Can't Home "owners" Afford A Full Tank Of Petrol Any More?!

[leggers]

Over analysing things at all?

People have their habits. Be it filling the tank when they feel like it or chucking a tenner in when they see it's cheaper than "normal"/local. In my opinion (like everyone else has), not a telling indicator of anything in particular.

[Uriah Heap]

Confirmation bias.

[pete.hpc]

I think the OP has a point, when I was not as well off as I am now, I always knew exactly how much petrol I would be putting in the car, and it would always be 5, 10, 20 maybe 30 quid at a push, whereas I always fill up now because I don't want to keep pissing around at petrol stations. That's an advantage of being able to afford the costs of motoring.

Same as bosses I've known in the past, with big juicy exec mobiles, always filling up, never f**king about with 10's or 20's here and there.

These people are pretenders, all the bling, but with nothing to back it up.

[200p]

Sorry to burst the bubble. But homeowners only own new german luxury cars, AND only top up £10, so they can rush home to crack open their £1000 bottles of champagne to celebrate adding another BTL to the portfolio.

[twatmangle]

Can't home "owners" afford a full tank of petrol any more?!

How can you come up with this conclusion?

It's about as analytical as saying:

I saw 4 pigeons on my way to work yesterday, and today there were only 3, that's a 25% fall!!!! Must be because people can't afford to feed the pigeons because they can't pay their mortgage because they borrowed too much for their silly little slave box, losers.

As people have said, there are a lot of reasons for putting a small amount of fuel in a car.

There are no valid conclusions to draw from your observations based on the information you have given.

[Johnny Storm]

How can you come up with this conclusion?

Let him have his wishful thinking, that everyone is really poor and they will soon go bankrupt and he will buy their house at 50% off.

[xux42]

Let him have his wishful thinking, that everyone is really poor and they will soon go bankrupt and he will buy their house at 50% off.

It is wishful thinking, but you can bet your boots that if it does get that bad at least half on here will be circling ready to swoop down and feed on the carcasses of the bankrupt ex-faux rich.

I am a £10 splash between supermarket visits person too - now I will feel obliged to put £10 & a bit in and simulate the pump 'clicking' a few times and look down at the petrol cap so that everyone watching thinks I am back full to the brim.

[JPJPJP]

I heard, from someone that started working in a Tesco Metro with an attached Esso station that this is indeed common.

She was, at first, surprised about people coming in in newish and/or 'flash' and/or big cars and putting a few quid's worth in. A lot of them were then going through a couple of more cards to find one that would go through.

They keep a book for non payers apparently and, if the debt is not settled in quick order, they send the law round

I am not surprised, a range rover for instance wants the thick end of £120 to tank it up

For me, one of my motors has VPower so I fill it up if its less than half full as I pass the last Shell on the way home. The other one gets filled with normal UL from whichver garage is nearest when the light comes on (bonus if its a Tesco or Shell for the points)

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

I set a personal best in a petrol station on Saturday - £145 in one go.   Does that mean the recession is over?

Edit: I own my own home.

Blimey you must have a lorry.  My A8 will only take £110 at most and that was when fuel prices were nearer to £1.30.

[Si1]

I always have a sh1t before a long journey for precisely this reason. Saves a fortune.

[cardiffone]

I never fill up at a petrol station unless going on a long journey.

Having a wife who's written off two cars full of petrol has put me off.....

[Speak&Spell]

This is such a hilarious thread!

Why pigeon hole all the people you saw with flash cars as being home owners? They could be renters for all you know.

[Soul Reaver]

I went to a petrol station this afternoon to fill up. A Mercedes M Class, newish looking, pulled up on the other side of the pump, put some petrol, and left. Kind of fast. I looked at my pump and it was at around 30l, and I had started before the merc arrived. That merc. must have put at most £20. Probably only a tenner!

I started to pay attention around, and most cars were not filling up. And these were good, expensive newish cars. Most better and newer than mine. And it was in a good middle-class area. Strange.

Can't home "owners" afford a full tank of petrol any more?!

.

I put 4.26p in the Aston once as I had forgotten to pick up my wallet on the way out and did not want to run out on the way home. It was my parking change in the centre console LOL. I got some looks in the garage too and just smiled.

PS

I'm a renter

Edited October 13, 2010 by Soul Reaver

[Chugger]

I fill up to the brim whenever it's cheap.

I've also recently bought a car after a few years of being solely dependent on public transport (trying to set up a business) and gone for a fairly old diesel which cost me £2000. Slight bit of a guzzler but that's more than offset by how little I use it, how little it cost, zero interest payments because I paid for it outright, minuscule insurance payments and for extra savings I bought a decent tool set and joined an owners club so I have access to advice and cheap parts.

Saving money, and got myself a hobby that teaches me something everyday.

[Timak]

My mother in law does the £10 of petrol at a time thing.

The thing I find most bizarre is that it has remained £10 a time since she started doing this in the early 1990's so what used to be half a tank is now less than a quarter.

[Tired of Waiting]

Putting less fuel in when you visit the petrol station is one of those daft things people do when they feel hard up. The only good reason for doing that is if you only have a ten or twenty on you or it's nearly pay day. Otherwise it's pointless. You drive your car when you have to and you don't save anything by buying fuel in £20's. If time is money then you save time by filling right up and going there less often. It doesn't cost you one single penny more. In fact you save a few pence by not driving there.

Yes, I thought so too.

A lot of people just have a habit of putting £20 or so in - if they're passing regularly, it might be part of their routine of popping in for bits and pieces if it has a shop.

Personally, I hate filling up so usually wait until it's well in the red and then fill up completely.

I've got one of those constant mpg indicators on my dash, had the car since March, filled up 4x I think, might be 3x now... £50-60 a time. I get 58mpg.

I do think of every journey I make in terms of it costing me 10p/mile and up to 10p/mile for other running costs though, just because I have a compulsion to count things

Yes, filing up is an annoying chore. The less you do it the better.

And I had assumed that everybody, or at least most people, felt the same way.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[Tired of Waiting]

Over analysing things at all?

People have their habits. Be it filling the tank when they feel like it or chucking a tenner in when they see it's cheaper than "normal"/local. In my opinion (like everyone else has), not a telling indicator of anything in particular.

Could be.

Confirmation bias.

Could be.

Hence the OP, to see what other posters noticed, or think about it.

Just some "social observation".

.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[Tired of Waiting]

I think the OP has a point, when I was not as well off as I am now, I always knew exactly how much petrol I would be putting in the car, and it would always be 5, 10, 20 maybe 30 quid at a push, whereas I always fill up now because I don't want to keep pissing around at petrol stations. That's an advantage of being able to afford the costs of motoring.

Same as bosses I've known in the past, with big juicy exec mobiles, always filling up, never f**king about with 10's or 20's here and there.

Exactly! And I had assumed everybody felt that way. Perhaps the majority do.

These people are pretenders, all the bling, but with nothing to back it up.

Yes, that is a good description. I think the way some (many?) of these people dress and look goes in this very same direction: too much importance on looks. In many case at the cost of solid foundations: via leverage, debt. It is the same "frame of mind", I guess.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[Tired of Waiting]

How can you come up with this conclusion?

It's about as analytical as saying:

I saw 4 pigeons on my way to work yesterday, and today there were only 3, that's a 25% fall!!!! Must be because people can't afford to feed the pigeons because they can't pay their mortgage because they borrowed too much for their silly little slave box, losers.

As people have said, there are a lot of reasons for putting a small amount of fuel in a car.

There are no valid conclusions to draw from your observations based on the information you have given.

It is not a "conclusion". It was just an OP, to see if other members had noticed similar things, and to chat about it. Some "social observation", like I wrote above. That is all.

Let him have his wishful thinking, that everyone is really poor and they will soon go bankrupt and he will buy their house at 50% off.

OK, it is possible that there was some "wishful thinking" there, but not for "everybody" being really poor, just for the return of some meritocracy, instead of this past decade rewarding recklessness and over-borrowing.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[bobothebear]

I've just got a new Laguna which can hold 70 litres but the most I have put in so far is 35 Litres in one go. There is one main reason and it's possible that most people are the same. Petrol/diesel weighs something. If the car weighs more then the fuel economy is less.

Whats the point of carrying 35kg+ in your car of something you've paid for to pay more for that thing you've paid for?

[Tired of Waiting]

I heard, from someone that started working in a Tesco Metro with an attached Esso station that this is indeed common.

She was, at first, surprised about people coming in in newish and/or 'flash' and/or big cars and putting a few quid's worth in. A lot of them were then going through a couple of more cards to find one that would go through.

They keep a book for non payers apparently and, if the debt is not settled in quick order, they send the law round

I am not surprised, a range rover for instance wants the thick end of £120 to tank it up

(...)

There!

[Tired of Waiting]

I never fill up at a petrol station unless going on a long journey.

Having a wife who's written off two cars full of petrol has put me off.....

Point taken!

[Fromage Frais]

I always but 20/30 in since if the car has petrol in it my wife will see the free petrol and go for some trip in it or mini cab for car-less relatives.

The car is always empty when I have it.

[Tired of Waiting]

This is such a hilarious thread!

Why pigeon hole all the people you saw with flash cars as being home owners? They could be renters for all you know.

Yes, they could, I know. Like I wrote above (twice) I am not sure why the looked like home "owners" to me. BTW, the quotes here are important, as they actually looked like "highly leveraged" people to me. And, I am sorry, but I don't know exactly why - consciously. Something about them. Could be the type of cars we've seen parked in the drives of new developments, some silly overpriced houses near a noisy A road (near that petrol station)? Not sure.

Edit: the silly houses - small, just a meter from each other, tiny gardens but "detached"... I guess "pretentious" houses. They match the cars parked in front. And that development was built in 2005 or 6. A few others around like that.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[PropertyAnalyser]

It is not a "conclusion". It was just an OP, to see if other members had noticed similar things, and to chat about it. Some "social observation", like I wrote above. That is all.

I see plenty of people putting in £5, £10, £20 at a time, and nearly always cash.

I can sort of understand it if you are paid weekly and are living right on the edge (i.e. spending every penny you earn every week) and don't have access to credit, but otherwise not filling up is simply a false economy.

I drive until there are only fumes in the tank then go and fill the tank and a couple of 5l cans. Then I pay for it on My cashback credit card for a 1% discount and finally pay the bill some 30-50 days later.

A full tank (plus 10l in the cans) is about 4% of my cars total weight and the way I drive I don't think that is enough to warrant a trip to the petrol station every few days just to keep the tank at 1/4 full. Having said that It does feel lighter with an empty tank, but it could be all in the mind.

PA