Petrol prices - how are you coping?

[PaulMdx]

We had a discussion in the office last week on the increasing petrol prices and what people were doing to cope with it. Are you doing anything?

 

[rf065]

I certainly don't use the car so much at weekends etc as I used to.
No longer fancy filling up again for work after a long run at the weekend, now filling up once a week only, and restricting use.

Russ

 

[outsmartsmart]

Feel slightly guilty but just making sure that any journey, if required, is in the company fueled one not our own cars.

I have taken the green issues into account and my wife now drives a Peugeot 107 which is green as they come; 60 mpg out of town, low emmissions, etc.

Diesel here in Kenilworth is £1.26/litre. Another local garage closed for refurbishment and the other garage prices went up 4p/litre to make the most of it. That's as much as the BP garage on the main A46 that was always 4-5p a litre more.

Its getting ridiculous and Brown is creaming billions extra in on charges but won't help the population to cope, its scandalous. Inflation 2.5%???? He's taking the p*ss big style

 

[rhud]

Just relieved that - after much agonising - I decided to get rid of my BMW 735(which I had run with great pleasure for 13 years) last November.

A150 Classic SE is perfect for low mileage retired person and at 37 MPG for town driving consumption is perfectly acceptable.

Will fuel prices persuade others to go down the A Class route?

 

[Speedmaster]

A V8 Range Rover is not the car for current times but at least I am getting lots of points on my Marks and Spencer credit card, which gives me vouchers for free food. So the petrol prices pay for my lunch

Sadly I am about to start a 6 month contract which involves a 120 mile round trip everyday but only just found out about it, so still debating what to do. May buy an old diesel to do it in

 

[slender]

Just relieved that - after much agonising - I decided to get rid of my BMW 735(which I had run with great pleasure for 13 years) last November.

A150 Classic SE is perfect for low mileage retired person and at 37 MPG for town driving consumption is perfectly acceptable.

Will fuel prices persuade others to go down the A Class route?

I took a very similar route. With, seemingly, daily, fuel price increases, massive road tax increases ahead along with the uncertainty that comes with running any older vehicle without a warranty to assist when things go wrong I decided that the time was right to drop my petrol Volvo S80 for something very different - and a six month old diesel A Class appeared to fit the bill nicely. Five weeks down the line and I am delighted with my choice and have no regrets whatsoever.

 

[jibcl500]

Yes fuel prices are having an impact on how we drive, Myself and the wife have 4 Mercedes between us.

My CL500 is ready for the road after its winter hibernation, looked at the MOT doc and mileage and it works out ive done 697 miles between MOT'S.... so is it really worth putting it on the raod this summer and see what happens next year!!!

Saturday I had to see a customer and the wife took the dog to dog school so as both of us where going in the same direction at the same time it seemed daft to take 2 cars but normally I would.

We are using the A class more so now because it uses less than the others, my 230TE is very thirsty but most of the time is does carry a lot of weight, currently it has 616kg of tiles in the back!!!!!

Bro inlaw works at Toyota and they are only selling Yaris and Igor thing, Toyota cant supply the demand for the smaller cars at the moment.

Sign of the times all big high tax cars will drop massively in the next 12 months ++ Brown needs to reduce fuel duty by 50% to get this economy back on track and win some voters.

jib

 

[jibcl500]

I took a very similar route. With, seemingly, daily, fuel price increases, massive road tax increases ahead along with the uncertainty that comes with running any older vehicle without a warranty to assist when things go wrong I decided that the time was right to drop my petrol Volvo S80 for something very different - and a six month old diesel A Class appeared to fit the bill nicely. Five weeks down the line and I am delighted with my choice and have no regrets whatsoever.

Sensible move, so what will happen if 50% of motorists sell up and buy a fuel efficient and low tax band car, will the chancellor up road tax to make up the shortfall.
jib

 

[Sway]

My 2.8 used to cost £40 to fill up. With today's crazy pump prices, it cost £60 to fill up.

I have restricted the use of the car since Feb this year. I only use it for shopping trips and the ocassional social outing.

I only live 3 miles from my work place and with a free travel pass i don't really need to drive to and from work everyday.

 

[hairyg]

I'm certainly driving less than I was, walking to the local shops and combining trips to save a few miles. I've even made use of my pensioners' free bus pass

The decision to convert to LPG is the only reason I can still keep the SL but LPG has gone up more in percentage terms than petrol has simply because less of the pump price is Fuel Duty. I have an account with Coutrywide Fuels and get billed once a month so I am not sure what the current price is. I have seen 71p a litre on boards outside filling stations but I am paying less than that for sure.

 

[television]

May be I am lucky in that it does not alter my lifstyle, all I have done is to drive slower, and that makes fo a better drive.

Just looking to see what engine I can install in the 500SL, mybe an A class diesel

 

[m47fys]

Changing from diesel to petrol

Due to back problems I am having to opt out of the company car scheme - new diesel mondeo, 42mpg with an auto transmission. The car I will be using for work is my w124 280E. Love driving the car and does not hurt my back, but at £1.15 ish for petrol its going to be expensive when I'm not doing business miles.

 

[Richard Moakes]

The high fuel prices hurt, but my cars are more than transport, they are my hobby.

I don't smoke, I rarely drink, so I suppose the chancellor gets his slice from me via fuel duty

 

[Myros]

we've taken to using the 320 diesel

for anything mundane, as the few mpg better it gives all add up in the long run. If I feel like giving my kids a spin in the SL, then a spin they get. If I don't do it now, it might be so expensive in the future I'll never get it done.
As someone once said, you're a long time dead. I do however curse those miserable specimens who make their money out of market speculation, and the chancellor as well with every turn of the wheels.
You can't underestimate the power of oil. It gave Russia the Eurovision last night despite every other song in the field being better. Poor so and sos voted to protect their oil and gas this winter.

 

[jamesmc]

Sensible move, so what will happen if 50% of motorists sell up and buy a fuel efficient and low tax band car, will the chancellor up road tax to make up the shortfall.
jib

I sahould expect no less!

In the meantime, in answer to the original poll, I fill up the tank when required but have not changed my driving style/car. If you want a big MB you are driving the wrong car if your concern is fuel consumption.

 

[A210AMG]

When I bought the cars we I did MPG wasn't an issue.

It still isn't, they get used to do what they do. I don't smoke, drink little but love cars so I just fill them up.

Heck towing with the ML you can almost watch the fuel drop

GREAT though.

 

[jberks]

I haven't changed anything. Just taken up a new hobby that requires an 80 mile round trip but I already have 2 diesels so I don't see what else I could do. Maybe swap for a 220 but the difference isn't really worth it.
I got a mail the other day from someone saying we should all boycot a particular oil company in protest. People still don't get it. Fuel prices are high for 2 reasons. 1) speculators are buying oil and pushing prices up (profiteering) and the rest is tax. Gordon is getting way more tax than he was expecting from fuel so could easily put the tax down to ease the problem, but he hasn't. "Listening" - I have a deaf collie that hears more than him.
So, the only solution IMO is
1) take 1 in 3 of all 'city high flyers' into central London and shoot them (they caused the banking crisis too so it's only fair really). Society would gain greatly so I can't see a downside to this idea. Then tell the rest to get oil prices back down or we'll be back.

2) Arrange mass civil disobediance and force a general election.

I know these ideas are subtle but I didn't wat to go overboard.

 

[littlebrooklyn]

We are using our car just the same as we did before. We are lucky that we don't have to pay for our fuel so the price increase hasn't affected our pockets. However even if we did pay for it I doubt we would use the car any less. Like others on here we don't smoke or drink, got to have some pleasures in life though

 

[Copydeck]

I will use my car less and the buses more especially if Boris relaxes the early morning restrictions on my travel pass.

 

[st4]

I drive much more conservatively. Alas though in days to come we may regards these prices as cheap. Around 200p/litre I'd drive as I do now, @ 300p-400p litre I'd cut back the amount of driving I'd do and go for a much more parcimonious car, and around 500p-700p/litre I'd reliquish driving altogether.

We are now beginning to see the point where a significant chunk of the population are no longer able to afford fuel, okay since the 70's people have griped about fuel prices, but they were tolerated. Now folk are beginning to find the cost of fuel a bit too much.

What is to blame is fund manager/stock market types speculating and making money on the price of oil. The government should & could make duty cuts, and remove these all together, but that is a temporary measure as the base price of oil is going up, and far to fast. I'd love to outlaw speculation on food and oil. These are fundimentals, not something to "speculate on" and turn a quick buck on. There are other things to make money on.