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

[JeeExEll]

I don't have to change car due to petrol prices as I don't fucking have one. Problem solved. (But it's all ok, it'll be fine).

[Mally]

I had a word with my Saab. Told it that 25mpg was no good to me and if it didn't buck up there would be a parting of the ways.

 

 

Result!

[catsinthewelder]

I'd noticed the prices creeping up to 1.65 but got a shock today seeing the nearest filling station at 1.89.8 for diesel and 1.84.9 for petrol.  Weirdly the next garage was similar for diesel but 1.69.9 for petrol.  I decided to save my post MOT pass fill up until I see what town has tomorrow.

At this rate it'll be worth MOTing the 405 for a bit of vegetarian motoring even if it's a bit less efficient and £260 to tax.

I've saved a bit towards something electric for daily duties once the Focus dies but thought the prices might drop once the chip shortage was over. 😕

[beko1987]

£20 used to get me alot more than the £25 I put in earlier did... 

[SiC]

I do so few miles that the A4 TDi I bought has only used quarter of a tank since I bought it. I think the last time I put fuel in a car, it was £1.48 a litre 🤣

[wuvvum]

I bought a gallon of E5 several weeks ago to try running the Volvo directly from the can.  I nicked a dribble of it for the lawn mower but the rest went in the Toyota and that'll get me to work and back on Thursday.  Annoyingly both the Rover and the Laguna have just under 1/4 tank but neither is really usable due to front suspension issues, so I'm going to be running around in the Doblo for a bit I think.  It's a shame the Innocenti isn't on the road - 55 miles on a gallon of E10 would go down a treat at the moment.

I've actually been looking at getting an electric scooter to run to work and back on - there have been a few on eBay at what I would consider sensible money, most of them don't have a particularly great range but as long as they can manage the 40 miles to the office and back that's good enough for me.

[vaughant]

I panicked a bit when this first started as my Elgrand is a high twenties rather than low thirties diesel but in truth I put £80 in from just above 1/4 tank of shell derv @ £1.67 litre and its lasted pretty much the same as if I put £70 in from the same point. 

£20/30 a tank extra is a lot but it can't and won't stop me driving, in truth if fuel prices doubled I'd still need to drive as I work 2 hrs away!!! .

I have a derv merc at home that returns at least 50mpg which in normal use I maybe fill it once a month, sometimes we forget when we last put fuel in it, the 2.1 and 7spd box do seem to work well on mpgeeezzz. 

Not ruling out a cheap derv /pez if I've comes up but even Ka's with a decent amount of test on them are a grand right now but I still value them as £500 cars so I'm struggling to get the concept into my head that 40mpg is worth the bother to drive a buzz box 2 hrs up the motorway rather than the superb comfort and ease of driving that is the Elgrand. Plus I couldn't get a good night's sleep in a Ka. 

That's my little trump card, the Elgrand saves me £5-700 a month on accommodation while I'm away so it's a bit of a no brainer for me. 

Plus my dog thinks it's truly the greatest vehicle in the whole world, he turned his nose up at me a few months back when I took him out in the Berlingo, he kept trying to get  back to the Nissan as if to say "um dad, you've got in the wrong car?". 

Spoilt rotten, he was happy in the foot well of an old Leon when I first had him. 

[vaughant]

On 3/11/2022 at 10:23 AM, cort1977 said:

 

You're right though, the era of cheap oil is ending. Although it's boom time for the oil companies now they're not partying too hard because a very high oil price will hasten the energy transition.

TBH IR35 has really pushed the price of oil up as well. 

I'm getting job offers daily right now but my first question is always "is it inside or outside?" to which 99% come back and say inside. I tell them that they'll need to add a third onto the day rate to cover it. A few never get back in touch but most who do come back with  instant 15-20% uplift and that's just for a rig electrician/ET role. 

Truth is you can earn far more onshore if the gig is outside so they're constantly raising the rate to try and attract you back out there, but they won't make you perm as they know the prices will settle a bit after all this Ukraine business is over. 

Exactly the same thing happened with the truck drivers which is why many left the profession yet the news won't report that, only that leaving the EU caused it and we need to bring all the Romanian drivers back on £2.50 an hour. 

A guy was telling me a few months back is been a disaster for the distribution centre he manages. Basically got left with a load of drivers who either wanted a 25% rise or just walked out to a small firm that would accommodate them as outside. 

Plus, all that time the people who enjoyed furlough needs to be paid for somehow. 

[cort1977]

8 hours ago, vaughant said:

TBH IR35 has really pushed the price of oil up as well. 

I'm getting job offers daily right now but my first question is always "is it inside or outside?" to which 99% come back and say inside. I tell them that they'll need to add a third onto the day rate to cover it. A few never get back in touch but most who do come back with  instant 15-20% uplift and that's just for a rig electrician/ET role. 

 

That's really interesting.  I have worked for the same place for 8 years so couldn't really claim to be outside any more with a straight face.  I've taken a hit but the security of my current role and laziness mean i have stayed where I am.

Right now must be a good time to ask for an ambitious rate if you are thinking of moving, no one can claim they have a tight budget at $100...

[Dick Longbridge]

So, statisticians...

Unleaded is roughly 20p per litre cheaper than derv, and could potentially stay something like that for the foreseeable due to supply and demand issues, so we're told. 

Do we reckon a petrol car running at roughly 30 mpg is going to cost similar to a derv running at 45mpg, allowing for the differential in fuel prices? 

[juular]

4 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

So, statisticians...

Unleaded is roughly 20p per litre cheaper than derv, and could potentially stay something like that for the foreseeable due to supply and demand issues, so we're told. 

Do we reckon a petrol car running at roughly 30 mpg is going to cost similar to a derv running at 45mpg, allowing for the differential in fuel prices? 

I've been sticking my fingers in my ears and saying "yes" as it allows me to drive my 240 with zero guilt.

[horriblemercedes]

25 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

So, statisticians...

Unleaded is roughly 20p per litre cheaper than derv, and could potentially stay something like that for the foreseeable due to supply and demand issues, so we're told. 

Do we reckon a petrol car running at roughly 30 mpg is going to cost similar to a derv running at 45mpg, allowing for the differential in fuel prices? 

Not at 20p a litre difference, no.

 

Unless petrol is 40p/litre and diesel is 60p/litre

[PhilA]

Doubt it. The truck is moderately efficient, the car is pretty good if it's driven gently.

The Pontiac is always going to be shit on fuel, it was built when fuel was 5¢ a gallon and the average wage was $60 a week. It was affordable.

Here, the price of fuel changes price violently.

87(R+M)/2 E10 (henceforth referred to as "E10 87"), is currently $0.80/l. E0 87 is sitting at $1.19/l, which is what I run the Pontiac on.

Three months ago E10 87 was $1.34/l which is the highest it had been since 2012, with hurricane Katrina cited as the cause of high prices. (Ooh look, a scapegoat). 

Granted, it's an overall lower cost but the grade of fuel is poor compared to there, with any higher grade blended with octane boosters at the pump, which have no guarantee of actually working. I've had a tank of E10 93 in the Infiniti and it refused to accelerate better than a 1.4 litre engine or so.

 

Prices are looking to creep up, but the USA is sitting on an equally large volume of crude oil as the Saudis were. We just been buying it from them cheap so that we can return the favor when they run dry...

[warch]

2 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

So, statisticians...

Unleaded is roughly 20p per litre cheaper than derv, and could potentially stay something like that for the foreseeable due to supply and demand issues, so we're told. 

Do we reckon a petrol car running at roughly 30 mpg is going to cost similar to a derv running at 45mpg, allowing for the differential in fuel prices? 

I sacked off diesel after a bad experience with my Golf, which had reliability issues and higher non fuel running costs which my petrol doesn’t suffer from. My 1.6 petrol car does about 45mpg (and much more when driven in typical 50mph British conditions). My 2.0 diesel Golf did between 45-55mpg so was never cheaper to run. 
 

Its similar with my petrol Landrover which does about 20ish to the gallon, I don’t reckon the equivalent diesel manages more than about 25. 

[beko1987]

I'd go back to petrol if I had reason to change car I think. My commute has always been economical enough in the petrol zx's and 2.0 diesel French stuff I've used over the years, the power of a td on the hills is nice but a 40mpg petrol would be fine to be honest. Don't do enough long journeys to worry about that aspect

[Metal Guru]

My petrol car does 25mpg and the diesel 50, so that’s still much cheaper to run.

However 3x the power and 10x the fun means they get used about 50:50.

 

[hairnet]

no

this is not a gloat post honest

 

[Dick Longbridge]

Interesting article on e10 and e5 fuel here:

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/news/2020/march/what-is-e10-fuel-and-is-it-safe

It's a few years old but the principle remains the same. My MR2 has been sat with occasional startups since November last year. It's got a quarter of a tank of e10. The Lambretta has some old e10 two stroke mix sat in the tank too. I'm wondering if both need some e5 lobbing in and a run up until they're hot to water the devil fuel down a little? 

 

[DirtyDaily]

Interesting article on e10 and e5 fuel here:
https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/news/2020/march/what-is-e10-fuel-and-is-it-safe
It's a few years old but the principle remains the same. My MR2 has been sat with occasional startups since November last year. It's got a quarter of a tank of e10. The Lambretta has some old e10 two stroke mix sat in the tank too. I'm wondering if both need some e5 lobbing in and a run up until they're hot to water the devil fuel down a little? 
 

I rarely own petrol cars that like non premium so not much of a change for me but now that non premium is e10 I think it's probably false economy to get it now for the most part.

[PhilA]

Left to sit E10 does the most damage. I think it decomposes into compounds that destroy rubber, or whatever they add to it initially to stop it destroying the rubber evaporates off.

The vapor seems to be the worst part of it from what I see but it'll eventually turn a lot of rubber and plastic to goop.

Drain and ventilate if storage is going to happen. 

[stuboy]

hoping to buy a diesel suv..umm but still keeping the v6..

[colino]

I got rid of my petrol 3 litre s type and moved over to the dark side and got a diesel 3 litre XF.  Real man maths at work there, went from averaging 23mpg on petrol to 27mpg on diesel.