Drive down your motoring costs

There are plenty of ways to keep a lid on your motoring costs, so you can buzz around town but stay within your budget.

Making sure you’ve got competitive insurance is one way of doing this, but there are lots of others. Our money-saving ideas will help you eat up the miles for less.

Focus on fuel

Filling your fuel tank is one of the main costs when it comes to driving, but it also offers some big potential savings.

Premium fuel can be up to 10p a litre more expensive than regular options and in many cases it won’t make a noticeable difference. According to the RAC, ‘Unless you’re driving a performance vehicle, you’re unlikely to see any improvements’.

Even if you’re using standard fuel, it’s not unusual for local prices to vary by as much as 5p a litre. If you have a 60-litre tank for example, that’s a difference of £3 every time you fill up. And if you get through a tank every 10 days, that would add up to over £100 a year.

A bit of online research as well as keeping your eyes on the prices at nearby petrol stations will make sure you don’t pay more than necessary.

Tread carefully on your tyres

It’s also worth taking a close look at your tyres. At a glance, they might not seem soft, but if they’re just 15psi below the recommended pressure, this can increase fuel consumption by as much as 6%, according to the RAC.

Taking the example again of a 60-litre tank filled every 10 days, that extra 6% would equal 131.4 litres – or £157.68, assuming a price of £1.20 a litre. It’s a chunky saving for just a quick tyre check.

The tyres you choose can also have a big impact on fuel efficiency. The difference between tyres with the highest (A) and lowest (G) efficiency ratings can be as much as 7.5% in fuel consumption.

The savings you generate will depend on how far you drive and the extra cost of higher-performance tyres, but it’s worth investigating.

Get smooth with your driving style

Do you want to be kind to your car, cut down on maintenance costs and improve fuel efficiency? If so, start thinking smooth and silky when you get behind the wheel.

Avoid hard breaking or accelerating – this type of aggressive driving is tough on all your car’s moving parts and is likely to push up maintenance costs. Your engine will also guzzle fuel a lot faster if you hit the accelerator hard and rev the engine in each gear. Adopting economical driving techniques can improve fuel efficiency by 10%, cutting the amount you pay at the pump.

There are lots of ways to make sure you enjoy great-value motoring. Making some changes to your everyday driving habits will pay dividends immediately, plus help you keep your car in good order.

Finding competitive insurance will also keep costs down, and it’s quick and easy to get an online quote from us.