Official figures show that the cost of motoring continued to drop in November as overall inflation fell.
The Office of National Statistics Consumer Price Index showed a drop in the cost of fuel, used cars and insurance, but servicing costs keep on rising.
Fuel Prices
The average cost of petrol fell by 9.3 pence per litre in November to an average of 95.2p, while diesel prices dropped by 7.5pence per litre. The fall in fuel costs has come as oil prices have declined.
December has so far seen the price of diesel fall under £1 per litre for the first time in over a year, while unleaded petrol is available for under 90p.
Car Buying
Used car values dropped by a further 1.9 per cent in November. Luxury saloons, expensive coupes and convertibles and big 4x4s continue to be the worst affected by the drop in values and were the biggest contributors to the overall drop. Smaller and more economical cars are coping with the decline much better as buyers begin to look at ways of cutting costs.
New cars showed another small improvement in November with prices rising by 0.2 per cent. However the figures do not take in to account the deals that have had to be done in order to get buyers back in to the showrooms. During this time Parker’s has seen unprecedented offers of ‘buy one get one free’ and list prices continue to drop in order to shift unwanted stock.
Other costs
The costs of insurance again fell in November with a fall of 0.3 per cent on October. At the same time the price maintenance and repair costs for cars continues to rise, up by 0.5 per cent than the previous month.
