How to find cheaper diesel and petrol

by lovemoney staff on 26 March 2013  |  21 comments
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As the cost of filling up the tank of a family car hits the £100 mark, find out how you can find cheaper diesel and petrol prices.

The cost of filling up an average family car has now shot up to £100 in some areas, according to new research by Santander.

Dumfries is the most expensive town to fill up in at 145.90p per litre, while Torquay is the least expensive at 135.90p per litre.

The average price of unleaded petrol has risen by an average of 5.5% in the past two months, although some areas have seen price rises of up to 9%. And, despite the Government scrapping a 3p rise in fuel duty planned for September in the Budget, prices are set to keep on rising.

However, there are ways to pay less for your diesel and petrol.

Compare pump prices

Why waste fuel driving around to find the cheapest prices, when the PetrolPrices website does the legwork for you? This brilliant, free site will find the cheapest forecourts in your area for petrol, diesel and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). All it needs to get cracking is your postcode and how far you're willing to cruise for cheaper fuel.

Fill up when you see a cheaper petrol station

If you happen to be passing a petrol station that's cheaper than the ones in your area and you need some fuel, why not take advantage? Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco have all cut the price of diesel at their petrol stations by up to 2p a litre from today (Tuesday), so keep an eye out on prices.

Grab supermarket coupons and other discounts

The Big Four supermarkets – Asda, Morrison, Sainsbury's and Tesco – occasionally provide money-off coupons to redeem at their own forecourts. Usually, these promotional vouchers give you 5p or 10p off a litre of fuel, as a reward for spending, say, £50 in-store.

For instance, a 5p/litre discount would save you £2.50 when filling up a 50-litre tank. This is a saving well worth having, but only if this exceeds any additional shopping and driving costs.

Right now, you can also earn £15 back on a £50+ spend at most Shell petrol stations by syncing your American Express card with location-based app Foursquare. Find out more in American Express offers cashback through Foursquare app.

Use loyalty cards

Most petrol retailers (and supermarkets) have some kind of loyalty programme designed to encourage you to spend more and keep coming back.

You can find out more about these in The best petrol loyalty cards.

While these freebies are worth having, it's obviously not worth driving halfway across your county purely to grab reward points.

Avoid getting caught short on the motorway

Pump prices at motorway service stations are notoriously expensive so make sure you have enough fuel before setting off.

This is a classic lovemoney article that has been updated

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