Rising fuel prices help push cost of motoring up 5.8%

MOTORING COSTS in Ireland rose by 5.8 per cent in the last year with the biggest change due to increases in fuel prices, according to the Automobile Association.

The association’s annual survey of motoring costs found the cost of running a family car had increased by 5.8 per cent, or €646, around double the rate of inflation.

A car of between 1,251cc and 1,500cc engine capacity costs €11,817 a year to run, compared with €11,171 last year. This includes all motoring related costs, from depreciation to interest on capital to servicing and petrol.

“The single biggest change is the cost of fuel,” said the association’s director of policy, Conor Faughnan.

“In June 2010, petrol cost 133.3 cent per litre, but by June this year that had risen to 151.7 cent,” he said.

This represents an increase of nearly 14 per cent, “something that motorists are certainly feeling in their pockets”.

Motor insurance costs rose by 1.2 per cent in the last year, while the cost of servicing and of repairs and replacements rose in line with inflation at 2.7 per cent.

Mr Faughnan said “the cost of insurance is high and even rose slightly. Motorists are encouraged to shop around and to look at the nature of their cover. It is one of the biggest bills that motorists pay, but there are ways of getting it down.”

The annual rate of inflation has been falling recently. It stood at 2.7 per cent in May, compared to the 30-month high of 3.2 per cent in April.

The AA figures show that a car that does 30 miles per gallon (9.5 litres per 100kms) and that does 1,600 kilometres per year will use 1,500 litres of fuel. Last year that cost was €2,000. In 2011 the cost is €2,301.

A car returning 30 miles per gallon (10.6km per litre) that covers 10,000 miles (16,093km) a year will use 1,515 litres of fuel. Last year that cost €2,019; in 2011 the cost is €2,298.

A car doing 19,200kms or 12,000 miles a year with 30 miles per gallon will use 150 litres of fuel a month.

The association’s figures are based on petrol usage. It says diesel cars remain a minority of private cars, even though there has been a shift to diesel engines for new car purchases in recent years. More than 70 per cent of new cars sales to date in 2011 have been diesel models.

Car prices in emission bands A and band B (with CO2 emissions of 140gm/km or less) fell by less than 2 per cent over the last year and 90 per cent of all cars sold were in these brackets.

This reflects greater competition and increased consumer interest in this end of the market because of the Government scrappage scheme.

The association calculates the total cost of motoring in Ireland based on an annual mileage of 10,000km or 16,000km.