Use Case
Is It Worth Driving to Cheaper Petrol as a Daily Commuter?
Daily commuters can save £500+ per year by choosing the right petrol station. Find out if that 3-mile detour to Asda is actually worth it for your car.
Potential saving
Save up to £556/year
filling twice a week at the cheaper station
?The problem
You drive past the same Shell garage every morning and wonder if the Asda three miles away is worth the detour. Most fuel-price apps show you where the cheapest petrol is, but they never tell you whether the detour actually saves you money once you factor in the fuel you burn getting there. For a typical commuter filling up twice a week, making the wrong call costs hundreds of pounds a year.
✓How WorthThePump helps
WorthThePump calculates the net saving for your specific car — factoring in your MPG, the exact detour distance, and the price difference between stations. Enter your plate, tell us roughly how much you spend, and within seconds you see a clear verdict: Worth It or False Economy. No more guessing at the forecourt.
- Accounts for the fuel you burn on the detour — not just the headline price difference
- Looks up your car's real-world MPG automatically via the DVLA — no manual input needed
- Shows every station within your chosen radius on a map, colour-coded green (worth it) or red (false economy)
- Works out your annual saving if you fill up at the same frequency — so you see the big picture
Worked example
Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost
Real-world MPG: 42 • Fill amount: £50
Nearest station
199p/L
Cheaper station
177p/L
Net saving
£5.35
✅ Worth it — save £556/year filling twice a week
Common questions
How much can a daily commuter save by switching to a cheaper petrol station?
It depends on your car, how far you commute, and how often you fill up. A typical petrol car filling £50 twice a week and switching to a station 3 miles away that's 22p/litre cheaper can save around £5 per fill after accounting for the detour — that's roughly £520 per year.
Is supermarket fuel (Asda, Tesco, Morrisons) the same quality as branded petrol?
Yes. All fuel sold in the UK must meet the same British Standard (BS EN 228 for petrol). Supermarket fuel is identical in quality to Shell or BP. The only difference is price — supermarkets consistently price 5–15p/litre cheaper than branded forecourts.
How does WorthThePump factor in the detour fuel cost?
We use your car's MPG (looked up from the DVLA) and the Haversine formula to calculate the exact distance to each station. We then calculate how much fuel the detour burns and subtract that cost from the gross saving. What you see on screen is always the net saving.
What if I pass a cheaper station on my commute route anyway?
Set the detour to 0 miles and the calculator will show you the gross saving with no detour penalty. This is useful when a cheaper station sits directly on your route — in that case, the saving is pure profit.
Related reading
Check your actual saving now
Enter your plate number — we look up your car automatically and show you every nearby station ranked by net saving.