13 ways to cut down on your driving costs

As pop singer Yazz once sang, the only way is up, and the same seems to apply to the general costs of living in the UK. From groceries to electricity bills, all of us are being hit by the rise in living costs. Drivers especially are facing the crunch, so to help, we’ve compiled a list of 13 straightforward things you can do to lower your driving costs.

The cheapest fuel prices are typically found on supermarket forecourts. Some newer cars allow you to see the price of petrol on your infotainment screen, but you can also find out which petrol stations offer the cheapest fuel by using websites such as petrolprices.com.

You’ll need to create an account (this can be done very easily) and once you’ve entered your location, you'll have access to the prices of all the nearest petrol stations near you.

Companies such as Esso also work in partnership with supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. You can scan your ClubCard or Nectar card at the till while at an Esso-branded service station and collect ClubCard or Nectar points while filling up. By collecting ClubCard points, you can build them up and convert them into vouchers that you can eventually use on fuel. You can also spend Nectar points for a 5p per litre discount.

Leasing or hiring a car in the short term is a cost-effective approach to getting behind the wheel without having to spend a lot of money.

Leasing is an affordable way to access a new car. You pay via fixed monthly payments and can lease a car for as short a time as three months. The main difference between personal contract purchase (PCP) finance and leasing is that you are essentially renting the car and therefore don't have the option of owning the car outright after you have finished your contract.

Specialists say that leasing works out to be 35-55% cheaper than if you were to buy one with a loan.

Some leasing dealers also offer service and maintenance packages such as MOT, servicing and tyre replacements and breakdown and roadside assistance – potentially saving you more money compared with buying these services separately.

Car insurance, particularly for younger drivers, can be one of the biggest costs when it comes to driving. When receiving a quote, try to haggle with your provider to reduce your overall costs.

You can tweak certain information, too. If you aren’t hitting your usual mileage goal, lower it; if you cover fewer miles each year, you pose less of a risk. You can also increase your voluntary excess, at least to an amount you can afford if you do make a claim.

You can also alter your job description, because this can lower your quote. Don’t lie about what you do for your job, but if there are a number of ways you can describe your role, pick the closest titles that reflect it.

When receiving your auto-renewal quote, try giving your insurance company a ring to haggle and lower the price you pay. Have a look around at other comparison sites while you're at it, because they might be able to offer you a cheaper deal, in which case, make the switch. Try to secure the policy quickly, because some companies offer these prices only for a short while.

Potholes are one of the most common reasons for damage to a car’s wheels and tyres.

A recent What Car? investigation revealed that more than 145,000 claims for vehicle damage due to potholes were lodged between 2018 and 2021. More than £12 million in compensation was paid out as a result of this.

If your car becomes damaged due to a pothole, you might be able to claim compensation. You’ll need to report the pothole to the relevant council. If it believes you have a valid claim, it will send you a damage report form. You’ll need to provide copies of estimated invoices for the repairs to your vehicle, a current MOT certificate and photos of the damage. You should also take photos of the pothole, showing its rough size, shape and depth.

To report a pothole, you can find the council responsible for the road using the gov.uk website. If it’s on a major A-road or motorway in England, contact Highways England. For potholes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, you can find the relevant contact on the Transport Scotland website, Traffic Wales or the Department for Infrastructure for Northern Ireland.

While it's convenient to find the closest parking spot to your destination, parking fees can be costly. To help with this, there are certain apps such as Parkopedia and JustPark that allow you to check if there are any cheaper parking spots nearby.

You might be able to save some money by parking a little farther away than you usually would.

It’s worth adding an experienced driver to your insurance policy (particularly if you’re a new or young driver), because this can significantly reduce your premium.

You can also add a partner or other family member. However, it’s worth noting that the main driver is not the same as a named driver. The main driver is the person doing most of the driving, while a named driver is someone else who might drive your car from time to time.

Doing this balances the risk between you and the named driver, because it is likely that you will spend less time driving due to the car being shared, placing you in a lower-risk category.

You can add a named driver when you apply for a new policy, or you can simply contact your insurance provider. It's likely you'll be asked about the named driver’s driving history, and you might be charged a small fee to add someone else to your policy, but your overall insurance quote should be lower.

According to the Driving & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), almost half of all MOT test failures that occur could be avoided if the owner carried out regular maintenance checks.

Simple things such as checking oil and coolant levels, ensuring lights are working and carrying out tyre pressure and tread depth checks are all fairly straightforward things you can do easily at home to ensure that your car doesn’t fail on minor issues that could have been prevented.

Taking your car through a car wash or paying someone to do it for you may be easy, but the average cost of a basic car wash in the UK is £6.50. If you calculate the annual cost if you were to get your car washed fortnightly, that would total £156.

Instead, why not roll up your sleeves, grab your sponge and wash it yourself? Luckily for you, we’ve got the perfect guide on how to wash your car, as well as the best car shampoos to use.

If you notice you’ve got a dodgy tyre or a windscreen chip, you’re better off getting it sorted early rather than delaying it, because it could get worse and turn a simple repair into a more extensive (and costly) one.

The tyre could end up having to be replaced with a new one, for example, when it could have been repaired, or the windscreen chip could form into a larger crack, resulting in you having to pay to have the whole thing repaired.

Driving gently reduces your fuel consumption by around 15%. There are some simple ways you can adapt your driving, such as pre-planning journeys to improve your fuel efficiency and get as many miles as possible from each tank of fuel.

If you plan to drive into central London, you’ll need to pay the London Congestion Charge, which is £15 per day, but you could park outside the zone and take public transport into it, saving you from having to pay the charge.

The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) also means that you could end up paying a charge if you enter the zone in a car that doesn’t meet ULEZ standards. This is a daily fee of £12.50, so it’s worth checking that the area you’re travelling into doesn’t count as a ULEZ.

Although this covers London now, other cities such as Manchester and Aberdeen are looking at bringing in cleaner air zones later this year.

Premium fuel has a higher octane rating than regular petrol and is claimed to offer better performance for your car, as well as engine protection and cleaning qualities.

However, for most of us, the reality is that you’re unlikely to see much of a difference. Instead, you’ll be paying around 10p per litre more, and considering the already sky-high fuel prices, you’re better off sticking with regular fuel.

Research does suggest that high-octane fuel might be beneficial once in a while, but it's worth checking your manufacturer's handbook to see what it suggests.

If you find that you don’t drive on a regular basis, perhaps consider sharing a car with someone in your family. You’d be saving a significant amount of money on car insurance, road tax, fuel and maintenance, as well as the car itself.

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