£5 of petrol

[Palms]

I usualy put 20 minimum nowadays but if i borrowed a car from family or friends i would just put back in what i used which sometimes would only be a fiver. Also some people are just plain skint.

[Jasandjules]

londonbabe said:

Which surely means they cannot afford to run a car at all.
What else are they skimping on? Insurance?

If you're really that broke, sell your car and buy something cheaper.

No they probably pay for the insurance and MOT and road tax which is also why they are skint. They may need the car to get to work to pay for the road tax, MOT and insurance........

And cost to change may be prohibitive, along with the risk that any "cheaper" car goes wrong and requires money they don't have easily to repair.

Many people on this site are lucky to have no idea/experience about the above.

[Vince70]

Like previous posters have said its called living hand to mouth.

I'm a little bit more upmarket as its £10 for me nowadays but I don't worry about mine getting stolen it's just if my shed ends up in the scrap yard I wouldn't want to waste valuable beer vouchers on giving the scrap man some free juice.

Plus look on the bright side it makes the car lighter thus you get more miles for your fiver.

[sunnydude959]

Jasandjules said:

No they probably pay for the insurance and MOT and road tax which is also why they are skint. They may need the car to get to work to pay for the road tax, MOT and insurance........

And cost to change may be prohibitive, along with the risk that any "cheaper" car goes wrong and requires money they don't have easily to repair.

Many people on this site are lucky to have no idea/experience about the above.

+1

busses aren't always an option to get to work. Agreeing with Jasandjules, as PH'ers, we are relatively privileged in this sense.

[W124]

Lot's of people on this site still labour under the impression this country is some kind of meritocracy. Lot's of people very, very close to the line at the moment. They put a fiver in because they only have a fiver. It's rough out there.

[JagXJR]

Also I suppose depends on when people get paid, I get paid monthly so fill up every week (usually use nearly a tankful a week so cant last a month on one tank )

If you get paid weekly or by the job if trades-person, taxi driver ect then I can see why you would do this just to keep going

[blueg33]

Because its a service courtesy car and thats all you need to replace what you used?

Because your car runs better on super but the garage only has regular and you need fuel urgently

Because you forgot your cards and only have a fiver in your wallet

Because its a company car and you are about to quit your job and know you will be coming home on the bus

I have put £5 in for each of the above reasons

[CallorFold]

My average fill up seems to keep increasing.

When i first started driving i was putting about £10 a time in, that slowly rose to £20 a time, and now i don't bother putting less than £30 a time in because i find myself back at the petrol garage all too quickly.

[Mr Gear]

londonbabe said:

Turtle head said:

If people are living hand to mouth why would you have capital tied up in fuel if it can spent on food or heating.

Some people do live that close to the line.

Which surely means they cannot afford to run a car at all.
What else are they skimping on? Insurance?

If you're really that broke, sell your car and buy something cheaper.

Agree. It's pathetic. Sell the car and stop killing yourself for petrol. Buy food instead of fuel.

[GTIR]

I had a loan car from Mercedes and put £5 in it before I returned it.

[Efbe]

londonbabe said:

Turtle head said:

If people are living hand to mouth why would you have capital tied up in fuel if it can spent on food or heating.

Some people do live that close to the line.

Which surely means they cannot afford to run a car at all.
What else are they skimping on? Insurance?

If you're really that broke, sell your car and buy something cheaper.

what a self-orientated annoying post.

Outside of London, public transport is completely useless unless you are going from major city to major city.
Distances between home and work is also greater due to a reduced population deinsity.
People also earn less. When you have a £500 car, there is no step down.

honestly this kind of stty post really winds me up.

[SMcP114]

There really are some ridiculous threads on here lately.

There are 1000 reasons someone would put in a fiver of petrol, but no, "Sell the car, you can't afford to run it, what else are you skimping on, insurance?"

Jesus christ, go outside.

[jonah35]

backwoodsman said:

Why do people put £5 of petrol or diesel in cars?

At the most, you will do what, 40 miles.

I know petrol is expensive, I know you don't always need a lot, but I would never put in less than £10.

All you will do is drive to the petrol station far more often.

I also thought there was a 1 gallon minimum dispense, I know there was when I was younger.

Just seems like a rhetorical willy waving thread, no?

Because theyre skint
Returning a hire car
Topping up fuel theyve used in a mates car or family members car
Because they need change
So they can get off the motorway to a cheaper supermarket fuel station
Because theyve forgot their wallet so theyre using any change they have in the car

We all know the answers so its a bit of a stupid thread!!

[HTP99]

I find that in a new car, I sell them, anything under about £7 doesn't even register; Ive taken a car home which is a 25 mile round trip and the light has come on on the way back to work in the morning, shoved a fiver in and the light is still on.

[berlintaxi]

Mr Gear said:

londonbabe said:

Turtle head said:

If people are living hand to mouth why would you have capital tied up in fuel if it can spent on food or heating.

Some people do live that close to the line.

Which surely means they cannot afford to run a car at all.
What else are they skimping on? Insurance?

If you're really that broke, sell your car and buy something cheaper.

Agree. It's pathetic.

As is your post.

[Mr Gear]

berlintaxi said:

As is your post.

Glad you think so.

I never understood people who whinge about the price of fuel. It is entirely optional after-all. Nobody is forcing you to buy it.

[Crockefeller]

My mate does this. Hes not skint but hes the tightest man I know.
He said its psychological. By putting a fiver in he never uses the car when he could drive but doesn't need to.
Hes frugal with the central heating too....he opens the windows to let some warm air in during winter.

[Pork]

billzeebub said:

if I only had a fiver I would put that in. Once whilst at Uni I put 38pence in

Which supports my memory of this 2 lts minimum being true. All pumps say it, but IIRC, you can put a penny in (or at least you could when pumps went up in 1p's.

Of course, petrol might have been less than 14p a ltr when you were in Uni, I guess.

[blueg33]

Mr Gear said:

Glad you think so.

I never understood people who whinge about the price of fuel. It is entirely optional after-all. Nobody is forcing you to buy it.

It isn't entirely optional is it? It depends where you live. Say you have been brought up in a rural area with virtually no public transport, you get to 18 and need to find a job etc. How do you get to work, how do you even get to an interview, or to college, or school, or even to the cinema etc

As usual too many people with too much of a subjective un-thinking view

[The Moose]

g3org3y said:

The Moose said:

A mate of mine used to do this. Even if we were going a couple of hundred miles, he'd only put a fiver in and then fill up 30-40 miles down the road. I never did understand it.

Was the second place he'd do the 'proper' fill substantially cheaper?

Sorry - I mean fill up with another fiver's worth 30-40 miles later!

And no - inevitably, he'd say "fk it - it's more expensive here". Every fking time