Not every park home resident runs a car, but for those that do, here are some great tips to help you save on your motoring expenses

What type of car do you drive, hatchback, estate, SUV, Supermini? How is it powered, by petrol, diesel, electric, or is it a hybrid, or is it a plug-in hybrid? There’s so much choice these days that it’s hard to know what type of car to buy, and how much to spend. However, there are a few things that you can do to reduce your motoring cost, no matter what type of car you own, so here are a few ideas to think about.

1 Keep tyres pumped
Did you know that a car whose tyres are under-inflated by 15psi (which you might not notice with the naked eye) can use as much as 6% more fuel than one with fully inflated tyres? Over a year that can add up to a lot of fuel. Of course it’s equally important not to over-inflate your tyres by an excess amount, as this could lead to other issues such as reduced road grip, but keeping an eye on your tyres and keeping them properly inflated to your car maker’s guidelines, could save you money.

2 Saving on insurance
To save on your motoring insurance costs once you have bought your car, always check price comparison sites on the internet before you renew your car insurance each year. Quite often, when you tell your existing company that you can get insurance cheaper elsewhere, they will immediately drop their price to match, so you may not even have to change supplier to save money! If you’re over 50 years old, it may be worth getting an insurance quote from specialists who deal with older age groups, such as
www.saga.co.uk.

3 Don’t carry excess weight
It’s estimated that carrying an extra 50kg of weight in your car could increase fuel consumption by an average of 2%. Now, we’re not suggesting that you go on a diet before you next go for a drive, but it’s certainly worth clearing out any junk that you regularly carry around in your car’s boot but never use.
It’s also recommended that you remove any roof bars or roof racks when you are not using them, as the increased air drag on these can also increase fuel consumption. If you don’t think all this will make any difference, just think of those racing drivers who even strip the passenger seats, trim and carpet out of a car, to save weight!

4 Economical driving style
Your driving style alone can make a big difference to the running costs of your car. Drive smoothly, allowing the car to drift to a stop in traffic (when it’s safe to do so) rather than breaking hard, plus accelerate gently, changing-up gears as soon as you can to keep the revs down. Not only will this style of driving save you on fuel, it will also cut down on the wear on your brake pads and tyres, making an additional saving.

5 Look into car sharing
With the close communities on many park home sites, it may even be worth thinking about car sharing. Perhaps you and a neighbour can share the use of one car, instead of having one each? Or, perhaps you can come to an agreement with a car-owning neighbour who is happy to drive you out for your weekly shopping trip, in return for a small fee and some cash towards fuel and running costs, so you then don’t need your own car?