Your Car - Save Money When You Drive

The following tips will help you drive off in the right direction.

1. For UK readers - If you renew your tax disc on-line as the Government is now urging us to do - think twice. If you use your credit card as the method of payment, you will be charged an extra £2.50.

2. Have a look at this superb site - www.liftshare.org It may be just what is needed to counteract the horrendous price of petrol/diesel fuel.

FUEL ECONOMY

We have just received a 'straight-from-the-horses-mouth' tip on buying fuel and getting the most for your money. We pass it on FWIW in the hope that it is correct.

TIPS ON FILLING YOUR TANK Here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every litre. Only buy or fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all Service Stations have their storage tanks buried beneath the ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel. When it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or evening .......... your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol andother petroleum products play an important role. A one degree rise in temperature is a big deal in this business but the Service Stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. When you are filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages; low, middle and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimising the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes into your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in you tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine.Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimises the evaporation. Unlike Service Stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount. Another reminder. If there is a fuel truck pumping into storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT FILL UP. Most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered and you might pick up some dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money. Rember to always fill your car when the tank shows 'half'. Always fill up in the early morning. Always fill up in slow mode.

3.Don’t leave your engine running unnecessarily. Drive off as soon as you start up and switch off as soon as you arrive at your destination.

4. Also, remember each time you change gear you use extra fuel. Use the softly softly touch on the accelerator – particularly if you drive a Fiat – they love tender treatment!

5. Read the driver's manual supplied with your car to check the optimum speed for your car. Travel at this speed and you will save fuel. Let the boy-racers speed past you. They are wasting expensive petrol - you are saving it.

16. If you buy your petrol from Morrisons' Supermarkets, ask the cashier for a Petrol Card. You will collect points on this card each time you buy petrol, and as soon as your total reaches a value of £5 you will be given a voucher for £5.00 to be spent in the store.

7. To save money on fuel, if you have to visit a new destination, make use of one of the many route finding web sites.

www. theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp?database=B

This will probably save time, your temper and money.

TYRES, etc.

8. Take a look at http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/ This is a fantastic site. If you are not sure of what tyres to fit on your vehicle you can do a search by registration number. Included in the price, the tyres come fully fitted. The company find you a tyre fitter in your locality.

9. Keep the tyres inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure, this reduces the ‘drag’ and stops petrol wastage.

10. By keeping your tyres inflated to the correct pressure you will get a more comfortable ride and you will also be safer on the road. Young drivers often overlook this factor.

11. When you don’t need it, remove the roof rack as this will also reduce the ‘drag’. Now that the ‘England’ flags have been removed (removing the drag factor) why not sport a small England sticker on your rear bumper?

CARS - NEW, USED, HYBRID

12. If you are searching for a specific site for a special type of vehicle - Google it. You can bring up all marques doing your homework before you even leave home.

13. If you have an expensive car you will probably be paying heavily in tax and insurance and other running costs. If you have only short journeys to cover it may be better to sell the expensive model and pick up a smaller but cheaper more economical vehicle. Hard to contemplate, but a snazzy, smaller number might well be kinder on the environment as well as on your budget.

14. It will also be interesting to look at vehicle reliability figures. e.g. in 'Which' magazine or in 'What Car' once every year. These sites also can be found on the Internet. Your repair bills are likely to be a lot lower with some makes than other. e.g. Toyota and Honda usually having less problems than others. Thanks to Brian Thomas in Suffolk for this interesting piece of information.

15. Another interesting source of motoring information is Honest John, who has a very entertaining and informative column in the Motoring Section of the Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph. This page gives good information on used and new cars. Alternatively just Google - Honest John and read it there. Thanks to Guy also in Suffolk for bringing this excellent series to our attention.

16. Perhaps the vision of the ultimate in car transport is lurking at http://environment.about.com/b/2008/02/14/new-car-runs-on-compressed-air.htm This is an idea from a Frenchman who has designed a car that runs on compressed air, produces no emissions on short trips, and can be refueled in three minutes flat. An interesting read which begs the thought - would the oil cartels 'allow' such an idea to flourish? Would it suffer the same fate as the everlasting match idea which was bought out by the match companies early last century?

17. The site for people who like cars - and the planet - visit www.green-car-guide.com/ There is even talk about hybrid cars here. On to the future!

18. For more tips on car maintenance take a look at this page.

There are bound to be some other really experienced motorists amongst our readers, so if you have some good money saving tips, please do not hesitate to pass them on via the Contact Us page We will all be very grateful for your knowledge! All tips will receive acknowledgement in our smart green italic font.

NEW - Work From Home. Make and Save Money
NEW Wind Power Versus Wave Power - a Debate
NEW - Save Money on Marketing Your Web Site
NEW Work From Home. Make and Save Money. Part 2.