From the moment you hand over the money for your first car you will find yourself paying a variety of motoring related costs for the rest of your driving career from fuel to road tax, MOTs to servicing and more. Having your own transport, while essential for many and very useful for others may turn out to be quite a budget drain. To reduce the amount you spend on your vehicle this motoring money saving checklist could be worth a read.
Insurance
It is a legal requirement for all drivers to have insurance. While many assume that third party is cheapest this not always the case as fully comprehensive insurance does often come in as cheap or even cheaper.
Compare insurance prices using a variety of comparison websites to get the best price however remember that not all insurers are on theses websites and so some extra research may be worth-while.
Also ensure that when taking your insurance out that you firstly ensure that all details that are given are absolutely accurate as if they aren’t then this may affect your eligibility to claim. Also check all small print and exclusions so that you know what you are paying for.
Licences
Ensure that your driving licence information remains up to date. Drivers with incorrect information or expired licences could face up to £1000 worth of fines which would bump up your annual motoring spend quite a bit.
It is also important for new drivers to remember to upgrade their provisional licence for a full UK licence on passing their tests. The deadline for doing this is two years and for anyone who forgets an automatic six points will be applied which for new drivers equates to losing your licence and having to retake tests once more.
Fuel Costs
There are a number of ways in which you can cut the cost of your monthly fuel bill and these are just a few of them.
Shop around locally to find the best fuel prices as the difference between petrol stations may be quite substantial, especially between small independent stations outside of town and supermarket ones at a central location.
Utilise loyalty cards, cashback promotions and more to make the most of your fuel spends. Some people specifically use a credit card for fuel which offers a decent cashback rate and then pay the balance off in full every month. Money made or saved using tips and tricks such as this could be put against future fuel savings.
MOT, Service and Maintenance
It stands to reason that a car which is well maintained will run more efficiently fuel-wise saving you money and will cost less in the long run by reducing the need for sudden and expensive repairs. Diarise weekly, monthly and annual tasks to keep your car running as well as possible and to help you spot any minor issues before they become major ones.
A service is different to an MOT in that while a MOT checks a number of government chosen points to ensure that the car is safe to be on the road it doesn’t check everything. A service offers you a really good once over, again picks up issues before they become problems and helps to reduce the cost of your MOT.
Before booking your MOT check to see if there are any council-run MOT centres locally. These centres don’t undertake the repair work which results from the checks and so if you’ve been stung by mechanics in the past and want an unbiased MOT result this is the best way. Having had your checks done see how many minor repairs you are able to do yourself, sourcing parts cheaper from local dealers and auto-part shops and cutting the labour costs.
Don’t Use Your Car if You Don’t Need To
One of the best way to cut fuel use and wear and tear on your car is to not use it. Many people nowadays use a car share to get to and from work, for school pickups and for trips out sharing the cost of petrol etc which often works out cheaper. You could effectively halve some of your motoring costs here, it is better for the environment and if you walk instead of drive when you can it is of course better for your health.