Shite Petrol Prices

[AnthonyG]

As for the price of worldwide oil, I think financial speculators are fuelling the rises rather than OPEC. Due to the imbalance between current supply and projected demand, they're betting that the price will rise - some say to $200 a barrel.Iran (because of shit infrastructure, and sanctions, and the fact that they subsidise their own fuel prices at a ridiculous level), Iraq (for obvious reasons) and Saudi Arabia (because they have finally worked out they have to save some of their revenues instead of pissing them away on terrorism and yachts), are all producing less than before, and since other big producers have political problems of their own (Nigeria and Venezuela come to mind) these factors are all constraining supply. On a personal level, I find the 'miles left' figure on my Mondy's computer rather compelling now, I used to enjoy gaining an extra 50 to 100 miles by (for example) changing speeds on the motorway from 85-90 down to 65-70. On rural roads I now tend to stick behind somebody doing 45, instead of overtaking them at the first opportunity.I do have a very slight regret at buying a 2 litre petrol car last September, (particularly now as I am 'between jobs' at present!), but unless I keep it for the planned 7 years the depreciation will render all other costs marginal

[Volksy]

On a personal level, I find the 'miles left' figure on my Mondy's computer rather compelling now, I used to enjoy gaining an extra 50 to 100 miles by (for example) changing speeds on the motorway from 85-90 down to 65-70. On rural roads I now tend to stick behind somebody doing 45, instead of overtaking them at the first opportunity.

Yes my 2.0 car was down to 8 miles the other day..£20.00 of Unleaded later, how many miles d'ya think it said?66 Glad I'm hopefully getting something small, tax exempt and cheap to insure.

[wuvvum]

I do have a very slight regret at buying a 2 litre petrol car last September, (particularly now as I am 'between jobs' at present!), but unless I keep it for the planned 7 years the depreciation will render all other costs marginal

This is a very good point. My neighbours in their TDCi Mondeo may get nearly twice as many MPG as I do in my old Saab 900, but it'll be a long time before this can offset the fact that the purchase price of my car was less than 1% that of theirs. And to be fair my Saab would be more economical if I was able to drive as you do, but unfortunately I have an irrational hatred of 45mph ditherers and a pathological need to overtake them at the earliest opportunity, even if I'm not in any particular hurry.

[r.welfare]

I used to be like that - quite happy to mooch along now. It seems to me in the last 12 months that average speeds on A-roads and motorways have dropped, too. Whether this is down to traffic levels and speed cameras rather than economy drives though I couldn't say.I think it's unlikely to see a wholesale shift to economical shite amongst the predominant new-car populace though. In fact, it takes a brave man (or woman) to run an older car these days, given that the skillset of maintenance appears to have been lost on the modern generation - I'm the only person in my street out there at the weekends, servicing and tinkering. Mind you, I know that my cars are unlikely to let me down. Most folk probably never check the air filter to see if it's clean, or see if the tyre pressures are up to snuff on a weekly basis - both factors that would improve MPG a fair bit if not 'on spec', driving habits aside.