Working out miles per litre of petrol

Iceweasel

Hi TomsMum,

5.3l/100Km equates to 53mpg.

But I wouldn't be at all bothered about you gettin little more than half of that.

On your very short journeys the engine never gets a chance to reach the normal operating temperature.

In the greater scheme of things the fuel cost % element of your car ownership is quite small.

If you were to go on a longer motorway journey of over 100 miles or so I'm fairly sure that your fuel consumption would drop dramatically.

So nothing to worry about really.

opinions4u

What are they contributing towards the wear and tear of the car? The insurance premiums? The servicing? Breakdown cover?

Perhaps agreeing 45p a mile in line with HMRCs business expenses guideline would be an easier and fairer arrangement.

TomsMom

opinions4u wrote: »

What are they contributing towards the wear and tear of the car? The insurance premiums? The servicing? Breakdown cover?

Perhaps agreeing 45p a mile in line with HMRCs business expenses guideline would be an easier and fairer arrangement.

I pay for my insurance (quite low), son and d-i-l were added with no extra charge, and grandson pays for his insurance through Young Marmalade. I cover everything else, it's my choice to keep the car at the moment and to allow them occasional use of it and I am happy to pay tax, servicing, etc.

It's not about them paying me 45p a mile to use the car, it's about them putting all the petrol in and me contributing the cost of the petrol I use. From Agrinnall's post #3, I've taken the cost of 50 miles is £14.28. I've rounded this up to £15 for 50 miles to allow for fluctuation in cost of petrol (it is sometimes dearer than £1.45 per litre) and the fact that my very short journeys are contributing to the poor mpg. I'm keeping a note of how many miles I do and when I reach 100 I shall hand over £30 and they can put petrol in as and when. I'm happy with that for now.

It's swings and roundabouts really. If I have the odd hospital appointment that is a 100 mile round trip from where we live. Son or d-i-l takes me, usually in their car. I offer to pay for the petrol, they say don't bother, I bung them £15 which I now realise doesn't cover the cost of the petrol or them taking the time to accompany me. It's all give and take so I'm not worried about them contributing to the cost of keeping my car on the road .

Iceweasel

I wish I'd had a grandma like you when I was young and couldn't afford a car of my own.

:A

I hope they realise how lucky they are to have such a generous person as yourself.

Iceweasel

spacey2012

I would check grandson's insurance certificate provides third party cover for other vehicles and what the arrangement is if they crash the car ?
If they are stopped and it does not cover driving other vehicles and most dont, the car gets pounded, your insurance may not cover getting it out and you get prosecuted for allowing a vehicle to be used without insurance ,
The penalty for this is 8 points and up to £5000.

So check his insurance very carefully, it will be written on the actual certificate inside the boxed area.

TomsMom

spacey2012 wrote: »

I would check grandson's insurance certificate provides third party cover for other vehicles and what the arrangement is if they crash the car ?
If they are stopped and it does not cover driving other vehicles and most dont, the car gets pounded, your insurance may not cover getting it out and you get prosecuted for allowing a vehicle to be used without insurance ,
The penalty for this is 8 points and up to £5000.

So check his insurance very carefully, it will be written on the actual certificate inside the boxed area.

Not sure I'm quite following you or you've not got the picture as I haven't given details of his insurance.

Originally I added my grandson to my insurance policy during its last 3 months before renewal. Grandson paid the cost of that. When I renewed my policy I could only include him for the full 12 months (I checked this out with a couple of companies before I decided who to go with). When I asked what if he passes his test in a few months time the answer was to get back to them and there would be an adjustment in the premium (upwards, massively as he would then be allowed out on his own) and there would be an admin fee to do this. We didn't want that so he has taken out a policy with Young Marmalade to be covered to drive my car whilst he is still a learner, at his own expense and initially it's for three months. It's specific for this purpose. He gives details of the car he proposes to drive (mine), he is only insured to drive that one car. He doesn't have a car of his own, he can't drive his parents' cars (one is a work vehicle, the other is too powerful I think) so I'm happy to let him use my car.

So it's a bona fide policy, mine is the only car it allows him to drive, if he has an accident his policy covers it not mine.

It will all change when (if) he passes his test. Obviously his insurance will then be sky high whoever he goes with and chances are he might not be able to afford it so then we'll have a re-think about what he's going to do. And granny wont be paying it .

I understand your concern and thank you for it, but I'm a wiley not so old granny and make sure everything is above board .

dogshome

Hmm - The correct conversion multiplier for miles per Litre to miles per Gallon, is 4.544, not 4.54. A small difference but the question is all about accuracy.

You can check this by buying a 2pint bottle of milk, the container of which has to be marked with it's metric equivalant, times this by 4 and comes to 4.544 to give you the gallon

andy111

Yes that four one thousandths will make all the difference.;)

Iceweasel

Just looking at this thread has made me realize more than ever what a half-!!! system of units we have in this country of ours.

No offence to TomsMom of course, but what a !!!!!!! unit of measurement is 'miles per litre'.

We have landed up with a set of units which is neither fish nor fowl.

mpg is daft as we have litres at the pump and have had for donkey's years.

Very few folks are so familiar with kilometres as to judge whether 5.1l/100km is good or bad for a 4-door large family saloon.

When you think that no-one born in the UK after 1966 has EVER used feet, inches, or miles in school, you begin to wonder if we will ever complete the change to metrication that started all those years ago.

There was a question on University Challenge the other night - 'How much in present-day currency is Half a Crown, plus a Florin, plus a Sixpence.'

None of the genuinely highly educated students had a clue - and you could see the look of amazement on Jeremy Paxman's face.

Makes you realize - innit? LOL

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

When you think that no-one born in the UK after 1966 has EVER used feet, inches, or miles in school

Yes, I did...

There was a question on University Challenge the other night - 'How much in present-day currency is Half a Crown, plus a Florin, plus a Sixpence.'

None of the genuinely highly educated students had a clue - and you could see the look of amazement on Jeremy Paxman's face.

TBH, I'd have been amazed if they did know. I'm a whole couple of decades older than the average final year university student - yet I was born post decimalisation. I don't have the first clue how much a crown or a florin were. I vaguely recall sixpences about to cease being spendable in the shops.