Guides
Guides: what to settle before buying a car
Long-form answers to the questions that get three sentences on a landing page — from importing through the viewing to the handover when you sell.
On the road
Crit'Air: France's clean-air sticker
The Crit'Air sticker is a round label with a number on it, and if you only cross France on the motorway you can often do without one. If you want to drive into a city with a low-emission zone, though, you need it even on foreign plates — stuck to the windscreen before you set off, because it arrives by post.
7 min read
On the road
Italy's ZTL: into the old town without a fine
In many Italian cities the old town is closed to cars, not with a barrier but with a camera. Drive in and you notice nothing — until a letter arrives months later. Here is how to recognise the zone, who may enter, and how to get into town without a fine.
6 min read
On the road
Low-emission zones on the drive home
If you collect a car abroad, you often drive home through three or four countries on a plate that has existed since yesterday. The motorway is rarely the problem; the cities are. Here are the three patterns by which low-emission zones work in Europe, and how to plan the route so that no fine follows you home.
6 min read
On the road
E-vignettes: why they are tied to the number plate
The sticker on the windscreen is disappearing. In more and more countries the vignette is an entry in a register, and the roadside camera checks only one thing: the plate. Understand that and you avoid the two expensive mistakes — the typo at purchase and the vignette for the wrong plate.
5 min read
On the road
Tolls in southern Europe: booths, tags and cameras
In southern Europe you pay for distance, not for time. How the charge is collected differs from country to country and increasingly from road to road — with a barrier, with a tag or without stopping at all. Know the three methods and you get through without a demand for payment turning up months later.
6 min read
On the road
Warning lights: which mean stop now and which can wait
A warning light is a summary in a single symbol. Some say “stop now”, others “visit a workshop when convenient” — and confusing the two costs you either an engine or a tow truck you did not need.
7 min read
On the road
A breakdown abroad: what to do, in what order
A breakdown abroad is rarely a technical problem and almost always an organisational one. Somebody else deals with the technology. What you decide is the order — and the first two minutes decide the rest.
9 min read
On the road
An accident abroad: the European accident statement and the photographs
The European accident statement is the most effective piece of paper in the glovebox — and the one most often filled in wrongly. It is a joint record of facts, not an admission of fault, and it replaces not one single photograph.
10 min read
On the road
Winter tyres in Europe: what applies where
Driving through Europe in winter means crossing several sets of rules. An overview written once and never updated is more dangerous than none — so here is what rarely changes, and where to look up what changes often.
5 min read