Just wondering how much it costs to drive about 50 miles a day?

wolvoman

YorkshireBoy wrote:

vansboy, HMRC website says 40p/mile. I get paid 40p/mile. Please tell me how I can get the extra 2p/mile.

I know you "guessed" at £1/mile, but you're way out. From the Audi website, some research from 'CAP Monitor' & 'Fleet News'...

"CAP Monitor, the guide to future residual values, quotes a three-year/60,000-mile residual value forecast of £10,175 or 41% of cost new for our A4 2.5 TDI quattro Sport.

That tallies with a Fleet News running cost figure of 37.16 pence per mile over the same parameters - a total of £22,296 - not bad for a car listing at £25,295 on-the-road."

I would have thought your typical family car would be no more than 30p/mile.

These figures are very hard to generalise because everyone's personal circumstances are different.

In the example you quoted, 60,000 miles in 3 years is nearly double the mileage that the average driver covers. Assuming the Audi in question at 3 years old and having done say 30,000 miles is worth £2,000 more than the 60,000 mile one. Then the cost per mile goes up to 67p per mile.

One thing is for sure, most people assume their car is cheaper to run than it actually is.

YorkshireBoy

wolvoman wrote:

These figures are very hard to generalise because everyone's personal circumstances are different.

In the example you quoted, 60,000 miles in 3 years is nearly double the mileage that the average driver covers. Assuming the Audi in question at 3 years old and having done say 30,000 miles is worth £2,000 more than the 60,000 mile one. Then the cost per mile goes up to 67p per mile.

Agreed, but it was the first one I saw when I searched for the information. Perhaps a better set of data is the 2003 QTR 4 RAC survey at...

http://www.rac.co.uk/web/carcare/advice/costs/2314InsureIndex162.pdf

...which are the most recent figures I can find on the RAC website.

The survey lists the Ford Focus at 44p/mile, and the Toyota Yaris at 27p/mile - both assuming 12,000 miles and private ownership.

rdwarr

I bought a car yesterday. While I was test-driving it the owner admitted that he put in £30 worth of petrol per week which got him 80 miles! Main lesson is not to understimate the increase in fuel consumption when driving round urban areas - this was in London.
The car has a fuel consumption computer on it. Driving home I split the journey into three stages and got:
Edmonton to M25 (stop/start and trafficy) - 8.1mpg
M25 A10 to A1 (cruising 50-70 with traffic) - 22.8mpg
A1 M25 to Stevenage (some stops and slow moving bits) - 18.7mpg

OK, this isn't the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle but it won't depreciate (and is a bit of fun) so still cheap to run. Point is that most cars will be terrible on Petrol if you drive around London a lot.

Katgoddess

purply wrote:

Hi,
i drive through uphill country lanes (scared of motorway) and i just feel like i'm paying a lot of money for petrol (unleaded).

Driving on the motorway should decrease your mpg. I don't know the reasons why you are scared but take it slowly. Maybe find an easy junction, like where you don't have to merge into the fast traffic and have your own lane. Do some practice at night, (during good weather) or early morning when the motorway are quiet.

YorkshireBoy

Katgoddess wrote:

Driving on the motorway should decrease your mpg.

Compared with the OP's current drive "through uphill country lanes", and assuming a similar distance travelled, commuting by motorway will increase mpg!

purply

thanks everyone-really interesting comments. if i am serious about driving to work and back then, i will have to calculate how much my car is actually consuming. so thanks for the suggestions.

I've made the decision to take the train as i was nearly involved in an accident a few days ago (winding country lanes+lots and lots of smoky fog+wind+rain+darkness=very nervous purply). its put me off driving-just don't feel safe at all.

the train does take a lot longer but will probably be cheaper. its only for aouple of months anyway...
purply

wolvoman

purply wrote:

thanks everyone-really interesting comments. if i am serious about driving to work and back then, i will have to calculate how much my car is actually consuming. so thanks for the suggestions.

I've made the decision to take the train as i was nearly involved in an accident a few days ago (winding country lanes+lots and lots of smoky fog+wind+rain+darkness=very nervous purply). its put me off driving-just don't feel safe at all.

the train does take a lot longer but will probably be cheaper. its only for aouple of months anyway...
purply

Any driver is approximately 10 times more likely to be killed on a country lane than they are on a motorway. So I suggest your fear of motorways has no basis on real risks.

Having said that, the train is even safter still.