Mercedes-benz 190e Interior Inside Rear View Mirror on 2040-parts.com

Volvo launches plan to spread servicing costs

Volvo has launched a new website allowing owners of Volvos up to 48 months old the opportunity to purchase a Volvo Service Plan, via either a one-off payment or a fixed monthly fee. It works in a similar way to car insurance, where you have a choice of either paying monthly or upfront. The pre-paid service plans cover any service carried out on Volvos up to six years of age and up to a maximum of ten scheduled services.

One lap of the Web: microcars and muscle cars

-- Remember the 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2? Yes, the one that you can't find anywhere now outside of those amazingly outdated posters (where do they find them?) they have on the walls of your local oil change place, right next to a poster of a GMC Syclone and a first-generation Dodge Viper? The one with the plastic nosecone that inevitably gets warped?

MG3 Trophy Championship Concept previews MG Hot Hatch

MG3 Trophy Championship Concept (pictured) previews a future MG Hot Hatch The revival of MG so far has been about delivering rather prosaic Chinese cars given a gloss of credibility with and MG badge. But if MG are to succeed they really need to use some of the heritage of MG to grab buyers attention. That probably means a credible hot hatch rather than a traditional MG Roadster, so the arrival of the MG3 Trophy Championship Concept at MG’s 90th birthday celebrations at the weekend is perhaps a good pointer of the sort of direction we could see from MG in the coming years.