Petrol Prices - Are they to high - What can we do about it.

[kinboshi]

I've decided to sell my car - not to save money on fuel (as I'm moving office and it's closer to home as well as me being able to car share so I'm driving it half the time I was previously), but to get something different.

However, the value of my car has fallen a fair bit as people aren't too keen on buying a car that only does 23mpg on super unleaded. 

If you're doing long distances, then a diesel does make sense - like in nirvana's case.  If you're only going to be doing frequent small journies then a diesel isn't really much of a help - especially if you're buying a new one as they tend to cost more to buy and you're not going to get much of an economic benefit in terms of the fuel bill.

Lots of people are looking at smaller cars now, and whilst there's still a market for luxury and sports cars, people who might have plumped for a slightly larger car are maybe considering downsizing.

[rajkan]

Lift Sharing

With the cost of petrol continually rising and environmental issues at the forefront of a lot of people's minds, liftsharing is a great option, lessening the amount of driver only cars on the road and enabling two or more people to do one journey.

So what is the best way to find a lift? We have had a look at various web sites and by far the best is www.Liftshare.com set up by Ali Clabburn in 1998. The site now has over 130,000 registered members so finding someone to share your commute or a one-off journey with should take you just a few minutes.

The Benefits of Lift Sharing
Individuals, employers, communities and councils are being urged to encourage car sharing schemes. The numerous benefits include:


Reduced petrol costs
Reduced wear and tear on your vehicle
Reduced mileage and depreciation
Reduced space needed for car parking in workplaces
Reduced traffic congestion in and around offices and work places
A reduction in the high-level of pollution created by rush-hour commuters
A reduction in the cost of providing employee parking spaces
A reduction in morning congestion (kids being taken to school makes up to 15% of morning road traffic)
Statistics

If everyone who drives to work on their own caught a lift with someone else only once a week, commuting car journeys would be reduced by up to 25%.
 
Only a 3.6% increase in car occupancy would have the same impact on C02 levels and road congestion as doubling the number of people who use buses!

[TightEnd]

LOLOLOL

Looking forward to what your investigations unearth next Raj!

[rajkan]

I'm just trying to help Tighty. LOL

[Royal Flush]

[ X ] Thread keeps on giving

[Rooky9]

Tbh I'm still amazed at how cheaply fuel can be produced. Still great value imho.

[ItsMrAlex2u]

Tbh I'm still amazed at how cheaply fuel can be produced. Still great value imho.

I dont disagree m8, I dont really have an issue with the price and accept that it is inevitable that it will continue to go up. The point for me is that now a tank costs £70-80 a pop and it only lasts us 10 days or so.
It is quite an outgoing when you consider that we could halve it by buying a more "sensible" car.

Oh god, shoot me I am getting old !!!!!!!!

[Rooky9]

The only arguement possible for me is whether the tax aspect thats added to bring it towards its true cost is being used properly to ofset its environmental impact. Obviously it isn't, and its the fact that it just appears to be a cash cow for the government that people resent.

I don't think there are many people who could say they can't cut down on their driving to save themselves some money and bring their fuel costs back into line.

[TightEnd]

I know I am cutting back

I pondered hard playing DTD this weekend, as I had a rare free one. Once I had added £70 for a tank onto the buy in though, it didn't appeal as much.

I'm trying to make a tank last more than 7 days, and see how I get on!

[Rookie (Rodney)]

I dont have a problem with the price, the thing that gets me though is different prices everywhere.

It's a disgrace that services charge upto 10p and probably more over the average cost. IMO there should be a set price everywhere and this would resolve alot of peoples grouches about prices...

[TightEnd]

I dont have a problem with the price, the thing that gets me though is different prices everywhere.

It's a disgrace that services charge upto 10p and probably more over the average cost. IMO there should be a set price everywhere and this would resolve alot of peoples grouches about prices...

MSAs are a captive market, local monopolies.

not a defence, I try very hard to avoid using them for food (also scandalously over-priced) let alone petrol.

IMO a local monpoly like this should have its pricing strucutres regulated for consumer protection. Possibly they are, off to check!

[TheChipPrince]

I dont have a problem with the price, the thing that gets me though is different prices everywhere.

It's a disgrace that services charge upto 10p and probably more over the average cost. IMO there should be a set price everywhere and this would resolve alot of peoples grouches about prices...

Rural garages surely have to charge more though?

[Acidmouse]

People need to be smart, avoid those garages taking the piss. If virtually everyone does this it wont happen. Alas people are too thick, have pointless protests and dont play the big companies at their own game.

[Rooky9]

People need to be smart, avoid those garages taking the piss. If virtually everyone does this it wont happen. Alas people are too thick, have pointless protests and dont play the big companies at their own game.

I don't think its necessarily being thick - its just a convenience thing.

If a service station is 5p a litre more it'll prob cost me an extra 2 quid to fill up. I'm fairly likely to pay that rather than spend ten minutes driving to a cheaper station. there is also the extra cost to hunt down the cheaper garage. It just depends how much you value your time and how you look at the costs you incur.

[Acidmouse]

It's called planning and not letting those charging more than others locally get away with it, still if people pay they will continue to take piss.