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How to save money on your car
Judging by the news at the moment, the two main concerns of the country seem to be the environment and the current financial climate. Nowhere are these two concerns encapsulated more neatly than in cars. How much damage is your drive to work doing to the environment? Why is petrol costing that much? Can they really charge you that for insurance? There’s no denying that the cost of cars, both to the environment and to your finances, is becoming an ever greater concern. But, before you start to panic, there are several simple and easy steps you can take to alleviate these concerns.
- Drive more economically: When you drag your mind back to driving lessons you can probably remember what they told you about economical driving. Drive in as high a gear as possible for your speed; avoid heavy accelerating and breaking, and so on and so forth. Many drivers have forgotten these simple lessons, but the difference it makes both to your fuel consumption, and to your driving ability itself, is staggering.
- Under pressure?: Studies show that pressure that's 3 pounds per square inch (psi) below the recommended reading may reduce fuel mileage by 1.5 percent. Some experts suggest even greater decreases. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that running tires at 20 psi or lower can easily cost you a full mile per gallon of petrol. Your car’s optimum tire pressure will be written somewhere on your vehicle, normally on a sticker inside the glove box door or on one of the doorposts. It's also in your owner's manual. Use a tire gauge to check your pressure once every thirty days and watch the money roll in.
- Be ruthless: Most people stick with the same insurance company year in year out, regardless of what other offers and deals there are out there. Move out of your comfort zone and take a look around the market to see what else is around. Comparison sites offer quick and easy ways to do this; simply type in details about you and your car and it’ll come up with page after page of alternative deals. Many dedicated providers have additional ‘extras’ thrown in to sweeten the deal. Kwik Fit Insurance, for instance, offer a courtesy car, full glass cover and 10% off any repairs made in a Kwik Fit garage when you take out one of their car insurance quotes from their website.
