What on earth is going on - we have diesel over 148p a litre here and the brave govt still say in august another hefty 3p will go top of whatever the price is and if that happens and the price is the same as now or higher then im afraid I will have to offload my yeti for a more fuel efficient car again.

Is there some backhand deal going on with the haulage industry as it seems eerily quiet from them and they were blockading refineries when the price was less than it is now !?

Fed up of it now.

Yup, really feeling it now as I travel between Somerset and Wirral every week.

The faster I go the more fuel I use and the yeti isn’t that economic once you get over around 65mph.

Prices have gone up 40% in 3 years.

Somebody somewhere is making some serious money!

The government.... They rake itnin in taxes

Sent from my motorola xoom using tapatalk

Yep it's them - changes to company car tax rules will rake them in another £370m next year.

The transport industry is quiet because we've done virtually everything there is - at the end of the day blockades, strikes etc will only affect the general public who we need on our side. Fuel increases are merely being passed on at present - hence things like food go up in price. Not the only factor but a contributing one - 30% of my costs are fuel.

Whats the answer then ? - ordinary people cannot indefinitely keep paying increase after increase or something has to give and the petrol retailers keep making sneaky 1p increases until before you know it the price has shot up between refills. I will soon be having to rethink either working my hours into 4 days a week instead of 5 and risk annoying my employers, or get a smaller more fuel efficient car.

Bloody govts dont give a **** about ordinary folk as they lap up all the extra tax revenues, it makes my blood boil.

Whats the answer then ? -... rethink either working my hours ... or get a smaller more fuel efficient car.

Pretty sure you got the answer right there. Increasing oil demand and no "viable" alternatives yet = pain for ALL fuel consumers.

Bloody govts dont give a **** about ordinary folk as they lap up all the extra tax revenues, it makes my blood boil.

FFS get real! I'm sure you know the answer as well as the rest of us do. The demand for oil is increasing inexorably - there are hundreds of millions in south Asia and the rest of the BRIC countries whose economies are growing at eg 10% pa and who can now afford cars. And it's going to carry on for the foreseeable future every year. Why should they be denied what those in Europe, the US etc have enjoyed for many years. Inevitably the oil price will continue to trend up, albeit two steps up and sometimes one back.

If the petrol stations are raking off big profits then why are so many smaller ones still closing every year?

And just what do you want the government to do about it? If they reduce the fuel tax (including the planned rises which are built into the forward budgets) then where else should they raise the cash? Would you rather VAT at 21 or 22%? Or income tax up to the same level? Or maybe you'd rather they cut back on public spending on the NHS, education, welfare etc even further than the currently planned?

There are very few of us who couldn't economise on fuel should we choose to do so, principally by opting for a more economic car at next change (but also by driving with more care, lower speeds, perhaps even deciding that some journeys aren't essential - no I'm not very good at these either, but I can't deny that they're all real options if I was genuinely serious about fuel spend).

(Can't see this thread remaining live for long , but let me get in while I can )

Well said, prodata.

My monthly fuel bill commuting to work has risen by almost £100 a month over the last four years :S

Not a lot one can do about it other than ring as much mpg out the car as you can, albeit upsetting the DPF in the process

If I try real hard I can get the poor old Monster to reach the dizzy heights of 47mpg fill to fill on the odd occasion; not bad for a 4x4 going up and down the Wolds.

TP

It is a bit of a shock to be paying £70 to fill up but in real terms I dont think we pay a huge amount more gthan we did years ago. Inflation of course but also car design- one of my first cars was an 1100 cc Escort van- struggled to cruise at much more than 60 and also struggled to get more than 30mpg. My 2 CV gave about 40 driven with any brio- and it weighed probably 600kg . Yet I now drive a lardy 1500kg 4wd Yeti which driven at same speed as a flat out 2CV would give 55 + and driven briskly gives high 40s. Consider also the quite astonishing performance high end turbo diesels have- stuff like BMW 330D. Monster go and 40 odd mpg. That much go would have cost 10-12mpg 40 years ago.

It is a bit of a shock to be paying £70 to fill up but in real terms I dont think we pay a huge amount more gthan we did years ago. Inflation of course but also car design- one of my first cars was an 1100 cc Escort van- struggled to cruise at much more than 60 and also struggled to get more than 30mpg. My 2 CV gave about 40 driven with any brio- and it weighed probably 600kg . Yet I now drive a lardy 1500kg 4wd Yeti which driven at same speed as a flat out 2CV would give 55 + and driven briskly gives high 40s. Consider also the quite astonishing performance high end turbo diesels have- stuff like BMW 330D. Monster go and 40 odd mpg. That much go would have cost 10-12mpg 40 years ago.

Well said, it does make a difference.

When I started driving, my Peugeot had a whopping 60 galloping horses and did around 34mpg. My Skoda has around 170bhp and easily averages 43mpg doing the 3-mile commute, 45-47 on motorways and 50 on 50mph cruises through nice A-roads.

I've done all I can to get a car that blends my needs for practicality, comfort, economy and speed. Moaning about the fuel prices get me nowhere. I do worry about my company. Over the last couple of years we've had to drastically cut prices to remain competitive, but the overheads (including diesel) keep going up and up. Bye bye payrises and any potential bonuses. :(

Yeah, my last pay rise was in 2007

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Eveyone moans about the fuel price including me, but its only one of the costs of running a car. Depreciation is probably still the largest potential cost - except for the Yeti maybe.

Andy

FFS get real! I'm sure you know the answer as well as the rest of us do. The demand for oil is increasing inexorably - there are hundreds of millions in south Asia and the rest of the BRIC countries whose economies are growing at eg 10% pa and who can now afford cars. And it's going to carry on for the foreseeable future every year. Why should they be denied what those in Europe, the US etc have enjoyed for many years. Inevitably the oil price will continue to trend up, albeit two steps up and sometimes one back.

If the petrol stations are raking off big profits then why are so many smaller ones still closing every year?

And just what do you want the government to do about it? If they reduce the fuel tax (including the planned rises which are built into the forward budgets) then where else should they raise the cash? Would you rather VAT at 21 or 22%? Or income tax up to the same level? Or maybe you'd rather they cut back on public spending on the NHS, education, welfare etc even further than the currently planned?

There are very few of us who couldn't economise on fuel should we choose to do so, principally by opting for a more economic car at next change (but also by driving with more care, lower speeds, perhaps even deciding that some journeys aren't essential - no I'm not very good at these either, but I can't deny that they're all real options if I was genuinely serious about fuel spend).

(Can't see this thread remaining live for long , but let me get in while I can )

At last - a common sense comment rather that the emotional "I can't afford to fuel my car cr@p"

I don't like paying through the nose for fuel any more than the next man but reducing resources, 3rd world expansion and the fact that governments need to get money to run the country from somewhere are the facts of life.

It is a bit of a shock to be paying £70 to fill up but in real terms I dont think we pay a huge amount more gthan we did years ago. Inflation of course but also car design- one of my first cars was an 1100 cc Escort van- struggled to cruise at much more than 60 and also struggled to get more than 30mpg. My 2 CV gave about 40 driven with any brio- and it weighed probably 600kg . Yet I now drive a lardy 1500kg 4wd Yeti which driven at same speed as a flat out 2CV would give 55 + and driven briskly gives high 40s. Consider also the quite astonishing performance high end turbo diesels have- stuff like BMW 330D. Monster go and 40 odd mpg. That much go would have cost 10-12mpg 40 years ago.

Good argument.

my first car did less than 30 mpg - mid 1970's simca 1100 with about 50 odd bhp. Current car, a mazda 3 TD does 53 mpg and has 109 horses. Can remember the exact price of fuel in 1978 but both cars are/were "typical" commuter cars and taking inflation in to account I don't think I spend a much bigger portion on my money on fuel.

Edited 24 March, 201214 yr by slider

What on earth is going on - we have diesel over 148p a litre here and the brave govt still say in august another hefty 3p will go top of whatever the price is and if that happens and the price is the same as now or higher then im afraid I will have to offload my yeti for a more fuel efficient car again.

Is there some backhand deal going on with the haulage industry as it seems eerily quiet from them and they were blockading refineries when the price was less than it is now !?

Fed up of it now.

You are aware that the deliberate and willful disruption of fuel supplies is now a terrorist act don't you?

As for petrol stations making huge profits. What else besides fuel do you buy in there? Food, coffee, sweets, a car wash? All items marked up by 3x to 6x which is where they make their money. Most retailers make less than 1p a litre. Most not even 0.5p and we're not talking small retailers. But the med sized branded one like you probably use.

As for petrol stations making huge profits. What else besides fuel do you buy in there? Food, coffee, sweets, a car wash? All items marked up by 3x to 6x which is where they make their money. Most retailers make less than 1p a litre. Most not even 0.5p and we're not talking small retailers. But the med sized branded one like you probably use.

Yup, Even supermarkets only use fuel to get people in the door, banking on you doing your shopping since your there anyway

People are calling for blockades, or let's not buy fuel on Mondays or similar which does what exactly? Eventually you still need the fuel, and during the last blockades helped raise prices as the oil firms cashed in.

Remeber that oil is pegged to the us dollar, which is losing value as inflation rises, ( quantitive easing just means more dollars getting printed, reducing the value in the process). Google the phrase "petrodollars" for some interesting reading!

You are aware that the deliberate and willful disruption of fuel supplies is now a terrorist act don't you?

But nothing to say the petrol stations have to serve it. They still receiving the fuel from the supplier but as they have brought it, they now own the fuel and it's up to them what they do with it. It's in their interest as well as its them who get the abuse from joe public. Their hands are tied as well Perhaps when they they give you your receipt they can print on there the complete breakdown of costs of who gets what so you can clearly see who's making the money.

From my car mpg history:

1987 1.6 petrol 33.8MPG petrol price about 38p / litre

1990 1.6 petrol 32.7MPG petrol price about 44p / litre

1992 2.0 petrol 27.6MPG petrol price about 51p / litre

1994 1.4 diesel 53.8MPG diesel price about 50p / litre

1997 1.6 petrol 34.2MPG petrol price about 60p / litre

1998 1.3 petrol 41MPG petrol price about 72p / litre

2000 1.8 petrol 34MPG petrol price about 75p / Litre

2004 1.6 petrol 41MPG petrol price about 80p / litre

2005 1.6 diesel 48MPG diesel price about 90p / litre

2008 2.2 diesel 46MPG diesel price about £1.11 / litre

2011 1.2 petrol 48MPG petrol price about £1.30 / litre

So prices are on the up and cars are getting more fuel efficient

Edited 26 March, 201214 yr by hertsnminds

As much as I enjoy driving a heavily modified fabia back and forth to work every day, I'll very soon be switching to pedal power as the car isn't very fuel efficient over short journeys.

Fuel price really starting to sting for me.

Same here, the fabia is not even warm when I turn it off at work. Think a petrol will be more suitable for my 15min journey each day. The problem is I dont want to drive something slow and boring lol.

142.9 at Sainsburys in Gravesend this morning. It's usually a lil' cheaper than that as Asda's auto-forecourt down by the river.