Making big motoring savings
With recent research showing that it will cost the average driver £5,000 each year to keep and run their car, many motorists are looking on ways to cut out some of these costs.
Depreciation, motor insurance, tax, servicing, fuel, MOTs and general maintenance all contribute to this rather frightening figure. Unfortunately, the situation only looks to get worse, with maximum MOT prices set to increase by 14%.
There are lots of little savings that motorists can make which can add up to make quite a difference. For example, choosing to walk to the local shops rather than driving or checking www.petrolprices.com for the cheapest petrol stations in the area can be effective money-saving tactics.
However, although these small savings are a nice bonus, for most drivers they won't make up the majority of the £5,000 that a car costs to keep. Thus, duck2water Car Insurance Services is going to take a look at the simplest ways that drivers can make the biggest savings on their ever-mounting motoring bill.
Fighting depreciation
UK drivers apparently love nothing more than a brand new car in their driveway and more than 2.4 million new motors were bought in 2005. It's hard to tell whether these purchases are prompted by a craving for that certain new-car smell or people are just hoping to get kudos from their neighbours, but whatever the reason, many drivers happily pay out thousands of pounds the privilege.
As soon as a car's wheels leave the forecourt, it is likely to have lost about 20% of its value. The first tip that could well save you £4,000 to £5,000 is to consider whether you really need to buy an absolutely brand new car. If you choose a car that is under a year old but not brand new, someone else will pay the initial driving-off-the-forecourt loss and you can get a good deal. You can even still have a car with the same number plate year if it is for the benefit of the neighbours.
However, if your heart is well and truly set on a brand new car, there are still ways to reduce the effects of depreciation. Prestige cars - like Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and Porsche - lose value much more slowly than middle-of-the-range motors. Whilst a 1 year old Mercedes will be worth 10% less than the price it was bought for, a mid-size family car will probably have lost a full quarter of what it was bought for.
Like prestige cars, small cars such as Citroen Saxos and Mini Coopers also do not depreciate very quickly, although for a different reason. Put simply, small cars are generally relatively cheap so do not have much value to lose. This makes them a quite good choice if you are after a low cost new car that will hold its value decently.
Getting a cheap car insurance deal
The other area in which there are huge savings to be had is that of motor insurance. Quotes for car insurance can vary wildly and it's easy to accept one that is less than the best just because it is quicker or it your usual insurer.
To demonstrate the sizeable differences that can exist between insurers, I got 15 car insurance quotes. As a 20-something female Audi driver with no motoring convictions, I was given quotes that varied between £313.95 and £982.24.
Young drivers and male motorists are likely to have even more variation in the so-called cheap car insurance quotes they are given and differences of £1,000 between quotes are not unheard of.
The key to getting a really cheap car insurance quote is spending a few minutes getting quotes from as many places as possible. As can be seen from the prices I was given for Audi car insurance, insurers varied greatly in their assessment of my risk of having to make a claim. This means there is plenty of opportunity for savings in this area.
If you normally get your car insurance quotes over the phone rather than the net, you may also find that by changing your buying habit, you can pay 10% less with one of the companies which reward drivers who get their motor insurance online.