Car running costs How to find cheap fuel

Pump prices have hit record highs in recent months, and the crisis in Libya could push petrol and diesel further towards £1.50 a litre.

This will hit drivers of course, but it will also increase transport costs for industry, thus pushing up the prices of other consumer goods as well.

Keep costs down

It’s miserable being at the mercy of fuel prices, but there are steps you can take to keep your bills down. We’ve looked at the cost of fuel on thousands of forecourts across the UK and uncovered surprising savings.

We found big price di erences between the major brands and between petrol stations within the same town. Simply by shopping around you could save £200 a year.

Most of us know motorway service stations charge more for fuel (and just about everything else), but the size of their mark-up may surprise you.

According to data from Petrolprices.com, the average cost of a litre of unleaded in the UK on 10 February 2011 was 128.7p, against 134.6p at motorway services. That’s £4.13 extra each time you fill the 70-litre tank of a typical family car like a Ford Mondeo.

You can save almost as much by adding fuel to your supermarket shopping list. Supermarket brands were generally cheapest in our study, especially Asda, where the average cost of a litre of petrol was 125.8p.

Compare this with 129.8p at BP – a 4p-a-litre difference or £2.80 for a tankful.

Assuming you matched our tested fuel economy of 34.9mpg for the Ford Mondeo 2.0 EcoBoost, you’d save £62.53 a year (or 12,000 miles) by filling up at Asda.

Fuel price variations

Many petrol stations are franchises and are, therefore, free to set their own prices, which leads to large local differences.

In Wrexham, we found a 14p-a-litre price gap between Sainsbury’s and the independent Smithy View service station. You would save £9.80 by filling our Mondeo at the supermarket (or £218.84 over one year if you drove 12,000 miles).

Meanwhile, the 11.1p price difference between Tesco in Braintree and the Gulf petrol station 4.9 miles away in Felsted is a £7.77 saving per tankful, or £173.50 a year.

Find cheap fuel online

Lots of people fill up at the forecourt nearest to their home or workplace. But as we have seen, prices fluctuate wildly (even in the same town) so it’s worth shopping around for the best deal.

If you’re a long way from home, start looking for fuel before you run too low to be picky – you’ll narrow your options and end up paying over the odds.

The Petrolprices website lets you find the cheapest fuel in your area. All you have to do is register with the site, type in your postcode (and how far you’re willing to travel) and it will show you the cheapest places to fill up.

With almost 10,000 petrol stations on the site’s database, stretching right across the UK, price variations can be startling.

You can discover your car's true fuel economy with our interactive fuel calculator.