160miles - how much diesel?

L

laura_1983

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 January 2008
Messages
515
Location
dundee, scotland
Visit site
A friend is taking me to pick up a horse and its 160 mile round trip - so 80 miles with empty trailer and 80 with 16hh irish draft cross, quite a well built boy!

She has a freelander, diesel, not sure of engine size, my OH thinks she's charging too much, i wont say what she's asking but what do you guys think is a fair price?
 

Anything up to £80 depending on how good a friend she is, what her car does MPG & how long it will take you.

Not just the diesel to consider but her time & wear and tear too.
 
i would have thought she could do it on a tank tbh which would cost about £60 on the basis our xtrail do 400+miles on a tank on an urban cycle more for a combined ect, so unless she has a particually thirsty car i ca't see it being more than that
 
As a basic guide, the Tax man allows 40p a mile for business travel. So for a 'normal' journey of 160 would be £64, and that allows for wear and tear, etc etc etc.

No idea how that equates to a trailer journey though.

I did a 260 mile round trip today. One Disco, a large trailer with a 16.3 w/b and a 13.1 Welsh Mountain x; three people and four small dogs; tack, rugs, water, hay. It took about one tank at £80 for the round trip. Both horse and pony there, and just pony coming back. Motorway/dual carriageway most of the way. A fairly steady sixty mph.
 
It is also around 5 hours of her time, so is she wanting to be compensated for that as well?

If it was a close friend, I would expect to pay diesel and something extra on top, but if not a close friend I would expect to pay somewhere between diesel and the commercial cost.

So come on, tell us - how much is she charging?!
 
Actual diesel cost will depend on the weather , the traffic, and the route. A dual carriagway or motorway run at a constant speed in clam weather will se a lot less fuel than up and down hill, junctions, single carriageways and especially any head wind or crosswind.

The only way to get the tre cost of fuel is to fill up was you set out and fill up again when you get back. But that does not cover other consuambels and wear and tear.
If you pay 50p a mile, thats still half the price of a transporter, and a real bargain.
 
Towing is awful mpg whether loaded or full due to areodynamics. Therefore 40p per mile would be the minimum at £64

However this isn't paying for her time and effort, so suggest if you were paying this you should chuck in a bottle of wine.
 
I did a 160 mile round trip only a few weekends ago - loaded both ways and it was £50 in diesel alone. Taking into account this is probably a 4 hour job if she charged you £100 its not out however diesel alone would be around £40
 
£100 - Would be fair IMO she must be a good friend, as that is some ask. £100 would cover the fuel and give a bit extra towards running costs and wear/tear etc... It makes me laugh how people seem to begrudge contributing towards running costs in addition to diesel, yet are happy relie purely on goodwill for their transport needs.
 
Just something else to add, i have been in this position where you dont feel like you can charge the true cost - so you do it cheap just enough to cover the diesel and a packet of crisps for the journey. You then end up that you have done it because they dont have the facilities to do it themselves. How can you refuse next time they ask - or someone else wants the same bargain. As thats what it is, i have had people borrow my goods and calculate how much they would need to put in eg wagon does 18 to gallon i'm doing 40 miles so i'll put in a tenner to cover costs.
It cost me £500 to mot the wagon £180 to tax it and £200 to insure it, i use it approx 15 times a year not to mention the cost of buying it so if we split that down into per journey do you think that £15 for a 40 mile trip is fair??

Not getting at you just trying to help you understand the true costs of moving livestock.
 
Thanks for the opinions - il be showing my OH lol!

My friend offered to take me for the horse so its not really a big ask if that makes sense, she also asked me about what she was asking price wise and if it was ok with me, £60 is what she said and that plus bottle of wine is what im giving her, i thought from the start that, that was fair, just wondered what others opinions were!

I also help her out with riding one of her horses when she needs me and will be mucking out said horse for her on the day we go for my horsey as she's using her day up by taking me for him!!
 
Your OH is out of touch but then most are, what does he do for a living i could do with some tradesmen to work for peanuts! Gardner or plumber perhaps a bit of building work??
grin.gif
wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Towing is awful mpg whether loaded or full due to areodynamics. Therefore 40p per mile would be the minimum at £64

However this isn't paying for her time and effort, so suggest if you were paying this you should chuck in a bottle of wine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amazing how often people forget this, and the fact that it's the aerodynamics that are the problem not the weight. I get about 30mpg from my Disco normally but am lucky to get 20mpg with a trailer whether or not it's loaded.
 
Ah but if she was going to charge £100 then would be as well getting Gillies to do it.

I don't think it's much for one friend to do for another TBH. If none of your friends would be willing to do this for you then I'd be calling their friendship into question.

Diesel cost for this journey is probably about £35, given that it is mostly motorway and on the flat, so not many gear changes or braking. A litre of diesel here currently costs 95.9p.

It will probably take 4 hours all told, providing he loads ok.
 
£35 for £160 miles, thats pretty good going! Maybe should get rid of wagon and Shogun as neither would do that mileage anywhere in the country. My journey was 3.5miles off motorway each way the rest was on the m62 or the m6 and that cost me £50 as above it wouldnt have been any cheaper in wagon. I personally dont charge anything other than diesel money however people still moan at that!
 
That is worked out at an average of 20 mpg @ 95p a litre. Actually works out at £38 but what's £3 between friends?

I think £60 is pretty fair all things considered.

Yes your Shogun is probably about 10 mpg less efficient than the Freelander depending on it's engine size!

Land Rover Freelander Review Road Test Data

Fuel Type Diesel

Urban 31 mpg
Extra Urban 42.2 mpg
Combined 37.2 mpg

Mitsubishi Shogun Review Road Test Data
Model Reviewed Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2 DI-D Warrior
Fuel type Diesel

Urban 21.2 mpg
Extra Urban 32.1 mpg
Combined 26.9 mpg
 
£38 to do 160 miles towing *LOL* in your dreams!!!

My sorento should do:
Economy ~ manufacturers figures
Urban 25.7 mpg
Extra Urban 38.7 mpg
Combined 35.8 mpg

It does 20 mpg with my routinue of backwards and forwards to work and on competition at the weekends.

Now granted my work run isn't long at 10 miles each way. However the towing must be around 10-15 mpg...owww
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top