When I wrote about Robert McGowan’s book Porsche 911: The Practically Free Supercar last year, I was impressed by his arguments about the affordability of the 911. However, I did have a niggling doubt — the 911 is a serious supercar. Owning and running one is always going to be beyond the reach of many of us, especially as the car’s popularity as a collectable has seen prices escalate over the last decade or so.

Robert’s latest book addresses this doubt. In Porsche Boxster: The Practically Free Sportscar, Robert explains why if you want a really affordable Porsche sportscar, you should almost certainly end up looking at Boxsters.

Well-maintained, these models will hold their value far better than most mass-produced model cars. Therein lies the opportunity to own a car for free — apart from running costs, Robert believes you may well get most of your car’s purchase price back when you sell it.

Why you want a Boxster – and what to buy

Introduced in 1997, the two-seater, mid-engined Boxster is a genuine Porsche sportscar — but it’s a different beast to the 911. Lighter, simpler, cheaper and (arguably) easier to drive, a used Boxster is accessible for ordinary mortals in a way that a 911 just isn’t.

Decent Boxster examples can be bought for Ford Focus money and — as Porsches — they should prove reliable and usable as long as they’re correctly maintained.

In this new book, Robert runs through the details of the Boxster range, from the original 986 through to the latest 718. He covers engine variants, specification differences, potential problems and provides guide prices for each of the models.

The book also includes details of running costs and maintenance tasks that a competent DIYer might choose to do themselves. Although in my opinion, you’d want to be fairly confident before carrying out DIY maintenance on a Porsche.

My top tip for maintaining the value of these wonderful cars would be to find a decent independent specialist you can trust to look after your pride and joy. I’d view that as money well spent. Indeed, if you compare the hourly rate of decent specialists with the rates main stealers dealers charge for servicing cheaper mass-produced brands, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Should you buy this book? If you’re even slightly interested in the idea of owning a Porsche Boxster, then I’d say this book would be an excellent starting point.

Book details (buy on Amazon =>)

Title: Porsche Boxster: The Practically Free Sportscar
Author: Robert McGowan
ISBN: 979-8672377872

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the author for the purposes of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.

The Porsche 911 must be one of the greatest engineering designs of all time. It’s timeless, functions superbly, and is incredibly desirable. It’s even reliable and suitable for everyday use — not like exotic Italian metal.

Having (briefly) driven a couple of newer models, I can confirm that they’re easy to drive slowly However, I’d understand it if you said a Porsche was out of your reach. I’ve always felt that way too.

So I was interested when author and Porsche enthusiast Robert McGowan got in touch and offered to send me a copy of his new book, Porsche 911: The Practically Free Supercar.

As the title suggests, Robert’s new book claims to show that owning a Porsche 911 can be “practically free”.

Is this guy for real?

Most Porsche books come loaded with history and technical detail. There are often lots of great photos. But they usually steer away from the financial business of owning a collectible supercar.

Porsche 911 includes all the history and technical info that most people will ever need. But it also contains something a bit different.

As a lifelong fan of the marque who has owned three older Porsches, Robert’s has 11 years’ experience of owning three different Porsches. In this book, he shares the practical details and full costs of buying, selling and owning each of these German supercars.

This could work

Without wanting to give too much away, the gist of Robert’s argument is that prices of good, collectible Porsche models have been rising steadily. If you buy well and take good care of your Porsche, his experience suggests you’ll have a good chance of getting your money back when you sell.

Obviously there’s no guarantee that this will remain true in the future. But I do agree that Porsche 911’s will probably remain in demand for as long as the internal combustion engine is in use.

This book goes into a lot of practical detail and includes information about the most affordable Porsche models to buy, common problems and (many) things to check when you buy.

Robert also describes the maintenance and repair work he’s had to do on each of his Porsches, and what it’s cost. It’s probably fair to say that ownership costs were lower than I expected.

Overall, I’d recommend this book as a good starting point if you’re considering buying your first Porsche 911 (or a Boxster).

Book details (buy on Amazon =>):

Title: Porsche 911: The Practically Free Supercar
Author: Robert McGowan
ISBN: 978-1091444836

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the author for the purposes of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.

I recently discussed how supermarkets aren’t cutting petrol and diesel prices in the way they used to.

We now have more evidence from the RAC that the market is changing. According to data gathered by RAC Fuel Watch, the UK’s big four supermarkets have lifted petrol prices almost every day since 21 February – three months.

There have been just five days when the big retailers didn’t lift petrol prices.

Tellingly, even on days when other retailers cut petrol prices to reflect lower wholesale costs, the supermarkets held firm or even increased their prices.

A litre of unleaded now costs 128.35p on average compared to 119.74p on 21 February – an increase of 8.61p in the three months. At supermarkets, however, the jump has been even more striking at 9.69p from 115.75p to 125.44p.

While three months of almost daily price rises isn’t an accurate reflection of wholesale price movements, the supermarkets appear to be protecting profits by being overly cautious about not getting caught out by the odd day of lower wholesale prices in what they believe is a consistently rising wholesale market.

Simon Williams, RAC fuel spokesman

What about diesel?

The picture is not good for diesel drivers, either. According to the RAC, fuel retailers in general (not just supermarkets) have been keeping diesel prices artificially high, perhaps to subsidise the rising cost of petrol.

Are things going to improve?

A record 22m motorists are expected to hit the roads this bank holiday weekend, according to the RAC. That’s 8m more than last year.

However, there may be light on the horizon, at least for diesel drivers. Oil prices have been falling this week and the experts at the RAC Fuel Watch service believe that diesel prices are “likely to come down” over the next fortnight.

Unfortunately any savings are unlikely to be seen as soon as this weekend. And RAC Fuel Watch indicates that petrol prices could keep rising.

How to cut fuel costs

As always, we believe the best options are to find the cheapest fuel on your route, practice fuel-saving driving tips and make sure your car is serviced regularly and has correctly inflated tyres.

Another tip is to try and travel from peak hours. If you’re hitting the roads this bank holiday weekend, consider leaving a couple of hours earlier and having breakfast at your destination, for example.

The heaviest traffic is often concentrated into a few hours. Travel outside these times and you can have a much quicker journey (and use less fuel)!

If you’re hitting the roads this weekend, safe travels from the team here at simplemotoring.co.uk.

The average price of petrol rose by 5.4p to 128.06p per litre in April, according to the RAC. Apparently, that’s the second-biggest monthly increase since the year 2000.

That seems a shockingly big rise, although I have to admit that prices in my local town haven’t risen by this much. Of course, the reason for this may be that they didn’t fall as low as in some more populated areas of the country.

Whatever. The unfortunate reality is fuel retailers have jumped to pass on a 5% rise in the price of a barrel of oil. Rocket and feather, here we come…

There wasn’t much mercy for diesel drivers, either. The average price per litre for oil burners rose by 3p to 133.7p.

Supermarkets weren’t much help either. Although these big retailers have traditionally competed hard to offer the lowest fuel prices, RAC figures show that supermarket petrol prices rose above the UK average in April.

The average price of a litre of supermarket unleaded jumped 5.6p to 124.2 in April. Diesel burned 4.1p higher to 131.6p. It seems that these big fuel sellers are no longer keen to push prices down. I guess it helps their profit margins.

Motorway petrol remains an utter rip-off, to be avoided at all costs. The average price of a litre of unleaded on a blue road rose by 3.6p to 145.5, while diesel motored 2.8p ahead to 154.1p. Ouch.

Will prices fall in May?

Is there any hope for lower petrol and diesel prices in May? Perhaps.

RAC Fuel Watch analysis suggests that petrol prices are likely to stay flat over the next couple of weeks.

However, diesel prices are “very likely to come down “ according to the motoring organisation.

A lot depends on the price of oil. A big move in the exchange rate between the pound and the US dollar could also affect prices. Unfortunately, there’s little that motorists can do about it. We can’t buy fuel in advance and stock up when it’s cheaper. And we can’t delay buying it when we need it.

The only answer is to find the cheapest fuel and use as little as possible by driving efficiently. Plus — avoid short journeys. Cold engines tend to burn through a lot of extra fuel. If it’s under a mile, walk!

The biggest worry people seem to have with electric cars is range anxiety — the fear they will run out of battery charge without being able to get to a charger.

The risk is real enough, even if most electric car drivers say that it’s less of a problem than you expect.

To help put motorists’ minds at rest and deal with the practical problem of electric cars with flat batteries, the RAC has launched a new EV Boost system.

This is a lightweight mobile EV charger that’s fitted to a patrol van. The EV Charger will give an electric car a top-up charge that will enable it to get to a proper charger under its own power.

The EV Boost system will work with all Type 1 and Type 2 connections, which the RAC says will cover 99% of electric vehicles in the UK today.

It’s the equivalent of putting a can of petrol into your car’s tank so you can drive to the nearest garage. But there’s a second benefit too — most electric cars can’t be towed and must be transported with all four wheels off the ground. That’s often inconvenient and slow to arrange, especially in busy city centres.

Being able to give EVs a quick boost to get moving seems like a great idea. The RAC’s first six vans with EV generators will be deployed in June to London, Birmingham and Manchester. As electric cars become more popular, I expect the system will be fitted to more patrol vans.

Most parts of the UK now seem to be enjoying the relief of slightly lower prices for petrol and diesel. But the RAC says prices are still “too high” despite an average reduction of about 3p per litre last month.

According to RAC data, the price of oil fell by 14.5% to $51.52 per barrel (27 Dec). The breakdown provider says that this should have resulted in “considerably lower” prices at the pump.

If retailers pass on the full reduction in wholesale prices for petrol and diesel, the RAC estimates that unleaded should fall by 8p per litre to 113p over the next fortnight. Diesel should drop by 10p per litre to 120p.

Supermarkets are charging more

Petrol price cuts are usually led by the big supermarkets. But this time it’s different, says the RAC.

It seems that only one of the big four supermarkets — Asda — has cut its pump prices to reflect lower wholesale prices. The other three supermarkets have kept prices higher, increasing the profit they make on each litre of fuel.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams says that this is a new situation for the UK:

“Normally, the other three supermarkets are 1p to 1.5p more expensive on unleaded, but our data shows that since October they have abandoned this strategy in favour of pricing 2.5p to 4p higher for a litre of petrol. The decision by all supermarkets to take more profit on a litre has led to every driver having to pay more to fill up than they should have to. This is because the UK average is negatively affected as other retailers are not being forced through competition to lower their prices.

Mr Williams says this change is especially important because supermarkets sell 45% of fuel in the UK, despite only operating 18% of the country’s forecourts.

(Un)fair play?

It’s worth pointing out that companies are allowed to make a profit on fuel. There’s no reason why the big supermarkets can’t charge more if they want to. If other retailers can sell cheaper, then they’ll get more business.

Unfortunately, the reality is that very few forecourt operators can afford to undercut supermarkets. So if supermarket prices are higher, everyone else’s prices will be too.

For what it’s worth, I’ve noticed that some other supermarkets are still matching Asda prices when they are very closely located. So there is still some competition between the big retailers.

Will prices keep falling?

RAC data suggests that despite the supermarkets new approach to pricing, the price of petrol and diesel is “very likely to come down” over the next couple of weeks.

The UK average prices at the time of writing are 120.7p for unleaded and 129.94p per litre for diesel.

That’s reflective of pricing in the town where I live, but I know fuel is much cheaper in areas where there’s an Asda nearby.

Petrol prices finally started to fall with some kind of momentum towards the end of November. According to the RAC, last month saw an average price drop of 5p for petrol and just 2.5p for diesel.

That’s right — not exactly a collapse. The good news is that prices have continued to fall as we’ve headed into December. As usual, these cuts have been led by the supermarkets which announced further cuts on 7 December.

RAC figures show that the UK average price of petrol is now 121.65p per litre, with diesel down to 131.3p per litre. Further falls are “very likely” according to the RAC’s Fuel Watch service. 

As I discussed last month, my experience is that prices seem to vary more widely than usual. If you’re in an area where there are no supermarket fuel stations (or only one), prices are significantly higher.

I’m still paying about 123p in the rural area of Yorkshire where I live. But relatives in the Midlands are down to about 116p.

What are you paying for petrol or diesel? Add your prices into our petrol price search tool to help everyone find the cheapest fuel.

The price of oil has fallen by more than 25% since the start of October. But petrol and diesel prices have been slow to respond, especially in rural areas.

Fuel prices are often said to suffer from the ‘rocket and feather’ effect. When oil prices rise, petrol and diesel rocket higher. But when the price of oil falls, fuel prices are much slower to fall. This is known as the feather effect.

I’ve sometimes been sceptical about this, but in the rural area of North Yorkshire where I live it’s really obvious at the moment. Prices are still between 127.9p and 130.9p for unleaded, whereas I have family down in the East Midlands who are buying petrol for about 119.7p at a nearby Asda.

The big difference is that there’s no competition around here. Local towns either have a single supermarket fuel station or none at all. So there’s no reason for independent retailers to cut prices.

I’m not blaming independent garages for profiting from fuel. The reality is that profit margins are slim and even if the wholesale price of fuel is falling, most other costs are rising.

We should see more cuts

Back on 15 November, the RAC said that wholesale petrol prices had fallen by 9p since the start of October. Their calculations suggested that to pass on this price cut, average fuel prices should fall by about 5p per litre.

The price of oil has fallen further since then, but we still haven’t seen these cuts. Back then, the average price of unleaded was 128.84p per litre. Today* it’s 126.8p per litre — just 2p less.

According to the RAC, pricing for petrol and diesel is strongly led by the supermarkets:

“The supermarkets’ role in influencing pricing at all other forecourts cannot be understated – without significant price movement from the big players in a falling wholesale market, there is little to encourage smaller retailers to shift their own prices to the benefit of consumers.

When will fuel retailers start passing on lower wholesale prices? It’s not clear to me if they will. Fuel is one of the few things left that must be bought at the time and place when you need it.

You can’t buy it ahead of time, you can’t buy online and you can’t travel to another area to shop where it’s cheaper.

It seems that fuel retailers are taking full advantage of the situation. I can’t exactly blame them — it’s business, after all — but I would encourage you to make use of our fuel price search tool to find the cheapest fuel in your area.

Remember — please add the prices you pay so that other users can benefit. Otherwise the system won’t work.

Note: I appreciate that there are some technical problems with the fuel price search at the moment. The underlying system still works, but it’s not as it should be. This system isn’t under our direct control or it would have been fixed by now. But we’re trying to sort things out as quickly as we can.

*Based on RAC Fuel Watch figures 24 November 2018.

Let’s start with some good news. Petrol prices in you area should be heading lower over the next week or so after Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all announced cuts of up to 2p per litre.

The move came following calls from the RAC for retailers to cut their pump prices to reflect recent falls in the wholesale price of petrol.

Savings for diesel drivers may lag behind slightly. But the RAC says that good news may soon be coming:

“There is also better news on the horizon for diesel drivers. While diesel has risen substantially to an average of 136.79p, and unfortunately still appears to be going up, it should now begin to reduce as the wholesale price has started to fall.”

According to the RAC’s very useful Fuel Watch service, the UK average price of petrol on 6 November was 129.98p per litre. The average diesel price was 136.78p per litre. Fuel Watch analysis indicates that both prices are “very likely to come down” over the next 1-2 weeks.

Pay at pump

I’ve done a fair amount of driving abroad, and one of the most common features of fuel pumps overseas is that they all allow you to pay at pump. Indeed, in some countries, such as the US, you must authorise a payment card before you’re allowed to pump any fuel.

In the UK, pay at pump facilities are relatively rare. And even when they are available, my experience is that most drivers don’t use them and pay in the kiosk instead. One problem with this is that it makes fuel theft — known as bilking — much easier.

Although you’ll probably be caught on CCTV, it’s relatively easy to get away with driving off without paying. Apparently, about 25,000 people do exactly that each year.

Leicestershire Police chief Simon Cole caused a bit of a stir earlier this week when he said — basically — that garages only had themselves to blame. In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper Mr Cole said:

“The petroleum industry could design out bilking in 30 seconds by making people pay up front, which is what they do in other countries … They don’t, because the walk in their shops is part of their business offer.”

I suspect Mr Cole is telling the truth. And I guess he’s frustrated at having to divert police time to this easily-preventable crime, away from more serious crimes.

However, it’s probably also fair to say that we’d have fewer rural petrol stations if they didn’t have shops attached in which customers could grab a bottle of wine/milk/chocolate bar/etc.

A second point is that it would undoubtedly cost quite a lot for filling station operators to upgrade all of their pumps.

Personally, I like the convenience of paying at pump and do it whenever possible. I wish other people did too, as it would cut down queues at busy filling stations (NSFW).

What do you think? Should motorists just chill out and queue with the shoppers, or should we be able to pay at pump and hit the road ASAP?

Everyone has a different approach to topping up the tank. There are those who always brim the tank, reducing the number of visits they have to pay to forecourt. On the other hand, some drivers think that carrying a full tank of fuel is a waste of money and weight — after all, a heavier car uses more fuel.

What we all agree on is that we want to pay as little as possible for the petrol or diesel we need. And we want to travel as far as possible on each tankful.

Are prices about to fall?

The good news is that petrol and diesel prices could soon fall. Fears that Saudi Arabia could restrict oil supply have pushed the price of Brent crude oil to nearly $85 per barrel recently. But on Tuesday the price fell to under $76 after the Arab nation — one of the world’s largest producers — said it planned to keep oil markets well supplied.

Of course, oil goes through a number of hands before its turned into petrol or diesel and delivered to a garage forecourt. So calculating the price isn’t always easy. As always, the RAC Fuel Watch service provides a useful indicator of what motorists can expect at the pumps over the next couple of weeks. Today, the picture looks good:

Which car should I buy for maximum mileage?

Choosing a car isn’t just about fuel consumption. We all have different requirements and budgets which shape our choice of car. But it is interesting to note how apparently similar cars can have very different fuel consumption.

Price comparison website Gocompare.com recently calculated took the 10 best-selling cars in the UK and calculated how far they might travel on £25 of fuel. The results were quite interesting. Here’s how the car’s ranked in terms of mileage, from best to worst:

1. Volkswagen Polo: 174.8 miles (Newcastle to Liverpool)
2. Ford Fiesta: 168.8 miles (Sheffield to London)
3. Vauxhall Corsa: 164.8 miles (Winchester to Plymouth)
4. Volksagen Golf: 154.4 miles (Leamington Spa to Norwich)
5. Mercedes A-Class: 154 miles (Sunderland to Nottingham)
6. Nissan Qashqai: 153.6 miles (Swindon to Colchester)
7. Ford Focus: 153.6 miles (Glasgow to Newcastle)
8. Mercedes C-Class: 137.6 miles (Milton Keynes to Wrexham)
9. Ford Kuga: 136.4 miles (Birmingham to Harrogate)
10. Mini: 134 miles (Carmarthen to Cheltenham)

Of course, these aren’t real-life tests! The mileage calculation was based on the manufacturers’ official fuel consumption figures for each car. And only one version of each car was used. Different engines will deliver different performance, even in the same car.

Your mileage will vary in real life, but since all manufacturers calculate mpg in the same way, these figures should be of some use for comparisons between cars.

I should point out that Gocompare.com used a fuel price of 129p per litre for their calculations.

In real life, the best way to save money on fuel is to follow our fuel-saving tips and find the cheapest petrol in your are using our fuel price search tool. Just remember to add in the price you pay after you fill up, so that other drivers can benefit from your local knowledge.