Eastlife February 2019

Martin Lewis Talks...
5 ways to drive down
the cost of motoring
Consumer
Petrol prices are up, car insurance prices are
up, breakdown costs are up – but don’t
let it get you down. There are many ways to
slash the cost of motoring. As we don’t get
an annual bill for our car, the cost just comes
in dribs and drabs, few people focus on it –
even though that bill would likely be £1,000s.
This means the savings can be huge.
The drastic action is to do what I’ve done, and get rid
of your car altogether. Though to be fair, for me that’s
because I try and walk everywhere as I’m addicted to
hitting my 20,000 steps a day target. So let me show
you five easy ways to put the brakes on your
vehicular costs.
1) Don’t overpay on breakdown cover
Roadside recovery policies are especially important right
now at the coldest point of year. Back-up in case your
car fails is important, especially if you rely on it for work
or the kids. Most people stick with the big names, but
if you’re willing to shift away from them you can make
large savings. A year of cover at www.autoaidbreakdown.
co.uk costs £48 - not much more than the basic policies
with the big firms - and it includes home start and
onward travel and includes cover for you and your spouse
(including civil partners) at no extra cost. Call-out times
are said to be roughly similar too.
If you are with the big firms, and want to stay that way,
then the golden rule when it comes to renewal is to
haggle. The success rates of those who try are incredible,
in my most recent poll on it 87% of www.rac.co.uk and
90% of www.theaa.com customers who tried succeed.
Alternatively if you just want a basic AA or RAC policy,
new customers buying through cashback sites
www.topcashback.co.uk or www.Quidco.com can
effectively reduce the price to as little as £20 a year after
cashback (it changes daily). So if you were to alternate AA
one year and the RAC next, you can play this out.
2) Find the cheapest fuel
To find the cheapest petrol and diesel near you in
seconds, use the nifty tool on www.petrolprices.com.
Create a free account, enter your postcode and select
how far you’re willing to travel to a forecourt (5, 10 or 25
miles) - the difference between best and worst can be
huge. It’s also worth checking whether supermarkets are
giving out discounts if you spend over a certain amount.
3) Drive efficiently and save
How you drive is the biggest single factor affecting your
fuel costs, and in extreme cases people find they can
save 30% when they change their driving habits.
• Accelerate gradually without over-revving (think of the
accelerator as a money pump)
• Change up a gear earlier than feels natural, this keeps
the revs and the cost down
• Think about your road position, so you can keep
moving rather than stopping and starting.
• Slow naturally where safe instead of hitting the brakes
(braking late is just burning money you’ve spent to make
your car accelerate)
4) Free Halfords winter car check
Halfords.com is offering a free ‘£15’ winter car check,
which includes checks to your battery, bulbs, wiper
blades, oil and screen wash levels. There’s no need to
book in advance, though you can do so online if you
want, and the check should take about 15 minutes.
There is no obligation to buy anything, but be prepared
that staff might try to upsell to you. The winter car check
is on until spring.
5) Two or more cars at home? Check multi-car
Never auto renew car insurance, especially now as
prices could be rising. Instead my normal solution is
check you’ve the right cover (don’t assume third party is
cheaper), and search by combining the right comparison
sites – see my full guide at www.moneysavingexpert.
com/carinsurance You should also add in www.directline.
com and www.aviva.co.uk which the comparison sites
don’t include.
Martin Lewis is the Founder and Chair of
MoneySavingExpert.com. To join the 13 million people
who get his free Money Tips weekly email, go to
www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip
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