Are your motoring costs going up? A car is expensive to run but there are a number of easy ways that you can cut the cost of your motoring no matter what type of vehicle you drive.
The average driver spends around £1,500 a year on fuel. Following the simple tips in this leaflet could save you 30p a litre on fuel! Even if you only follow some of them you could easily save £200 a year. The most important factor in how much your car costs is YOU!
- How YOU drive it
- The way YOU look after it
- When and why YOU drive it
- The car YOU choose to drive!
The most common ways drivers waste money are shown below:
| Typical driving style | 15% | £172 | Follow the ten Smarter Driving Tips. |
| Very aggressive or fast driving | 40% or more | £172 | Take it easy and slow down. It's safer and less stressful. |
| Roof bars (nothing on them) | 10 - 15% | £138 | Remove roof bars when you're not using them. |
| Loaded roof rack or bike rack | Up to 30 % | £334 | Use an aerodynamic roof box if you can (remove it when you don't need it). Consider a rear mounted bike rack or better still, put bikes in your car if they'll fit. |
| Under-inflated tyres | 3 - 4% | £46 | Keep your tyres properly inflated. Check your tyres at least once a month (check before you've driven anywhere and when the tyres are cold). |
| Air conditioning | up to 20% | £229 | Use air conditioning as little as possible - it can increase fuel consumption by up to 20%. Open the windows instead at slower speeds. Use the air vents at high speeds. |
| Extra weight | 6% per 100kg | £69 | Take everything out of your car that doesn't need to be there, especially any heavy items. |
| Powerful stereo/Hi-Fi and other gadgets | 10% or more | £115 | Don't use gadgets just because they are there and don't play music louder than you need to. |
| Poorly maintained car | up to 50% | £573 | Service your car regularly. Many faults can be fixed by a simple engine tune. Even just replacing a clogged air filter can increase your mileage per litre by 10 per cent. |