February 8, 2022
Abby Nuttall
Driver Articles
Saving money in 2022 has become a priority for many people after an expensive start to the year and seemingly never-ending January. As life continues, as well as expenses and having to budget, Wessex Fleet looks at seven tips so you can save money on your car this year.
1. Tweaking Your Job Title
Insurance companies assess a wide range of factors when calculating how much your insurance will cost – this includes what your job title is and how much risk is associated with it.
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis gave tips on how to shave money off your car insurance by tweaking your job title. It should still accurately describe what you do, but for example, one user saved £100 by using “software” rather than “computer games”. Have a play around with titles in the remit of what you do to see what you could save.
2. Lease a Car Rather Than Buying One Outright
Are you in need of buying a new car but can’t afford to buy one outright? Leasing with car finance can be a great way to rent one with lower monthly payments for a set period of time – and then if at the end of the agreement you decide you want to keep it, you can. You can choose between hire purchase (HP) and personal contract purchase (PCP) to decide which is best for you and your financial situation.
Car finance options usually have a warranty for a few years, so any repairs or maintenance will be covered, leaving you less unexpected payments.
3. Keep Tyres Inflated
The average daily price for a litre of fuel has risen to an all-time high in the UK at around 147.64p. While your demand for fuel can depend on uncontrollable circumstances like travelling for work, there are several tips you can follow to reduce fuel consumption:
- Keep your tyres inflated to their recommended capacity. Low tyre pressure can increase the drag on your car, which uses more fuel.
- Keep car clutter to a minimum and remove anything you have stored away unnecessarily so it takes less effort for your car to travel.
- Try not to use air conditioning where possible, especially at lower speeds, as this uses more fuel.
- Use petrol price websites to see which garages and supermarkets offer the cheapest fuel in your area.
- Drive economically to minimise the amount of fuel you use – braking and accelerating harshly over long periods of time can be a drain. Taking your time with increasing and decreasing your speed will help reduce the amount of fuel you use.
4. Add Experienced Drivers to your car’s insurance
Did you know that insurance companies reduce their prices if you add a driver with experience and a clean driving license? This is because insurance companies assume you’ll spend less time driving and therefore have less chance of having an accident as you are sharing the vehicle. With their permission, you should experiment by adding different friends or family members to your policy.
5. Shop Around for Car Insurance to Save £264 on Average
Depending on your age, driving history, the car you drive and even your job, your car insurance can get pretty expensive. Even if it’s lower than others, it is still an important outgoing to consider when budgeting. The best way to save on your car insurance is by comparing prices online. Using comparison websites can show you the best possible deals considering your information, which can save you up to £264 on average. If you’re a young or new driver, you could consider getting a black box installed to keep costs down.
Just make sure the cheapest option you’d prefer has the best cover for you – you might even get freebies by using particular providers, so have a shop around before you buy an insurance product.
6. Save £182 By Washing Your Car at Home
Depending on the type of car wash you visit, you can save a solid amount of money by doing the job yourself at home instead. As experts suggest you should wash your car every two weeks to stop dirt and grime building up on the bodywork, it could end up costing you £182 a year if you visit an Automatic Wash and Dry at a BP or Shell garage every fortnight, at £7 per time.
This cost will rise significantly if you get your car valeted each time to clean both the interior and exterior, including polishing and waxing, with the average cost of a full valet in London coming to £45. Using the same fortnightly example, this would cost £1,170 across the space of a year.
Washing your car at home instead is a very straightforward task. The shampoo and wax you’ll need is also very cheap, in comparison to visiting automatic or hand car wash locations on a regular basis.
7.Transition to an EV and Save £1,038 Per Year
Although it will cost more in the short term to buy an EV if you decide to go with an outright purchase, you can save a lot of money in the long run by switching to an electric vehicle (EV). It has been estimated that you can save around 11p per mile by driving an EV as opposed to a petrol alternative.
On the basis of the average British driver travelling 7,600 miles per year, a saving of around £858 on fuel costs can be made by swapping to an EV. If you then charged your EV at home, the annual electricity cost would be averaged at £342, while the equivalent in petrol costs would be £1,200.
To add to this, you can also save on vehicle tax, as zero-emissions electric cars do not pay any road tax – saving £180 in the first year and £150 each year after that, compared to most petrol and diesel cars. Therefore, with fuel and tax savings considered, you could see yourself with a saving of over £1,000 per year.
You can also receive a government grant of £1,500 to help reduce the price when buying a new EV if you meet the requirements, such as the car costing £32,000 or less and having CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km.