I'm flying back out to Norway on thursday morning and won't be returning until April, and i'm in two minds about filling up the car now, or waiting til i get back.

Before i went to Norway in November, the last tankfull i bought cost me £1.17 a litre, and on my return 4 weeks later it was only 99p a litre.

If the price continues to fall at the same rate i could save a fair amount of money by waiting til i get back, however if it suddenly starts to rise again i could miss out on the cheaper fuel (currently 94p a litre) and pay more.

What would you do? :confused:

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Looks to me like it's just starting to climb again, but I'm just speculating

I wouldn't leave it empty, but I wouldn't panic about filling it up either. The tank is plastic so theres no worry about it rusting etc either.

Diesel isn't going to get much cheaper if at all imho.

Just half-fill it. At least then you'll only be a half-loser if prices go down, or you may be a half-winner if prices go up

How long is a piece of string and presumably the diesel won't degrade over 3 months?

If is was me I'd fill up now because:

- Price of oil has stopped falling for the time being and is at a level where many of the producers are not happy

- Sterling showing continued weakness against US$

- 1st April sees a 1.84p/l increase in fuel duty - 2.1p inc VAT

The first 2 depend on how you see it, the 3rd is going to happen regardless.

Will condensation be a problem leaving a fuel tank empty for so long over winter?

Just half-fill it. At least then you'll only be a half-loser if prices go down, or you may be a half-winner if prices go up

The beauty of cost-averaging

The beauty of cost-averaging

Exactly

Thanks for the input so far guys.

Its currently half full, so i would only need to put half a tank in if it did get dearer (as suggested).

There is no problem with the fuel going off or having problems in the winter, diesel is pretty stable in these conditions.

Dunno where the car is stored or what your local area is like, but would theft of either the car or just the fuel be a problem?

If so, not much point filling it up - although I guess it would be the least of your problems if you lost the car!

Also, one more point, think of all the money you're saving anyway by not driving for 4 months

Dunno where the car is stored or what your local area is like, but would theft of either the car or just the fuel be a problem?

If so, not much point filling it up - although I guess it would be the least of your problems if you lost the car!

Both good points, but not relavant to me as its parked in a secure area and the likely hood of theft or damage is very slim.

Plus i'll be removing the battery tomorrow as it died on me last time i was away

Also, one more point, think of all the money you're saving anyway by not driving for 4 months

I won't just be saving money by not driving, i'll be doubling my money for being away.

The cost of fuel won't make a huge difference when i get back, but if i can save a few pence per litre instead of making a multi billion profit company that little bit richer, then i'm happy to buy when its cheapest.

Wasnt there some story about the Bio part of the diesel "going off" in causing bacteria in the tanks?

If so, would this be a problem with "stale" fuel sitting there for a long period of time?

steve

I can't see it being a problem. I have left cars parked up for longer in the past with no issues, and i plan to give it a full service when i get back, so the fuel filter can catch any crap and i'll replace it soon after the tank is empty.

Don't forget though, if i fill the car up there won't be any condensation anyway

It's far more likely to be more expensive when you come back than cheaper. If it's cheaper, it won't be by much, a few pence per L. If it's more expensive, it would be 25p L at very worst? And a one-off £15 extra on a full tank is hardly significant in the scheme of things!

I won't just be saving money by not driving, i'll be doubling my money for being away.

The cost of fuel won't make a huge difference when i get back, but if i can save a few pence per litre instead of making a multi billion profit company that little bit richer, then i'm happy to buy when its cheapest.

I like your thinking - enjoy your trip

It's far more likely to be more expensive when you come back than cheaper. If it's cheaper, it won't be by much, a few pence per L. If it's more expensive, it would be 25p L at very worst? And a one-off £15 extra on a full tank is hardly significant in the scheme of things!

Its not a huge amount, but we're in a recession and need to save money while we still have it

I think i'll top it up tomorrow, that way its done while the cost is relatively cheap, and its one less thing to do when i get back and want to drive home

its risen about $10 a barrel in a week, cause seems to be the fighting in the gaza strip and russia turning off the gas pipe to ukraine. personally i reckon if you not going to be back till april to leave it as the fuel will go stale in the tank and a few pence more in april will save the problem of trying to run the car on stale fuel or the fact it slowly evaporates and what will evaporate will probably be the same amount as what the difference between fuel price now and in april.

update it looks tonight (brent crude) is at $53 from about $38 in xmas week so that be about 8p rise in fuel costs by beggining of february :(