Sharing car costs

In message , AnthonyL writes

Why not just split the fuel costs and if felt appropriate make a small donation towards wear and tear.

What's a 300 mile trip cost - £40? Don't be so frugal, ask them to get the first round of drinks.

Come on, fuel isn't *that* expensive (yet)!

Let's see. 37.5 mpg is 60 km/gal or 13.2 km/l. With petrol at 120p/l that works out at 9.1 p/mile. Add tyre wear and that would probably push it to 10 p/mile.

If you cost the car at £10k worth of depreciation for a life of 100k miles that adds another 10p a mile, so even if you disregard the other fixed costs (servicing, road tax, insurance), fuel still makes up for less than half the total cost.

Don't forget that the taxman seems to consider 25-40p per mile to be reasonable.

It's the other couple who think the cost is high. I'm happy to pay them the cost of the petrol for them to take their car and do all the driving. They want me to take my car and share the petrol costs.

Since when has the taxman been reasonable? The 40p/mile (1.6 engine and is it 8000 miles max?) has been static for what ~ 10 years?

And with this couple I then buy the next round so the drinks always end up even.

Anyway I'm not objecting to paying the petrol costs.

Would you like to change anything there? ;-)

"AnthonyL" wrote

Don't let them choose *both* the method ("share petrol costs") *and* the car taken ("take your car"). Tell 'em they can *either* choose the car taken, *or* the method...

If they choose which car, you can choose "pay all the petrol". If they choose "share the petrol costs", then you can choose "take their car"!

Anthony, snap out of it, if it's a journey you are making anyway it will cost very little more to have passengers and may make the trip more interesting - again, I would suggest not being so frugal, get over a couple of £'s.

It isn't a journey I was making anyway and I don't have anything to "snap out of". I was simply looking for suggestions as to what was considered equitable.

Well the other couple (who are pretty well off) now seem to consider it to their advantage to take their car and do all the driving in return for us paying the petrol costs so everyone is happy.

For myself, it would depend on who I`m sharing with. If I`m better off than them then I`d be prepared to pay more, if they`re better off than me i`d hope to pay less :-) If it was my idea and someone was coming along ( say my g/f and I decided to go to Alton Towers, and invited some friends along to share the cost, I`d want less.), or if it was someone elses idea and I`m providing the transport it`d be more.

But for 300 miles...

From work I`d claim £120.00 Paying for fuel would cost me about £30.0, maybe less if it was all motorway miles and I was in no rush. Make it maybe £40-£45 if the drive was done as fast as safely possible. Car depreciation - for me is irrelevant. I bought a high mileage car and get my repairs done very cheaply, so I wouldn`t include that myself. if I was driving a brand new car then i`d probably think differently.

I`d say someone offering me £40 would be about right. £50 would feel too much to accept unless the drive was a nightmare, and £30 would seem a bit on the low side. but a lot of it depends on the situation, as above.

I bet that`s absolutely no help to you at all is it? :-)

Er, just testing.