Adrian F

i have stopped going out most weekends to events and stopped entering competions due to the cost of travel

As to the country being in debt being use to justify taking my wages from me in Tax, the situation cant be that bad as we can afford to give billions in foreign aid each year

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

We havn't changed tbh, but then for the last 6yrs we have been putting all of our funds on the £35k debt we had. Now we have £16k left to go.

We still go on yearly holidays, lunches, dinners.

We do however only buy what we need. Always stick to £50 (now £80) a week on food. We have always budgeted £50 a week for social and this rolls over if we don't go out.

Saying that though in the last 4yrs our house income has gone up by £40k.

pslewis

Truth is, painful as it may seem, Fuel Tax is an OPTIONAL tax .... some people take the steps and pay much less (like buying a quality diesel).

Others still continue to get shafted .... but they are slow to catch on and probably deserve all they get

If you don't like it - don't pay it - it IS entirely optional ......

tony de wonderful

Buying fuel is optional Pete, paying tax on it isn't.

pslewis

You know what I mean .... at 50mpg I now pay HALF as much fuel tax as I did when driving my Scooby - or course, the fact that the Impreza isn't the car it once was helped make my mind up.

But the residual loss on the Subaru was just so horrific that you were paying more fuel tax AND losing pots loads on resale!

It really is a no-brainer ....

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

A no-brainer maybe, but COMPLETELY misses the point so far as this thread is concerned, since it fails to take into account that a significant proportion of the people contributing to that 15% average national drop in fuel purchases may well have already switched to more economical vehicles, yet STILL can't afford to travel as far as they used to or would like to.

dagger

That would be me - I only do 60 mph on motorways, it's fookin boring, but have to save some dosh somehow

Leslie

Can't understand the statements that it is important that we stay in the Eu in order to use our influence to improve our lot.

Does "Dave" not realise that the people are intelligent enough to realise that with 10% of the seats in the European Parliament that our own influence is worth the square root of hardly anything at all?

Its the same old excuse that has been uttered by all the politicians over the years and one has to ask why they all find it so vital that we stay in Europe and it won't be very long now before they start to recommend full federation for the reasons that Monnet recommended were used when he first proposed a federated Europe just after WW2.

Wonder what advantages we shall see should it ever happen...God forbid!

Les

pslewis

I can do 100 MPH and still return 45mpg ...... no point having a fast car if you must drive slowly due to the fuel cost!!

At a constant 60 MPH I get 60mpg! But 45mpg is fine for me to zoom past all the crawling Scoobies

RA Dunk

Wind your neck in you old ****.

StickyMicky

Will a Civic derv even make it to 100 mph ?


I have had some pretty heft MTB crashes in the past 2 months, dislocated shoulder, 2 fractured ribs (separate occasions) and various other pain related injury's, this has actually helped my miles per tank, jump from 260-270 to 300 as i have been unable to use most of my gears, so i have been pulling away and just dumping it in whatever jigh gear i can manage

pslewis

The point I am trying to make is this:-

You can drive economical, better equipped, cars faster than a Scooby if you cannot afford the fuel so need to limit your use of the power available.

In everyday driving, a 50mpg car does exactly the same as an 18mpg Scooby - of that there is no doubt.

So, I'm not surprised that those with gas guzzlers are tapering their use ..... times have moved on.

tony de wonderful

A £50 street hooker does the same job as a £1000 high class escort....it's not quite the same though.

pslewis

If the £50 hooker looks like this and goes like a steam train:-

http://thewondrous.com/wp-content/up..._mendes_20.jpg

And the £1000 Escort looks like this and goes like an old Escort:-

http://ididafunny.com/wp-content/upl...n-pictures.jpg

THAT's the analogy you need to be using .......

Dirk Diggler 75

He can't it's too far up his anus.............

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

I made the point before, but since it seems to have gone straight over your head the first time I'll make it again. What evidence do you have that owners of gas guzzlers, as you put it, are responsible for more than a tiny fraction of the national tapering off in fuel consumption which has occurred?

pslewis

What evidence do you have that it isn't?

Logic dictates that someone who has made a concious decision to own a car doing 80mpg is less likely to need to cut back than someone 'stuck' with a gas guzzler doing 18mpg!!

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Logic also dictates that anyone who's made a conscious decision to own a car which has relatively poor fuel economy is confident that they can afford the extra cost, and conversely that anyone who's made a conscious decision to own a more fuel efficient car thinks the exact opposite, ie. that they'll struggle to meet any extra cost.

As for my lack of hard proof, I'm not the one who started off making sweeping claims about this or that type of car owner having cut back the heaviest on their fuel purchasing, so the onus isn't on me to come up with any.

In any case, a 15% cut and £1 Billion lost in treasury revenue should send a massive signal to the government, that they and their predecessors have got fuel taxation policy completely ****-backwards. I severely doubt that they or anyone else in British politics today would have the integrity and ***** to admit it, but you can always hope.

pslewis

You make some valid points ... but, the quote above only is relevant if fuel costs remain the same.

I had a Scooby when fuel broke through £1 a litre, it was affordable for me - of course. But, I didn't get where I am today by ignoring the future when it becomes clear.

A blind man on a galloping horse could see that fuel was just going up and up and up and up ..... and, consequently, cars like the Impreza would quickly fall out of favour and fall in value.

Add to that the hike in the asking prices for new Imprezas and it was madness to even consider staying with the game ...... anyone who bought an Impreza in the past 5 years should not concern themselves about fuel costs as they made an optional choice to pay more fuel tax than someone who made a decision to pay less of the optional tax.

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

If this was a thread about the falling value of certain types of cars, yours would be a terrifically insightful answer. Maybe you should go and find one, or start one of your own?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

"Pile it high, flog it cheap", I have said this before that if they lowered the duty they would make back the extra money plus more because of people feeling more flush and going out doing more stuff, like people have said they dont go to events due to the cost and as such dont buy stuff when they are there or pay to attend said event.

Realistically the whole eco green bollocks will make **** all difference compared to natrual events, industry and whatever, our use in this country is a fraction of the usage and emisions compared to the rest of the world.

Drop it 10 p a litre and get things moving again and probably still end up in the same or better position revenue wise but with a load of goodwill and morale boosts that get people out and spending as at the moment its in a stalemate where they have spanked this Golden Goose that bit too hard and long and its stopping laying.

I cycle to work or work from home, zero cost fuel wise most weeks, my car does 230 miles to sixty or seventy quids worth, its crap but I can afford that once a month, might even go for a proper guzzler seeing as everyone is giving them away so they can spunk 25 large on a BMW that does 50 mpg.

TelBoy

Are we completely sure that the decrease in petrol consumption and/or tax revenue isn't due more to the improving efficiency of cars and use of alternative fuels, than merely the fact that people can't afford it? Anyone got any figures? Are people travelling just as far but using less petrol? That's what the Government would want.

Decreasing duty isn't going to happen, regardless of the maths.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Will be a combination of factors contribution to the 15 percent, and I agree they will never lower duty to stimulate the rest of the ecomomy.

Leslie

I noticed some lower fuel prices today, might be a good sign.

Les

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

My fuel costs have gone up from £190 to £240 per month in the last 2years so I would imagine it is similar to most families along with £40 a month more on gas / electricity

Something has to give for the average families ,wherever it's days out ,less drink,****,bingo or clothes or luxury snacks or sweets or chocolates

That's a billion less to send to other countries and the polish workers children choild benefits abroad and all the asylum seekers living in luxury and the scum in prison with PS3 and every new game

The last to leave the country please switch off the lights ,although it won't save the planet as cow plats and factories in Asia and the wood chopped down in south America has done that ,not the performance car driver

pslewis

There was an article recently which stated that £1500 a year is the tipping point for most families with regards energy costs ...... I guess there is a tipping point for transport fuel too - don't know what it is though?

Leslie

You must be doing quite well then to be able to afford that.

Les