Hundreds of vintage motorbikes to join Banbury Run
About 300 vintage motorcycles are set to take part in an annual ride out, which is celebrating is 75th year. The Vintage Motor Cycle Club Banbury Run will be hosted at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, on Sunday 8 June. During the course of the day, the motorcyclists will be riding up Sun Rising Hill, near Tysoe, which was once used to test out newly manufactured vehicles.The run began in 1949 and Tom Caren, show manager at the British Motor Museum, said its longevity demonstrated just how "immensely popular" it was.
He said the hundreds of vintage motorcycles in action promised a "motoring spectacle". The museum will be open from 9:00 until 17:00 BST, with the first bikes departing at 10:00.
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BBC News
18-05-2025
- BBC News
Rugby town roads closed for Bikefest
A series of roads and car parks in Rugby are closed for a huge celebration of annual Bikefest is expected to attract thousands of people to the town on hundreds of bikers taking part in a ride-in, there is are bike displays, stalls, live music, children's activities and a Borough Council said North Street, Evreux Way, Old Market Square and Railway Terrace car parks would remain shut until 20:00 BST to allow them to host events. The John Barford multi-storey car park will open until 19:00 for event parking, while other council car parks are open as analysis firm Inrix warned of delays around the town and reported closures on roads between the council building, past the Market Place and across to railway is organised by Rugby First, in partnership with local motorbike groups and the borough Lowne, Rugby First Business Director, said the event was "a great opportunity for local businesses and start-ups to showcase what Rugby town centre has on offer" and is all about. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Volvo is accused of 'money-making scheme' after car owner's electric hybrid model dies after just four years - leaving her with £7,500 bill
A Volvo hybrid owner was saddled with a £7,500 repair bill and a car she didn't want after its electric motor packed in after less than five years - prompting accusations the Swedish firm is running a 'money-making scheme' on eco-conscious owners. Terri-Anne Smith, 37, bought the high-tech XC60 T8 SUV for around £40,000 in 2021 - snapping it up less than a year from new after it had been used as the dealership manager's daily runabout. But the mother of two, from Rugby, Warwickshire, was left with a gargantuan bill after a piece of hybrid machinery with a reputation for unreliability packed in at the end of February - four and a half years into its life. Known as ERAD - short for 'electric rear axle drive' - the electric tech is meant to allow the car to be driven on battery power in town, with a petrol engine kicking in on high-speed motorway trips. But the part is notorious among Volvo owners for its habit of failing. Nevertheless, the Swedish firm washed its hands of any responsibility when Ms Smith complained - instead blaming her for not servicing it at a Volvo garage directly. She had leased the car on a four-year finance deal with a guaranteed 'balloon' value of £18,500 to pay at the end if she wanted to keep it. She ultimately had to pay it as the motor sat in the garage while her dispute raged on despite wanting rid of it. She has sworn never to buy from the company again. 'It has left me extremely anxious, extremely stressed, extremely angry,' she told MailOnline. 'I usually cope with things quite well but I had to hand this over to my husband. I told him, "I cannot deal with Volvo, I cannot deal with the stress of this, I am struggling with it all."' Ms Smith picked the plug-in hybrid because of its ability to run on electric charge alone - and what she thought was the firm's reputation for cast-iron dependability. 'I don't want to say I'm a bit of an eco-warrior but I wanted to contribute to reducing my emissions so I thought, let's do something good and get a hybrid,' she said. 'I wasn't running it through a business, I wasn't saving tax or anything. I just wanted to try and do a bit of good, really.' For almost four years, the Nordic hatchback was fuss-free, ferrying about the family - including husband Lincoln and their sons Ted, seven, and Auro, four - in comfort and style. But at the end of February, weeks before the lease was due to end, the ERAD unit began making a horrible grinding noise - that felt as embarrassing on the school run as it was unsafe, struggling to pull out of junctions amidst moving traffic. 'It was quite scary with two young children in the back of my car, and trying to set off from a junction it was almost stopping and dying,' she recalled. 'I remember a couple of days doing the school run and it was so embarrassing - the noise, people staring. 'It was as if someone pressed a button at Volvo headquarters. It was like, "oh, the four-year period's coming up", and the car just went into limp mode. 'I had said it was like somebody was having a laugh in Volvo.' Ms Smith took the car into a Volvo garage in Hinckley, where mechanics diagnosed the ERAD issue. But they told her upfront that it would not be covered as a fault as she had not been using their own dealerships to have the car serviced - instead using a local garage in Rugby that maintains the vans for her husband's firm, Custom Heat. And with no warranty to fall back on, she was handed a £7,500 repair bill she refused to pay. She continued: 'They said it hadn't had the software updates - that's specifically what they said. 'Now, this is my naivety, but I've never had a hybrid before and there was never any kind of warning that we had to have it serviced with Volvo, or that there would be repercussions.' The firm did apply software updates to the car but the ERAD continued to fail. Stressed out, Ms Smith turned to the internet for answers and found she was far from alone in experiencing the issue. She discovered that ERAD issues are so widespread that search results for Volvo ERAD are populated with complaints about their notorious tendency to fail. Aggrieved owners have even clubbed together to draw attention to the problem. Matthew Dean, who founded the Volvo ERAD Issues Reporting Group on Facebook, was given equally short shrift after he bought a used XC90 T8 that had always been serviced at Volvo garages. After taking it to an independent garage once, Volvo did nothing to help when his ERAD gave up the ghost and handed him an £8,000 invoice. He ultimately paid £1,400 under his extended warranty - but says the company should be doing more to help owners being handed massive bills. 'Volvo UK couldn't have been less interested,' he told MailOnline. He shared a file of submissions from other hybrid owners showing cars being shoved onto transporters after breaking down. Volvo owner Matthew Dean's eye-watering repair bill of almost £8,000 to replace the ERAD unit in his own car MailOnline's own research reveals countless posts on Volvo owners' forums and social media groups reporting similar issues - and in many cases, the company refused to help. Ms Smith's own attempts to appeal to Volvo's better nature ended in failure after its UK head office rejected her request for a goodwill contribution towards her repairs - after initially looking into a case involving another older car. 'On this occasion, Volvo Car UK has decided not to contribute any goodwill towards the repair costs,' it said. 'This is because your XC60 is nearly 5 years old and has no service history within the Volvo network.' Sensing defeat, Ms Smith paid up. Following some deliberations, the firm agreed to buy the car from her for £22,000 minus the repair costs. She expected to be £4,000 in the red, but Volvo later reduced the bill after the repair turned out to be cheaper than expected. Overall, she is just over £800 better off and 'very lucky' - albeit still frustrated. 'To me, the idea that my car is not even five years old yet and for a part to go that soon in its life? That is on the manufacturer, not the customer,' she said. 'If I had known when I was looking at this car that the ERAD could go within the first five years and it won't be Volvo's responsibility, I would not have bought it. 'We're quite lucky that we're in a situation where we can find that money but this has just not been very nice at all. They had no intention (of helping).' She intends to report the manufacturer to the Motor Ombudsman for its failure to help with what appears to be an endemic problem with Volvo hybrids. What she cannot understand, however, is why the company refused to do more. Her leading theory is that if the company were to admit one fault with ERAD, it would open the floodgates to a cavalcade of claims. Volvo's apology to Ms Smith - in which it admits reviewing the wrong car before telling her it will not contribute to the gargantuan repair bill 'I think Volvo are very aware of it,' she said. 'The garage in Hinckley did acknowledge it's not the first ERAD failure they have come across, so it seems like it's known. 'I could be very conspiratorial here and think that it's a money-making scheme, because obviously you're trying to generate sales through your servicing. 'When parts fail and people don't have options, then people are having to spend more money on repairs with you. 'So from a consumer perspective, either you're doing this intentionally to generate revenue or - or the best case scenario is that you're not taking any accountability for your actions either way. 'I don't see why I should be the victim of this.' MailOnline asked Volvo whether it recognised the apparent persistent failure of its ERAD components. The company did not comment. But on Ms Smith's case, a spokesperson said: 'We have investigated this situation and can confirm that the retailer has agreed to buy the car from Ms Smith, less the cost of the repairs. 'The retailer has made an offer to Ms Smith, which has been accepted.' A latest version of the Volvo XC60 T8 was named the 10th most reliable hybrid car on the market today by WhatCar magazine in December. The magazine did, however, note that around one in seven owners had experienced reliability problems - all of which were repaired under warranty.
Telegraph
13-05-2025
- Telegraph
Subaru Forester review: This hideously thirsty family car is crying out for a diesel engine
The latest Subaru Forester is that rarest of things: a new car that has less power than the one it replaces. Where the old Forester could boast 148bhp, the new one has 134bhp. And while power isn't everything, you could be forgiven for wondering whether that's sufficient to power a chunky mid-sized SUV. Forester is one of Subaru's best known nameplates – second only to the Impreza in Europe, in fact – and has been around for almost 30 years and five generations. Yet this mid-size hybrid SUV has barely made a mark in the UK – in spite of the fact that such things seem to be all the rage these days. Subaru will be hoping this latest version arrests that trend. But for that to be the case, buyers will have to agree that less is, in fact, more. Pros Comfortable ride Lots of room in the back Competitive price vs 4wd rivals Cons Thirsty, anaemic powerplant So-so boot space Dated touchscreen Under the skin I've sampled this car before, briefly, on an off-roads course and a test track in Germany. Now I have a UK-spec car on the roads of rural Warwickshire – prime Forester country, in other words, where the Cotswolds bleed into the West Midlands. The new 134bhp powertrain is the only one offered; it sits somewhere between mild and full hybrids, operating the same way as the latter but with such a small battery and motor that it's only really as effective as the former. It's based around Subaru's horizontally-opposed 2.0-litre petrol engine, driving all four wheels permanently and symmetrically through a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It's not fast – 0-62mph comes up in a laboured 12.2 seconds – and neither is it particularly economical, with an official fuel consumption figure of only 34.9mpg. The inescapable impression is that a diesel engine, or perhaps a full hybrid, might have felt far more at home. What's more, with even the base model starting at a fiver shy of £40,000, it appears to be rather pricey. By comparison, an entry-level Volkswagen Tiguan or Skoda Kodiaq cost just over £37,000; a Kia Sportage, meanwhile, starts at £30,000-odd. However, none of these has four-wheel drive as standard. Indeed, four-wheel drive in an SUV is becoming an increasingly difficult to come by – fine if your SUV is going to spend its time in suburbia, ferrying kids from school to swimming pool to soft play to skating rink and so on. All-wheel drive But if you live in the sticks and regularly need to contend with slippery surfaces, or tow, four-wheel drive is essential. You'll have to spend more than £40,000 to get a version of these rivals that's so equipped, making a base-model Forester look decent value. If four-wheel drive isn't necessary, it will cost you more than you really need to spend. So despite less power, what do you get that makes the new Forester worthwhile? Subaru is keen to highlight just how deep and meaningful its upgrades have been. Its engineers have used 19 metres more structural adhesive in the new car than the old, increasing rigidity by 10 per cent. There's high-absorption mastic in the roof, with the aim of improving sound deadening, too. Inside, views outward have been improved by lowering the waistline, while medical specialists were brought in to improve the seats's support and reduce head movement. Even the area of the seats that are heated has been increased. And if you're looking for the most on-brand, Subaru-est thing about the Forester, it's this: the sat-nav system will now accept What Three Words destinations, allowing you to pinpoint specific destinations to within three metres. 'If, for example, you're a vet,' Subaru's UK MD Lorraine Bishton tells us, 'you can tell the car exactly which gate in which field you need to go to.' Touch sensitive You might therefore be expecting a fairly utilitarian level of finish inside, but the Forester actually feels pretty plush, especially compared with the dated feel of the previous version. The dashboard is attractive to look at, there's a nice amount of soft-touch plastic and while the overall effect doesn't give you quite as much of a feel-good factor as, say, a Mazda CX-5, neither does it feel like a poor relation. There are big, thunky indicator stalks and large, thumb-sized buttons on the steering wheel, all of which make the Forester feel chunky and easy to use. It's a bit of a shame this doesn't extend to a proper climate control panel, but at least there are buttons to adjust the temperature, as well as an always-on section of the touchscreen display for the rest of the settings. It's a bit of a shame that the rest of the touchscreen feels slightly archaic to use. It's slow to respond to your touch, while the graphics look like something you'd have found on a gaming console settings menu, circa 2005. Its saving grace is that it's massive, with quite a low resolution, with the result that all the icons are huge and therefore very easy to select with bouncing, joggling fingertips. Riding high But the Forester rides well enough that they won't be bouncing or joggling all that much. Granted, it can't quite mask all of the potholes and bumps, and sudden ones elicit an uncouth thump from the wheels, but the suspension set-up is very much toward the softer end of the spectrum. As a result, it doesn't go around corners brilliantly – there's a lot of body lean, while the steering feels remote and over-assisted. Not that you really buy one to sling around; even so, most of its rivals feel more planted. What does matter with a car like this is the amount of space. Here the Forester does well – mostly. It's at its most impressive in the back seats, with a vast amount of leg room; those in the front won't feel short changed, although the width of the centre console means its plastic surround can get in the way of your left knee occasionally. The boot will take 508 litres, which is… OK. But most of the Forester's rivals offer at least a little more – a Tiguan has 145 litres more. Power play What about the engine? It would be lovely to say you don't notice its lack of power on the road – but that would be a lie. This is a lot of car for the relatively anaemic powerplant to haul and it tells you about it vocally and often. The continuously variable gearbox causes it to raise its voice every time you tread on the accelerator pedal. For all that noise, you don't get much in the way of forward motion. Indeed, on a motorway you dread being caught behind a slow-moving HGV, lest you have to mash the accelerator to the floor simply to get back to cruising speed. And this is with only one person on board; fully laden, or hauling a caravan, it would feel even more of a struggle. The Telegraph verdict If you need the Forester's talents off the road, you might have been hoping that the refinements would move it closer to its less utilitarian rivals on Tarmac. They have – up to a point. The Forester is now more comfortable than ever and feels much closer to its rivals in terms of its interior finish – even if it hasn't surpassed them. But what this car really needed to finish it off was a convincing powerplant. Because it lacks one, the Forester always feels strained – especially when it's lugging heavy loads. And it's hideously thirsty to boot. If you really need a four-wheel-drive SUV that spends more time off the road than on it, maybe you can see past these flaws in favour of the Forester's genuine go-anywhere ability, as well as its competitive price. Otherwise, there are better options. The facts On test: Subaru Forester 2.0i Touring Body style: five-door SUV On sale: now How much? £44,100 on the road (range from £39,995) How fast? 116mph, 0-62mph in 12.2sec How economical? 34.9mpg (WLTP Combined) Engine & gearbox: 1,995cc four-cylinder petrol engine, continuously variable gearbox, four-wheel drive Electric powertrain: AC permanent magnet synchronous motor with 0.57kWh battery, no external charging facility Electric-only range: 0 miles Maximum power/torque: 134bhp/134lb ft CO2 emissions: 183g/km (WLTP Combined) VED: £2,190 first year, £620 next five years, then £195 Warranty: 3 years / 100,000 miles Spare wheel as standard: no (not available) The rivals Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TSI 204 4Motion R-Line DSG 201bhp, 36.5mpg, £46,700 on the road Choosing a Tiguan with four-wheel-drive means you have to go for the R-Line, which results in a firm ride due to the large diameter wheels. It's also quite a bit pricier than the Subaru. But the interior is more up-to-date, the boot is much larger and there's considerably more power; yet it's also slightly more economical, which really makes you wonder what the Subaru's hybrid powertrain is there for. Mazda CX-5 2.2 Skyactiv-D Homura AWD Automatic 181bhp, 44.8mpg, £41,450 on the road It's hard to see why you'd prefer the Subaru when this top-of-the-range version of the CX-5 is a lot cheaper. It's more powerful, more usable, higher quality, just as roomy, better to drive and better equipped than the top-of-the-range Forester – and, thanks to its diesel engine, it's considerably more economical, too. Unless you really need the Subaru's off-road ability, it's a no-brainer. Honda CR-V Advance AWD 181bhp, 42.8mpg, £49,030 on the road Probably a far better way to sample a hybrid SUV, now that the Toyota RAV4 is a plug-in hybrid only. The CR-V is smooth, classy, comfortable and huge inside – but it's also expensive. Yet if you do enough miles you will make your money back in fuel savings compared with the Forester.
