Got to pick the in-laws up in the morning and I guarantee the wife’s car is running on fumes. In fact shortage or not I always seem to top it up with fuel 😂
I wonder how many people filling up are still working from home? I couldn’t give a monkeys about how much petrol is in my car as it barely moves nowadays anyway
This - we just had our MOT done. I checked the certificate thing and we did about 3,000 miles in between the two MOTs.
I reckon by this evening there *will* be a fuel crisis…!
Yes thanks to the government and the media wanting a nice headline. Going to be a awkward few days for anyone who actually needs to drive and were running low plus whether any idiots are going to kill themselves with unsafe fuel storage.
I filled up yesterday, but I needed to/was going to anyway.
We were out and about and needed some, our local garage is closed until next month being refurbished so...
Fuel pump makes an unpleasant noise though
In a modern diesel doesn't the fuel lubricate the pump? I think I'd be filling up a bit sooner.
Have you got an EV then Drac?
Only I don’t think you’ve mentioned it before.
Why yes I have I can’t believe you didn’t know. I’m sure I mentioned it when some on here said you never hear of fuel shortages at garages.
I’m sure I mentioned it when some on here said you never hear of fuel shortages at garages.
I must have missed that one occasion. You're clearly not the sort of chap who'd bang on endlessly about his EV at the slightest excuse.
So, is it good then?
Check out the EV thread where I mention it.
Just checked on Google maps, all the local roads that have fuel stations on are dark red
Down to fumes in the car this morning, all three petrol stations in town all had massive queues at them, people are mornons. I couldn't wait as I had to go to work.
I checked the certificate thing and we did about 3,000 miles in between the two MOTs.
Pfft, <800 miles here.
11,400 miles since November in my EV.
I checked the certificate thing and we did about 3,000 miles in between the two MOTs.
I did about the same in 2020. MOT runs January - January so I got a month or so of use before full lockdown in March 2020 then almost nothing until it eased slightly.
Reporting on panic buying only helps create more panic buying, explains why Shell was rammed this morning though. I did give the car a £30 splash and dash but only cos the missus runs it on fumes all the bloody time!
Unfortunately I'm not WFH and I kind of need to use the car this weekend (and probably on Monday), Trip computer says ~80 miles left, planned use just about matches that, I'd normally be putting half a tank in on the way home to cover the coming week...
Should I run it down to zero by Sunday or go an d sit in a pointless queue to lob £30 in the tank just to be "safe"?
I'd love a leccy car...
ordered a e-nero last week….arrives next Friday \o/
Chrispy finally lands on the right side of a government made crisis.
I woke up this am to find mine had been fully fuelled overnight
Have an electric car now. Was smug when it snowed and I had winter tyres fitted but this is new level of smugness.
Keep us updated on how brilliant it is when you renew your tarrifs or supplier goes bust, yeah?
Down to fumes in the car this morning, all three petrol stations in town all had massive queues at them, people are mornons. I couldn’t wait as I had to go to work.
Not quite that low but I'm not totally sure I have enough to get home. On the way in one petrol station had a massive queue, the other had sold out. Bit annoying as we only fill up about once a month, it just happens to be due this weekend.
Keep us updated on how brilliant it is when you renew your tarrifs or supplier goes bust, yeah?
Will do as I will still get electricity so I can post.
Keep us updated on how brilliant it is when you renew your tarrifs or supplier goes bust, yeah?
They’ll just pay a bit more. Not us much as those of us still buying petrol and diesel will be though.
Shirley, whilst everyone is queuing for fuel, it is the best time to go and buy all the bog rolls 🧐
Keep us updated on how brilliant it is when you renew your tarrifs or supplier goes bust, yeah?
You do realise that the electricity stays connected when a supplier goes bust, don't you? It's not like someone comes out with a pair of wire cutters.
It’s not like someone comes out with a pair of wire cutters.
Well that would be just silly wouldn't it? Unless there's an RCD fitted then it won't be a problem. I wouldn't recommend the same approach with the gas supply though.
As someone without a car now who rides everywhere on my bike, I can report a degree of schadenfreude on this matter. 😀
In a modern diesel doesn’t the fuel lubricate the pump? I think I’d be filling up a bit sooner.
The modern common rail diesels do run at very high pressures so yes, you don't want to have that pump unlubricated even if for a moment by running out of fuel.
To what extend different models of car offer any protection (in case of running dry) I'm not sure, however.
There's a low pressure pump to suck fuel out of the tank and a high pressure one to make the super high pressure. It might end up cutting out when it detects low pressure in the supply, but as soon as there's any air in the high pressure system it'll probably stop anyway. I wouldn't imagine it runs completely dry.
You're probably right @molgrips but it's not something I would advise testing. I imagine it would be very expensive to offer absolute protection, for example. This isn't aviation.
Surely won't this just play out in the same way as the 'great toilet roll crisis of 2020' and the 'COVID fuelled Past shortage' of the same epoch? That is a load of selfish nutters strip the pumps dry for a day or 2, then consumption of said product drops as no-ones going anywhere, stocks are re-plenished and everythign goes back to normal?
Drove past the gas guzzlers, in our EV, queueing at the petrol station- hard not to be just a little bit smug really 😜
Well a quick drive out over lunch to run a few errands I drove past a few petrol stations around me and I can report that reports of mass queuing and panic buying are much exaggerated. Hopefully things wont escalate, but for now at least things seem to be ticking over fairly normally. Certainly across all the main radio stations they were appealing for calm and for people not to panic buy which probably wont influence anything.
Thankfully I the wife has half a tank in her super efficient SUV (yes such things do exist) so that will do us for a good week and a half, and I have a full tank in my no so efficient small, but sporty mid-life crisis car. I'm sure we'll ride out the storm just like we did the bog roll debacle.
If I must I'll bob out at midnight or something to fill up when needed. I'm sure alot of the silly panic buyers will be tucked up in bed at that time.
There is nothing super-efficient about vehicles the size and weight of SUVs.
Drove past gas guzzlers - shouldn't you be cycling past them. No smugness points having an EV - you only get them if you are on your bike.
Off to Wales next week, but not planning on riding the MTB 150 miles round trip, we did that on road bikes last weekend.
If I must I’ll bob out at midnight or something to fill up when needed. I’m sure alot of the silly panic buyers will be tucked up in bed at that time
They'll probably all be drink driving back from the pub
It seems that press coverage has made a non-story a real thing. My fuel light came on this morning so I ended up queuing for 5-10 mins to get to a pump today. I filled up (as I usually would) and it'll last me 2 weeks or so, it'll either have blown over by then, or a fancy I'll be back to WFH.
Mrs is more worried, she's a community nurse and they don't give them bicycles with baskets anymore.
There is nothing super-efficient about vehicles the size and weight of SUVs.
I dunno, I can comfortably get 50+ mpg on a run and around 35mpg around town out of mine despite it being 250bhp so whilst it's not exactly a Nissan Leaf, it's certainly better than many smaller cars and infinitely better than our 15 year old Mazda 3 that has never, ever got over 40mpg on a run and normally gets around 22mpg around town.
So I'd say that's pretty efficient for the size and weight of the vehicle.
super efficient SUV (yes such things do exist)
No they don't. Whatever efficient technolgoy is in an SUV, it'd be more efficient still if it were in a car shaped vehicle.
We don't need petrol to make flames on STW do we? 🙂
I dunno, I can comfortably get 50+ mpg on a run and around 35mpg around town
That's crap though! It makes me laugh when people say "oh my SUV's really efficient" and then they quote rubbish figures. It's as if they don't know what an efficient car actually is.
So I’d say that’s pretty efficient for the size and weight of the vehicle.
Yes but thats the point. Now imagine it was the same tech but not hauling around the same size and weight.
I happened to be out moving some gear in my car today and it needed its bi-monthly fill up (I think I filled it up in July, maybe...). I wasn't aware of this. They guy at the till said that supply's basically the same as it has been for the last two months, but the media happen to have found out the supply is low and now he was expecting to run out of fuel by 3pm. Nice early finish for the lad but I don't think there's a problem.
I dunno, I can comfortably get 50+ mpg on a run and around 35mpg around town out of mine despite it being 250bhp so whilst it’s not exactly a Nissan Leaf, it’s certainly better than many smaller cars and infinitely better than our 15 year old Mazda 3 that has never, ever got over 40mpg on a run and normally gets around 22mpg around town.
A smaller car with the same engine will always be more efficient, and I can pretty much guarantee you don't actually need a car that big. We went through all this in the "Why are people buying SUVs when there's a climate crisis" thread last year. In addition, the bulk of your CO2 cost in any car is when it's built. In SUVs that's higher than cars with an equivalent load space because there's more materials. So while you say your Mazda is worse, it isn't really. Taking the figures from the Guardian yesterday, 13t of CO2 is used to make and SUV. 5.5t for a hatchback like a Mazda 3. So you'd have to do 55,000 miles in the Mazda just to match the SUV for CO2 footprint. Keeping the old Mazda going is the better thing to do for the environment, even if its CO2 g/km is worse. So, yeah, don't buy SUVs.
Now imagine it was the same tech but not hauling around the same size and weight.
I agree that would be the case, but for a vehicle of that size and weight it's very impressive and it's not far away from most mid to large ICE cars and significantly better than lots.
I didn't say “oh my SUV’s really efficient” , I said that’s pretty efficient for the size and weight of the vehicle. (A Mercedes GLC BTW)
How does it compare to your Merc?
it is an amazing co-incidence that literally everyone I have spoken to spoken to today was planning on filling up anyway and is definitely 100% not panic buying (that would be everybody else 🤣)I happened to be out moving some gear in my car today and it needed its bi-monthly fill up (I think I filled it up in July, maybe…)
I have an EV and a 26 yr old diesel Toyota Hilux so I'm prepared for whichever way this latest apocalypse goes.
That is a load of selfish nutters strip the pumps dry for a day or 2, then consumption of said product drops as no-ones going anywhere, stocks are re-plenished and everythign goes back to normal?
That is my thinking. If a petrol station was set to get fuel on Monday it will run out by Saturday due to panic buying but then be refilled on Monday. All the panic buyers will have bought over the weekend so won't be needing any more fuel.
Would be very different if the fuel supply had actually run out rather than a delivery issue but that is not the case.
Just went out to get bread and passed 3 stations on way home. First was shut as they had run out, second and third both had 20+ car queues
but for a vehicle of that size and weight it’s very impressive and it’s not far away from most mid to large ICE cars and significantly better than lots.
Yes, for a big SUV, but that's the point - it might be more efficient than many SUVs but it's still inefficient!
And it's not that much better than smaller cars. My old Passat comfortably beat that and it's 15 years old. My even older Seat Ibiza TDI was much better. Don't kid yourself.
Re my Merc, it's about the same, maybe a bit worse depending on what sort of town driving you are doing, but I admit it's shit!
I guess so, unlike bog roll it's not as easy to massively overbuy more than you need!That is my thinking. If a petrol station was set to get fuel on Monday it will run out by Saturday due to panic buying but then be refilled on Monday. All the panic buyers will have bought over the weekend so won’t be needing any more fuel.
Looking at Merc's numbers here https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/vehicles/wltp/wltp-fuel-consumption-and-emission-values/ the GLC 220d coupé uses 13% more fuel than the E-Class estate 220d. It's not as if an E-class estate is any kind of hardship, is it? The SUV body shape is just vanity, and it wastes fuel.
Saw a few cars queuing at the first petrol station I went past today. Car was just below 100 miles range, which is when I'd usually fill up anyway, so filled up at the supermarket after I'd done the shopping, as there was no one at the pumps. So MrsMC can go to work next week anyway.
I think we can all agree that SUV's are terrible cars and the owners are complete bell-ends 😀
I think we can all agree that SUV’s are terrible cars and the owners are complete bell-ends
I don't agree that SUVs are terrible cars but I can be a bell-end, most definitely. In fact I really like my SUV as it suits family life. Saying that, when the Mazda dies I'll be replacing it with something much smaller and significantly more efficient.
@kayak23
Just wanted to unreservedly apologise for my arsey reply to your post in the thread mate.
Totally unwarranted.
I should know better than to post when I'm in a bad mood.
Sainsbury's garage queued 8 deep at a station you'd normally always find a free pump at when I was there for some non fossil fuel related purchasing. To an old kodger they were silver haired drivers of yari/jazz/old person mobiles. That's what the nation needs right now; half the UK's available fuel safely locked away in brimmed up oldsmobiles in the garages of our geriatric fearless Brexit voters who use their cars for 5 miles every fortnight to go dogging. Sorry, to take Betty to the bingo.
Tools.
I got the Missus to fill up her car today as we need to be in Inverness next week for her chemo and I wasn't going to risk missing that.
@kayak23
Just wanted to unreservedly apologise for my arsey reply to your post in the thread mate.
Hey, ain't no thang 😊🙏👊
I’m trying to work out whether it’s a good weekend to go to the coast or somewhere touristy. Will the great unhosed be staying home to conserve fuel? Or all off to the usual places with freshly brimmed fuel tanks, plus Jerry can/Tupperware…
^^ Thanks for understanding bud. I hate throwing my dummy out of the pram.
I'm 52 and 3/4 for God's sake.😉
Update to earlier post
Local Esso is no out of fuel
Next nearest 2 now have even bigger queues as the panicers move to a different garage
Std uk gammon bellendery
Meanwhile,
Over in mainland Europe, whilst watching the UK eat itself, they're facing an imminent tea and Hob-Nob crisis.
Cheese too.
There was no cheese in the EU until Liz turned up with some
Is there someone standing at the front with boards saying "applause"? Like you have at the old live TV shows
I was getting down to the last quarter of my tank and haven’t filled up in 3 weeks so popped down to the petrol station - shocked to find another car in front of me at the pump. There’s the Isle of Mull rally in 3 weeks - gonna be a lot of fun with no petrol!
Update to earlier post
Local Esso is no out of fuel
Next nearest 2 now have even bigger queues as the panicers move to a different garage
Std uk gammon bellendery
Similar, because I needed the diesel to get to Cannock tomorrow Mrs K took my car to the Docs, and I asked her to pop in the Garage on the way back and put £30 in which she did. She reported she was one of three cars on the forecourt. Yes, three at 11am.
She's just driven back past the Garage 6hrs later to take Jnr to Swimming - Garage closed, out of Fuel.
FFS
I wouldn't be going on a long leisure trip this weekend tbh.
Why not? I have the fuel, and this car won't be used for an anticpated month after I come back Sunday.
Route is M1/M6/M6 toll so not much chance of blockage from a petrol station queue
Why not? I have the fuel, and this car won’t be used for an anticpated month after I come back Sunday.
Cos fuel is going to be in short supply after this, and that doesn't seem like a good time to be using it up just for fun, that's all. I'd postpone a couple of weeks.
The other car has 3rd of a tank, I'm in London, kids schools are in walking distance, I work from home, my car will still have 100 miles for Emergencies with our main hospital 6 miles away, crises will be over soon because all the selfish ****s that brimmed their cars and jerry cans when they didn't need to will not be visiting petrol stations for a while so stock will rise.
..and I've trained very hard not to race on Sunday 🙂
...is my view...
molgrips
Full Member
Why not? I have the fuel, and this car won’t be used for an anticpated month after I come back Sunday.Cos fuel is going to be in short supply after this, and that doesn’t seem like a good time to be using it up just for fun, that’s all. I’d postpone a couple of weeks
no it will be back to normal by Tues/Wed once the logisitics companies have figured out a re-routing structure - the fuel is plentiful, it's just the morons have knakcered up the normal peaks and troughs profile..
I made a special trip out this morning to fill up, and then cycled into work. I suppose this is called panic buying but why wouldn't you if you can see what's coming? Similarly my work has about 50% more stock than normal because they anticipate supply issues, but in that instance you'd call it foresight? At the end of the day the main problem is media reporting spooking punters while in reality only a handful of petrol stations probably had issues.
asked her to pop in the Garage on the way back and put £30 in which she did.
What really, thirty quid....
Why not fill it up?
I suppose this is called panic buying but why wouldn’t you if you can see what’s coming?
Why wouldn’t you?
Because it was a minor issue with deliveries in a handful of places that now, due to the headless chicken behaviour of idiots, has completely overwhelmed the J-I-T supply chain
That’s why you wouldn’t
As pointed out, I bet every pensioners Honda Jazz in the country is now full to the brim for their weekly trip to Asda. You know… just in case.
I mean… why wouldn’t they?
Meanwhile our neighbour, who’s a nurse, has an empty tank and needs to get to work, has just been informed that every petrol station in the area is now out of fuel 🙄
At the end of the day the main problem is media reporting spooking punters while in reality only a handful of petrol stations probably had issues.
Nope, the main problem is folk like you.
Balls! I always wait until the tank is nigh on dry before refuelling. It’s pretty much there now and I have to go to Rotherham on Tuesday. That’ll teach me to never watch/read the news. Now I’ll look like a mad hoarder when I go out to refuel the car when it’s just normal laziness
So, according to this thread: Pretty much everyone in the UK (except Binner's ****less neighbour ;)) went out to buy fuel today. But all STW'ers were going to fill up anyway and definitely weren't panic buying, and anyway their needs are more important cos reasons/job/wife/Cannock. Everyone else is a greedy old selfish gammon.
Is that about it?
🙂
Meanwhile our neighbour, who’s a nurse, has an empty tank and needs to get to work, has just been informed that every petrol station in the area is now out of fuel 🙄
I think if I knew that I needed fuel I would have been queuing up as soon as I heard the news. Of course, how do you determine need?
It's all very well taking the 'be the change you want to see' approach but panic buying is a well named phenomenon. People lose their heads at the idea of scarcity so you have to take that into account when making plans. I think part of living in Brexit Britain is you have to assume there will be shortages of pretty much every essential goods and services in the future and plan accordingly.
Get your panic buying in early.
But there’s no shortage of fuel, merely a slight problem with delivery in a handful of places.
Or there was. Past tense. Before this…
I’m pretty sure every petrol station will be fully stocked again by Monday or Tuesday, but with no customers as everyone queued up for a couple of hours to fill up today instead
Top notch bell-endery!
Nope, still not filled up. Did mean we had to skip a day out today on our last day off. Upside is I went for a bike ride instead. I have no need to use a vehicle till Monday possibly Tuesday, which is a work van and has approx a third of a tank. I'll be slinging a bike in the back in case I can't get fuel.
Jambourgie, I think you have your definition of selfish all wrong. Some people buy fuel every day, that doesn't make those people any worse today. Whats bad is the people filling tanks/cans when they don't need to because of sensationalised media headlines.
See also the 2020 bog roll shortage.
I still don’t get the toilet roll thing. It seems like everyone was worried the end times had arrived and their major concern at this point was having a sparkly clean arsehole? People confuse me.
If we do ever end up with a Zombie apocalypse, Fall Out or Mad Max situation I’m looking forward to people attempting to defend themselves with Andrex and a Tupperware full of Premium Unleaded.
I’m pretty sure every petrol station will be fully stocked again by Monday or Tuesday, but with no customers as everyone queued up for a couple of hours to fill up today instead
As Sui indicated, whom IIRC is an industry expert in all things fuel.
But there’s no shortage of the supply of fuel, merely a slight problem with delivery in a handful of places.
Well, that was the case before people started panic buying. I would be surprised if everything was back to normal by Monday or Tuesday now that everyone has gone out and emptied all the pumps.
But sure, if no one had acted differently things probably would have been fine.
I don't really blame people for assuming the system isn't robust enough to absorb a short term jump in demand. Because in Brexit Britain it's not.
I don't know, it's difficult to call people idiots for correctly identifying a coming shortage. Even if there was no logical reason for there to be a shortage other than the fact some people thought there might be a shortage.
Who is the real idiot, the SUV driver sitting at home with enough fuel to last him the next two months or your neighbour who can't get to work?
Who is the real idiot, the SUV driver sitting at home with enough fuel to last him the next two months or your neighbour who can’t get to work?
You don’t really need the answer to that question, do you?
Just been to the local esso
Completely out of toilet paper :-O
