
Cheap Petrol & Diesel
Cut prices & improve fuel efficiency
With the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures across the UK, you may be considering venturing further afield. And while fuel prices have started to rise again, it's still possible to save on filling up by buying in the right place. And if you take steps to drive more efficiently, it's possible to cut costs further...
Motoring & coronavirus
Motoring, like all forms of transport, has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. For more info on the rules, including MOT extensions and driving licence renewals, see our Life-in-Lockdown Help guide.
If your car hasn't been used much recently, there are a few checks you should do before you drive to make sure you're doing so safely and legally – for full help, see MSE Kelvin's Seven Lockdown Motoring Tips.
Some simple checks and adjustments to your vehicle can help reduce fuel consumption. (Thanks to the RAC for its input in compiling this list.) Combined with the tips below on driving more efficiently, these could help save up to 30% on fuel costs – and of course, they're a quick and painless way to benefit the environment too.
You can drive the same distance in the same car, without slowing down, but using less fuel – better for your wallet, better for the environment. The key is to drive smoothly. Here are the seven tips you need to know.

In many ways, this all comes down to one little rule of thumb.
Every time you put your foot on the accelerator, remember the harder you press, the more fuel you spend.
Just being conscious of this, and your road position, should massively increase how far you can drive on a tank of petrol.
While it's tricky to accurately gauge exactly how much you could save on fuel by making your car more fuel-efficient and driving more efficiently, the AA says when 50 of its staff undertook an eco-driving trial they saved an average of 10% in a week, and the biggest saving was a whopping 33%.
The real world impact: Martin's story
On an overseas holiday I got to test this, thanks to a sexy little digital display in my hire car which gave me a km/litre readout. For every trip, I drove normally on the way there and used the 'think when pressing the pedal' method above on the way back.
If you're thinking 'did he really bother while on holiday?' – yes I did, and I loved it. Luckily my girlfriend (now my wife) is very understanding!
The improvement was enormous. Overall, I drove about 500 miles, and the different 'efficiency' averages per litre of petrol were incredible: for normal driving, it was 11.2km per litre, but for efficiency-conscious driving, a remarkable 13.4km per litre.
Most intriguingly, the efficient driving didn't cost me any time at all, and on motorways my top speed didn't change. Others drove harder, only to brake harder at the next traffic light...
- Martin Lewis, MSE founder & chair
For more info on this read Martin's Petrol Efficiency Experiment blog. If you try this type of driving or want to share your experiences, go to the Driving Efficiently forum discussion.

The easiest way to find the cheapest forecourt in your area for petrol, diesel, super unleaded or premium diesel is by comparing prices using a nifty free tool.
Go to website PetrolPrices.com and after registering, enter your postcode and tell it how far you're willing to travel for fuel (up to 20 miles). It'll list the cheapest petrol stations in your area (it says the most up to date figures are displayed, which in practice seems to mean results are between one and four days old) and covers most of the 8,500ish forecourts across the UK.
A quick check before you need to fill up could save you some decent cash. For a Leicester postcode, the price of unleaded within a five-mile radius on Fri 28 August ranged from 106.7p/litre to 118.9p/litre. And while the difference per litre may be pennies, in terms of percentage that's an increase of about 14%.
Also keep an eye out for short-lived fuel discount promos that pop up from time to time. There aren't currently any on that we know of, but we'll publish details here when there are.
Use loyalty schemes
Buying petrol is a regular outlay, and you spend more on it in a year than you think – £30 a week is over £1,500 a year. As many petrol stations (including the supermarket ones) run some form of loyalty scheme, it's worth signing up to schemes for the forecourts you'll use most regularly to get a little bit extra back.
However, never choose a petrol station just for its loyalty scheme, as the difference is small compared to petrol price variance (also see the Loyalty Points Boosting guide).
Other filling-up tips
There are several other ways to cut the cost of petrol and diesel:
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Cashback credit cards pay you back each time you spend on them. They are a great way to shave the cost of your fuel, but ALWAYS abide by the golden rule...
Set up a direct debit to repay the card in full each month, so you never pay interest, which would outstrip any gain.
The reason card companies offer cashback or reward schemes is simple. They want to encourage you to spend on the card and pay them interest. The interest cost of all cashback cards dwarfs the cashback you'll earn. For full details on what to consider before applying, see Credit Card Rewards.
Each time you apply for one of these cards, you'll be credit-checked by the lenders. Multiple applications in a short period can impact your future ability to get credit. Read full details in the Credit Scores guide.
The easy way to pay off in full
It's easy to do this via direct debit, which allows the card company to take a variable monthly amount that corresponds with what you owe it. Sadly, some providers deliberately omit the 'pay off in full' option from direct debit forms, as it makes them less money. If that's the case, write 'pay off in full' on the form. They should honour it, but call up after a week or so to check they have.
The top cashback card
You can get 5% bonus cashback on everything you buy, up to a maximum £100 with our top pick American Express reward card. After the introductory bonus, cashback is then tiered up to 1%, though you need to spend £3,000+ per year to get any cashback.
Full details and more options in Top Credit Card Rewards.
An easy way to cut petrol costs is to drive less! One option is to share lifts to work with friends. There are a few sites that connect people doing the same journey.

- Liftshare
Register your details on Liftshare and enter the journey you'd like to share. Then check the results for matching commuters – it also lets you search for potential matches before registering.
The site's been going since 1998. It reckons a typical daily commuter sharing a journey can save about £1,000/year. It has a nifty savings calculator to help work out how much your journey costs, plus how much you could save by sharing.

- BlaBlaCar
Founded in France in 2006, BlaBlaCar came to the UK in 2011 and has 70 million members. You can search for potential matches without registering, but you'll need to register for free using Facebook or email if you want to get or give a lift.
Anything to watch for?
Be safe
The sites store details securely, but when it comes to travelling it's important to be vigilant. Arrange to meet for the first time in a public place, let friends or relatives know what you're doing and check their ID to ensure they are who they say they are.
Taking passengers shouldn't affect insurance
If you're giving a lift to someone and asking for a contribution towards petrol costs, the Association of British Insurers says that provided there's no element of profit, your car insurance is unlikely to be affected.
However, to be completely sure, check with your provider first.
'Do it – you'll be surprised'
Thanks to driving tips from @MoneySavingExp, I have saved myself £20 in fuel in 1 month, driving more carefully. Do it, you'll be surprised.
- MoneySaver @mathewhasker on Twitter
'I doubled my fuel economy!'
Over the last 2 years I have almost doubled my fuel economy, without changing vehicles.
1. I drive much more smoothly and don't overtake other car users just to get one or two places further along in a big queue.
2. I leave for work a little later and return home a little later – as a result I no longer spend 30 mins plus on a 4 mile crawl through stop/start traffic on a 26 mile (each way) commute into and out of Aberdeen.
My blood pressure is also lower
MoneySaver Caleypine
'20 extra miles per tank!'
Results I've got from trying to drive more fuel-efficiently. Most of this has been city driving:
Previously, 33-35 litres gave me around 215 miles.
Driving more carefully increased this to around 235 miles.
Turning engine off at lights increased my mileage to 293 miles.
- MoneySaver Krishna
MSE Challenge: The petrol diet!
Once you've read the steps above, why not try the petrol diet? No, we don't advocate swigging the stuff – it's a challenge on the MSE Forum, where MoneySavers share tips to help cut their annual fuel spend, track savings and inspire others.
The forum's proved hugely powerful in the past, seeing people work together to get debt-free, pay off mortgages and more. It's free to join, and open to all – see the Petrol/Diesel Diet discussion.
How much can you save?
The savings from following the five-step system can be huge. For someone who drives 15,000 miles a year averaging 35 miles per gallon (12.4 km/L), just buying petrol at the average UK price would cost £2,077 annually as of May 2020. Cutting this spend by 25% could save £519/year.
To work out the initial approximate cost of running your car, Gov.uk has a fuel consumption search tool (it's best for new cars) which will help you work out roughly how much it'll cost you to run your car. Motoring website Honest John also has a handy 'real MPG' section where drivers have reported the miles per gallon they actually get.
Fuel cost-cutting
ANNUAL MILEAGE | AVERAGE ANNUAL COST (1) | CUT FUEL COSTS BY 5% | CUT FUEL COSTS BY 20% | CUT FUEL COSTS BY 25% | POTENTIAL MAX SAVING |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5,000 | £692 | £657 | £554 | £519 | £173 |
15,000 | £2,077 | £1,973 | £1,662 | £1,558 | £519 |
30,000 | £4,154 | £3,946 | £3,323 | £3,116 | £1,038 |
(1) Cost of unleaded at 35 miles per gallon (12.4km/L) at 106.7p/L. Last updated: May 2020.
How does the cost of fuel break down?
Tax makes up a hefty portion of a litre's cost. The current fuel duty rate for petrol and diesel is set at 57.95p/L, and you pay 17.78p/L VAT on petrol and 18.64p/L on diesel.
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