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

[angusc43]

The vast majority of my miles in the E Class are done 4-up when I'm talking the wife and kids somewhere. Can't see that changing much.

If we use a car for short urban journeys we use the Clio, but then mostly because kids are involved.

Other that that it's commuting on a bike or using public transport - and where we are there's loads of it - two tube lines, two overland London train links, several major railway stations and stacks of buses.

[aka_kerrly]

To be honest even if fuel was £10 a litre I would still drive places, just not as often and i'd cut the fleet of cars down to 1 practical (uber cheap runner) and 1 special.

[HairbearTE]

I'm spending £400 a month on petrol commuting to work. When that goes over a monkey I'll quit and find something closer to home. It's just not worth it anymore :-(

[pthelazyjourno]

£3 a litre in the near future would make me think twice about joy rides.

Then again, at that price I'd imagine the roads would be a bit clearer...

As for travel - if I travel into London during peak time, it costs me £75 by train. If I go by car, it's £25 in petrol.

Off-peak and booked in advance I'd go by train, as I can get it for £20odd quid and it's considerably quicker - 55mins rather than 2 hours.

[nonuts]

This was part of my reason for moving to somewhere I can walk to work, means that petrol is either for fun or for going to the shops etc. so I doubt my habits will change. That being said after the trip to the Sunday Service (the long way) I am aware that hoons are quite expensive in a car that is averaging ~18mpg.

[Grovsie26]

Never, ill just use it less.

I cycle to work and generally try and use it as little as poss now. 1 and a half tanks has lasted me 2 months.

[SturdyHSV]

Dan_1981 said:

I look at it the other way - i'm currently looking at buying something that if I abuse it will return single figure mpg and if i'm nice to it i might push it over 20mpg.

Face it - it'll never ever be as cheap as it is now to run a thirsty motor.......

I like, and agree with, the cut of your jib. Looking at anything in particular?

[martin84]

The answer to this question is relative isn't it? If my bank balance read 'many millions' then the price of fuel would be irrelevent.

[Dan_1981]

SturdyHSV said:

Dan_1981 said:

I look at it the other way - i'm currently looking at buying something that if I abuse it will return single figure mpg and if i'm nice to it i might push it over 20mpg.

Face it - it'll never ever be as cheap as it is now to run a thirsty motor.......

I like, and agree with, the cut of your jib. Looking at anything in particular?

Evo VI

[Decky_Q]

Im a feast and famine driver, if theres one bar left of petrol ill try to stretch it, but as soon as its filled its foot to the floor again till it drops a few bars

(ironically car is better hooning with less petrol)

I dont think Id change untill about £2/litre but would def be using a scooter or 125 when it hits £4+ and possibly dropping the car altogether if it ever gets over 10er, but Id imagine all sorts of social changes will have occurred and EVs will be better then oil fired by then so who knows.

[pilchardthecat]

nonuts said:

This was part of my reason for moving to somewhere I can walk to work, means that petrol is either for fun or for going to the shops etc. so I doubt my habits will change. That being said after the trip to the Sunday Service (the long way) I am aware that hoons are quite expensive in a car that is averaging ~18mpg.

The last time i moved house it cost something like £15 grand - estate agents fees, solicitors, removal vans, stamp duty, etc...... thats a lot of petril

i live 25+ miles from where i work and spend about £400 a month on cheese petril..... if i wanted a similar house within walking distance of the office i'd need to borrow another £100k probably...... add that to the cost of moving.... even more petril

[martin84]

Its certainly cheap to buy a thirsty car these days, if you can put up with high fuel costs you can get bargain motors. High fuel costs have damaged the market in the way that shoddy diesels are 'worth' money, people buy them and get stuck with big bills due to a highly reasonable attempt to save money.

Fuel (or specifically tax) has to start coming down soon anyway, I still feel we're not that far from riots as it is. People on the ground in cars are taxed about 4 times higher on their journies than people in the sky in planes. Couldnt make it up could you?

[Amateurish]

pilchardthecat said:

on cheese petril.....

Love that sketch

[crofty1984]

thinfourth2 said:

Where i live i have no alternatives to using a car as there is no public transport

Same here. Work out in the sticks, live in a city and commute out.
I'm not moveing to some village near work full of the newly bred and nearly dead just to make my commute cheaper. I'll just get a nearer job if I actually couldn't afford the commute.

[Captain Muppet]

Amateurish said:

pilchardthecat said:

on cheese petril.....

Love that sketch

Cheesoid hates self. Why cheesiod exist?

[chris182]

Well I find it is always cheaper to drive places in my Clio than it is to take public transport, and as fuel prices rise so will fares so I can't see me ending up on the bus for the foreseeable future. It would have to be <1/2 the cost of driving for me to even think about using public transport. The V8 might have to be rethought when petrol hits £2.50 a litre or so, but then the car will be worthless so I might as well keep it anyway. I can see me obtaining a 125cc bike for short town trips in the not too distant future, partly due to fuel cost.

[martin84]

If I used public transport to get to work - which is not far away - it'd cost me £8.50 a day in fares and take more than twice as long. It currently costs me about £7 a day in petrol. It was £5 a day in my old more economical car and if I had something like a 50mpg Fiesta it'd be more like £3.50 a day.

Yes theres more to it than petrol costs but when I get home having spent £7 I have a perfectly usable car which is useful for many things, where as with public transport I'd come home with a grotty ticket and a disease.

[Frances The Mute]

Dan_1981 said:

I look at it the other way - i'm currently looking at buying something that if I abuse it will return single figure mpg and if i'm nice to it i might push it over 20mpg.

Face it - it'll never ever be as cheap as it is now to run a thirsty motor.......

Eggs Zachary - which is why I'm shopping for an E39 M5.

The fact is that as the price goes up incrementally, the vast majority of us will just take the hit and continue to mutter in dissent, under our breath . If it were to increase at 20-30p a time, then more people would start doing without and sharpish.

I don't want to consider what would be the maximum I'm prepared to spend. Fact is I'm modifying my lifestyle etc to work around it.

I'm lucky I live in a village where all local amenities are to hand and my job is about to change to one where I work from home (which is a real blessing with a monthly commuting bill of over £500) so I shall aim to keep this balance for as long as I can.

[martin84]

If it gets so expensive that people start 'doing without' then the Government wont make extra money from price increases so then it'll have to come down. Theres no point in doubling your price if it results in half the sales.

[varsas]

martin84 said:

If it gets so expensive that people start 'doing without' then the Government wont make extra money from price increases so then it'll have to come down. Theres no point in doubling your price if it results in half the sales.

It would please the greenies though, wouldn't it? I believe modern rises to the tax on cigarettes is more about persuading people to give up then actually increasing revenue. Same with the setting of a minimum price for alcohol, about changing peoples behavior, not raising revenue. I might be wrong (or naïve..)?

You are also assuming oil will remain cheap. If oil suddenly costs 10 times as much (could happen if things get bad in the middle east or it just gets rare) the tax rate could stay the same or even go down hugely but the price we pay would still go up.