Cost of Diesel Fuel

[Unknownsoldier]

Don't wish to hijack the thread, but, would it be possible to mix say 3/4 proper petrol and 1/4 bio-petrol/ethanol?????? With limited ill effects???? I know with diesels the modern ones are very picky with what you use, however my old Escort runs fine on pretty much anything (I'm sure even a bit of petrol wouldn't do it any harm).

ATB,
Tom

[FWH]

Originally Posted by Unknownsoldier

Don't wish to hijack the thread, but, would it be possible to mix say 3/4 proper petrol and 1/4 bio-petrol/ethanol?????? With limited ill effects???? I know with diesels the modern ones are very picky with what you use, however my old Escort runs fine on pretty much anything (I'm sure even a bit of petrol wouldn't do it any harm).

ATB,
Tom

The ethanol in Sweden i E85 - i.e. 85% ethanol and the rest petrol.

The petrol on the other hand is in reality E05 - there is 5% ethanol in all of it.

[Unknownsoldier]

Just thinking that I could adulterate my petrol, every so often to make it a bit cheaper to run.

ATB,
Tom

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by dudesterlang

Whatever happened to supply & demand bringing prices down. Diesel started to go above unleaded prices when all the reps changed to diesel cars for efficiency. I don't believe the hype about the costs of the extra refinement needed for cleaner burning diesel as this should surely be happening anyway. Also, it is a very well known fact that the oil companies reduce the amount of oil produced in order to raise the price per barrel, this is not usually a policy that industries struggling to keep up with the demand tend to adopt. As for fuel being more expensive in remote areas due to transport costs why is it then not cheaper near the refinery's?
Has anyone noticed that the government has never changed the price you can charge per mile for using your own car for work purposes? I think this was set in the 80's (40p/mile for first 10,000 & 25p/mile after that) which is supposed to cover all aspects of running a car including the purchasing. We are now in another century. There aren't many cars that can be run for this pittence. I bet motoring is one of MP's expenses that they are trying to block being made public. Bring back hanging - or is that a step too far?
I'm not complaining with what I've got but when I return home to my normal house in my normal car I do find it hard to sympathise with the oil companies fat cats & their billions of pounds profit.
Rant over for now!*!*

The 40p per milefor the 1st 10,000 miles and 25p there after is the HMR&C maximium limit for tax free mileage expense. So if you payed 41p - you'd have to pay tax on it. Or if you were charged 30p - you wouldn't pay tax on the 1st 10,000 miles - then after that you'd have to pay tax.

Unfortunately the government can't set a min limit on what companies pay out to their employees as a mileage allowance, this is set by the company themself. Some companies pay 15p, others 25p - others go the full wack and pay out 40p or sometimes more.

I'm actually very hot on the subject as I have just turned down a very good job due to the fact that they haven't offered me enough car allowance and researched it thoroughly!

[Essexboy]

Originally Posted by sambuca2907

I'm actually very hot on the subject as I have just turned down a very good job due to the fact that they haven't offered me enough car allowance and researched it thoroughly!

Did you know that if your employer is only paying you 30p/mile then you can claim back the tax on the 10p/mile you're missing out on? You just need to write to HMRC.

Can save you a lot of tax...

[civicfan]

Originally Posted by Unknownsoldier

Don't wish to hijack the thread, but, would it be possible to mix say 3/4 proper petrol and 1/4 bio-petrol/ethanol?????? With limited ill effects???? I know with diesels the modern ones are very picky with what you use, however my old Escort runs fine on pretty much anything (I'm sure even a bit of petrol wouldn't do it any harm).

ATB,
Tom

AFAIK after some time your fuel injectors would need replacing, and they are quite expensive

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by Essexboy

Did you know that if your employer is only paying you 30p/mile then you can claim back the tax on the 10p/mile you're missing out on? You just need to write to HMRC.

Can save you a lot of tax...

Yeh I know - but if you're doing 10,000 business miles a year you have to keep track of every mile to give to the HMRC before you claim it back - and to me it's far too much effort and paperwork for an extra £25 a month! lol

[dudesterlang]

Originally Posted by sambuca2907

The 40p per milefor the 1st 10,000 miles and 25p there after is the HMR&C maximium limit for tax free mileage expense. So if you payed 41p - you'd have to pay tax on it. Or if you were charged 30p - you wouldn't pay tax on the 1st 10,000 miles - then after that you'd have to pay tax.

Unfortunately the government can't set a min limit on what companies pay out to their employees as a mileage allowance, this is set by the company themself. Some companies pay 15p, others 25p - others go the full wack and pay out 40p or sometimes more.

I'm actually very hot on the subject as I have just turned down a very good job due to the fact that they haven't offered me enough car allowance and researched it thoroughly!

I understand this but my point is that the figure was set in the 80's when fuel was relatively cheap. This should increase with the added costs of motoring. Everything set by the government is done on a percentage basis as this obviously fluctuates until it is beneficial to throw in figures. They don't set VAT at 17.5 pence /litre they set it at 17.5 %. Anything that is meant to hide real figures they use an amount. This is the same effect as stamp duty on houses, it never fluctuates with house prices, it is kept at an unrealistic low so that more people fall into this bracket.
We are constantly told to use our cars less but who gives the planning for large retail centres with thousands of car parking spaces.

[TTDegs]

supply and demand usually makes prices go up when the demand is high

xbox 360 on launch day for example

[subarup1]

We could always join the "lets get 100k people signed up to show the government we mean business on petrol prices" group on MyFace or whatever it is...

Oh please...!

Sub.

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by subarup1

We could always join the "lets get 100k people signed up to show the government we mean business on petrol prices" group on MyFace or whatever it is...

Oh please...!

Sub.

haha! Brilliant!

Like that ever does anything!

[franco]

Originally Posted by Sandozer

Message from the dark side...

Some very basic arithmetic will show that an average of diesel mileage at 53.95MPG versus 39.95MPG for petrol, will show diesel is still way ahead for being cheaper, or did I go the wrong school..?...

Only had my 2.2 diesel a few weeks,and driving locally, not town but country roads, I haven't got up as high as 39.5mpg yet!!!!

[Jack The Lad.]

Give it time to bed in franco, it will get better.

[subarup1]

It might get better, but not by much... 41 - 42mpg at best?

Let us know...

Sub

[Essexboy]

I've just hit 11k and getting nearly 50 mpg put of it some weeks, mostly dual carriageways, but I don't drive like a granny so I'm pretty pleased!

[TTDegs]

Mine does vary a LOT depending on what driving I do...

Most weeks I do 80 miles per day on a mix of rural back roads, town and dual carriageway.
And I get 43/44 mpg - refule light come on at about 430 miles.

This week, I also did a run to North London and back (so about 300 miles of motorway at 'keep up with the traffic' pace), and trip is now showing 420 miles and (apparently) 85 miles left in the tank
which will work out nearer 50mpg

town traffic - it a killer for mpg

[javorb]

the only winner with fuel prices is our greedy government,red diesel has an aditive and is cheaper than white ,why should farmers and fishing boats benefit ,let alldiesels run on red and the whole economy would improve as all uk items are affected by transport costs,a big and cheaper fuel alternative is hemp made ,but a couple of big companies (fuel and a car manufacturer put rest to developement) ,did you know we can use 2500 litres of veggie oil a year without paying duty,just dont put a high mix in the commonrail engines and intermix with full diesl fillups

[TTDegs]

Originally Posted by javorb

the only winner with fuel prices is our greedy government,red diesel has an aditive and is cheaper than white ,why should farmers and fishing boats benefit ,let alldiesels run on red and the whole economy would improve as all uk items are affected by transport costs,a big and cheaper fuel alternative is hemp made ,but a couple of big companies (fuel and a car manufacturer put rest to developement) ,did you know we can use 2500 litres of veggie oil a year without paying duty,just dont put a high mix in the commonrail engines and intermix with full diesl fillups

Yes, it does seem unfair that a certain section of people legally get away with paying significantly less for their fuel than others!

So, let's allow everyone to use red diesel - that way we are all happy!

Except, of course, those people with petrol vehicles...

Darn.

Ok, lets slash the tax on that too!

There we go - now everyone is happy!

Ok, not quite everyone. So ok, LPG too...
Sorry - voice in the back there, what was that?

You "plug your car into the mains electric each night, to charge its batteries?" Don't make me laugh
Oh. You do. Really? A "green thing" you say?
Best keep you happy too then
Saving the planet and all that - well done you!

Right then.

So, to recap.
We are pleased to announce that we will be slashing the tax on:
Normal Diesel
Petrol
LPG
and Electricty

Dadah!

What now...?
You heat and cook with Gas, and don't feel it's fair that Electric has a lower tax?
Again, a fair comment I guess...

Lower tax on:
Diesel, Petrol, LPG, Electricity and Gas
Result



I'm fairly sure there is a flaw in there somewhere, but I can't quite see it...

[GHGH]

Originally Posted by TTDegs

So, let's allow everyone to use red diesel - that way we are all happy!

Except, of course, those people with petrol vehicles...

Darn.

What me worry.

We have exactly this situation at sea (maybe you have too?), marine diesels are free to use red diesel, while a petrol engine in the same cabin cruiser must stick to taxed petrol.

This situation has lasted for a two or three decades now and is solved by buying a diesel engine.

[dudesterlang]

TTDEGS aka Gordon Brown I reckon, sounds to me like you feel the extortionate cost of diesel is fair. Higher demand usually brings prices down. The X Box is another example of greed & that was over demand. If everyone hadn't been so eager to queue & buy one maybe prices would have come down.