david321 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Today’s big problem is to drive our vehicle, petrol prices are increasing daily, Really its very hard to afford a car or any vehicle. It’s a big question of today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 I had a few days in Exmoor a couple of weeks ago. Before I left to return home, I brimmed the tank as usual with diesel. On my arrival at home, I brimmed the tank again and found that it took £40.00 worth of fuel. Considering that I was towing the trailer as well, I didn't think that it was too bad. I cruised at about 60 mph using cruise control. Never bother to work out the fuel consumption though......lifes too short innit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 david321 - 2008-08-30 7:57 AM Today’s big problem is to drive our vehicle, petrol prices are increasing daily, Really its very hard to afford a car or any vehicle. It’s a big question of today If its that much of a problem buy a bike or an electric scooter. As far a fuel prices are concerned they are actually falling over here, 1.28€ this morning for diesel, we live in the 'sticks' so we need some sort of vehicle to get to the shops and we have a 15 year old Fiesta 1.8 diesel that does about 50 to the gallon, so can't complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Fuel prices sound to me like a 'conspiracy' They go up by 30p a litre - then down again by 10p a litre - and everyone feels better, just accepting the 20p rise as " not as bad as we thought" ( But all the other prices that went up because of the 30p stay at the same price ). :-| :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi David, It really bothers me too. My income (pension) is static compared to price increases and I dread fuel in the home costs this winter ... just lots of woolly jumpers I guess. I am considering a bike for small journeys where I won;t have to carry much, but don't know if healthy enough to make it worth my while. It would be an electric bike, but if I sit and work out how much petrol I could get for the cost - is it worth it? Hate having to work out every penny I spend ... never been like that in my life ... been a bit cavalier up to now. Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 In Belgium a Motorhome road tax is over £650 Euros a year and the fuel is about the same as here now! Im not saying that the price we pay for fuel is O.K. but I cant see it ever going back down again. One fellow Motorhomer we were talking to in the Mosel said that he thinks he will move to England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 There are ways and means of cutting the cost without giving up! There are plenty of hire companies around, some are offering low cost alternatives that can help with the wallet. We have a thing called 'low carbon drive' where you go to the motorhome in your fuel efficient car with the basic things you need - everything else is here ready for you! (bikes, games and the like) If you have a browse around a few companies online, i am sure you will find one that offers something similar. Find the one that suits you, and work out if it is cost effective for you to do it that way. You often find the vehicles may be available in the area you want to visit too, which would save fuel and travel time. Not a cheap fuel solution, but may help! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Hate to depress people more but diesel prices tend to have a seasonal rise in late Autumn as countries import more to keep warm over the winter. I'm budgeting for a 35% rise on the current 121.9 I'm paying at present. I expect my motorhome fuel bill to go to £145 per month for me. My servicing bills tend to be c£50 pm, my insurance £40 pm. All these added together are still less than the monthly depreciation. I think the good times are over for now. Perhaps we'll see more budget price motorhomes coming on the market. We used to buy Swift motorhomes, similar models now cost c£35,000. Now we have a £54,000 Hymer. That £19,000 would buy me an awful lot of fuel. What I am going to do is hold on to my Hymer for longer than the 5 years I intended. I'll probably buy a much cheaper van next time, some warmer clothes and sleeping bags to compensate for the loss of insulation, and then carry on with this great hobby. I'm lucky. I'm still working and debt free. I do feel for those on fixed or low incomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omidknight Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Yes agree. We sold our car about 2 weeks ago and now use public transport. The microwave had to be replaced since then so one of the 4 free buses that go to 2 different supermarkets was used to get another. Its suprising what you can get on a shopping trolley and the driver even lifted it aboard the bus. You can even chain it to the park bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Fuel tax and "green taxes" are a con. A while ago you could get an 80% grant to convert your petrol car to a dual fuel LPG/Petrol car. LPG is far cleaner than diesel as it produces virtually no particulates and has a little less CO2 than diesel. LPG produces far less CO2 than petrol and considerably less particulates. But what do our wonderful government do? Scrap the grants for LPG conversions and go for biodiesel that has to be grown instead of food. So now there is a food shortage and natural habitats are being destroyed across the world so that we in Europe can meet an EU set target for Biodiesel use. All this because the EU does not have enough agricultural land to grow it ourselves. Then we have congestion charges and the M25 LEZ where just using the wrong sort of vehicle can get you a fine of £200 a day. So if you have an older diesel MotorHome within the LEZ taking it out is now a tad more expensive than it was. And then we have the increase in the RFL for older cars, when analysis after analysis proves that running a car has far less environmental impact than building a new one (and transporting it halfway round the world!) - so we really ought to be running our vehicles for longer, not scrapping them and buying new ones!! And all the time on top of that the total fuel duty is circa 65%. So rather than supporting a fuel greener than most, they stop giving grants and simply tax the fuels at the pumps at circa 65% and fine those that cannot afford to. This when the top rate of income tax is 40% and you have to earn about £38,000 to hit that rate. BUT all you have to do to pay 65% tax is drive down the road to work or to school or the shops on on holiday. For the low paid and the young, this often means that they pay more in fuel duty than they do in income tax. Not surprising then that even dear Alistair Darling is now aware that most of us are truly “pi**ed off” with them. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry14 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Hi everyone, running your vehicle on gas is always an increasing cost, but there is a way that can be more profitable than this. Now you can easily use a system that allows you to convert your fuel costs to save huge amounts of running your vehicle. You can learn to build a simple inexpensive device, attach it to a vehicle's engine and convert that vehicle into a water-burning hybrid . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkmoy Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Wow! I've sent off my money and can't wait. Fancy this being kept a secret for all these years. I've spent hours in the past tuning carbs and doing all sorts of technical things to cars and all I needed was a jam jar and some baking soda. Helluva conspiracy by all these motor manufacturers. Can't work out why maybe just one of them wasn't tempted to incorporate it into the design though, just think of the advertising benefits of 50 percent more fuel economy. Or perhaps their designers and engineers didn't know about it? That's probably the reason, but the cat's out the bag now :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I'm surprised that a motoring magazine hasn't done a trial on the hydrogen gizzmo. I imagine that such a feature would generate lots of interest. (^) Perhaps I've stumbled on the secret project that Dave Newell is being so cagey about ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 bob b - 2008-09-01 6:48 PM (^) Perhaps I've stumbled on the secret project that Dave Newell is being so cagey about ! No, Dave's project is "out" now - have a look on p77 of a certain "practical" publication which we don't talk about on here. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I reckon that he should make the hydrogen wosname his next project in that case Tony. At best, the results would sell quite a substantial number of copies of the magazine. At worst, he could be the first motorhomer in space !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 THE HYDROGEN THING IS A SCAM - DONT BUY! The technology does work, but not sufficent to run a vehicle. To test the theory, the conversion was done by a lad i know, and no difference was made other than costing a fortune! But as he said, 'i tried, i found out!' There are many people trying to sell the technology online and taking peoples money.....ask yourself this 'If it really worked, why not sell to a car manufacturer rather than selling to average man in the street?' Mainly because it is unfounded as yet! Dont get taken in. If you want specifics i can get them and post them for you! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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