Drive down your car costs

Despite petrol stations guzzling our cash and a proposed rise in motorway speed limits, there are ways to drive more cheaply, says Martin Love

There are few commodities that we pay for in 10ths of a penny. Yet the country’s 8,800 forecourts proudly display their prices in fractions.

There is little sense in driving miles to save a few pence on a fill-up, but by making use of petrol-pump comparison sites such as PetrolPrices.com, you can track down the cheapest fuel in your area.

Large supermarkets regularly charge up to 10p a litre less, while motorway service stations charge up to 10p more. The annual savings can be considerable – a 10 per cent price drop will add up to £200 over a year for the average family.

Change your driving style

The way you drive directly affects the cost of your motoring. We may mock the Sunday driver plodding along in the slow lane and dithering at the lights, but they’ll be the winner next time you meet at the pumps. ‘Hypermiling’, the practice of teasing the greatest distance from a tank, is a skill that will serve you – and your wallet – well. There’s no secret to it, either. It’s just common sense.

First, do everything you can to reduce unnecessary weight in the car, the amount of drag it produces and the number of energy-sapping gadgets you have turned on. Take the golf clubs out of the boot, shut the sunroof and turn off the air con.

Secondly, drive smoothly and slowly. Imagine you are holding a cupful of petrol. The red light changes and you accelerate up to 40mph. Your cup of petrol will now be empty because that’s how much fuel you’ve just used. Each time you brake and accelerate, you’re throwing fuel away, so try and stay off the brake pedal and conserve your momentum by anticipating what is ahead of you on the road.

Buy a greener car

It’s a happy coincidence that green cars are the cheapest to run. They use less fuel, which means they produce lower emissions, and as a result you pay less car tax and enjoy lower insurance premiums. It’s win-win.

Mention ‘green motoring’ and many think of cutting-edge electric and hybrid vehicles, such as the Vauxhall Ampera or the world’s first diesel hybrid, the Peugeot 3008 HDi Hybrid4. These technologically sophisticated cars attract zero road tax and are exempt from London’s congestion charge.

But the new generation of ultra-efficient lightweight city cars, such as the Fiat 500 TwinAir and the Kia Rio, prove that small vehicles with supremely efficient engines can be even cleaner when the entire lifespan of a car is taken into account, and they’re certainly cheaperto buy. Consumption figures of up to 80 miles a gallon are now being achieved by cars like the Citroën C1. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and cheap to maintain. Small really can be beautiful.

Drive down your insurance

Despite the fact that cars are safer and more reliable than ever, with many boasting both active and passive anti-crash technology, the price of car insurance continues to rise. But there are ways to help keep your premiums down and ensure you get the best deal possible. The most obvious saving can be made by remembering that size matters when it comes to insurance.

Insurance groups range from one to 50 and take into account how expensive a car is to run, repair and replace. On the whole, a small car with a small engine will put you in a lower group, but beware the exceptions: some dinky cars are surprisingly expensive to fix (we’re looking at you, Mini). You may also want to consider raising your excess as that could also help to reduce your premium.

Other tactics include taking an advanced driving test, which according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) was devised to “significantly improve driving standards using the principles of advanced driving pioneered and applied with great success by the Metropolitan Police”.

Statistics show that drivers who’ve passed this test have up to 75 per cent less chance of being involved in an accident, which will both protect your no-claims bonus and encourage an insurer to offer you a cheaper renewal.

Another consideration is to make use of an in-car Smartbox. Advances in GPS and telematics mean it is now possible to record accurately the style in which a vehicle is being driven. This means that some insurance companies will offer fairer deals for younger drivers by setting premiums based on driving style rather than age. But the idea of having Big Brother in your passenger seat might be a little off-putting for some.

Learn to club together

Clearly, the easiest way to save money on car ownership is not to own one in the first place. But that doesn’t mean you need to give up driving entirely. Over the past decade, car clubs have been springing up all over the country, aiming to take the hassle and cost out of motoring.

Most car clubs work by charging you an annual membership. You then pay an hourly rate for the use of the club’s vehicle. The club itself maintains, cleans, fuels and insures the car. All you have to do is book it online. It’s ideal for city motorists with a low annual mileage, or for people who only need a car every so often.

The AA estimates it costs the average motorist £2,230 a year to keep a car on the road, and that’s before you put a drop of petrol in the tank. But City Car Club (citycarclub.co.uk), for example, costs £50 a year to join and has hourly rates starting at £5.20. Carplus (carplus.org.uk) will help you locate your nearest club.

One of the real benefits of the systemis that you are not tied to a single vehicle. For example, you can book a Ford Fiesta for your weekly shop, or a seven-seat Vauxhall Zafira for a weekend jaunt.

If the idea of driving doesn’t appeal at all, you could try car-sharing (also known as car-pooling, lift-sharing or ride-sharing) whereby a car owner gives a lift to one or more people in exchange for a contribution towards the petrol. It can be done by using an organised car-share scheme, such as liftshare.com, or with friends or colleagues who travel to work together.

So, there are ways to save money on the road. All you need to do is look at what you drive, how you drive and whether you need a car. Put in a little time and effort and you’ll drive down those car costs in no time.

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