Last year as the coalition was striding into Downing Street the new transport secretary, Philip Hammond, promised to “end the war on motorists”. But here we are, nine months later, still with roads more pothole than road, and cars more expensive to run than ever before. Yet at the same time as escalating rather than ending the war on motorists, the government is swinging the axe at public transport. So what can we do to get from A to B with the least hassle and the lowest cost?
Cut your running costs
Last year the cost of running a new car rose to £5,869 (or £2417 if you strip out depreciation and finance costs) while that of a used car came in at £4,441, according to the RAC. That’s going to be a serious sum out of almost anyone’s post tax income. However if you aren’t already shopping around you can probably cut your bills significantly by doing so. If you always go to the same garage for your MOT and/or annual service check to see you are getting the best deal. If you are using a branded car dealership in all probability you aren’t.
The price of an MOT is set by the government at £54.85 but the cost can easily shoot up if the garage says you need to make repairs to the car to pass the MOT. As for services, they can vary in price hugely. A friend of mine has dumped her branded garage for her local garage. Why? It services all police cars in her area. So not only is it much cheaper than a dealership but she’s pretty confident they aren’t in the habit of scamming those of us who know nothing about mechanics.
A step beyond this is to go to your local council MOT testing station when your car’s MOT comes up. Many councils have these in order to test council vehicles such as buses or ambulances. The great thing about them is they don’t do repairs so they have no incentive to tell you your car needs unnecessary work. You can find your nearest council MOT centre here.
Also, shop around to find the cheapest petrol station. Register with PetrolPrices.com and you can tap in your postcode to find the cheapest petrol station near you. Otherwise, if you have a smartphone download the PetrolPrices app that will tell you where your nearest cheap petrol station is wherever you are in the UK.
Sell your car and rent
If you live in a major city and your car spends more time parked than on the go you might be better off getting rid of it. Car clubs have been springing up across the country in recent years. In return for an annual membership fee these clubs allow you to rent a car by the hour or day. It can be incredibly handy for anyone who only uses their car for the weekly shop and the odd trip further afield. Prices have gone up in recent years but with the biggest car club, Streetcar, petrol is included in the price (in line with the fair usage policy). This is a big plus given rising petrol prices. Prices start from as little as £4.95 an hour (it’s going up to £5.25 from next month with Streetcar) with Streetcar or City Car Club.
Where car clubs tend to fall down is for longer journeys. Price rises have meant that hiring a car can be cheaper now, so make sure you do your sums. For example, if you live in London and wanted to rent a small car (VW Golf) from Streetcar for a weekend in Bath you’d pay around £170. Hire a similar sized car from Hertz for the same weekend and it’ll cost you around £102, add on around £40 for petrol for the journey (calculated using Google’s fuel journey cost calculator) and you would be better off with Hertz. That said you could collect and return the Streetcar outside of office hours, and odds are it will be parked closer to your house than the car rental office.
However if you are tempted by the idea of a car club don’t be tempted by their insurance offers. Most clubs insure you but with a hefty excess (£750 with Streetcar, or £500 with City Car Club). They will then offer to reduce or eliminate your excess in return for a monthly fee of between £5-£15. Don’t bother. Icarhireinsurance.com offers an annual policy to cover your entire car club insurance excess for £39.99.
Finally, if you own a parking space, consider hiring it to a car club. In return for letting them put one of their cars in your parking space Streetcar will offer you free membership and a monthly cash payment or free driving credits. So you could sell your own car and use another one for free.