Car running costs at an all time high

Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the ‘Ford Focus’
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...=feeds-newsxml

--
Simon Mason

Simon Mason wrote:

Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the 'Ford Focus'
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-motorists-hit
-hard-costs-soar-14-year.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

--
Simon Mason

lord knows how they are calculating that! fuel is high but not that
high. probably Depreciation which is a rather self imposed cost.

Roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

On 23/11/2011 08:41, Roger Merriman wrote:
Simon wrote:

Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the 'Ford Focus'
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-motorists-hit
-hard-costs-soar-14-year.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

lord knows how they are calculating that! fuel is high but not that
high. probably Depreciation which is a rather self imposed cost.

Such "findings" are always carefully constructed and contrived so as to
produce an attention-grabbing headline. A bit like bogus "commuter
challenges" in fact.

On Nov 23, 8:41*am, (Roger Merriman) wrote:
Simon Mason wrote:
Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the *'Ford Focus'
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...class-motorist...
-hard-costs-soar-14-year.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

--
Simon Mason

lord knows how they are calculating that! fuel is high but not that
high. probably Depreciation which is a rather self imposed cost.

Roger
--www.rogermerriman.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That is why I always buy second hand Alfas that are around two years
old.
That way you get a virtually new car for about half the new price.
Let some other mug take the hit.

--
Simon Mason

On Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:38:39 -0800 (PST), Simon Mason
wrote:

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the ‘Ford Focus’
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

The answer's in the question. Don't buy new cars. It's a shocking
waste of money, you lose 15-20% of the value as you drive off the
forecourt.

I always buy cars for cash. That way if the thing gets stolen or
something I am not left paying finance on an asset I don't have use
of. £11k bought me a nice top-spec V70, 70k on the clock, all the
toys. It's a perfect family car. For that money I don't think you'd
get a new base model Focus.

Guy
--
Guy Chapman, http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
The usenet price promise: all opinions are guaranteed
to be worth at least what you paid for them.

On Nov 23, 11:08*am, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:
On Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:38:39 -0800 (PST), Simon Mason

wrote:
"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the *‘Ford Focus’
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

The answer's in the question. Don't buy new cars. It's a shocking
waste of money, you lose 15-20% of the value as you drive off the
forecourt.

I always buy cars for cash. That way if the thing gets stolen or
something I am not left paying finance on an asset I don't have use
of. £11k bought me a nice top-spec V70, 70k on the clock, all the
toys. It's a perfect family car. For that money I don't think you'd
get a new base model Focus.

My 159 had just14k on the clock and was just £12k which is about half
of the cost when it was new.
It was an absoloute bargain, apart from the new timing chain it needed
recently, but that's nothing compared to the depreciation costs I
saved..

--
Simon Mason

JNugent wrote:

On 23/11/2011 08:41, Roger Merriman wrote:
Simon wrote:

Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the 'Ford Focus'
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-motorists-hit
-hard-costs-soar-14-year.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

lord knows how they are calculating that! fuel is high but not that
high. probably Depreciation which is a rather self imposed cost.

Such "findings" are always carefully constructed and contrived so as to
produce an attention-grabbing headline. A bit like bogus "commuter
challenges" in fact.

just noted the "to run a new family car" so that that.

Most of the commuter challenges are just fun, clearly a if your in a
urban eviroment you can chose a number of ways.

and equally sometimes journeys favour one form over another, my trips
down to wales favour the car, massivly last week I left work about
5.40pm fueled the car up and arrived at 8.30pm not bad though rush hour
M4.

train from work is 4 trains and a hour later to the train station,
another 30/45 mins taxi to my folks home or more likly since they where
in the area walk and hang around the bar trying not to fall asleep in my
pint!

way back left at 8.30pm after supper with folks and then fueled up -
chug down the M4 til home at 11pm.

by train i'd not get home til 6am so a bit pointless so i'd have gone
the next day early.

I took my bike on the back of the car, on train at rushhour can't
imagine i'd be popular nor would humping a fully laiden bike over 4
stations

plus the area around my folks is hilly, heavy bike plus a steep climb on
high gearing would not be great fun.

so for myself i always take the car as it, makes sence once i'm there
having the bike is fun, though the gradents means progress can be
somewhat slower in one direction!

Roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

On Nov 23, 7:38*am, Simon Mason wrote:
Yet more reasons to cycle to work.

"Drivers have endured a 14 per cent rise in the cost of motoring in a
year, the RAC reveals today.Among the hardest hit is the *‘Ford Focus’
family of middle-class car users. Motorists are paying £128.64 a week
on average to run a new family car, says the report.

That is equivalent to 55.74p a mile, with fuel being the largest
single cost rise.

The total bill of more than £6,600 a year means it now costs an
average of £1,556 more to own and run a new car than it did in 2007.
Fuel alone is 12.4 per cent higher than a year ago, while maintenance
costs are 8.8 per cent up.

The findings add to pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to use his
autumn statement to announce the scrapping of a planned 3p a litre
duty rise in January – with a further 5p to follow in August. As costs
go up, the value of the car itself is plummeting.

Depreciation, the rate at which a vehicle loses value, rose 16.67 per
cent in the past year, making it the largest single percentage
increase between 2010 and 2011."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...class-motorist...

--
Simon Mason

According to this week's Economist:
"Though filling up a tank feels like being gouged, motoring costs have
actually fallen in real terms over the past decade, according to the
Office for National Statistics, because new cars are cheaper. "

Who to believe... the Economist or the Daily Wail.....

On Nov 23, 12:16*pm, al Mossah wrote:
On Nov 23, 7:38*am, Simon Mason wrote:

According to this week's Economist:
"Though filling up a tank feels like being gouged, motoring costs have
actually fallen in real terms over the past decade, according to the
Office for National Statistics, because new cars are cheaper. "

Who to believe... the Economist or the Daily Wail.....- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So the planned tax hike of 8p a litre on motor fuel due next year will
be borne with good grace by your average driver?
I for one will welcome it since it would mean that I would be saving
even more cash by cycling to work.

--
Simon Mason

On 23/11/2011 12:28, Simon Mason wrote:
On Nov 23, 12:16 pm, al wrote:
On Nov 23, 7:38 am, Simon wrote:

According to this week's Economist:
"Though filling up a tank feels like being gouged, motoring costs have
actually fallen in real terms over the past decade, according to the
Office for National Statistics, because new cars are cheaper. "

Who to believe... the Economist or the Daily Wail.....- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So the planned tax hike of 8p a litre on motor fuel due next year will
be borne with good grace by your average driver?
I for one will welcome it since it would mean that I would be saving
even more cash by cycling to work.


The phrase “too little, too late” springs to mind. Fuel costs are only a
small part of the overall cost of motoring anyway.

It does strike me as ironic that the government has been trying
stimulate the motor industry with the scrapping scheme, but at the same
time wanting to reduce traffic and congestion, with congestion charges
and the so called, cycling super-highways.

If they actually wanted to do something of benefit to the majority, they
would price fuel out of the reach of normal people to be able to
undertake frivolous journeys such as taking the kids to school or going
to work. Until that happens, the traffic problem will only get worse.



--
Simon
For personal replies, please use my reply-to address.