books, games & apps

Patina Volkswagens

Mark Walker (Veloce Publishing, veloce co uk)

Price: £30 Rating:

THIS is a revised and lengthened version of a book we reviewed in 2019 The appetite for patinated or rat-look VWs hasn’t shrunk in that time, and this edition has more pictures and a section on a specialist builder and its creations It’s still a good read, but the author doesn’t seem totally comfortable with how the ‘yoof’ speak about these interestingly aged cars revamped its pricing to include a discounted package of five checks Our previous best buy, TotalCarCheck, has also upped its game, with new information now included in both the free and paid-for investigations

There’s no doubt the Caranalytics bulk-buy pricing is welcome, but it still works out more expensive than its TotalCarCheck rival, and isn’t as easy to understand, comprehensive or accurate So our Best Buy retains its crown

IN addition to data about the MoT history, VED price, recalls and specifications, TotalCarCheck will also tell you for free if the car has been reported stolen and lets you crosscheck the VIN against the registration number

There is detailed technical information, too, which includes useful data specific to electric vehicles. The top-level paid-for checks instantly flagged up a ‘recorded’ Cat S Kia and included a link to the salvage auction site where you could see the extent of the damage

Further checks highlighted mileage anomalies with a Bentley and spotted a Mercedes SLC that had been through two salvage auctions after an accident but never officially recorded as a writeoff. The reports are accurate and comprehensive.

John Nikas (Amberley, amberley-books com)

Price: £15 99 Rating:

A DECENT romp through the history of the various MG T-Series models, arguably the brand’s most famous, long-lived and influential sporting cars It covers the beginnings as the TA Midget right through to the fifties’ TF, plus the car’s post-war popularity in the USA, putting MG more firmly on the world map It’s not very in-depth, but this is a well paced read that’s illustrated with lots of great pictures

The MG T-Series CarTraffic

Available for: iOS, Android Price: Free Rating:

YOU have to build road connections between cities and depots to carry commuters in this deceptively challenging game Hit traffic, which often happens, and too few people will reach the cities, and you’ll lose. Easy controls, clear graphics, a chilled soundtrack, and no adverts or ‘freemium’ extras make this game impressive

App of the week

Fastned

Available for: iOS, Android Price: Free Rating:

THE low rating is only because Fastned’s UK charging network is still tiny, with Newcastle-uponTyne the only city well served Holland and northern Belgium are littered with them, though, so this app is excellent for holidays

BEST BUY IF you buy the Hawksmoor, you can rest assured that the money has gone into features rather than fancy design It looks plain and a little cheap, although it’s actually better made than rivals costing many times more. We liked the adjustable-flow snow foam bottle, the variable fan nozzle and decent-quality connectors. The hose was more pliable than most other rivals at this price point too, and a patio cleaner is included in the package

The handle telescopes down for storage, but there’s nowhere for the hose. Even so, this is the machine we kept reaching for when cleaning and it’s great value

Despite

It was closely matched with the Hawksmoor in our tests, but ultimately the rival from Toolstation offers more flow and a better foam bottle for a tenner less

There is a huge variety on the market, ranging from cleaners costing less than £50 to professional machines with prices in the thousands For this test we concentrated on washers which would be on the shortlist of the average DIY car-cleaning enthusiast.

While overall water-blasting ability is important for cutting through tough dirt, a concentrated jet from a powerful machine can easily damage bodywork and exterior components of a car So while we expected a decent punch, a big wattage figure alone wasn’t going to win this test

Let’s find out which of these jet washers took off with the coveted Best Buy award

Howwe tested them