[Andy2009]

Heard on the radio that a couple of supermarkets will tomorrow knock one whole GB Penny off the cost of petrol. Whoopeee - not.

Filled up at my local petrol station this morning - one that has announced the decrease - and filled up at 134.9p a litre. Drove past on my way home this evening and, yes, as they did when the government knocked a penny off, I noticed the price was 135.9p a litre - a penny added on.

Hope they're proud of themselves.

[smudger]

Aye! and another the "half penny" was dropped years ago, but these forecourts still use 10ths of a penny?

[Andy2009]

That's the Prices Act. Technically, anyone can sell their goods to a fraction of a penny (rounded up or down more or less as you would with any rounding). It's just that in the majority of cases, doing so is not practical. But for fuel, it's perfect.

[davesdad]

Find it false economy useing supermqarket fuel,get a bit more mileage on PROPER FUEL

[wagolynn]

I think this is a bit of a myth Davesdad. Tesco fuel is Esso for one, not 100% sure about others.

[ficklejade]

I may be blonde, but I'm not the only person who wasn't aware that supermarkets base their pricing structure on the size of store!

I'll be ignoring Tesco's tomorrow when on mainland - even if they took 2p off, Thames in Lochgilphead would get my business!

[MrDanno]

Originally Posted by davesdad

Find it false economy useing supermarket fuel,get a bit more mileage on PROPER FUEL

I'm not sure about extra mileage but, You will get a proper additives package in the fuel unlike most 'supermarket fuels'.

Originally Posted by wagolynn

I think this is a bit of a myth Davesdad. Tesco fuel is Esso for one, not 100% sure about others.

While the fuels may come from the same depots the additives added to the fuel at the time of filling the tankers is not the same. Unless it is an Esso station that just happens to have a supermarket shop on site.

[smudger]

Geez! FJ, when I saw your red text I thought you were really angry:D

After reading all the posts in here, I think I will be buying the real stuff from now on, after all its our car now, and we we want it to last;)

[Andy2009]

Supermarket fuels and "brand" fuels are almost the same. It's the equivalent of buying a supermarkets own brand food which is made by a company that also makes the same thing but with a brand name (Dr Oatker for example makes Chicago Town pizza as well as pizzas for a couple of supermarkets).

The difference is the specification to which supermarkets request. All the fuels comply with relevant standards and legislation, but the differences really are negligible for non-performance cars.

My point though is as to pricing. I've been noticing the price of Sainsbury's petrol. I drive past 2 of these a day - one near my home and one near my office. The one near my office is usually a penny cheaper than the other one. However, the office one has dropped the price of petrol by 2p / litre whilst the one by my home has stayed the same. They also have not, as another supermarket has, increase the price in the interim.

I'd love someone to get hold of petrol pricing policies and produce a dossier on it.

[wagolynn]

Andy2009,
I think what you are seeing is your local Sainsbury keeping their competitive locally; I don’t think any of the supermarkets just sell as low as they can; they just go as low as they need.

[Rolebama]

I believe you are right there, Wagolynn. I know that there is anything up to 5p difference between two Tesco outlets. (Watford and Slough)

[ficklejade]

Originally Posted by smudger

Geez! FJ, when I saw your red text I thought you were really angry:D

After reading all the posts in here, I think I will be buying the real stuff from now on, after all its our car now, and we we want it to last;)

Well, after my trip to the mainland, Tesco's was 2p more than the Thames in Lochgilphead. It was 1p more than Esso and 1p less than Gleaner! However, much happier today, got my LPG in Fort William for 74.9 a litre - everywhere else is 80.9!

[smudger]

Well I hope they start another price war between them all, that would be good for all us motorists;)

The only good thing to come out of this high prices for fuel, is that it it will speed up research on the alternative options, such as battery or electric cars.:cool:

[MrDanno]

Originally Posted by smudger

The only good thing to come out of this high prices for fuel, is that it it will speed up research on the alternative options, such as battery or electric cars.:cool:

I doubt it will make much difference really. Electric cars are still in the novelty status, They are expensive and are not very practical at the moment. I can't see that changing overnight either. If everyone decided to change to electric cars I doubt there would be a good enough supply of Lithium to manufacture all the batteries needed.

[smudger]

Aye! but there are other alternatives being worked on, Hydrogen and compressed air being two of them.

I saw a doccy on the Discovery channel, where a firm in France have developed "compressed air cars" which are already being sold.:cool:

[wagolynn]

I think this a non-starter Smudger; compressing air to store energy is not very efficient.

[smudger]

Aye! but they have sold a few already, it was covered on Top gear a while ago, I was quite surprised when I saw it.

[tommytwotanks]

maybe it could run on hot air ;)

[smudger]

He reckoned that if he could make a compressor small enough, he could even recycle the exhaust air, not that would be something!