Cost of filling an average car has hit £100

My GD is on a low wage as a trainee, and petrol is now taking a huge chunk out of her income. She looked at electric cars, but unless she buys a new one (absolutely impossible) the mileage radius isn't that great. We do what we can to help, as do her parents, but given that we are all paying so much more for everything.....I dread the coming months and the threatened increases in heating costs for the winter. My small income cushion is gone - so what now?

Cost me £75 to fill up my baby Skoda Fabia today! I have to keep mine filled up, as my husband had a few days in hospital last week and I need to be prepared for emergency hospital runs at any time of day or night! I well remember my first car, a mini which I had in about 1966. Cost £5 for a full tank of petrol in those days!!!

The trouble with getting the Petrol Tax lowered is that another tax would haven't be increased to cover the loss. There's no Government money it's all raised by taxes of some sort or another. If the rich get taxed more they will just move out of the country taking their businesses and jobs with them. I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done even if its only temporary.

Just prior to DH' death last month swopped two cars for 1. Not electric just couldn't afford one. No public transport, not even roads with pavements to get to nearest village. Everything needs a car. Nearest DS and family live a 52 mile round trip. Talk about isolation, cost of petrol is horrendous. How do people who rely on car for work manage. No one could have managed to budget for this.

Wandering off topic but is it normal practice for shops to increase prices on clothing already on display? I went to the cash desk yesterday in M&S with a pair of trousers priced £12.50. Not reduced, that was their normal price. The cashier scanned the item at £14. When I queried it and said the price ticket is £12.50 her response was “they’ve gone up to £14 this morning and we’re just about to change the labels” She gave me them at the original price but I found it odd that they were relabelling display stock that they’d already purchased. Maybe it’s always been the case and it’s the first time I’ve noticed !

It is that profiteering by the petrol companies that is infuriating me Tizliz. They are charging those obscene amounts because they know you have no alternative to buying fuel from them. It is happening here too in my local town. Up until recently we had two filling stations but one closed and the other has put its prices up horrendously. That's Shell, by the way, and I see in today's news that they are making enormous profits. For years now, because of higher prices locally, I have made it a practice not to fill up locally but to do so when I am passing a Tesco's, which I do at least fortnightly. Like a few other posters I too have to rely on my car as I live too far from town to walk, there are very few buses, and of course taxis will become rarer and costlier too.

Thankfully everyone under 22 has free bus travel here ,my GS reckons it has saved him £300 in the past month his 60 mile round trip to work for a low wage wouldn't be worth while otherwise .It also takes old cars off the road and lowers emissions .Well done Scottish Government

I haven't come across that (yet) Grannynannywanny - that sounds like sharp practice on the part of M&S for something they'd already paid for. If that happens to me I shall decline to continue with the sale.
The cost of fuel isn't just going to affect supermarkets, who will find their takings down as customers cut back, it will also affect the hospitality and tourism sectors as people won't be able to afford luxury activities. We are at our caravan in Devon but have not gone out anywhere (not even National Trust - no more cream teas for us) as the cost of the petrol to get here has written off any money we might have had to go out. In fact, its like being back in lockdown - taking advantage of the lovely forest walks around the site as our treats, as everything else is getting so expensive.

Diesel so expensive in Uk but fortunately much cheaper over here now in France. Was shocked how much gone up in UK on way down to Portsmouth. Did notice a lot less traffic on the roads - know why!

That naughty practice of repricing goods already in stock isn't new, Grannynannywanny. Working in Boots the Chemist as a Saturday assistant when at school, and inflation was rocketing, I asked why I was repricing goods already on the shelf - and got a disapproving lecture from the supervisor. 'None of my business to ask' seemed to be the answer.

That’s interesting Rosina. It sounds like it goes on then and I’ve been oblivious to it.

I am the same as you MARMIGHT. My gas tank fill up was £1,350. The coal man has offered to deliver solid fuel at summer prices. Another £200. We will be using more dead wood from the garden next winter. We need a 4x4 as we are 1/2 mile from a public highway and nearly a mile from a bus stop. So we still need diesel for the car. We are trying to do our bit for the environment by planting 100 trees - more to go
Would it be cheaper to move to a new build in a town or carry on growing our own fruit and veg. and wood. It is a dilemma as we are getting nearer to 80

To save even more money don’t fill up the tank. The weight of a full tank is huge and you are literally paying to carry that around. Just fill to approx half a tank more frequently. My son in law told me to do this earlier today when I was going to top mine up at more than half full. I’ll run it down and top it up to half instead. Petrol at Morrisons yesterday, £1.76. Today £1.80.

4allweknow

Just prior to DH' death last month swopped two cars for 1. Not electric just couldn't afford one. No public transport, not even roads with pavements to get to nearest village. Everything needs a car. Nearest DS and family live a 52 mile round trip. Talk about isolation, cost of petrol is horrendous. How do people who rely on car for work manage. No one could have managed to budget for this.

I’m So very sorry for your loss ???

We use the car as little as possible, walk locally or use a bus. We can afford to fill the tank but begrudge the huge cost.

I was in DDs car recently so was able to tell her to stop at a petrol station to top up on my debit card. As a young adult just starting a career she was very grateful.

A friend of mine is just about to give up her car as she can no longer afford to run it. So sad. I have made her promise to ask for a lift in an emergency, to visit her elderly dad for instance.

Taichinan

It is that profiteering by the petrol companies that is infuriating me Tizliz. They are charging those obscene amounts because they know you have no alternative to buying fuel from them. It is happening here too in my local town. Up until recently we had two filling stations but one closed and the other has put its prices up horrendously. That's Shell, by the way, and I see in today's news that they are making enormous profits. For years now, because of higher prices locally, I have made it a practice not to fill up locally but to do so when I am passing a Tesco's, which I do at least fortnightly. Like a few other posters I too have to rely on my car as I live too far from town to walk, there are very few buses, and of course taxis will become rarer and costlier too.

Filled up today and it was £1.85, so the £2.14 was excessive, must have been Durness. You really have to think ahead here but if you live there you have to pay that much. We get a 5p per litre rebate here and it is still more than elsewhere - except on the islands.

Here in the U S. It appears that it's all President Biden's fault. It must be his fault in the UK. as well!

What happened to Sunak’s £5 off petrol prices? You know, the one where he was photographed filling up someone else’s car and didn’t know how to pay for it?

Electric bike for all short journeys. 1kwh takes me 30 miles and I can reasonably cycle about 15 miles a day (20 is feasible but tiring). It is much more fun than driving, keeps me fit, saves loads of money and (the reason I bought it in the first place) is much better for the planet than any kind of car.

Electric cars are not the answer now. Unless someone is letting you charge your car for free, the cost cannot be nil. My husband read about a study that said at 180,000 miles you break even on the extra cost of an electric car and using an electric charge and the cost of operating a gasoline-powered vehicle. Also, the batteries last about 8 years. The cost of a new battery is several thousand dollars. It will be a couple of decades before the cost and feasibility of an electric car is anywhere near that of a gasoline-powered car. Figured in all this is the cost of producing an electric car and the cost of producing a gas-powered car. In the US, the rush to a Green solution has caused real hardships for people operating current vehicles. Most people cannot afford to go out and buy an electric vehicle anyway. Longer distances to go here which also makes it less feasible. Many Americans find it truly discouraging that we were energy independent a year and a half ago and now we are going begging to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, etc. We have some of the greenest carbon usage in the world. We are going to pay someone else to produce energy, pay for the energy to be shipped all the way here (and use energy to do it). We have lost so many American jobs in this sector.

Tesla is the largest EV producer and is a US company, there are some US residents who want to reduce pollution in city’s, indeed California has the strictest regulations on the planet.

In practice 95% + of journeys are within the home charged range of an EV, they are less convenient for very long journeys but that is no reason to ignore pollution reduction

The US is one of the nations that has not adopted serious carbon reduction, that’s a disgrace.

Calendargirl

^We have shopping delivered^

The delivery charges will rise as well though.

Mu thoughts as well.
I'm assuming bus fares will massively increase as well.
Or, worst case scenario they'll have to scrap the bus passes.