Great "Cutting the Cost of Driving" Hunt: Liftshares, carclubs and more.

MSE_Martin

With fuel costs sky high, as well as Cheap Petrol there’s a growing number of ways to share the burden.

I’d like to tap MoneySavers' knowledge and experience on the wider areas of car cost cutting. What ideas do you have, what’ve you tried and how good are they...?


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dipashah

I think Car sharing is a great idea but would not know where to look to organise this! Have you any tips?

The only money saving tips I know of are not driving with a full tank (the heavier your car, the more fuel you use so empty all the junk from your car too!). Also you shouldn't drive too fast as the faster you drive, the more fuel used!

I have recently started purchasing 5p off Tesco petrol vouchers on ebay! You can get them for under £1 and although only save between £1-£2, if you add that up for each time you fuel up in a year...it all adds up! in the words of tesco themselves...every little helps!

hewhoisnotintheknow

changing your driving style is the biggest saver going, and its free

matt_outandabout

No journeys by car = huge savings!

The average care journey in the UK is under 3 miles - an amazing figure. In towns and cities the fastest transport under 3 miles - a bike. Slowest? a car....

Under 1 mile, walking is fastest.

So for me, cycling and walking are the 'lazy' option as its quicker - and healthier, I also find the physical excercise helps me to work better and think more clearly. The first couple of weeks of walking/cycling is hardwork, but after that the health benefits of being fitter kick in and away you go.

We chose to live in an area of Sheffield close to the city center (15mins walk with the kids), where we had good access to the trams and buses. We now never really visit Meadowhall, as we can get everything we need in town or small shops close to our home, or on the internet. We found that we didn't have the information we needed, so kept getting in the car - so went and got all the train timetables/found the right websites.

We also happen to be 5mins from the train station, and now have lots of days out via train, which on a family railcard is often cheaper for local journeys than a car (one you factor in parking and 40p a mile to run...) The kids love the trains, and its all part of the fun of the day. Easier as we are close to the Peak district, but days to Leeds, York and Nottingham are easy as well.

I use the car for work (sales rep for eco building products), and my driving makes a huge difference to how many mpg and how often (or not!) the car needs servicing and spare parts - and I do 20k a year, so it adds up. Properly inflated tyres, not speeding on the motorway and having as lightly loaded a car as possible all adds up.


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julianrutherford

I have seen on ebay and by web searches that it is possible to fit a device to your car that turns water into fuel saving up to 40%. Does anyone know how effective these devices are?

hewhoisnotintheknow

julianrutherford wrote: »

I have seen on ebay and by web searches that it is possible to fit a device to your car that turns water into fuel saving up to 40%. Does anyone know how effective these devices are?

If you think it works, wouldnt everyone have one on their car?

andy_lecap

I set up a car club in Mid Wales with 3 others about 18 months ago. It enable us to ditch our own car and now we have been relying on the car club for a year. We have reduced our mileage to 6,000 a year from 18,000 and our costs have halved. The other two big advantages are that we no longer have any surprise bills and we get to drive a car that is far better than we could afford to buy. Have a look at our website www.llanicarclub.co.uk and also at www.carplus.org.uk, the national organisation, which promotes and supports car clubs in the UK. Please email me from the website if you want any more information. There is a downloadable document on the keys steps to forming a community based car club among other useful documentation.

ROCKIEDOG_2

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

changing your driving style is the biggest saver going, and its free

It certainly is! I had no idea how much my heavy right foot was costing me until I tried driving economically. Before I used to put 50 litres in my tank every 350-400 miles. The first time I filled up after changing driving style I put in 40 litres having driven 455 miles and what's more you don't get to your destination any slower. I had to give my brother a lift to buy a new car. On the way back he over took me and was soon out of sight. He phoned me when he got home just as I walked through the door. We only live a mile apart.

My tips, get into top gear asap. I drive around towns at 30mph in 5th gear at about 900rpm. Engine has no trouble with this.
Keep engine under 3,000rpm on motorways
Stick to the speed limits
Accelerate and brake smoothly
Keep weight down, remove all junk from the boot. I keep a plastic collapsable box for shopping and nothing more.

Hope this has helped.

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Welshlassie

Your driving style is the biggest way you can cut costs. These tips come from the Energy Saving Trust

1. Don't rev too high - change up before 2,500rpm (petrol) and 2,000 rpm (diesel)
2. Anticipate road conditions and drive smoothly, maintaining a steady speed. Use the highest gear possible and drive with low engine RPM. Avoid sharp acceleration and heavy breaking. When slowing down, release the accelerator, leaving the car in gear.
3. Use air conditioning sparingly - it uses up fuel. If the temperature in your car reaches 25 degrees, open your window when travelling at low speed. When you are driving fast, for example on a motorway, using air conditioning will use less energy than what is required to cancel the air resistance created by an open window. Big HiFi-systems and heaters can also increase fuel consumption.
4. Drive away immediately when starting from cold. Idling to heat the engine wastes fuel and causes rapid engine wear.
5. Roof racks, bike carriers and roof boxes increase the drag on your car and reduce fuel efficiency so remove them when you're not using them. Similarly, if you car is loaded you will use more fuel so don't carry equipment in your car if you don't need it.
6. Avoid short journeys. A cold engine uses almost twice as much fuel. It can take up to seven miles for a vehicle to reach its optimum temperature and catalytic converters take five miles to become effective.
7. Stick to the speed limit. Driving at 85mph uses 25 per cent more fuel than driving at 70mph.
8. Plan your journeys to avoid congestion, roadworks and getting lost.
9. Check your tyre pressure at least once a month when your tyres are cold. Low tyre pressure increases resistance and reduces fuel efficiency.
10. If you're stuck in a traffic jam, turn your engine off if you expect to be stuck for more than a minute or two.

By employing these tips I increase my fuel consumption from 400-450 miles per tank to just short of 600miles.

Car share scheme national car share scheme.

albionrovers

For those that have it, use your cruise control.

adon30

I have a mpg meter in my car that calculates as I drive. By keeping an eye on this (when safe to do so ) I can easily get over 40mpg on my commute to work. This may not be as much as some of your cars achieve but its about a 20% improvement in fuel efficency.

I have also noticed that you can be driving along at a steady speed yet the fuel economy is low. By lifting of the throttle a small amount I can maintain the speed I was doing yet improve my fuel efficency. Modern engines respond to even small changes.

Using high gears at low revs will not necessarily increase your fuel efficiency (unless you have a torquey engine). This will actually put more strain on your engine. Use your gears wisely but there is no need to over rev. My fuel economy actually improves in top gear (6th) when going over 45 mph.