Petrol money??

JPS

Hi guys

This has been playing on my mind so I thought this is the best place for opinions!

Moved into a nice apartment for my final year of uni 3 weeks ago with a good mate.

We are on the same course and therefore go quite a lot of places, including uni together.

I have a 2 litre sports car and it likes to drink petrol!! We go out and about, shopping, uni, to see mates etc but so far he hasn't offered me any petrol money, and I just think it's unfair that I have already shelled out a small fortune for the car, the ridiculous insurance and tax costs, and with petrol (super unleaded!) being what it is, I do feel like he is getting the better part of the deal!

I love my car and am obviously prepared to pay all these costs regardless, but would it be wrong of me to ask for some petrol money? Like £20 a month or something? He says he doesn't mind walking to uni but when it is half an hour in the rain, he always gets in the car! (and I would too if it was reversed, but surely some petrol money is fair?)

I never have a problem giving mates the odd lift here and there as it's what you do as a friend, but when it is sharing it most days.....

Looking forward to hearing (honest) replies as always!

The_One_Who

I tend to always offer my friend petrol money, or leave it lying on his desk or something. It's only fair if he's running me home (twenty minutes each way) every other night. If he's low on cash he will just ask if I mind paying a bit towards petrol and just asked for a couple of quid. Usually I give him a fiver or so.

To be honest, I would just ask for it. Try to be polite, not be "if you don't pay you can't get in the car" but just ask if they'd mind chipping in to help cover the (ever increasing) cost of petrol.

fredted40x

to be honest i would be a bit annoyed, he should be offering to give you something, no matter how good friends you are. I had a similar problem with a friend from work and in the end it annoyed me so much i would make excuses of why i couldn't take him, to see if he realised that i was doing him a favour taking him in.

In the end i sent him an email asking for a contribution of a couple of pounds and he gladly gave me the money. Im not sure why some people don't think about offering any money towards petrol, i think its good manners to offer something. Just ask and they should be fine with it, it may be that they havn't realised how much you are spending

Lokolo

To be quite honest, if he doesn't give you money, and then doesn't go in your car. It will be the same situation just without the friend.

Yeh he should to be fair, offer to pay, but what can ya do eh. Not drive?

Just say 'yeh I'm not driving for a little bit cause I can't afford petrol', then he might say 'well do you want some money for it?'

cupid_s

I think it's quite rude of him not to have offered anything, so I wouldn't at all feel cheeky about asking him to contribute.

And whilst you'd be driving there anyway, everyone knows that extra passengers uses more petrol. So it is actually costing you more to ferry him around.

Also I was just wondering - where do you park at Uni?

Blacksheep1979

If you're going on that journey anyway the extra cost of having him in the car is negligable, when I used to drive into uni I wouldn't take money off my mates as it was a journey I was doing anyway - bit different if they ask for a lift to the train station/airport though.

kelloggs36

But should the mate get free transport wherever they go? If you didn't give them a lift they would have to pay for tranport so it is only fair that they offer a contribution towards the costs.

farso

Why has no-one asked why a student has a sports car which drinks fuel if they dont have enough money to give a friend a lift every now and again?

The_One_Who

farso wrote: »

Why has no-one asked why a student has a sports car which drinks fuel if they dont have enough money to give a friend a lift every now and again?

As long as they can pay for the car and the associated costs then it's up to them the car they choose to drive. Getting a lift into uni regularly mean some sort of payment towards petrol costs, even if it's not much.

Lokolo

kelloggs36 wrote: »

But should the mate get free transport wherever they go? If you didn't give them a lift they would have to pay for tranport so it is only fair that they offer a contribution towards the costs.

No. He can walk. As explained by the OP. Just saves effort.

JPS

Ok, to answer a few points....

farso - I drive a sports car as I have worked VERY hard to earn myself it - but an example could be a final year student drives a nice car after doing their placement job (I did do one, but that's not how I got the car, kind of irrelevant anyway!), as The One Who said, it shouldn't make a difference what I choose to drive - he's just all the luckier to be getting a lift in it!! I do have the money to keep it fueled, I just don't see why I should taxi around my mate for free?

cupid_s - there is parking nearby which is about £1 an hour, if we are going in together then he puts some towards the parking fees, but never petrol.

And yes I know I am doing the journey anyway but at the end of the day it isn't just uni it's all over, and he is never going to walk when I am driving in, so I do think it is only fair that he offers some petrol money - i KNOW if the roles were reversed I would be offering, which is what annoys me.

Like I said I am MORE than happy to give my friends lifts which I do (alot), but when it's every other day for a year, it's kind of a different story. Will probs just mention that it cost me another £30 today and make a hint for some towards it. Just wanted to check that it isn't out of place to ask, which, by listening to most of the responses, it isn't.