Is Supermarket Fuel a con?

I’m sitting here watching the Grand Prix and every pit stop, they measure the amount of fuel going into the car very accurately. It occurred to me that when I stop to fill my car at the garage I too, measure the fuel put in – not that I ever do much with it! Normally the driving I do is to variable for the figures to mean much. Last weekend however, I drove from Essex to Scotland for my parents Golden Wedding celebrations and I filled up my car just before I left. I use my local Esso filling station on Ipswich Road in Colchester.

I drove to Dunblane in Scotland via Newcastle. The journey was mostly on motorway or dual carriageway and I use the cruise control. When I got to Dunblane the fuel guage was just above the point where the warning light would illuminate – in line with my usual consumption fopr the journey and so on Saturday morning I drove the 8 miles to Morrison’s Supermarket in Stirling to fill up and then returned to my parents home.

We set off on Sunday morning and returned to Colchester via Newcastle on the same route and driving at the same speeds using cruise control but some 60 miles before Colchester, near Cambridge, the fuel light came on and we drove another 20 miles to the next filling station. I put in 7.5 litres to get me back to Colchester and then filled up again at the Esso station on Ipswich Road.

It took 59.52 litres of Esso Diesel to get me to Scotland but it took 59.11 of Morrisons supermarket diesel +7.5 more litres to get me back. Morrisons diesel was the same price as the diesel I bought in Colchester and the same price as competing petrol stations in Scotland. The lesson is clear to me – it may be convenient to buy fuel when you fill up at the supermarket but it makes absolutely no economic sense at all. Supermarket fuel may well be costing you 12.5% more every time you use it.

Incidentally, we didn’t let it spoil our weekend! We had a superb time and my parents had a great day on Saturday surrounded by friends and family. They’re off to spend a few weeks in our Florida Villa in Orlando in September – it will be a lovely time for them.

Our Orlando villas are also available for relaxing family holidays in the Disney Orlando area and are priced very competitively so the you can get the very best value on your exciting Disney holiday!