Commuting distances and petrol costs

I was reading a post on another forum today which made a very good point that petrol prices are more costly to a commuter than interest rate rises.
It reminded me of a miserable long distance commute i used to do, so i did a little spreadsheet of costs against miles for a commute.

I've taken 1.15 per litre for Petrol and a 1400 CC car does an average of about 7 miles per litre.

I think its relevant to the subject of Locations because of the cost if you moved there and had to commute.

Some distances here:
Wicklow 32
Arklow 44
Dundalk 53
Gorey 55
Portlaoise 53
Kilkenny 73
Athlone 79
Wexford 89
Roscommon 91
Waterford 99
Rosslare 102
Belfast 104


Very interesting result:
The last column is the cost if petrol was 1.25c per litre which it will be in a few months and higher.
I have also assumed a week to be 5 days, a year to be 48 weeks and a month to be 1/12th of a year for the purpose of this calculation


Miles M/Week M/Month Cost/M Cost/Year Cost/Year + .10cent/litre
40 200 9600 €131.43 €1,577.14 €1,714.29
60 300 14400 €197.14 €2,365.71 €2,571.43
80 400 19200 €262.86 €3,154.29 €3,428.57
100 500 24000 €328.57 €3,942.86 €4,285.71
120 600 28800 €394.29 €4,731.43 €5,142.86
140 700 33600 €460.00 €5,520.00 €6,000.00
160 800 38400 €525.71 €6,308.57 €6,857.14

An interesting read i think you'll find. Have people who are commuting thought about this at all before they moved?

I suppose the first thing I would say is that the MPG value of 35 (7 miles per litres) seems really low. Have you done this based on urban? I do arklow to dublin (40 there/back) each week, with almost all of it at 100kph. I get approx 11 miles per litre, or 55miles per gallon for old fogies. Car is 1.6 litre vtec which shouldn't be a million miles away from 1.4litre. Based on that difference between 7 and 11 miles per litre is 37% more fuel efficient and is equalling the difference between EUR3500 per year and EUR2,227 per year

I agree with your overall sentiment though, commuting equals more fuel and time costs, more wear on car etc. However, you get much better bang for your buck in commuter belt. I'd rather live in a 2000 sq foot detached house than a semi-d dog box in Dublin where if your neighbour sneezes, or flushes the toilet you hear it.

You're right 7 miles per litre is probably a bit low now that i think about it (thats what my car does.) but 11 miles per litre is very high. Thats up there with the hybrids. Perhaps 9 miles per litre might be a good average. I'm sure this can be got from the aa or somewhere similar.

I havent even added in wear and tear from the high mileage and resale value of the car either.

Well regarding the fuel costs, it's not only the actual cost of it or the possibility (reality) that prices will go up but the fact that, if you put this money into your mortgage instead and get a more expensive house in a closer location (if you get the mortgage aproval from the bank of course) you at least were putting your money into an appreciating asset (at least until prices started to go down) rather than contributing to the polution in the athmosphere. And if you did not get a higher mortgage aproval from your bank you should really not add such a burden to your monthly expenses cos you probably can't afford it, even less now with the interest rate hikes.

And what about the time cost? How does that come into the equation? I would much rather work 2 extra hours a day than sit in the car for the same amount of time. A lot of people could work 2 extra hours a day, in overtime, another job, whatever, and the revenues from that would allow them to buy a much bigger/better house in a closer area. Or you could learn a language (or two), spend more time with your family or friends, clean the house, get into a new sport... anything rather than sit in traffic! That would make me a lot happier than a bigger less-noisy house.

Moved from Location, Location, Location to Car & motoring related issues

Then add the cost of parking if that applies.

Some people who commute are in jobs where they get paid fuel allowance as they need their car during the day to visit client sites (I know two people who have this and commute 40 miles each way to the office, thats 80 miles per day). They make money out of it as the fuel allowance is generous. So its actually cheaper for them to drive into work.

This sounds a little like false economy to me...however if they need their cars for work during the day anyway then they have little choice in that matter. They really should be given company cars so the company also covers cost of leasing car, servicing, repairs, wear and tear of parts, tyres and depreciation as well as the fuel

Company cars are a very tax-inefficient remuneration option for most employees.

Puesyo said:

And what about the time cost? How does that come into the equation?

Click to expand...

I agree with Pueyso. There was a brief article in the SBP yesterday, which said that:

• a study has found that for every hour you spend commuting, you need to make at least 40% mor money to feel the same sense of satisfaction with life.
• a Harvard political scientist maintains that every 10 mins spent in your car results in 10% fewer social connections.

This thoughts are worth factoring into your equation along with the cost of houses and petrol.