Are you going to have to change car because of fuel prices?

[MJK 24]

1 minute ago, JeeExEll said:

I can't see it being possible to acquire or run a 3-litre Capri again. 21 mpg and 'classic Ford tax'. 

FRO, had my time in the 80s.

All the old ‘Fast Fords’ are for people with a lot of spare cash and have been for a while.  The following is huge and supply is limited because they don’t really survive in high numbers relative to how many were made.

[Missy Charm]

4 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

I saw an Escort Mk2 Harrier in white advertised last week for £19995.

FFS get a grip. It's a Mk2 Sport with a 1600GT crossflow, Recaro seats and 4-spoke 13 inch alloys and vinyl decals.

And then you get cars like this going up for not much more

https://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car/bentley-r-1952/

I've always had Fords, but that Bentley is an altogether higher class motor.  

As for changing cars: no, that's not possible even if I wanted to.  Used car price inflation means the car I have now is worth more than it was a couple of years ago, but that doesn't really help me.  Sure enough I could sell it for a couple of grand, but then would need to buy another car and anything else in that price range is likely to be identical or worse.

[captain_70s]

Having just welded the Volvo up it's, ironically, not going to see much use with petrol as it is.

The Acclaim gets double the mpg around town.

Luckily I have the works van and a fuel card for the commute.

Even if you have an electric car you're still fucked. My leccy bill has gone up 75% since this time last year...

[SiC]

20 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Even if you have an electric car you're still fucked. My leccy bill has gone up 75% since this time last year...

The way food prices have gone up, I think you're fucked even if you walk/cycle... 

I actually had a colleague a few years back who actually figured it cost him more in food to get to work by cycling in than going in by motorbike. 

[The_Equalizer]

The current price of fuel has nothing to do with the government other than, like the rest of the West, it is attempting to oppose Putin's action. The oil is a global commodity. In theory OPEC could increase supply, but they have concerns that this could led to over supply should the war in Ukraine be short. Don't forget it was less than two years ago that WTI went negative and the price of UK fuel was less than £1/litre. 

The real concern is this leads to inflation becoming embedded in the system a la 1970s style. However, there is even more at stake. It is quite simply a geopolitical battle between the Western style of democratic nation state vs. autocratic rule. So, yes, this is going to get very expensive in the short term at least, but do you really want the other option? If you want a possible positive, this might just cause Putin to be toppled. Russians across the board are facing far greater relative economic hardship than we are. 

In terms of the original question, no, I'm not going to get rid of my cars (fuel economy of which ranges between 16-30 mpg). I had already put the Land Rover on SORN,  switched to public transport/my bike where I could. I've advised the missus to do the same and not be so liberal with the heating and discretionary spending although that takes a softly, softly approach. I may have to look for another job. 

There is a little bit of me that says that, in a couple of months, double down on my 'fleet', burn my remaining savings and get the Jag X308 that I've always fancied. I would imagine that these will be near impossible to sell and therefore correspondingly cheap what with high fuel prices and also being caught in the crosshairs of things like the Mayor of London's ever expanding ULEZ zone. Alternatively, I will bottle the opportunity and, in the not too distant future, bemoan the fact that I didn't buy a cheap Jag while I had the chance.

[The_Equalizer]

15 hours ago, SiC said:

But that just isn't true. If we had more investment previously into non-fossil fuel energy, we'd be less reliant on (unreliable) other countries (Middle East/Russia) for our energy needs. Right now we need more investment into green alternatives. Reducing green investment is short fix for a long term problem.

Ironically shares in fossil fuel and clean energy companies doing well in the current climate (no pun intended.)

[KitKat]

6 hours ago, SiC said:

I actually had a colleague a few years back who actually figured it cost him more in food to get to work by cycling in than going in by motorbike. 

Really?! Isn’t that like one of those Radio 4 More or Less-esque facts you hear that have too many unstated variables to really mean much at all?

If his cycling diet involved roast swan and Glenfiddich in his bidons maybe so. Or was he forgoing food altogether if he took the motorcycle?  

[paulplom]

21 hours ago, Mally said:

I need a 107.

I can't recommend them enough. My favourite car for a long time and I've had it a year. Handles brilliantly and can be driven flay out everywhere still giving over 50mpg. In for an mot and service today. It's probably the nearest you can get to the original mini.

 

[rainagain]

25 minutes ago, KitKat said:

Really?! Isn’t that like one of those Radio 4 More or Less-esque facts you hear that have too many unstated variables to really mean much at all?

If his cycling diet involved roast swan and Glenfiddich in his bidons maybe so. Or was he forgoing food altogether if he took the motorcycle?  

More or less did actually look at this recently. They said basically it depends what you eat and some food is very bad for the environment either due to the pollution in its production for example cow burps/farts or the pollution in food miles getting it to the UK. So cycling could be better or worse for the environment. 
 

Personally I just don’t know where I’m going to get the extra money for yet another increasing bill. Food is up, gas and electric is up, council tax in my area is up by 3% as well. As usual my company gave me a ‘pay rise’ well below inflation despite the month before they released an email saying profits in Europe were up 10%. 

[Schaefft]

3 hours ago, The_Equalizer said:

The current price of fuel has nothing to do with the government other than, like the rest of the West, it is attempting to oppose Putin's action. The oil is a global commodity. In theory OPEC could increase supply, but they have concerns that this could led to over supply should the war in Ukraine be short. Don't forget it was less than two years ago that WTI went negative and the price of UK fuel was less than £1/litre. 

The real concern is this leads to inflation becoming embedded in the system a la 1970s style. However, there is even more at stake. It is quite simply a geopolitical battle between the Western style of democratic nation state vs. autocratic rule. So, yes, this is going to get very expensive in the short term at least, but do you really want the other option? If you want a possible positive, this might just cause Putin to be toppled. Russians across the board are facing far greater relative economic hardship than we are. 

In terms of the original question, no, I'm not going to get rid of my cars (fuel economy of which ranges between 16-30 mpg). I had already put the Land Rover on SORN,  switched to public transport/my bike where I could. I've advised the missus to do the same and not be so liberal with the heating and discretionary spending although that takes a softly, softly approach. I may have to look for another job. 

There is a little bit of me that says that, in a couple of months, double down on my 'fleet', burn my remaining savings and get the Jag X308 that I've always fancied. I would imagine that these will be near impossible to sell and therefore correspondingly cheap what with high fuel prices and also being caught in the crosshairs of things like the Mayor of London's ever expanding ULEZ zone. Alternatively, I will bottle the opportunity and, in the not too distant future, bemoan the fact that I didn't buy a cheap Jag while I had the chance.

I'm thinking the same about the 1st gen XKRs right now. They are cheap for what they are already, who would now want to fill one up at the station? I guess it will be a battle between prices increasing due to general inflation and price degreasing due to potentially lower demand. In the end it'll all depend on how the war goes, and what the world will do when Putin actually is taking over control in ukraine. You couldn't just back paddle on sanctions, that would be against the whole point of them. I think the situation is here to stay (and will cause much bigger issues in other sectors than just higher prices).

[Eyersey1234]

14 hours ago, sierraman said:

I’ve got a diesel but I’d be hesitant to buy another, I’d happily give 5-10 mpg away for piece of mind knowing the DMF or the Injectors won’t shit themselves. Then again the new petrol engines aren’t much better...

I think it depends on the diesel, the Ford 1.5tdci as fitted to Eccles my Focus seems a reliable engine 

[Eyersey1234]

11 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

And then you get cars like this going up for not much more

https://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car/bentley-r-1952/

I've always had Fords, but that Bentley is an altogether higher class motor.  

As for changing cars: no, that's not possible even if I wanted to.  Used car price inflation means the car I have now is worth more than it was a couple of years ago, but that doesn't really help me.  Sure enough I could sell it for a couple of grand, but then would need to buy another car and anything else in that price range is likely to be identical or worse.

Off topic i know but what Fords have you had? 

[sierraman]

26 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I think it depends on the diesel, the Ford 1.5tdci as fitted to Eccles my Focus seems a reliable engine 

Yeah they are as are the 1.6 in those Focus, but at the moment in my price range it’s the 1.8 tdci and I can’t be arsed with embarking on a wet belt swap straight away. When they were a grand or so it was worth the risk in a sense but at £2k it’s beyond the pale.

[SiC]

2 hours ago, KitKat said:

Really?! Isn’t that like one of those Radio 4 More or Less-esque facts you hear that have too many unstated variables to really mean much at all?

If his cycling diet involved roast swan and Glenfiddich in his bidons maybe so. Or was he forgoing food altogether if he took the motorcycle?  

This was back in 2007 when fuel was around 90p/l and he was riding a 125cc motorbike. Likewise he could take a more direct route on faster roads where it would be a bit more risky on his recumbent bike (A417 birdlip). So it checked out plausible. 

[AxWomble]

I’ve not been driving for terribly long (passed my test in 2016 but didn’t drive much till 2019) and I can remember paying for petrol at £1.16/Litre. That seems like some sort of strange fantasy now, and yet because we have to, we just pay the massively inflated prices on fuel. If I can fill up this week for under £1.55/Litre (diesel) then I’ll be doing well, and objectively, that’s bonkers. 
 

I can see it creeping gradually higher and higher, up and beyond the £2 mark, but surely it’ll start pricing people out of car ownership at that point? I’d be thinking twice about a second car, if it reached that. For now we are sticking with the diesel 106 as probably the most efficient car we can afford. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

I only started driving last year but I remember paying about £1.27p/l for petrol. Now it's just a distant and long missed dream.

[Cookiesouwest]

The increase in fuel costs is influencing my purchase decisions.

I wfh. No idea when (if) I will be returning to the office, which is a 20 mile commute, with the last 10 in medium to heavy traffic.

Currently have an 09 plate mondy diesel auto. Which im selling (unrelated to fuel rise).

Also have mk2.5 CRV petrol. Which will be up for sale shortly.

I've spent last week, trying to decide what to replace them with. Ideally needs to be ULEZ for Bristol too, which rules out diesels. I can't afford a euro6 diesel.

I can't find anything at sub 2k, that I like or want.

Last night I actually started messaging someone about a 1.6 pez Zafira B, cause it would be better on fuel than the CRV !

I've never had an issue deciding what to buy next, or finding something. I'm finding it so frustrating, I might just keep what I have.

[DirtyDaily]

I can see it creeping gradually higher and higher, up and beyond the £2 mark, but surely it’ll start pricing people out of car ownership at that point?

That's what the market experts expect...

At £2 a litre driving is seriously expensive and there will i suspect 100s of thousands if not millions that will have to take some sort of action to mitigate it somehow. Whether that be buying a frugal diesel, walking, cycling, public transport, changing jobs, retiring etc.
A lot of those options is what the government are actively encouraging at the moment so to them I suspect this could be a first real push to getting people out of cars. The bi product though could be serious poverty on a lot of the population

[horriblemercedes]

Ten years ago I remember petrol prices being nearly what they are now, and there has been quite a bit of inflation since then.

[motorpunk]

I'm not going to change. The gradual steps towards 2 quid a litre are still less painful than shelling out 15-20k to buy a more economical car. I'd have to do a million miles to recoup the fuel savings. Same thing keeps from from buying an EV - they're expensive, need charging too often for my likes and I'd simply find them depressing to own/drive. 

I might take the train a bit more often. And make do and mend. I want to get the E61 up to 200k on all-original bits, if I can. 

[Liggle]

I'll end up changing frequently regardless of fuel costs, because I'm an idiot

If I need to save some money I think I'd just reduce the amount of cars/insurance policies etc. that makes more difference than the fuel economy with the small mileage I now do

[juular]

I'm not poor but I'm on the lower end of the income scale.  I have a 200 mile a week commute, the cost of which is going from around £100 to around £180 a month and climbing in a very short period of time. That's a difficult thing to budget for alone, but combined with increased energy, food and housing costs it basically means I'm going to have to cut everything down to the bare minimum.  I really feel for those who are at the bottom of the scale who rely on a car to keep their incomes.  If it keeps up I'm not sure I will be able to commute using any car. 

The options are that I apply to WFH, which is unlikely to be granted as I work in a place that is quite inflexible.  Changing cars isn't really going to help a lot, although I have just taken on a diesel 205 that should do 50-60mpg. It's still going to be crippling.   I may actually consider getting a cheap motorbike, but I don't really like the idea of that in the slightest.

My Volvos are likely to be getting parked up and forgotten about for quite some time as there's no way I can justify driving a car that does 25mpg @ 1.70/L.

My Trafic will do a reliable 40mpg, the Accord will do 45mpg so not much difference.  The LS400, well that's not really my problem but at 20mpg it's going nowhere.

I'm also rethinking whether it's worth restoring the Amazon now, as frankly I will never be able to afford to run it at these prices.

[paolodivichio]

No plans to change my cars for anything more fuel efficient. Over summer I will use the mini as my main car which will help because the Volvo only gets low 20s in normal driving 😐. 

It helps that I work from home mostly, but the way I look at it is I might be spending more on fuel, but the vast majority of people are spending a lot more than my fuel bill to lease something, and I'd much rather drive something interesting (at least to me) than drive another modern blob. If fuel gets really expensive then I would probably mothball the Volvo and get something more efficient for the daily grind though!

[sierraman]

I think the impact will be wider than you’d think, take a low paid job that requires people to travel to it, they’re going to find it hard to recruit if cost/time getting there is an issue. A bigger concern will be fuel theft, so expensive that it will be worthwhile for someone to turn up in the dead of night, hole cutter in your tank and fuck off with your fuel. 

[steveo3002]

12 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I think the impact will be wider than you’d think, take a low paid job that requires people to travel to it, they’re going to find it hard to recruit if cost/time getting there is an issue. A bigger concern will be fuel theft, so expensive that it will be worthwhile for someone to turn up in the dead of night, hole cutter in your tank and fuck off with your fuel. 

will f*ck lots of people...so now you need that extra ££ to fill the tank , you might not head into town and buy those new shoes or a takeaway or pint in the pub...so helps finish off the high street too

[DirtyDaily]

will f*ck lots of people...so now you need that extra ££ to fill the tank , you might not head into town and buy those new shoes or a takeaway or pint in the pub...so helps finish off the high street too

As I said previously the effect is country wide. The knock on effect is disastrous. Dark times ahead...

[juular]

9 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

will f*ck lots of people...so now you need that extra ££ to fill the tank , you might not head into town and buy those new shoes or a takeaway or pint in the pub...so helps finish off the high street too

This is exactly what I thought too. Any disposable we have tends to get spent on going nice drives and stopping in places for coffee / lunch.  I'm sure I won't be the only one reconsidering that now. The effect on lots of small businesses that are just recovering from the lockdowns is going to be disastrous.

A temporary reduction in fuel duty would be a good move round about now.

[AnnoyingPentium]

4 minutes ago, juular said:

This is exactly what I thought too. Any disposable we have tends to get spent on going nice drives and stopping in places for coffee / lunch.  I'm sure I won't be the only one reconsidering that now. The effect on lots of small businesses that are just recovering from the lockdowns is going to be disastrous.

A temporary reduction in fuel duty would be a good move round about now.

Having to reconsider too. Used to be doing 350-400 mile trips (easily a tank of pez in the Fab) with my mates but can't even get doing that without financially bracing myself, or pushing the car the last 100 miles, maybe.

[dave j]

The Mrs has a Shogun Sport and it's terrible on fuel so I suspect she will be using my Octavia a bit more. She has the Shogun for towing a horsebox which has barely moved for the last 2 years so really we would be much better off getting rid of both. 

[SiC]

35 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

will f*ck lots of people...so now you need that extra ££ to fill the tank , you might not head into town and buy those new shoes or a takeaway or pint in the pub...so helps finish off the high street too

Devils avocate - Perhaps it's not a bad thing that people can't afford to keep buying "more stuff".

The Western world has been having increased living standards for the last half century and longer. It turns out those increases are massively helped by cheap, dirty energy and processes. The "increased living standards" we've had also don't look particularly healthy with obesity epidemic, long term health issues (asthma, anaphylaxis increases and such) and declining mental health. Most (working) population alive today won't really have experienced a time before the rise of the car. Perhaps going back to some of the transport options of the pre-70s for most won't be a bad thing? 

Of course easy for me for say but the reality is that there is no clear indication things are going to get better. Even if fuel rebate was reduced, fuel still will be rising and other living costs will soak up more than any savings. It's looking like a case of make do to survive for so many. Which is brutal on an individual level but perhaps on a global scale less so.