http://www.car4play.com/forum Car4play forum en-gb Sun, 14 Jun 2026 16:54:56 +0100 Copyright: Car4play webmaster@car4play.com (Technical) 5 car4play689584 Sun, 14 Jun 2026 16:54:56 +0100 Filled up this morning at Capel St Mary A12 Esso. 145.9p litre. Truck driver on HGV pump £600.00 Ouch. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689584&v=e car4play689528 Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:17:52 +0100 £155.00 in the van this week 24-25 mpg. Painful. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689528&v=e car4play689411 Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:00:18 +0100 >> And I thought from the OE forum I was pretty much alone on the Agile >> tariff!! :-) Been saving hundreds across my whole bill every year, not just on EV charging, for many years now on that tariff. It's brilliant. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689411&v=e car4play689410 Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:58:42 +0100 >> And when you’re in a Care Home paying £2k a week you’ll regret not driving >> aV8 Cobra ( although i hope it doesn’t come to that). >> I doubt that very much. Nasty things. I really think my EV is far, far more enjoyable for my commuting, school running, shopping, long drives across France on holiday, all that. I think I will though have a classic ICE car, to my tastes, in the garage when I retire, for some summer weekend fun and outings to car shows etc. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689410&v=e car4play689382 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:51:09 +0100 Have stayed in Nerja once , hired a villa, one of these amazingly cheap deals, got a hire car at Malaga through Doyouspain for something silly like £4 a day and it was a brand new Renault Captur. Had my first proper Spanish Tapas, sitting outside a bar where the 3 walkways merged and it was fantastic. Had a fantastic paella on the beach, the pan was the size of a small country and just had folk queuing up for platefuls. Thought Nerja itself was very Spanish with the white walled narrow streets until we visited Frigilana one day - stunning place and views. Agree, much nicer than Torremolinos side - that is far too union jacky and sunday roast for me. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689382&v=e car4play689381 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:01:46 +0100 >> A little bit off topic, but the S Cross is only using abot 64% of >> the fuel the Korando was, but around town (locally) it's only using 50%. >> >> Oh Paul. Why didn't I listen to you before.... >> So pleased your happy with it ORB. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689381&v=e car4play689380 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:56:43 +0100 A little bit off topic, but the S Cross is only using abot 64% of the fuel the Korando was, but around town (locally) it's only using 50%. Oh Paul. Why didn't I listen to you before.... http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689380&v=e car4play689379 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:49:26 +0100 Filled the Vitara yesterday in Jaca ( Spanish Pyrenees)…avoided having to fill just over the border. paid €1.359 for 95 octane…570 kms yesterday afternoon, mostly off motorway but wasn’t brave enough to drive through Zaragoza so used the Z40 to miss that stress. Overnight in Alhamsa ( 26C @ 23:00 last night, almost put ice in my Fundador brandy) here Plenergy 95 octane is €1.429 I’m wondering if the Spanish Govt have reduced fuel duty for a second time as it seems remarkably cheap ? http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689379&v=e car4play689378 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:28:23 +0100 >> Hope you took a drive up to Frigiliana when you were in Nerja - love >> that place! >> Frequent visitor - as we are in Nerja fr 8-10 weeks over the winter we often take visitors there. I find the east of Malaga coast far more civilised than the west. Other towns which still function during the November - February period when many facilities shut down include Torre del Mar and Almunecar both of which have a lot going for them. Inland from the costas is a different world. LL with his walking will know this but many tourists never go inland which can be heavily forested and mountainous, nor viit Malaga properly. Aside from the airport, docks and grot that exists in any large city there is a huge amount of culture. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689378&v=e car4play689376 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:57:54 +0100 And when you’re in a Care Home paying £2k a week you’ll regret not driving aV8 Cobra ( although i hope it doesn’t come to that). http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689376&v=e car4play689375 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:55:45 +0100 >> Hope you took a drive up to Frigiliana when you were in Nerja - love >> that place! >> Every september the Dutch expats organise a 4 day walking festival based in Competa, a 35 min drive from Frig. 3 levels of walks…highly recommended, good social scene, very well organised. From my rented room in a town house ( arranged by Dutch) you could see the lights in Africa…I attended the festival september 2024. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689375&v=e car4play689374 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:13:36 +0100 Hope you took a drive up to Frigiliana when you were in Nerja - love that place! http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689374&v=e car4play689363 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:29:59 +0100 And I thought from the OE forum I was pretty much alone on the Agile tariff!! :-) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689363&v=e car4play689362 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:03:30 +0100 Meanwhile I'm topping up the fuel in my EV for the princely sum of -1.30p per kwh this afternoon, and no AdBlue to worry about either. Yes, I'm being paid to do it because it's a nice windy day. £100 fill ups? I barely ever experience a £10 fill up these days. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689362&v=e car4play689356 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:38:31 +0100 January this year to Nerja on the Costa del Sol for a couple of months: Day 1 - Bristol to Poitier via Shuttle 605 miles Day 2 - Poitiers to Fuentespina (south of Burgos) 487 miles Day 3 - Fuentespina to Nerja 410 miles Day 1 meant 3am start and with hindsight was too long Day 3 needed to be at the apartment to collect key etc mid afternoon I agree around 500 miles per day is a sensible limit - represents around 8 hours driving + a couple of stops for food, coffee etc = about 10 hour journey time. Many years ago this would have been triivial. On holiday south of France (Cannes). Lost track of days, woke up one morning and realised we needed to go rapidly. Cannes to Hertfordshire - 900 miles - stop every 2 hours for coffee and/or fuel. Kn*******d by the time we got home. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689356&v=e car4play689345 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:55:20 +0100 >> Five hundred, Inverness to Northampton or Caen Ferry port to the Auvergne is my max. Even if we split the driving, and we rarely do these days, I wouldn't go much further. Eight or nine hours in the car is as much as I'd want to do. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689345&v=e car4play689334 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:29:45 +0100 One of the reasons the S211 2004 e class estate had an 800 mile range was that the tank was 80 litres. Which meant in the fuel shortage of that year when localised spikes in pricing (profiteering if you like) nudged premium diesel up to almost £1 a litre led to a very expensive (but fuel card funded) tank of fuel! Premiums diesel being all that was available. Though, I never noticed any difference in economy or performance. In real terms the £70odd pounds it cost would be £130 or so today. Which is probably what it does cost to fill up a diesel e class nowadays, albeit with a tank that’s 25% smaller :) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689334&v=e car4play689325 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:53:46 +0100 >> whoever specced my X1 originally , paid extra to have an increased fuel tank from >> 45 to 51 litres, a whopping extra gallon or so! (Or as BMW called it >> a 01AG Touring tank) The G31 holds a whopping 70 litres......... http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689325&v=e car4play689322 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:20:22 +0100 whoever specced my X1 originally , paid extra to have an increased fuel tank from 45 to 51 litres, a whopping extra gallon or so! (Or as BMW called it a 01AG Touring tank) On an average of 45mpg, thats the difference between 450 miles and about 500 miles! Of course on a motorway journey where you may be doing those distances, mpg is more likely to be the other side of 50mpg. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689322&v=e car4play689321 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:43:29 +0100 Well, it appears that Luxembourg wasn't quite as much a bargain as described (at least for diesel) We had our first stop in Germany last night. The nearby filling station was the same as the Luxembourg price when we walked into town (€1.767). Later, when we went out walking it was €2.085, and then when we returned €1.80. We're used to the German "fuel price roulette" where they'll alter the price multiple times in a day (sometimes while you're filling!) but I'd read that in the current circumstances a maximum of one change a day had been legislated (but was being widely ignored). Anyway, under €1.80 appears to be the benchmark (cheaper then France). http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689321&v=e car4play689320 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:22:06 +0100 >> I was thinking the same, largely unusable range beyond 500 miles. I guess there's always >> a few that just want to drive none stop. Even slightly more expensive mway services >> are neither here nor there in terms of going on holiday. Five hundred, Inverness to Northampton or Caen Ferry port to the Auvergne is my max. Even if we split the driving, and we rarely do these days, I wouldn't go much further. Eight or nine hours in the car is as much as I'd want to do. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689320&v=e car4play689319 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:56:58 +0100 >> You mean you can’t drive 800 miles in a car without stopping? That’s only around >> 16 hours at the wheel. >> I was thinking the same, largely unusable range beyond 500 miles. I guess there's always a few that just want to drive none stop. Even slightly more expensive mway services are neither here nor there in terms of going on holiday. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689319&v=e car4play689315 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:40:16 +0100 Realistically 504 miles would require a couple of 30 minute stops in my electric ID3. which has a real world range of 230 miles. At the end of the day the journey time would not be wildly different to your experience. When I bought an electric car one of my worries was range but after nearly four years of EV driving I can say it simply is no longer is a concern. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689315&v=e car4play689314 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:09:40 +0100 >> You mean you can’t drive 800 miles in a car without stopping? That’s only around >> 16 hours at the wheel. Inverness to Northampton on Sunday was 504 miles. Three stops. Fuel bought at supermarket prices - 179.9 - and not on the rack at M/way services. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689314&v=e car4play689311 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:02:21 +0100 >> You mean you can’t drive 800 miles in a car without stopping? That’s only around >> 16 hours at the wheel. >> My own liking of a reasonable fuel range is avoiding filling up at French service stations, very expensive, huge queues at times (especially at the ones that seem reluctant to release pumps!) and simply horrible places to visit. I have a lot of nice small cafe's / restaurants /road side vans etc that do great food/coffee stored in my satnav that I select depending on my route. If it's nice weather forecast we sometimes plan a picnic. These day I aim towards doing about max 1 1/2 hrs(ish) driving before some sort of stop. Fortunately I'm time rich now as I'm retired so I can also plan a few stop overs en-route, some for a few days! http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689311&v=e car4play689304 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:36:40 +0100 You mean you can’t drive 800 miles in a car without stopping? That’s only around 16 hours at the wheel. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689304&v=e car4play689303 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:23:40 +0100 Completely agree on modern cruise - it’s remarkably good at getting decent economy. Currently in Nice, having driven down in an old SLK. It has a 70 litre tank and a realistic useable range at French speeds in French roads of around 500 miles. It’s a journey I’ve made many times in all sorts of cars - from a diesel e class Mercedes that would do 800 miles on a tank to an electric 5 series that has a realistic useable range of 280 miles under the same driving conditions. The journeys all take roughly the same amount of time once you’ve stopped for a coffee, some lunch and/or a toilet break. The 800 mile range of the Mercedes had no practical benefit at all really!! Other than at petrol stations you are at the mercy of whoever dripped what fuel on the ground in the process. Very difficult to spill electricity :) I did however crack the €125 mark filling the car up at a supermarket in Le Mans!! €1.929 a litre. €2.149 on the autoroute. Interestingly there didn’t seem to be a premium for EV charging on the autoroute, earlier in the year at least. The cost of that worked out at about €0.17 a mile, which is nearer £0.20 a mile in the U.K. Mind you, at French prices the SLK is also costing about £0.20 a mlle. But I can put the roof down :) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689303&v=e car4play689285 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:40:45 +0100 I bet it doesn't do that with the wobble box on the back, though ;-) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689285&v=e car4play689283 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:13:45 +0100 Superb's tank is 66 litres giving a motorway range of at least 700 miles. Filled it in Stornoway on Saturday and after approx 550 miles home the gauge shows approx half a tank. Computer readout on arrival home was 60.1 mpg. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689283&v=e car4play689282 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:04:22 +0100 Current 'van has the "motorhome weight saving" 60l tank (good for about 400 miles). The one before last was at the opposite end of the spectrum with the long range 120l option. A fill-up was wallet -busting, but it would have been nice to have had that in Luxembourg last week. ;-) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689282&v=e car4play689281 Mon, 01 Jun 2026 21:15:00 +0100 >> I miss the out and out capacity/economy of my old Superb mkI pd diesel - >> 65+ litres and a useable range of 750 miles. Yup. Filled it in Stornoway and after around 550 miles home yesterday it's showing a range of 300 miles. Cruise is brill at getting best mpg. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689281&v=e car4play689280 Mon, 01 Jun 2026 21:10:03 +0100 >> Reminds me of trip four of us made >> in my rusty old Jag XJ6 to Milan 50yrs ago. It had a 12 gallon >> fuel tank in each rear wing and a switch on the dashboard to divert from >> one to the other. One of what we'd now call Tribunal Judges c1982/3 had a similarly equipped Daimler Coupe in which I occasionally travelled as a clerk. He swap tanks every 150 or so miles to keep content of tanks in balance. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689280&v=e car4play689278 Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:07:34 +0100 >> "The Grand Duchy has the largest service station in the world, the Shell Berchem station, >> located on the A3 freeway linking France to the Luxembourg capital. This station serves up >> to 25,000 vehicles on busy days,....... Goodness, is it still a cheapo pitstop? Reminds me of trip four of us made in my rusty old Jag XJ6 to Milan 50yrs ago. It had a 12 gallon fuel tank in each rear wing and a switch on the dashboard to divert from one to the other. Even at c.20mpg we could make Luxembourg before refuelling. Just back from visiting son in London - journey down early Sunday - 54.1 mpg on Mrs F's Peugeot 2008's trip! (and that's at a set 70mph , not a parsimonious obstructive middle lane 60-65!). Went down to 52.1 including return - I suppose it's uphill..... Cheapest 2 days ago was Kettering Asda, 150.7 - interestingly didn't appear on 'Petrolprices'. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689278&v=e car4play689220 Fri, 29 May 2026 20:52:33 +0100 >> Seoras the Superb was admittedly close to empty but the pump went over £100 just >> before clicking off. I miss the out and out capacity/economy of my old Superb mkI pd diesel - 65+ litres and a useable range of 750 miles. I'm lucky to squeeze 33 litres into the Swace when empty - even though the official tank capacity is 43 litres! Range is nowhere near as good at circa 480 (+/- 40 depending on outside temperature!) but not too bad considering that costs about £50 at todays prices. Still not Dordogne in one pass without filling up though. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689220&v=e car4play689219 Fri, 29 May 2026 20:37:13 +0100 Luxembourg has been cheaper for fuel (particularly diesel I think) for many a year. Can't say I've ever been tempted to significantly divert in my European touring, but a good percentage of the motorhome fraternity are known to. With a maximum tank size of 90 litres you might save £20 or so, not enough to make me divert (but the saving is enough for me to ensure I leave with a full tank as I happen to be here.) Opinion seems divided on whether the price is regulated or not. Best info I can find is that a maximum price is defined, and nearly all outlets charge that. Defacto regulation, as we haven't spotted a station anywhere that isn't charging exactly €1.767 for diesel. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689219&v=e car4play689218 Fri, 29 May 2026 18:36:42 +0100 >> The reverse of tax dodging. It’s called fuel tourism. The low tax rate on fuel attracts customers from far and wide particularly international truck drivers http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689218&v=e car4play689216 Fri, 29 May 2026 16:15:03 +0100 51 http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689216&v=e car4play689215 Fri, 29 May 2026 16:09:38 +0100 The reverse of tax dodging. It’s called fuel tourism. The low tax rate on fuel attracts customers from far and wide particularly international truck drivers thus bolstering tax revenue from fuel which would be a lot lower if dependant solely on local drivers http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689215&v=e car4play689214 Fri, 29 May 2026 15:21:02 +0100 >> >> I buy a lot of stuff from a tax dodging company in Luxembourg. Amazon. How >> do I stop? I've gone off Bezos but I hate shopping and Amazon has it >> absolutely cracked. >> You could always get your own back by blowing up one of his rockets.... http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689214&v=e car4play689213 Fri, 29 May 2026 14:38:08 +0100 How many pumps? http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689213&v=e car4play689212 Fri, 29 May 2026 14:32:26 +0100 That's got to be some sort of tax wheeze! Maybe there's no fuel duty in Luxembourg either. I don't think they have income tax. I buy a lot of stuff from a tax dodging company in Luxembourg. Amazon. How do I stop? I've gone off Bezos but I hate shopping and Amazon has it absolutely cracked. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689212&v=e car4play689210 Fri, 29 May 2026 13:08:15 +0100 "The Grand Duchy has the largest service station in the world, the Shell Berchem station, located on the A3 freeway linking France to the Luxembourg capital. This station serves up to 25,000 vehicles on busy days, for which it has a tank capable of storing up to 1 million liters of fuel and in summer there can be up to 25 tankers a day that come to feed the station. In total, this station sells around 260 million liters of fuel per year." http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689210&v=e car4play689208 Fri, 29 May 2026 12:29:08 +0100 >> Christ, I'm glad I don't have your jaundiced view on life! >> >> Of course, not being a Eurocrat I'm not allowed to benefit from cheap fuel, free >> travel, clean infrastructure and enjoyable scenery, or maybe I am. Well done for commenting. I bit my lip. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689208&v=e car4play689207 Fri, 29 May 2026 12:18:46 +0100 Christ, I'm glad I don't have your jaundiced view on life! Of course, not being a Eurocrat I'm not allowed to benefit from cheap fuel, free travel, clean infrastructure and enjoyable scenery, or maybe I am. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689207&v=e car4play689206 Fri, 29 May 2026 11:10:23 +0100 >> I happen to be in Luxembourg currently. Diesel is £1.55 (equivalent) which means a tank >> full is less than £100. All public transport is free as well. >> Food and drink pricing seems to be defraying that somewhat, though. Home of the Eurocrat. Why burden these selfless public servants with tickets for the bus. The EU credit card and expense account probably also insulates them from the cost of food and drink http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689206&v=e car4play689195 Thu, 28 May 2026 17:17:54 +0100 >> >> >> >> >> I can’t remember when I last used cash to fill the car - several decades >> ago. >> >> The only cash ever occasionally needed is a £1 coin to unlock a supermarket trolly!! >> I was self employed for more than half my working life so cash was always to hand. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689195&v=e car4play689193 Thu, 28 May 2026 16:39:13 +0100 I happen to be in Luxembourg currently. Diesel is £1.55 (equivalent) which means a tank full is less than £100. All public transport is free as well. Food and drink pricing seems to be defraying that somewhat, though. http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689193&v=e car4play689191 Thu, 28 May 2026 16:27:26 +0100 . >> >> Cajones is banned? Balls >> >> Edit, only for you it seems. >> It's only banned for those who can spell . http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689191&v=e car4play689190 Thu, 28 May 2026 15:53:05 +0100 >> >> >> You could always join a gang of bank robbers, like my missus..........................;>) >> No comment ;-) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689190&v=e car4play689189 Thu, 28 May 2026 15:27:03 +0100 >> Because sometimes I like to pay cash, and going over means carrying a pocket full >> of shrapnel for the day. You could always join a gang of bank robbers, like my missus..........................;>) http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?m=689189&v=e