attached to it, like a hefty excess or additional charges for breakdown recovery. Does it include windscreen cover and insurance for your possessions? Before you sit down to compare car insurance quotes, decide what you want from your insurer, how much cover you actually need and how much excess you’re prepared to pay.

Sticking with the devil you know…

The easiest option may be to stay with your current insurance provider. After all, it’s just a simple matter of renewing your policy, and you’re bound to get a better deal after a year’s no claims, right? Well, not necessarily. While your current insurance provider may offer you a perfectly good policy, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get the same deal at a cheaper price if you shop around. And don’t be afraid to haggle with your current insurer. They don’t want to lose your business, so you’ll be surprised just how open they are to a little bit of gentle persuasion, especially if you’ve found the same deal for less by comparing car insurance prices online.

Won’t swapping affect my no claims bonus?

Many motorists are concerned that if they swap insurance providers, they’ll lose the benefit of their no claims bonus. However, some insurance companies will give you a discount on the cost of your policy if you have a history of careful driving. Check that they’ll add any no claims bonus you have to a new policy and avoid ‘starting all over again’.

By using online websites to compare car insurance, you can keep the cost of motoring down in what are increasingly expensive times

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Saturday, 16 July 2011

Saturday, 9 July 2011

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Friday, 1 July 2011

Toyota Advanced Technology Vehicle Display

­Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City announces the Toyota Advanced Technology Vehicle Display. The event will be held this coming July 14-17 in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles, California).

They plan to exhibit the Prius Plug-in, the RAV4 EV battery-electric vehicle and the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid.

The range of the Prius Plug-in is approximately 13 miles (at speeds up to 60 mph). The compact Lithium-ion battery can be fully recharged quite fast - in 3 hours on 110 volts and 1.7
hours on 220 volts. The best part is that when the EV power is depleted, the Plug-in performs like a
conventional Prius.

Toyota plans to launch the car for sale in the first half of 2012 in the US.

The RAV4 EV is a joint project with aims to develop an electric version of the RAV4 with the intent to bring a RAV4 EV to market in 2012.

Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell hybrid vehicle fleet has logged several million miles since hitting the road in 2002, with significant technological improvements along the way. Toyota's current FCHV-adv
nationwide demonstration program is placing more than 100 vehicles with demonstration partners by 2013, providing one of the largest fleets of active fuel cell vehicles in the country.

The primary goal of the demonstration program is to spur infrastructure development prior to fuel cell vehicle market introduction in 2015.

For more information, visit the ­Little Tokyo Design Week site.