The following is from the BBC News today: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4057088/Car-clampings-double-tax-discs-axed.html

I just bought a 2007 Mazda MX5, 42000 on the clock and in good nick. After having it a few days - I called the guy as its pulling to the left on acceleration. Also - Diff noise is audible too. He picked it up - took it to Mazda for a health check and the report says: Front tyres are low changed battering in key fob slight corrosion to front discs and I was spot on about the Diff so when he's back from hols in 10 days time - he's gonna get the diff fixed and sorted. to be honest - I'd be expecting him to put 2 new tyres on it at £100 a piece for Bridgestone tyres (recommended) Does that sound unreasonable? L.

I read this on the site linked at the bottom. "I thought I would put this on from today’s paper, for information, as I have not heard about it neither, and even after reading it I still don’t know how we will be able to renew our road tax. Paper tax discs will vanish from cars in less than six weeks-but half of drivers are unaware. The discs will be abolished from October 1st and replaced by electronic records. Police cameras will check number plates to catch owners who have not paid. However, a survey found that 50% of drivers are still in the dark about when the changes kick in. Nearly a third of them said they will not even try to find out what the new rules are, according to the poll by price comparison website money.co.uk. And 6% of motorists believe that the changes are not coming into force until next year. Almost a third of those polled said they will wait for instructions from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. But the comparison website claims that the DVLA has not yet started adding warnings to tax renewal reminders. The move away from paper discs, after 93 years, is designed to offer motorists more flexible payment options (you believe that you will believe anything, why don’t they give us the truth it’s to do with saving money and not for you only for them) and make it harder for people to drive untaxed. Estimates show that the changes could save the taxpayer £10 million a year. Car owners will still need to have paid vehicle tax to drive on the roads. But under the new system, the tax will no longer be automatically transferred with the car when it is sold. Sellers are expected to tell the DVLA straight away of the change of ownership or face £1.000 fines. (see money money money) Shane Teskey, from vehicle history check website hpicheck.com, said: ‘Those who fail to inform the DVLA, could be fined and they will still be liable for any speeding or parking fines and vehicle tax for a car they don’t even own anymore.’ Around 53% of drivers said they would use the new option of paying by direct debit, according to the survey. Those choosing to spread the cost by paying twice a year or monthly will incur a 5% additional charge. However this is half of the 10% surcharge currently applied to six-month tax discs, used by 23% of drivers. Motorists can also pay annually with no extra cost under the new system. Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk, said: ‘Changes to the vehicle tax system are no bad thing and we fully welcome the introduction of direct debit payments, particularly for consumers who may be struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of driving. ‘It will also help to eliminate the problem of people who genuinely forget to renew their tax and end up being stung with a hefty fine. (load of rubbish) ‘However, I suspect the new system may experience some teething troubles (they hope more money) so drivers really need to make sure they’re on top of their game.’ The death of the tax disc has been well documented, (really!) and the change was officially announced in last year’s Autumn Statement. Automatic number plate recognition cameras will spot motorists who have not paid the tax. (but I thought these cameras could spot out of date discs any way). More than 1.7 billion tax discs have been issued since 1921. Last year, the DVLA issued 42.2 million of them. Link

Took a car I recently purchased to Kwik Fit for full service and advised that front discs and pads were worn to the metal and advised they needed replacing. As I do around 100 miles per day and drive my kids around I agreed to get the work done, and I need the car. The cost to replace the discs and pads came to £368.70 on a 998cc Yaris, when I looked at the Toyota fixed repair price for the same job on the same car it is £210 inclusive. I have been a loyal customer of the Consett Kwik Fit for a number of years but this has really upset me. I did say the price seemed high, but was told that it was right. On the phone when I was advised they were unsafe I'm sure I was told the brakes were £240 to fix which would seem more reasonable. I had paid for the service in advance online so when I went to pick up the car I was only paying for the brakes. What can I do? I was scared the car was unsafe so felt I had to choice but to agree to the work and pay the bill. I now feel totally stupid and ripped off.

Paper tax discs will be replaced with electronic system from October 2014, with monthly direct debit option for 5% The tricky task of trying to remove the circular car tax disc from its perforations will soon be a thing of the past, as the government moves to a paperless system. After the best part of a century, paper tax discs are to be replaced with an electronic system, allowing motorists to pay for their vehicle excise duty by monthly direct debit. It will allow drivers to spread payments, although at a cost of an additional 5%, and save businesses an estimated £7m a year in administration costs. The changes will form part of the finance bill next year, and are expected to come into effect from October 2014. Drivers who are not online will be able to tax their car in person at a post office or by phone. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/05/car-tax-discs-abolished-paper-electronic