How to save money on diesel?

Haych1992

Hi all,

New to this but really need some advice,

Currently I drive a 100 mile round trip to work which is costing me £250 a month, £3000 a year.
I have a 2015 automatic diesel car which I drive in eco mode when commuting, the boot is empty and I check tyre pressures regularly

Is there anyway to gain/save money on this?
I looked at shells drivers club but I'd need to fill up with 500 litres of fuel and would gain only £2.50 in cashback, surely there is a way to save more?

Thank you in advance

loskie

car share?

Jackmydad

I'd seriously either be looking to change jobs or move nearer.
Otherwise I'd run the smallest, most economical car I could find. Petrol, diesel, or even possibly electric.

Roland_Sausage

Purchase the diesel with a cashback credit card.

motorguy

Jackmydad wrote: »

I'd seriously either be looking to change jobs or move nearer.
Otherwise I'd run the smallest, most economical car I could find. Petrol, diesel, or even possibly electric.

I think hes currently getting 55mpg+ in the car he has. Changing his car to save money would cost him more money. Driving some tiny manual eco box over big distances could be a false economy in terms of being quite draining.

motorguy

Some of these have been suggested already but what springs to mind is :-

• Car share
• WFH a day or more a week if possible
• Change job
• Move closer to work

Smaller amounts to be saved with

• Cashback credit cards to buy the fuel
• Collect Nectar points / Tesco points on the fuel
• Minimise any other driving done in the car
• Drive with the aircon off
• Use the trip computer to find the optimum speed for max mpg
• If you are commuting in heavy traffic, vary your time to avoid stop / start scenarios
• Use a price checker app to find the cheapest fuel along your route.

As far as the car itself is concerned :-

• Drive it for as long as possible. I've a friend who has 400,000 miles on his Audi. He now has zero depreciation (depreciation being a big hidden cost)
• Keep on top of maintenance
• Keep it well serviced. I'd suggest an oil and filter change every 9,000 miles.
• There are tyres designed to improve economy - check those out when you're changing tyres

Scrapit

Got a Costco nearby?

Nasqueron

Depreciation isn't a cost, it's only an issue were you intending to sell the car or use it as a trade in, if you buy a car to run until it fails there is no such thing as depreciation.

F1F93

Nasqueron wrote: »

Depreciation isn't a cost, it's only an issue were you intending to sell the car or use it as a trade in, if you buy a car to run until it fails there is no such thing as depreciation.

So you run it until it fails, then manage to get as much as you paid for it?

Didn't think so.

You still have depreciation, just the car depreciates 100% of its value rather than you being able to get some money back for it.

motorguy

Nasqueron wrote: »

Depreciation isn't a cost, it's only an issue were you intending to sell the car or use it as a trade in, if you buy a car to run until it fails there is no such thing as depreciation.

Of course its a cost. Quite possibly the biggest motoring cost most of us face.

If the O/P buys the car for £15K and scraps it 10 years later with 300,000 miles then he's suffered £15,000 in depreciation.

My point was - ensure you run it as long as you possibly can. Changing a car even every 5 years and doing those miles will cost a lot of money.

Herzlos

• Move closer to work

That's going to cost even more than a newer car. Though at ~55mpg at the moment, I'm not sure what they'd get to beat the economy by enough to justify the saving.



Going for an electric with at least 50 miles range (if you can charge at work) or 100 miles range (charge at home) and that could save a huge amount of fuel costs.


The Hyundai Kona would be ideal - 250ish mile range on electric, and will bring your fuel costs down by about 75% (so you'd be paying about £750/year, and could put the £2250 into payments on the car).