Running a car accounts for a hefty chunk of your monthly income. And with the increased cost of living in recent years, many drivers are understandably looking to save money.
Fortunately, it’s easy to reduce how much you spend on driving. Our expert motoring advice will save you pennies in some places, and pounds in others. But it all adds up.
Read on for our easy-to-follow guide to cut your motoring costs. It covers everything from filling up with fuel to leaving behind unnecessary luggage. Dare we even suggest going electric?
Unlike in the recent past, diesel is no longer a guaranteed way to save money. For starters, diesel cars cost more than petrol cars – on a hatchback, for example, the premium can be 10 percent or more.
Diesel will cost you more at the pumps, and while these engines often provide better fuel economy, efficient petrol motors – including those with hybrid assistance – are catching up. Even relatively modern diesel cars may incur a charge for entering the London ULEZ zone, too.
Unless your annual mileage is very high, or you are buying a large and heavy SUV, you should stick to petrol.
This is a controversial one, perhaps, but as our sister Motoring Electric site explains in detail, there can be many advantages to owning an electric car. Granted, the days of free road tax for EVs are over, but running costs should still be lower than an equivalent petrol car.
The key is being able to charge at home, ideally taking advantage of cheaper overnight electricity rates. If you are forced to rely on the public charging network, the cost of replenishing your EV’s battery isn’t much different to filling up with fuel.
Maintaining an electric car is cheaper, though, with no need to change engine oil, spark plugs, belts, coolant, air filters and transmission oil. And while EVs are generally still more expensive to buy, the gap is narrowing all the time – helped in some cases by the government’s Electric Car Grant.
This simple check can save you plenty. Sure, it might cost you 50p or £1 to check your tyre pressures at a petrol station, but the savings soon add up.
Tyres underinflated by 15psi – a difference you may not notice from a visual glance – can reduce fuel economy by six percent. That’s the difference between averaging 40mpg and 42mpg.
Use a comparison website such as Petrolprices.com to find the cheapest fuel in your area. The difference can be huge, adding up to many pennies per litre. Be warned: driving out of your way to pick up cheap fuel is a false economy, which becomes even more negligible the less economical your car.
Never fill up at a motorway services unless you’re desperate for fuel – the costs can be astronomical.
Do you actually need to drive? Could you car share instead? You don’t even need to know someone going in the same direction: services such as BlaBlaCar bring trusted carpooling to everyone.
Simply enter your location and where you want to go, and a carpooling service will search for available rides. You can even add your own car to the service.
Don’t carry unnecessary weight around with you. As this unimpressed Tetris champion with his Dacia Jogger points out, a boot full of junk means you’re using extra fuel for nothing. Emptying it out will offer small savings that add up the further you go, particularly if your motoring is mainly stop-start driving.
While you’re there, remember to remove your roof rack and cycle carrier when they’re not in use. These will add aerodynamic drag, along with additional weight.
An advanced course will teach you how to drive economically – you’ll still make good progress but be doing it in a more efficient way. Gentle inputs and anticipation are the key tenets.
Hypermiling is the art of driving as economically as possible. Once you take on the challenge, it can become addictive.
Car insurance is one of the biggest motoring costs you will face. Never accept your automatic renewal quote – always give your insurer a call to see if you can haggle it down.
Better still, arm yourself with a car insurance comparison quote to see how well your price compares.
We’re not recommending ‘fronting’, which is where a parent insures their child’s car in their name and adds them as a named driver, even though the parent never drives the vehicle. This is illegal.
However, adding your partner as a named driver on the family car can balance the risk and reduce your premium by a few pounds.
There are really simple things you can check prior to an MOT, such as whether your car’s bulbs are all working, the condition of its tyres, the state of its windscreen wipers, and even if the washer bottle contains any fluid.
No matter how simple they are, the garage won’t rectify them before completing the MOT test, and will fail you for the most minor faults. Why risk the inconvenience and potential expense?
Think you have been unfairly caught out by a parking ticket? Try making an appeal.
Provide evidence, check the terms and conditions, present a compelling case, and sometimes you won’t have to pay. It’s a great feeling when you get a ticket overturned, too.
Don’t simply park in the closest car park you can find, or the one you always use. Check there isn’t a cheaper one nearby first, using apps such as Parkopedia.
This can save you a fortune, particularly in big cities. If you’re travelling to an unfamiliar place, plan your parking in advance.
Been quoted big money by a dealer to replace parts? Consider buying them yourself online and using a local garage to fit them. This could potentially save you hundreds of pounds.
If you’re running an older car, websites such as eBay can be helpful in sourcing rare parts and accessories.
If you tell your insurance company you cover 10,000 miles a year but you actually drive far less, you could be paying a higher annual premium than is necessary.
Give the company a realistic figure instead. But don’t underestimate, or you could be left without cover.
It’s amazing how many people drive up and down kerbs. This damages the metal wires in the sidewalls of the tyres (and often the alloy wheels as well), and will eventually lead to a puncture.
Not only will avoiding bumping up and down kerbs save you money, it will also keep you safe.
If your car is paid for on finance, it will be assessed for condition before you hand it back – and you’ll be charged if any rectification is needed. An easy way to reduce the risk of damage is to park away from other cars, so their opened doors can’t damage it. They can’t scrape it when driving in and out, either.
Remember, even small panel dents could lead to a big bill. And everything will be logged by the dealer on the condition report.
If you are caught using a hand-held mobile phone behind the wheel, you face a £200 fine and six points on your licence.
Use your smartphone for navigation or as an audio player? Avoid the risk – both financial and in terms of road safety – by fitting it into a phone holder.
Windscreen wipers can cost £20 or more to replace and they’ll wear out much more quickly if you use them on ice in winter.
Scrape the windscreen or use de-icer spray instead to avoid damaging your wiper blades.
Every modern car has engine electronics to regulate the engine starting procedure. In the past, you needed to use a little gas to get the car running, but this is no longer necessary.
So, don’t waste the extra fuel and risk damage to your engine. The car will start cleanly without any need to rev it.
Cars are at their least efficient when they are cold. If you drive quickly straight from start-up, you are redoubling the wasted fuel, and wearing out the engine more quickly in the process.
Show some mechanical sympathy and you will immediately start saving money.
If your PCP car finance scheme covers you for 9,000 miles a year and you end up driving 10,000 miles, you will face an excess mileage surcharge. These can be punitive, but even a minor-sounding 0.06p per mile adds up to a £180 bill if you go 3,000 miles over.
Often, it would have been cheaper to factor this mileage into the monthly PCP payments in the first place, so be realistic.
Fuel sold in the UK is some of the best in the world. If you have a regular car with a normal-output engine, standard 95 octane unleaded petrol or everyday diesel will be fine.
You won’t feel any benefit from using higher-octane premium fuels, but you will notice the significant extra expense when you fill up.
Don’t use your car much? You might save money by simply borrowing a car whenever you need one, rather than paying out for tax and insurance on a car you only use occasionally.
Car clubs usually let you reserve cars via an online app, and you can often borrow them for anything from half an hour to a couple of days. Many clubs cost as little as 30p a minute or £5 an hour for all-inclusive use, or you can pay more for a larger or more upmarket car.
Don’t rely on your car’s trip computer to monitor fuel economy – they’re not always accurate – but use an app on your phone to calculate your miles per gallon each time you fill up.
Once you know how well it performs, work out how you can improve it – and challenge yourself by making a game of it.
Hand car wash centres charge just a few pounds and save you effort, so where’s the harm? Well, even a £7 fortnightly car wash adds up to £182 a year.
Doing it yourself will not only save you money, it will also allow you to keep an eye on the condition of your car and get any damage rectified before it gets more serious.
Need new tyres? While it might be tempting to go for the cheapest available, that can prove to be a mistake in the long run. Not only are budget tyres inferior in terms of braking and handling ability, they may also hit your fuel economy.
All tyres are fitted with an EU tyre label with a fuel efficiency rating. An ‘A’ rating means the tyre decreases the energy lost through the tyre (often referred to as ‘low rolling resistance’), while a G rating is the worst performing – resulting in increased fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Paid for parking? Not returning to your car in time can prove expensive if you’re hit with a fine. But many parking companies offer payment via a phone app.
Although there may be a small convenience fee, the app should notify you when your parking is nearly up – and you can extend it remotely so you’re not caught out.
Unfortunately, being a young driver means you’re going to get stung for car insurance. That’s unavoidable. However, there are ways to make it cheaper. Try getting quotes for a wide variety of cars. Although you’d expect small cars in low insurance groups to be cheaper to insure, you might discover a few exceptions.
Use insurance comparison websites to shop around and try approaching a few companies directly. Also consider a ‘black box’ telematics policy to help you build up a no-claims discount.
You can pay vehicle excise duty (VED, or car tax) annually, monthly or every six months. Many opt for a monthly direct debit, but it works out more expensive over the entire year. Pay the full amount at the outset if you can.
If you’re strapped for cash, consider taking out a zero percent interest credit card and setting up a direct debit to pay it off over the year. It’ll work out cheaper than choosing the monthly option.
If you’re on a budget, many assume third-party insurance (the minimum legal requirement, which only covers damage to other vehicles) will be the cheapest. But try getting quotes for fully comprehensive as well.
The weird algorithm of insurance companies’ computers often means comprehensive cover is cheaper than going third-party only.
You could save money by buying a classic car. Vehicles registered more than 40 years ago are exempt from paying VED, which could make for a significant saving.
Buy sensibly and you could also save on insurance. And your car might even appreciate in value over time – certainly not the case with a new car.
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