What's with the fuel prices! And cheap whisky, apparently ...

[Mike_P]

According to confused.com Diesel has hit 207.9 somewhere and E10 189.9

 

[PeteXXX]

 

[Accy cyclist]

Crazy prices at a local car repairs/ fuel seller this afternoon!

 

[icowden]

It's the difference between being a small private petrol station and being able to bulk buy and loss lead. You'll find it much cheaper at Tesco or Sainsbury etc, and a bit cheaper at Shell or BP. The smaller the operator the less likely they are to be able to manage the price. Plus smaller operators tend to operate where there aren't bigger operators anywhere near - so captive market.

 

[Accy cyclist]

It's the difference between being a small private petrol station and being able to bulk buy and loss lead. You'll find it much cheaper at Tesco or Sainsbury etc, and a bit cheaper at Shell or BP. The smaller the operator the less likely they are to be able to manage the price. Plus smaller operators tend to operate where there aren't bigger operators anywhere near - so captive market.

The garage I posted a pic' of seem to do quite well with fuel sales. I hear folk say their petrol is higher quality than the Morrisons fuel. I don't know about their diesel being better, if such a thing is possible.🤔 A lot of elderly and disabled go to 'Ridings Auto Services' because they'll pump the fuel in for you and take the payment into the garage and bring you any change, without you having to get out of the car. I've also heard the garage charges you 10% less for services etc if you're a regular buyer of their fuel, so I suppose they may be cheaper in the long run than supermarket fuel.🤔

 

[icowden]

The garage I posted a pic' of seem to do quite well with fuel sales. I hear folk say their petrol is higher quality than the Morrisons fuel. I don't know about their diesel being better, if such a thing is possible.🤔 A lot of elderly and disabled go to 'Ridings Auto Services' because they'll pump the fuel in for you and take the payment into the garage and bring you any change, without you having to get out of the car. I've also heard the garage charges you 10% less for services etc if you're a regular buyer of their fuel, so I suppose they may be cheaper in the long run than supermarket fuel.🤔

I didn't say they weren't nice. I doubt that the quality of their fuel is better than that at the supermarket though.
The point is that they will be more expensive as they don't have the power of bulk buying to get a discount, or a multi-million pound food distribution service to offset their fuel.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I didn't say they weren't nice. I doubt that the quality of their fuel is better than that at the supermarket though.
The point is that they will be more expensive as they don't have the power of bulk buying to get a discount, or a multi-million pound food distribution service to offset their fuel.

May I ask, if you were driving around here and found your fuel gauge needle on red would you visit Ridings Auto Services (granted limited opening times) for a top up, or go to the 3 to 4 minutes drive away Morrisons place of selling combustible fuel?🤔

 

[fossyant]

May I ask, if you were driving around here and found your fuel gauge needle on red would you visit Ridings Auto Services (granted limited opening times) for a top up, or go to the 3 to 4 minutes drive away Morrisons place of selling combustible fuel?🤔

I'd go elsewhere - like I don't use Esso or BP locally as they are about 10p more than the supermarkets.

 

[fossyant]

I’ve been keeping logs on the usage of my car in the 4 years and 5 months I have had it.

It typically gives between 2.1% and 2.4% better mpg on Esso as opposed to fuel from the local supermarket (ASDA). In ‘normal’ times it isn’t a problem as Esso is only one percent or so more expensive. At the moment though that difference is close to 6% making the case for ASDA fuel stronger.

Add in E5 vs E10 - That extra 5p (3%) for super E5 (97 Ron) get's me an extra 10% fuel efficiency, wasn't quite as much with normal E5.

 

[Mike_P]

Commonly Esso etc fuel has additives in it which boost the mpg.

 

[icowden]

May I ask, if you were driving around here and found your fuel gauge needle on red would you visit Ridings Auto Services (granted limited opening times) for a top up, or go to the 3 to 4 minutes drive away Morrisons place of selling combustible fuel?🤔

Today the Morrisons price is £1.60 for unleaded and £1.70 for diesel. So would I drive 5 minutes down the road to save 20p per litre, or £10 on a full tank?

Yes. No question.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

The main problem with fuel prices is they're nowhere near high enough.

Most of the cost of motoring to the driver is sunk in depreciation and other fixed costs rather than marginal per mile.

Whereas most of the cost to society in environmental damage, excluding other road users, lives lost etc is marginal per mile.

We need much higher costs per mile to properly reflect the externalities of motoring - the cost driving imposes on others.

All just IMO, natch.

 

[icowden]

We need much higher costs per mile to properly reflect the externalities of motoring - the cost driving imposes on others.
All just IMO, natch.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, the problems start to set in if you don't have good public transport - and if you live anywhere remote (that thar countryside) it's seemingly impossible to provide good public transport. This then presents a problem for people who live in that thar countryside but don't have a huge income to pay for motoring costs.

For example my 78 year old mum and 103 year old nan live in a house in the countryside. They don't get out much, but when they do, the only viable option is to use the car. They aren't exactly on the breadline with teachers pensions (and in my nan's case a full headteachers pension which she is really milking for all it's worth - I think she has had more pension years than she did working years!). But there are plenty of other people in their village who aren't so fortunate.

There is a bus to Worcester. It goes in the morning and comes back at lunchtime or evening. And they would need to drive to be able to catch the bus as it would take them at their age over an hour to get the bus stop (well my Nan wouldn't make it - my mum would have to push her). No bus to the GP practice of course. Taxis very expensive as they have to come out from Worcester.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, the problems start to set in if you don't have good public transport - and if you live anywhere remote (that thar countryside) it's seemingly impossible to provide good public transport. This then presents a problem for people who live in that thar countryside but don't have a huge income to pay for motoring costs.

For example my 78 year old mum and 103 year old nan live in a house in the countryside. They don't get out much, but when they do, the only viable option is to use the car. They aren't exactly on the breadline with teachers pensions (and in my nan's case a full headteachers pension which she is really milking for all it's worth - I think she has had more pension years than she did working years!). But there are plenty of other people in their village who aren't so fortunate.

There is a bus to Worcester. It goes in the morning and comes back at lunchtime or evening. And they would need to drive to be able to catch the bus as it would take them at their age over an hour to get the bus stop (well my Nan wouldn't make it - my mum would have to push her). No bus to the GP practice of course. Taxis very expensive as they have to come out from Worcester.

Sure, it's difficult and requires change.

But the current system means we're frying the planet, constricting the lives of our children, making everyone unhealthy and concreting the countryside.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Agree, we need much better public transport. Dropping my car off to the garage on Thursday, the only way back is to walk 10 minutes to a bus stop, change in town, go back nearly the other way to my house. Over an hour trip. It can be driven in 15 mins