Money
Getting the best deal
Save £100s on... driving
The average car costs more than £100 a week to run. So slashing your motoring costs by, say, a fifth could save you more than a grand a year, making it well worth the effort, writes Teena Lyons
Step one: Shop around. The average privately owned car uses roughly 1,320 litres of fuel a year, based on an annual mileage of 8,700 miles at 30MPG. With the difference between cut-price and expensive fuel being at least 5p, visiting a cheaper local petrol station could mean a saving of £65 a year. Use Google to seek out the most competitively priced petrol and diesel available within your postcode area. Obviously, don't roam too far when shopping around, because your saving could be wiped out by the extra time and fuel wasted.
Step two: Take your foot off the gas. If you drive at 70mph rather than 80mph, it could save one litre of petrol for every 20 miles. If you do 10,000 motorway miles a year, that's a saving of nearly £450. Plus, you are less likely to get a speeding fine from one of the more than 6,000 cameras waiting to catch you out.
Step three: Drive smart. Driving smoothly by accelerating and braking gently and changing into a higher gear as soon as possible will also cut down on fuel. Even your tyre pressure can make a difference. Under-inflated tyres can increase your fuel consumption by 8 to 10 per cent. Air conditioning and heated rear windows use up fuel faster too, so turn them off if you don't need them. Also, remove that roof rack if you don't need it because a fully loaded roof rack can add 30 per cent to fuel consumption.
Step four: Think green. If you are replacing your car, think about avoiding one with a petrol engine and look at those with lower carbon emissions. You wont just be saving the planet because lower emission cars save you money in a variety of ways on taxes and other charges. A company car driver with, for example, a Toyota Prius is taxed at 12% and this falls to 10% from April 2008, whereas normal cars have tax bands ranging from 15-35% depending on their CO2 emissions. Road tax is also lower, starting at £30 a year for the greenest cars, and several cities are looking at doubling the cost of a parking permit for gas-guzzlers. Plus, if you live in London or ever travel into the metropolis, the greenest cars avoid central London's £8-a-day Congestion Charge.
Step five: Get fit. Abandon the car altogether sometimes for short journeys - you'll save money and get fitter too.
