Unique Auto

Posts Tagged ‘petrol’

We live in a society that is gradually becoming more environmentally-friendly, but it is taking time. There is news coverage everywhere about how we need to be greener to avoid damaging our planet. With this in mind, it begs the question of how can we be more economical with our petrol usage.

The Danger

If you own a Vauxhall car, for example, you’ll be aware of whether it is petrol or diesel. The fuel your car takes makes a difference to how it runs and how economical it is. Naturally, putting petrol in a diesel car would be bad. The car probably won’t drive for a start and you can seriously damage the motor.

Diesel Benefits

Make sure you choose a diesel car if you’re wanting something supremely economical. This is because it lasts longer and although it is slightly more expensive to start with, you will find that you won’t be heading to the petrol station every five minutes to fill it up. Some might argue that no cars are environmentally friendly, but if you have to own one than the least you can do is be economical about it. Even though we are in the midst of a recession, people will insist on filling their car up with fuel and driving it. People just love their cars.

People who look to buy used Vauxhall cars, for example, know that they are buying economical cars to start with. Car buyers are taking more of an interest in diesel cars these days too, which is good to see. Money-savers will be glad of diesel cars as they always give more miles to the gallon.

Still, if you’re not sure which to buy then you could always discuss this at your chosen car dealership and they will help you decide.

It wasnt that long ago that business in the UK and US found themselves under a large amount of pressure when their margins were slashed due to a increase in petrol prices. Transport-based companies were hit hardest for obvious reasons and lots had no choice but to cut pay and cut vehicle numbers.

Fleets may need to be reduced even further now and companies pushed even closer towards breaking point as the government announces predicted further cost increases in the coming months. What is frustrating many business owners about this situation is the lack of information it gives them to predict profit margins. “Each time we plan out our business for that quarter, petrol prices are put up and our costings go out of the window” says Barry Hemstone, MD of RDA Foods. Many business experts have predicted that 2009 will see similar levels of transport-based companies shut down as witnessed last year, which was around 15%.

For companies that rely so heavy on petrol prices to turn over a profit, the news of another rise has not been well received. “We are being crippled” argues Fiona Potter, who runs a small furniture chain in the UK. Our customers expect their furniture to be delivered to them, which is something that is becoming financially unviable for us now. A number of similar companies are turning to van leasing as a way of bringing down their overall costs. This is because van leasing enables businesses to not buy their vans outright and so this is a useful option if cash-flow is poor. Interestingly, Citroen van leasing has been the most popular choice as on average these vans offer the best MPG. Ford van leasing is also up their with the most popular choices as their reliability is well respected in many industries.

It wasnt that long ago that business in the UK and US found themselves under a large amount of pressure when their margins were slashed due to a increase in petrol prices. Transport-based companies were hit hardest for obvious reasons and lots had no choice but to cut pay and cut vehicle numbers.

Now, after it was announced that petrol prices are set to rise again in the coming months, some businesses are on the edge and a large percentage of them are having to cut their fleet even further. What is frustrating many business owners about this situation is the lack of information it gives them to predict profit margins. “We get a set of forcasts drawn up and then they mean nothing when petrol goes up so much” argues Jerry Henley, Managing Director of JHG Foods. Around 25% of all companies in the US that were heavily reliant on transport, went into administration last year, which is a figure many predict will be replicated this year as well.

Many people and businesses are on their last legs right now and the last thing they need is an increase in their overheads. “We cannot survive much longer” claims Judith Grey, MD of UK-based company Grey Kitchens. Our customers expect their furniture to be delivered to them, which is something that is becoming financially unviable for us now. A number of similar companies are turning to van leasing as a way of bringing down their overall costs. This is because van leasing enables businesses to not buy their vans outright and so this is a useful option if cash-flow is poor. Interestingly, Citroen van leasing has come out on top this year in terms of popularity, largely due to the high miles per gallon figures they offer. Ford van leasing has also been a strong choice as their reliability is thought to save companies large amounts of money in reduced maintenance costs.

A few weeks ago the whole nation thought fuel costs were becoming more reasonable, but this has drastically changed once again.

It seems really strange to me, just because of the fact that the vehicle industry have been suffering somewhat and they have now seen a rescue package in the form of the scrappage system. This is simply where the government give you £1000 for new cars and the manufacturers give you another £1000, so in total you get £2000 towards a new car if your vehicle is older than a decade.

It make you undecisive about whether or not the increase in fuel costs were planned to cover for the money spent on the scrappage scheme. I mean we all know that no one will ever give money for free, especially the government, so there must be something behind this all.

If you look at it another way then the increase in fuel could mean more taxes to the government. We are in a huge economic downturn, the prices should really be super low, but they are the opposite.

Although the government have stated that they are doing this to help protect the environment, that statement could in fact be true, but I in no way see them losing money to save the planet because that is just not the way that things seem to work in the world.

So to sum up, I feel that if you are going to buy a new car then you need to go for the smaller option to save money on fuel.

Do you want to Buy a Citroen or Buy a Subaru

The ‘green agenda’ is a huge topic at the moment, and all big car manufacturers are now investing heavily in new green technologies. Within the next few decades we will no longer be driving our petrol and diesel powered machines, and instead driving electric cars and other technology driven machines.

But for the moment we keep our cars which use petrol and diesel. Thankfully there are quite a few ways to save fuel, this can help us beat the rising fuel costs and put more money in our pockets. The great thing about these methods is that they stand true whether you drive a petrol or diesel powered car.

Here Are 5 Ways To Instantly Save Fuel

1. General Driving: Drive as smoothly as possible, acceleration and deceleration is what uses most fuel so avoid heavy braking and heavy accelerating. Also make sure you are in the right gear (revs between 1,500 & 2,500) and don’t coast in neutral. Modern cars have an auto shut-off on fuel, whereas when you are in neutral the car has to use a small amount of fuel to stop it from stalling.
2. Cold Engine: Cold engines use twice as much fuel as a warm engine, so take it as easy as you can until your engine has warmed up. When possible completely avoid short journeys.
3. Multitask Jobs: A very easy way to lower the amount of fuel you use is to cut the amount of journeys you do. If you have to do a bit of shopping or pick something up then do it on the way home from work, instead of going home and then going back out.
4. Car Sharing: If you have a work colleague who lives close to you then you could start car sharing, you drive one week, they drive the next. This could significantly lower your fuel consumption.
5. Lose Weight: Get rid of stuff you constantly keep in your car but don’t need to. Golf clubs, bags, roof rack, bike rack etc. Many people always have stuff in their boot they don’t need.

Conclusion

These 5 ways are very easy to do and can be done right away. Doing just these few methods you could save lots of money at the pumps, you would be mad not to do them! For more tips including; using credit cards, chipping your engine and using BP ultimate check out Save-Petrol.co.uk which has over 15 free tips.