lower the cost of running your car

If like most people you are tired of being hit in the pocket by successive Chancellors of the Exchequer, then this is the guide you need to help reduce the amount of money you are spending on your car.

You’ll find plenty of handy hints and advice which could reduce your motoring costs by up to 20%. Follow the links to web resources to see for yourself, then fill in our calculator at the end – you’ll be surprised to see how much you could save in total.

The one thing that has the greatest impact on your motoring costs is the cost of fuel. The average family car doing 15,000 miles a year will use up around £2100 of fuel per annum.

If you follow the following tips you can save up to 18% on the amount of fuel you use - in monetary terms this is nearly £400 a year, more if your car is a gas guzzler or you are a high mileage driver.

Fuel Saving Tips

As a general rule, the faster and more aggressively you drive, the more fuel you will use.

Combine the following techniques to lower you consumption. In our test car, a 2007 Audi A6 2.0 Tdi saloon, we managed to increase the Miles per Gallon from 45.3 to 53.5 on our set journey of 40 miles per day for a week – a gain in efficiency of 18%! Another unexpected benefit our testers found was that driving is so much more enjoyable when you take your time.

Before you set off

• Regular Servicing Make sure the car is serviced regularly which will keep the engine efficient.
• Ensure correct tyre pressures Underinflated tyres cause more drag and are unsafe.
• Pare down Don’t carry unnecessary weight - work gear, tools and the general clutter we all acquire in our cars add weight an increase fuel usage.
• Know where you are going Plan your journey ahead with a map or use Satellite Navigation. Free sites like http://www.multimap.com can help too.
• Share journeys If it’s the school run other parents you might know will be glad to share, and work colleagues too. Sites like http://www.nationalcarshare.co.uk and http://www.carshare.com can help too.
  Note: we did not use car sharing to achieve our fuel saving
• Do you have to drive or can you walk or cycle?
• Check for fuel offers before you buy The big supermarkets often have promotions on. Find the cheapest fuel prices locally at http://www.petrolprices.com - this is updated daily with the best local deals on fuel.

On the way

• Leave with time to spare Rushing and the impatient driving it results in are very detrimental to fuel economy and can leave you more likely to have an accident.
• Drive smoothly and avoid sharp acceleration and deceleration Try not to stop if you can avoid doing so safely, decelerate gently though the gears as you approach junctions etc.
• Don’t rev your engine unnecessarily Try and keep engine revs under 2500 rpm for a petrol car and 2000 for a diesel car- change gear as early as you safely can.
• Don’t use the air conditioning unless you need to If you do use it try the economy mode if it has one. Air conditioning alone can decrease your results by 2-3 MPG
• Use cruise control if you have it The car will choose efficient settings better than you can.
• Drive within the speed limit A car travelling at 80 mph can use up to 35% more fuel than a car travelling at 60 mph.
• Turn off electrical equipment that you don’t need (heated windscreen and heated mirrors for example) when you are done with them.

For other tips and tricks try http://www.theaa.com

Try all these for a week and you will really see the difference in your car economy.

Maintenance Costs

Servicing

Under new EU rules, you don’t have to have your car serviced at a main dealer to keep the warranty up to date. The service agent does have to follow the manufacturers schedule.

But beware! It may be short sighted to do so. When you come to sell your car, you will find it is worth more with a full manufacturer service history rather than one stamped by a backstreet garage. If you do use a non franchised dealer, make sure it is reputable one. Companies like Nationwide Autocentres http://www.nationwideautocentres.co.uk could be cheaper than the dealer and should keep prospective buyers of your car happy.

Our advice for mainstream brands like Ford, Vauxhall etc it is best to use the dealer until the warranty runs out, and then service regularly at a cheap and reliable national chain. That way if something goes wrong you will be covered fully. However most main dealers have special offers on servicing. Give your local dealer a call and see if they have any current deals. A lot of dealers will do your MOT for free if you have a full service to keep your business.

For prestige brands it is best to use the manufacturer right through. If you are trying to sell a four year old BMW 7 series which has been serviced (to the right schedule) by a non franchised dealer - you will cost yourself several thousand pounds. That car cannot be a BMW approved used car - it doesn’t meet their standards and will have to be sold outside the franchised network and your part exchange value will be far lower.

Tyres

Sites like http://www.blackcircles.com and http://www.kwikfit.com can easily tell you how much it is to fit the correct new tyres.

Taking a typical example of a 205/45 V17 tyre (205 width, 45% of that in depth , speed rating V up to 149mph tested ,and 17 inch wheel if you must know what things mean )

Kwik Fit price fitted £145 for Dunlop SP Sport 9000 MFS
Black Circle price fitted £101.46 for Continental Sport Contact 2
National Price for Pirelli Euforia Run Flat £160.45

So in a quick poll (of the top 3 sites listed on google for the search ’tyres’) the maximum difference in price was £59 per tyre or 60%. So if you had all 4 tyres fitted at the most expensive source you would be paying £236 per more.

Prices vary by tyre and brand - the Pirelli run flat is a premium tyre, just have a look around and know your stuff before you buy and you could save 50-60% on the cost of your tyres.

Congestion Charging

Even if you don’t live in London, you have to understand that congestion charging is coming to every major city. What local council is not going to jump on the cash cow that is road charging?

There are cars that will beat the charges. Currently it is only alternative fuel vehicles like the Toyota Prius or Honda Hybrid that are exempt from paying the London Congestion Charge. But new rules expected to come into force from October see cars with CO2 emissions under 120g/km and meeting Euro 4 standards also being exempt.

This means that drivers of very ‘clean’ cars can save £40 per week (or £1536 a year based on 48 weeks of work) if they go through the London Congestion Charge Zone every day. And the proposal also includes a £25 per day charge for very high emission cars over 255g/km - that’s £6000 a year.

So we are now into really big numbers. Most other local authorities are expected to follow suit and allow very efficient vehicles concessions. All the top 5 fuel efficient cars above would qualify under the new proposals.

Check with http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cclondon for current and proposed rules
Visit http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk for official government emission figures.

Insurance

There are plenty of ways to save on your car insurance.

The simplest way is to shop around and to maker sure you are not paying for services you don’t want .An example would be legal expenses cover if it was specifically included on another policy like your home insurance.

• Excess Most insurance companies quote reduced prices if you have a bigger policy excess. The typical excess is £100-200 but try a £500 excess and you could save a further 10-15% on the cost of your insurance cover. But if you have a claim that is your fault, you will have to pay a bigger excess.
• Mileage Many insurers’ policies are based partly on an estimate of the mileage you travel each year. When they send you a renewal quote, it is based on the estimated mileage you originally gave them. So, for example, if you change jobs and have a shorter commute you should inform your insurer of a new estimated mileage as this could save you cash.
• Learner drivers Insurers always like to have additional proof that you are a competent driver. Extra lessons with the Pass Plus scheme can cut motor insurance premiums by as much as 35%. Motorists who pass an `advanced driver` course can also see their premiums reduced. Think seriously about it: one single course fee could cut your future car insurance bills for years to come.
• Marriage Married men attract lower premiums than single men. This is not necessarily an invitation to marry simply in order to reduce your car insurance costs. But it is worth noting that there are a number of other financial advantages to being married, not least of which is no inheritance tax and similar benefits.
• Car security A car alarm, immobiliser or tracker makes it less likely that your car will be stolen and therefore should reduce your premium. If you do fit such security devices, make sure that they are approved by your insurer. It is worth calling your insurer to see which ones will cut your car insurance quote the most.
• Don`t speed or commit other traffic offences The higher the number of speeding and other offences, the more expensive your car insurance is likely to be.
• Modifications New wheels, seats, colour changes and adding a spoiler are all changes that could add significantly to your premium. To pay as little as possible, keep modifications to a minimum.
• Avoid monthly premiums Most insurers charge a fee for this service. The fee ranges from 13% up to 29% APR. You can avoid this by taking out a credit card with an introductory interest-free offer. We do recommend however that you read our guide to credit cards before you consider making an application.
• Consider who to put as the main insured driver If you have one car in your family, drive it equally and you have more penalty points than your spouse, putting him/her down as the main driver with you as a named driver on the policy could also cut your bill.

Compare 100’s of car insurance deals in minutes at http://www.motoring.co.uk/insurance.cgi

Insurance guide courtesy of moneysupermarket.com

Car finance

Around 40% of consumers buy their new or used car on a showroom finance package, usually some form of Hire Purchase. While there are some benefits to buying on hire purchase, it can be very expensive especially when bought in the heat of the moment.

One way of lowering the cost is to refinance the agreement at a cheaper rate. So find your finance document and do some comparisons as below. The single most important thing is the APR- if your APR is over 10%, you could save money by taking our a personal loan at a cheaper rate, and paying off the HP.

Every 1% APR on a loan of £10,000 over 4 years costs around £200 extra in total- with personal loan rates starting at around 6.8% currently there are savings to be made. You could lower the total amount of interest you pay and your monthly payments.

Try our loans calculator at http://www.motoring.co.uk/compare_loan.cgi and find out how much you could save.

Change your car for a more fuel efficient one

Manufacturers have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on diesel technology to improve efficiency and lower emissions. Cars like the Bluemotion range from VW have great fuel economy and low emissions- so you get a double benefit of saving money and the planet.

The Volkswagen Polo 1.4 Tdi Bluemotion claims a combined fuel consumption of 74.3 miles per gallon - that’s 20% more than the Fiesta 1.4 TDCi engine or 63% more than a 1.4 petrol Fiesta according to official figures. And it is becoming socially unacceptable to drive an inefficient car as 4 x 4 owners will know. Market forces will dictate that the used values of fuel-efficient cars will be very strong, and therefore depreciation will be low.

Our top 5 fuel efficient cars.

VW Polo Blue Motion 74 mpg on combined cycle
Mini Cooper 1.6 D 72 mpg on combined cycle and 0-60 in 9.6 seconds
Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 ( All basically the same car with a different badge on ) 61 mpg
Citroen C2 1.4 Hdi 65 mpg
Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet 65 mpg

The cars are all in the road tax bands A, B and C and road tax is no more than £30 per year currently. The Polo Blue Motion is the only car in Band A, and the only car therefore to pay nothing for road tax at all.

To view detailed reviews of these cars visit http://www.motoring.co.uk/roadtests.cgi

To see great new and used car deals on these cars visit http://www.motoring.co.uk

Good luck in your quest to keep you hard earned money away from our friend Mr Darling!

By Michael Murray