How to Limit Soaring Motoring Costs

Money in the U.K

Cars are more expensive to run now than ever before. Soaring petrol prices and spiraling insurance costs mean that at almost every turn commuters and motorists are facing price hikes. The increasing cost of commuting doesn’t mean that you need to scrap your car, but you should consider how you can make it more cost effective for your family. Here are some handy hints and tips:

Car Share on the School Run

The school run is an incredibly hectic part of the day. There are ways that this can be made substantially easier though, saving you money in the process.

The main way to make the process easier is to share the responsibility through car sharing. It is completely up to you how you would like the car pool service to run and you can either swap regularly or take petrol money. Either way is an advantage to you as you’ll be saving time or money.

Ease Up on the Accelerator

Sharp acceleration and deceleration make your car guzzle petrol. With the price of petrol at record highs, this is something that we definitely need to avoid. For this reason, you should change your driving style in order to be more conscientious of the world around you. Watch further ahead, make a game of trying not to have to touch the breaks, try to slow down enough in advance just by letting up off the accelerator. Try to avoid having to come to a complete stop. Accelerate slowly rather than stomping on the accelerator which just dumps a load of gas into your engine and burns it very inefficiently blowing a bunch of it right out your tailpipe.

Simply adjusting your driving style can save up to a quarter of your fuel bill. So, by adding a mere five minutes to your journey; you could save hundreds of pounds a year.

Consider What You’re Driving

The type of car that you drive could also massively impact on your motoring costs. Although you do need a car of a reasonable size to accommodate your family, you do not necessarily need a people carrier. Remember, the more weight you’re carrying, the more quickly you’ll use petrol. Speaking of weight, how much extra junk are you carrying in your boot? Chuck some out and you can improve your mileage as well.

Generally, modern cars are much cheaper to run in both fuel efficiency and maintenance costs than older ones, so by spending an initial outlay, you may end up saving money in the long run.

Tune Up for Efficiency

An improperly tuned engine is just wasting gas so be sure to get tuned up. Dirty air filters, ignition timing and oil all make a difference. Also under-inflated tires have more rolling resistance requiring your engine to work harder and use more gas. The following video has a few other tips that may or may not help as well.

See Also:

• Gasoline Rewards Credit Cards
• Gasoline vs. Crude Oil Prices (Chart)
• Gasoline 20 Cents a Gallon?
• Average Cost of Gas Per Month
• Regarding Gas Inflation

Resources:

Image courtesy of hin255 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net