So what price would fuel have to be for you to stop driving?

So what price would fuel have to be for you to stop driving?

Author
Discussion

MGgeordie

Original Poster:

939 posts

185 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
Just wondering really.....stuck £40 in the ZT the other day & the needle didn't quite reach half way at £1.39 a litre. Ok, so I still need my car & do still enjoy going for a Run in the MGF or the Eunos but I am finding that where I can I'm starting to walk or considering booking train tickets weeks in advance for long journeys.

If it gets to say £1.75 a litre then drives out for pleasure would be very few & far between and long car journeys would become much less frequent. Of course I could sell all 3 cars as none are fantastic on fuel & go & buy a Citroen C1 but that would lead to zero driving pleasure IMO!!

Obviously very well off people won't really be affected, but as an average Joe public like Me, what price would it have to get to before you looked at alternatives or giving up all together? Also, does anyone reckon it would ever get to £2 a litre in say the next 5 years?

ben5732

763 posts

157 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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Luckly don't need my car for work only really have it for enjoyment and holidays so i honestly don't know. If i did when it reaches £1.75 id have a serious think about using public transport... *shudder*

Liquid Tuna

1,400 posts

157 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
I don't think I'd stop. I think I'd just reduce the amount of driving I do, until eventually the cost of fuel is so high I'd only use it for emergencies, say getting to hospital if I was bleeding to death or something.

sw67

299 posts

160 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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We have been paying the same amout for fuel for the last 10 years but due to changes in cars and work now do 16,000 miles rather than the 28,000 miles we used to do.

Going for a run Is a non starter these days - not because i cant afford it but because its very poor value for money

GT03ROB

13,268 posts

222 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
MGgeordie said:
Also, does anyone reckon it would ever get to £2 a litre in say the next 5 years?
I'd say thats fairly certain. frown

DaveZT260

591 posts

150 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
For most people a car is an essential as is the wife's Mini Cooper which is in daily use so no matter what price fuel gets to it will have to be filled.

My ZT is my toy so in the grand scheme of things it doesn't cost me much in fuel despite it being very thirsty.

I use a Vespa PX scooter on a daily basis in all weathers except ice and snow. This is my other love and costs me at the most a tenner in go go juice a month and a bit in two stroke oil every three or four months...

mnkiboy

4,409 posts

167 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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I probably only use around 100 litres per month, so an increase to £1.75 would only add around £35 to my fuel costs. I'd complain, but it wouldn't stop me from commuting to work in my car, and the occasionaly pleasure trip.

At current costs, we still find that taking the car is cheaper (in fuel) than two train tickets. Fuel prices would have to increase a lot more before a serious amount of people start ditching their cars.

Dave Hedgehog

14,569 posts

205 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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£3.00 before i would change my habbits

J4CKO

41,628 posts

201 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
I stop driving every day, I save my car for when I actually need it and the rest of the time I am lucky to be able to work from home or cycle the seven miles to work. I am in the car today as I am going out with colleagues for a meal after work and didnt fancy a costume change and will be back late, this means that the £90 I put in five weeks ago has not all been used.

I dont think many people, apart from those who live and work in a town can really totally do without, not without significant disruption to their lifestyle.

People will moan, I speak to people who complain about how much it cost to fill up and then see them drive the 1/4 mile for a paper, my wife invariably drives the 0.7 miles to work which means crap economy and wear, she understand the possibility but until her car complains expensively the connection wont be made, ten 0.7 mile journies a week are not a good idea but it saves her 10 minutes either way.

We have ot lazy and unimaginative in this country with regards to car usage, almost as bad as America where a lot of places dont have any footpaths and you get the Police stop and ask you what you are doing if you are on foot, the implication is that you have escaped or broken down.


DanDC5

18,806 posts

168 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
I'd still drive but possibly go over to the dark side and get my bike licence for weekend use. Can have fun, apparently anyway, and it'll use a lot less fuel.

J4CKO

41,628 posts

201 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
DaveZT260 said:
For most people a car is an essential as is the wife's Mini Cooper which is in daily use so no matter what price fuel gets to it will have to be filled.

My ZT is my toy so in the grand scheme of things it doesn't cost me much in fuel despite it being very thirsty.

I use a Vespa PX scooter on a daily basis in all weathers except ice and snow. This is my other love and costs me at the most a tenner in go go juice a month and a bit in two stroke oil every three or four months...
I liek the idea of a Vespa, tell us more !

MGgeordie

Original Poster:

939 posts

185 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
DaveZT260 said:
For most people a car is an essential as is the wife's Mini Cooper which is in daily use so no matter what price fuel gets to it will have to be filled.

My ZT is my toy so in the grand scheme of things it doesn't cost me much in fuel despite it being very thirsty.

I use a Vespa PX scooter on a daily basis in all weathers except ice and snow. This is my other love and costs me at the most a tenner in go go juice a month and a bit in two stroke oil every three or four months...
A ZT260 would have to be a toy, mine is only a paltry 1.8 120 so average of 34mpg is probably dreamland for you. Very nice choice of car though! thumbup

falkster

4,258 posts

204 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
I don't think there is a price to make me stop driving, I drive my daily very seldom unless it's the commute but the commute, at the moment, doesn't make it worthwhile for me to get the train - longer journey to work but the return is quicker but busier.
I car share upto 3 days a week but as little as once a week. Possible £60 saving.

dirty boy

14,703 posts

210 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
We have ot lazy and unimaginative in this country with regards to car usage, almost as bad as America where a lot of places dont have any footpaths and you get the Police stop and ask you what you are doing if you are on foot, the implication is that you have escaped or broken down.
People look at me with that "are you mental?" expression when I say I bike the 6 miles to work.

I walk to the shops for milk and bits (5 mins each way) I even bike to my mums if I go without the kids, 8 miles.

Even the wife has started cycling to work (3 miles for her) the two days she does work.

More through trying to be less lazy than save petrol though.

Amazing what journeys people do in the car, my neighbour drives, yes drives 400m to the pub for one pint. Now that's mental.

Donatello

1,035 posts

162 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
I think when it is £1.75 a litre I would drive less and above £2 I would probably avoid driving.

It is sad, but I'd imagine by the time I'm 40 (18 years time) I will probably not be driving at all? (That hurts frown....)

Captain Muppet

8,540 posts

266 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
When it gets to a tenner a litre I'll only be using the car for fun. I'm not going to waste the stuff sitting in traffic getting to work. I can get the car warmed up, do a nice bit of B-road and get back home on a litre in the Elise - a tenner a week for the joy of driving seems OK to me.

If it gets much above that I'll have to have a serious think about getting a tiny engined motorbike instead. Or more likley I'll already have a tiny engined motorbike for commuting.

Amateurish

7,755 posts

223 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
£4-£5 a litre I reckon would be the point at which I would stop driving to work and take the train instead.

falkster

4,258 posts

204 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I liek the idea of a Vespa, tell us more !
Unless you bought a very cheap one it would still take a long time to pay for itself and the longer your journey the more you save but the less enjoyable the commute is.

MGgeordie

Original Poster:

939 posts

185 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I stop driving every day, I save my car for when I actually need it and the rest of the time I am lucky to be able to work from home or cycle the seven miles to work. I am in the car today as I am going out with colleagues for a meal after work and didnt fancy a costume change and will be back late, this means that the £90 I put in five weeks ago has not all been used.

I dont think many people, apart from those who live and work in a town can really totally do without, not without significant disruption to their lifestyle.

People will moan, I speak to people who complain about how much it cost to fill up and then see them drive the 1/4 mile for a paper, my wife invariably drives the 0.7 miles to work which means crap economy and wear, she understand the possibility but until her car complains expensively the connection wont be made, ten 0.7 mile journies a week are not a good idea but it saves her 10 minutes either way.

We have ot lazy and unimaginative in this country with regards to car usage, almost as bad as America where a lot of places dont have any footpaths and you get the Police stop and ask you what you are doing if you are on foot, the implication is that you have escaped or broken down.
Totally agree, if I have to go for a paper or worked a couple of miles from home then I would walk. My missus thinks I'm mad if I have to pop to the bank in town and I choose to walk (its a 5 mile round trip). But 5 miles is not a great distance and I also find its a means of excercise which so many people seem to miss out on doing these days!!

DaveZT260

591 posts

150 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I liek the idea of a Vespa, tell us more !
I've always been a bit of a closet scooter boy and owned many Vespas over the years but I don't do all the chrome mirrors et al!!!

I'll post a piccie up later when I can :-)