Past the up front cost of purchasing your vehicle, and the yearly costs associated with keep it legal. Including insurance, road tax, and MOTs there are yet more costs incurred in the regular running of your vehicle. These costs can be summed up neatly into two fields: fuel and maintenance. There are some overlaps in the ways these costs can be reduced, but below we’ll look at each in turn, and the ways you can ensure your car runs cheaper and reduce its impact on your household spending!
Decreasing Fuel Costs
Whether your car has a petrol engine, diesel engine or is fully electric, you’ll need to spend money on the fuel it uses to run. Thankfully this cost is not fixed, and there are neat ways in which you can optimise your car’s fuel economy to travel a bit further on the same tank or charge or even reduce the cost of that fuel full stop.
Cheaper Fuel
One of the simplest ways to bring down the amount you spend on fuel is to hunt around for the best deals on that fuel. Some petrol stations will offer petrol and diesel at lower prices than others, meaning you can factor them into your driving plans for a less expensive fuel up. For electric cars, you can make the most of government grants to have a home charging station installed though subscription plans to public charging points can also work out cheaper in the long run.
Economical Driving
By paying attention to your driving habits, you can increase the fuel economy of your car. Using higher gears more often can increase your mpg, while braking less aggressively and coasting to a stop in traffic can save fuel overall.
Maintenance
Keeping your car in optimum running condition can have a knock on effect on fuel economy; one great example lies in the health of your engine oil. Old engine oil is less effective, causing friction in your engine which requires more energy to defeat. Maintaining your oil can keep your fuel economy at its highest though keeping your car well maintained has wider benefits with regard to running costs.
Servicing and Self-Maintenance
Keeping your car well serviced is the most sure fire way to prevent unexpected costs stemming from part failure or breakdown. Booking your car in for regular servicing can be a prohibitive cost in and of itself, however making self servicing at home a powerful way to bring costs down. Invest in a trolley jack to carry out your own inspections of your tyres and undercarriage, and study the owner’s manual to understand all inspection points of your engine.
Attentive Driving
As a preventative measure, driving in a safe and attentive way can extend the life of certain perishable parts on your car, with the adoption of certain habits helpful to specific parts. For example, riding the clutch in a manual drive vehicle can cause the clutch to wear out at an advanced rate, while resting on your gearstick can unwittingly add pressure to the gear selecto
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