Fuel prices

[Firstone18]

Paddy
My first `GALLON of petrol was 5s 3d so how old do you think I am ?
Bob Tidbury

Thinking back to when I was an apprentice, say 1973-ish, I seem to remember paying 65p for a gallon of Shell at my then local filling station. I would use about a gallon a day to and from work, and maybe a couple of gallons over the weekend i.e. seven gallons for less than the cost of just one gallon now!!
For the (much) younger people reading this, 5s 3d would have been the equivalent of 28p in today's money.

26p - 5/6 would be 28 new pence

Yes, I realized later on I'd made a mistake; feeling a bit woolly this morning as I woke up with a migraine.
Cheers
Keith

[chrism]

When I first started driving , 2 Star petrol was 4s 4d a gallon, road tax £10 and an MoT 10/6. According to the RAC out of every £1 spent on fuel 60p goes to the Tax Man, so we are paying nearly a £1 per litre in tax.

Fuel Duty is 57.95p per litre, not per £.

Then there's 20% VAT on top of that.

On a litre of fuel at, say £1.70, we pay 57.95p in duty plus 29p in VAT, total tax = 87p/litre.

[guest311]

so over half, and I assume the vat is on the fuel duty as well, so tax on a tax 

[chrism]

and I assume the vat is on the fuel duty as well, so tax on a tax 

Yes, that's included in the figures I gave above.

[guest311]

the point I was making, I thought, was that there is a fuel 'tax' which they then add VAT to, so in fact taxing a tax, which I always thought was actually illegal 

I will take this no further, I'm getting fed up a diet of Jaffa cakes.

[Woodenhead]

Fuel prices always increase when there are large scale wars occurring as they tend to involve countries who produce the stuff, I doub't anyone outside the UK would bat an eyelid if England and Scotland went to war over Doncaster (did you know an English King actually handed Doncaster to Scotland and technically it's still valid).

When an oil producing country goes to war it upsets the market, Governments rush to stockpile and the price naturally rises as supply is restricted and demand is up.

Of course, our Exchequer is very pleased when the price goes up and demand stays the same, more money to the Government - but I bet we don't see a rebate on our income tax to help us out anytime soon

[Trainfish]

I love this forum, it always makes me feel so young. I remember probably around the very late 70s when I went to the Lake District with my parents and my dad was moaning because the fuel prices up there were extortionate at 78p a gallon. I don't remember what I first paid.

[Woodenhead]

I remember when putting in a Fiver's worth kept you going all week.

[tutenkhamunsleeping]

did you know an English King actually handed Doncaster to Scotland and technically it's still valid)

That'll teach 'em

[Newportnobby]

I remember when I got my first motorbike petrol was 4s 6d

[Malc]

Mu

I remember when I got my first motorbike petrol was 4s 6d

Must have been when I got my first bike as well.
What annoys me is that the petrol we are currently using was made months ago and not affected by any shortages. So why have the prices gone up and why don't they come down as quickly?

[guest311]

the fuel companies have got to make a penny or two 

lets be honest, there are bonuses at stake here, CEO's pensions, etc

can't consider the plebs who actually NEED their product to get to work / hospital / deliver goods etc 

you have to get your priorities right 

[AlexanderJesse]

I have no choice but to pay the asking price, as Louisa works full time five days a week and does not drive. Her place of employment is ten miles away. I take her to work in a morning and bring her home again at tea-time,  so I do a minimum of 220 miles a week, including my trip to Tesco. I filled the car with petrol a week last Friday, at 180.9 cent per litre. Knowing that I should get the new car in a couple of weeks and that the price of petrol was only going in one direction, I put in another half a tank last Friday - at 193.9 cent per litre - a 13 cent rise in a week  . 193.9 cent per litre is roughly £1.62p, so it is not too bad at the moment, but as I said, the price is only going to go one way for the foreseeable future.  The Government here are, apparently, going to reduce the Excise duty as that is a 'home' duty. To reduce VAT, they have to get permission from the EU! I do think that everybody, from the refiners to the garage owners are jumping on the bandwagon though. I am afraid I am rather cynical, like @Firstone18 and get more cynical the older I get. For people that have no choice but to use their car, they are being held by the 'not long and not straight' bits.

Your usage would be optimized for a Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera like car. I remember Jay Leno responding to the question how much mileage he gets from his Volt: "I don't know, they gave it to mee topped off, and I do just 20 miles a way commuting, its tank is still 1/4 full (after one year)"

[Newportnobby]

Ever get the feeling you wish you'd never started something?
For crying out loud, this is the Jokes section, folks!

[Woodenhead]

Just stay at home, will soon be cheaper to purchase a DC loco for your railway than fill up the tank.

Currently the exchange rate is two Farish Bulleids to one tank of Diesel, it will probably have risen to 2 Farish Mk2F to one tank of Diesel by tomorrow.

If we get to one Farish DCC Sound Fitted DMU to one tank of petrol, things will be getting serious.