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Jul 31

5 Ways To Cut Motoring Costs

The cost of motoring has accelerated faster than a Ferrari in recent times and to stay on the road you need to handle your finances carefully. But there are things that you can do to keep costs at an affordable level. Here are five tips to make sure you get the most for your motoring money.

1. Insurance
There are a lot of insurance companies out there and they are all competing fiercely for your business. With an ever-changing range of deals and offers to be had, the advent of car insurance comparison sites like moneysupermarket.com makes it really easy to find the best deal to suit you and your particular circumstances. You can check out dozens of insurance companies in minutes to help ensure you get the best possible value.

2. Speed
The cost of fuel just goes up and up so you need to make sure you keep your speed down and drive as economically as possible. Keep to the speed limits. They are there for a reason but they can also be a good friend to the driver. Higher speeds in built-up areas are not only unsafe, they also use more fuel

Try keeping to a steady 60mph on the motorway as well. Yes, your journey time might be extended by a few minutes, but you’ll be surprised at how much further your tank of fuel will take you if you ease up on the accelerator.

3. Tyres
Keep your tyres in good order and at the right pressure. There’s more than one advantage to this. Correctly inflated tyres give the sort of traction on the road that means your engine has to work less hard to move you along and that will save fuel.

They’ll give your car better handling and they’ll also decrease the amount of wear to the treads, helping to ensure your tyres last for the optimum period before requiring replacement.

4. Servicing
Putting the car in for its regular ‘health check’ is something which a lot of drivers shy away from. It’s inconvenient to lose the vehicle on a workday and it always seems to result in a bigger bill than expected.

However, you should view servicing as an investment rather than an expense. It tends to show up any problems lurking under the bonnet before they have the chance to reveal themselves as a loud bang and a lot of blue smoke when you’re just about to leave for the airport.

Also, a car that has been well maintained and has the documentation to prove it is a much more attractive proposition to a potential buyer when you come to sell it.

5. Road Tax
When you do start to look for your next vehicle, keep road tax Vehicle Excise Duty – in mind. Previously, road tax related to engine size. Today, it’s all about emissions. In short, the cleaner and greener a car’s engine, the less money the government will charge you to have it on the road. The latest generation of low-capacity, low-emission engines can return good performance and even better road-tax savings.

This is a sponsored post.

2 comments

  1. Modest Money

    For me my big way of cutting back on vehicle expenses was simply to drive less. I live close enough to a grocery store to just walk over. Also I’ve been working from home. So there just isn’t the daily need to drive around. It sounds like that’s going to change next week though as I finally go back to working in an office.

    1. Justin

      That will be a big change for you, since you’ve been working from home! My wife and I don’t drive a whole lot either. We each put probably between 5,000 and 7,500 miles on our cars a year. I think the national average is around 12,000 or maybe even higher.

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