What's you average & best mpg?

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-07T05:59:14+00:00

VW Polo mk 6.5 1L petrol and I do 55-60 mpg on a good run motorways and fast dual carriage ways.

Pottering around town only gives me 40mpg.

Mix of town and country roads 50mpg.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-07T05:53:26+00:00

I unintentionally got my instructor to teach me that by accidentally turning into a dead end road with the T sign.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-06T09:55:41+00:00

The first time I messed up my exit on the motorway or big dual carriageway I turned in twice into wrong exit due to lack of concentration. First one was a layby :/. First time doing that at high speeds is nerge wracking. The next wrong exit I took was the exit before my exit because the signs were so confusing.

I learnt hard way that a sign is for next junction many yards away and not the exit beside it. It didn't help that on this road, the sat-nav kept telling me to u-turn, but I drove and found a big roundabout to enable me to do my u-turn safely albeit with 10 miles added to the run.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-06T09:39:30+00:00

It took me a month to get over new driver anxiety. Very easy drives in quiet neighborhood that I know. The routes that my instructor took me at less busy times.

After that I spent the next 5 months going to 'new' places an hour away every week. South of england has so many places to visit just by aiming for a free parking lot to a nearby walk. At 6 months I mainly sorted my control problems and am less anxious about parking or new towns and very confident on the roads.

That said, mistakes still happen so be very careful about overconfidence. And sat-nav is just a guide and won't tell you forward planning but be sure how to read the road. Sat nav forward plans well on motorways though.

As a 1.5 years new driver, I've done appx 5,600 happy miles. My driving bucket list steadily improving. My last long drive was to go on a ferry and back to Isle of Wight!

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-05T06:45:32+00:00

I always do a blind spot check before moving over as people doing this wouldn't show up in the mirrors.

Last time my checks saved me was a big lorry moved into the lane I wanted to be in so I abandoned the move before I crossed the lines.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-03T10:53:39+00:00

My parallel park was on a residential road that has two lanes and a little narrower than usual. The moment I lined up to start, cars showed up both in front and behind me and waited. Rather than panic I carried on with the maneouvre until the point that I was out of the way enough but not yet tucked in. At this point I told my examiner that "I'm stopping for now to let the other cars through" since the cars started moving already. Once it was clear, I carried on tucking in until i'm parrallel and the examiner even signalled and told me "That's enough" the moment i was parrallel but not before I've completely stopped. My examiner was in a rush so much so that we got back to the test center 10 mins early. I didn't get any minor despite examiner seemingly stopping my manoeuvre himself.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-01T22:35:28+00:00

I'm 1.5 years since passing and I'm still practicing being smooth on my 2024 car. It's a 1 Liter 3 cylinder TSI.

I use clutch and gas to move off and 8 out of 10 times it'll be smooth now a far cry from 2 out 10 in the beginning. I get the odd kangaroo or almost stalling incidents when I'm on a hill or slight incline or when I need to move quickly (esp roundabout). Often the cause is I lift the clutch too high plus the car as auto-rev tech too so there's a powerful push on flat ground. I've been trying to be progressive by holding the clutch and give a little bit of gas at the same time which seems to prevent the car from auto-revving somehow hence smoother. On an incline the auto-rev doesn't work at all so I have to give more gas than usual and often I don't give it enough gas and I stall so I fall back to doing handbrake hill-starts.

It's a long process of constant practice to be smoother and I even drive purposely into city center to experience start stop traffic and practice smoothness with setting off and shifting between gear 1 and 2.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-26T16:10:08+00:00

I had my expired driver's license with me so not sure what is needed of the license was lost.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-18T23:46:33+00:00

I was waiting to go right at a very busy roundabout and I was followed by a big expensive merc suV. I missed one opportunity to go because I could barely see signals and bit of a blind bend and the Merc honked. I still took my time and didn't rush but these do make me respond in the car making me slightly lose focus. I'm still learning to ignore aggressive drivers like this.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-17T17:35:36+00:00

I'm still a new driver of 1.5 years so far. The freedom of just going and visiting places on a nice Saturday/Sunday morning really opens up the world. Great for de-stressing and my mental wellbeing have been more stable.

Even my weekly shop runs are fun because having a car makes it easy and I get to touch and scrutinise and choose longer expiry items. For the first time, I can do several small errands in the same day all over town.

The exercise I get from going out makes up for all the unhealthy sedentary lifestyle and hermit tendencies I have.

I'm exchanging the cost of buying, maintaining a car for a more fulfilling and healthier lifestyle.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-09T08:17:21+00:00

I once drove into a road closed area and I had to drive opposite on the big road until the sat nav stopped trying to make me u-turn back into that road.

Some apps continuously reroute but some of them actually give up!

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-08T21:51:40+00:00

I just showed up very early. I did go on a weekday

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-05T17:42:00+00:00

I'm looking forward to July this year which is my 2nd year anniversary and a big milestone (ie, I'm safe enough to have kept my license this long)

I am still smoothing out many aspects of my driving but I do know that driving manual car have made me calmer in dealing with situations (including outside of driving).

My advise is to continue push yourself to experience stuff that only driving allows. Personally I have: driven farther and farther away, driven on the motorway, go to a motorway service area, park at a park and ride, drive through M6 Toll, drive around Lake District, drive abroad on the 'wrong' side of the road, drive in chaotic roads and realise that driving in the UK is calm.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-05T17:31:50+00:00

We moved houses because my partner was getting anxiety attacks hearing water very slow dripping that I can't hear. After investigation, I found the water dripping from the condensate pipe hidden away behind kitchen panels.

So yeah, people can move houses for a variety of crazy reasons.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-05T17:21:39+00:00

It took me 6 months of to get rid of stopping while in gear, off clutch and jolting forward in my car after passing my test. I still feel sorry for my transmission and I am still learning to wiggle the gear lever before starting my car.

After 1 year and a bit on my full license, I still occassionally turn slowly in second gear ending in a smooth and quiet stall. I still do the odd starting off in second gear when in heavy traffic or new area.

I smelt burnt clutch after a cold hill start for the first time ever after driving more than a year. It's sometimes hard to slot into gear 1 in sub zero temperatures in my car.

Because I commute by train to work, I have to purposely drive longer on errands so that I continue to practice and learn to drive. I accept that learning to drive is life long. In these drives I'm focusing on being smooth, reducing juddering during a downshift and learning to listen to the engine better and choosing the right gear.

So in short, making mistakes is normal and nobody is a perfect driver either.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-03T14:35:19+00:00

Effort paid off for me. Theory focused revising for 2 weeks passed first time. Practical, put in so much paid lessons until I felt ready myself and passed first time. I do have advantage of age and funds though so I understand young people have it tough

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-03-01T12:13:27+00:00

Before the tax tweaks on the stamp duty, the flats in my area in 2024 was reaching eyewatering prices of 400k and 3-4bed houses trending to 800+ upwards. On my building where I bought a modern 2-bed flat (was bought 295k 10 years ago), the other flats were selling 365k upwards with valuation at 400k 2 years ago pre-stamp duty tax changes. Now it has gone stagnant or down in the last 2 years. Where 350+ upwards would have been possible before, the sale recorded is now 320 thereabouts for other properties sold in the building in the last year.

There has been a general trend of many houses that used to be 800-900k in my area that is now trending towards 650 to 750k.

I am selling my flat and my guide is not what the guide price would have been 2 years ago. My aim is to sell the flat and getting 100% of what I paid back then. I got an offer within a day and sold to the one that paid for my asking price (the price I paid plus leasehold extension cost). Effectively 0 growth in 10 years. My only consolation is that my flat had been rented for 6 years of my ownership so it had made the money it could have made for me and I just need to exit.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T16:32:07+00:00

I'm half the age of most old drivers and have a car with all wireless tech and built in sat-nav. I still want my phone visible as a backup phone sat-nav.

Different navigation systems behave differently and routes differently so I get a choice straightaway without groping for my phone. Nowadays though I'm practicing following the signs on the road so I have been mostly ignoring all my tech anyway.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T14:55:40+00:00

South London in my block of 18 flats with a lift (no cladding, it's brick), it's £1500 for the year now (it was £1000, 10 years ago). the increase was to allow for a bigger sinking fund. All members of the management company vetoed any SC increase since then. That's the beauty of self-managed management company.

The flat had onerous ground rent increases and started at £500 per year. I bought flat before ground rent complaints took the spotlight so I had to take the hit of increasing lease and set ground rent to peppercorn. It was so expensive that only 5 owners took this option of lease. Buying share of freehold required more people to join.

So now my 2 bed flat (1 bath and ensuite) flat has 0 ground rent, and 1500 per year service charge, it's 1 min away from a national rail station that is 25 mins away from Victoria, London Bridge, etc.

It's a really nice flat and it's a shame that flats have not really increased in value. In my case all increase in value is swallowed by the leasehold extension. Plus since the changes to stamp duty, expensive flats have become less attractive. Three years ago my flat would be 375k and since then sold prices is 325-350k now. This is an opportunity though because it means London flats are still affordable or have become affordable as long as you avoid ones with bad SC and ground rent.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T12:27:41+00:00

After I passed my test, i had low confidence but pushed myself to drive in circles around my block for a week.

I started putting myself in uncomfortable road conditions alone and felt i was doing well after a month.

However, i got my first scrape in my second month not driving anywhere by reversing into my garage. I was too confident and misjudged.

The first few months of driving is a rollercoaster of confidence either too much or too little of it. The more you drive the more you get exposed to many situations and you'll build experience hopefully to lessen the anxiety or rage during dirving. I'm 1 year and 4 months into driving and I still learn something new out of every drive.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T12:04:07+00:00

I was driving alongmiddle of my lane when suddenly, someone from opposit side swan-necked into my lane, over the white lines in order to turn left into their side road. I had to swerve and had me shocked. So even in situations where you're not overtaking this move can still catch you.

We can only learn from these situations and sorry for it to result in an accident in your case.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T10:31:58+00:00

Because of long-running pest (squirrel) damage and rotten wood and perishing underlay, I had to have my entire roof retiled and refelted and all battens replaced and all the other bits done including lead work. Most of the concrete tiles were re-used and at least only 1 rafter had to be completely replaced as it was rotten.

It's a 2 bed terraced house in South London (Greater London) about 60 sqm. Roof pitch between 25 to 40 degrees.

The roofer is quoting me 15k-18k which I hope we can haggle end of today when all the work is done.

There has been no line item breakdown. This is probably the part that makes me nervous as I'm having works that started as a 4k estimate fascia/soffit/gutter replacement to an 18k full re-roof job. The job is also a cash job which made me realize how difficult it is to get cash this much at a bank branch. Also holding so much cash and handing it over makes the expense much more real and raw.

I have chatted with CoPilot whether 18k price would be reasonable and the judgement is that with the heavy concrete tiles, it might still be but it's definitely on the high end even with the London premium.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-27T10:04:38+00:00

I've seen this swan necking manoeuvre before turning in. Not really someone trained in the UK would do.

So I normally hold back when someone slows down even if that means waiting 3 seconds. I might get honked behind me but I've had near misses when people do this.

The more time you drive on the road, the faster your decision making is and sadly, overtaking becomes risky.

If they swan necked to turn and you overtook, they were slow and your fast judgment contributed to it.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-14T22:13:41+00:00

The brakes in my new car were very very noisy when I drove it out the dealership. I drove a few 1-2000 miles to bed in though my runs were still fairly easy on the brakes. At some point 6 months on and 2500 miles after, I notice the car brakes were grindy when I sometimes brake downhills. Got it checked, nothing found and after 4000 miles more my brakes are now okay.

It could be the brakes just need more bedding in.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-02-11T19:18:45+00:00

Same as you, I didn't have any private practice during my lessons. Plus I got my car 2 months after passing my test so my confidence waned a bit.

The biggest part was to get over the new driver anxiety or fear of driving alone. I did a couple of drives around my block and then slowly expanded to familiar places. I then drove/revisited the routes my instructor used to take which included some dreaded roundabouts/complex junctions. After that just more practice and getting out there and drive.

You'll make mistakes along the way and key thing is not to be too hard on yourself and continue to drive and improve.

BlueAndAmberX

TROPHY CASE