These are just some of the common questions that come up in petrol-related discussions between our sa move team.

Find out below.

Will driving while low on fuel damage my car?

It’s a myth that driving on low fuel will damage your vehicle… sort of. If your car is modern and well maintained, driving when the fuel tank is low is unlikely to cause much damage. If you have an older car, you may experience some problems. Here’s why.

As the fuel level gets low, debris starts to collect at the bottom of the tank. If you regularly drive with an almost-empty tank, you could cause damage over time and make it harder to get rid of impurities in the fuel, which can gradually make their way to the engine.

In most cases, driving with a thirsty tank isn’t as bad as you think, but you might end up stranded on the side of the road. If the low-fuel warning light comes on, find the nearest servo and fill up. Each car is different, but you might only have between 20km and 60km before the engine stops.

Is there a cheap day to buy fuel?

Remember when there used to be a specific cheap day for fuel – was it Tuesday or maybe Wednesday? Well, the predictable cheap day is a thing of the past and the fuel cycle is now more erratic. However, there is still a two to three-week cycle. RAA fuel expert Mark Borlace explains how it works in South Australia.

“The cycle starts with petrol prices spiking over a day or two, sometimes as high as a 50 cent jump and then the price slowly drops over the next two to three weeks,” Mark says.

Then it will spike again. The only way motorists can really track this movement is using a fuel price app.

Motorists can access up-to-date live fuel pricing across South Australia on the myRAA app or on the RAA website. There’s an interactive map or list showing real-time fuel prices across the state, and you can also see the latest petrol trends to help determine the current fuel cycle.

Is there a cheaper location for fuel?

“Location does impact the price of fuel,” Mark says. “If you live in a remote part of South Australia with less traffic and less competition, then you’re naturally going to see higher prices.

“For example in the last 60 days, the Nullarbor Roadhouse was charging 280.9 cents per litre, whereas a litre of petrol in Barmera was more than a dollar less at 172.6 cents.”

There’s less fluctuation closer to Adelaide. On average, there is only a few cents difference between petrol prices in the southern suburbs compared to the eastern suburbs. However in the last 60 days, a petrol station at Walkerville was charging 175.5 cents per litre compared to 194.9 cents per litre at its Darlington counterpart. So, why does this happen?

Mark explains that competition nowadays is quite localised.

“People living in the northern suburbs are unlikely to travel to southern suburbs to buy petrol,” Mark says. “So petrol outlets compete for local residences’ business which is why motorist need to reward those with the lowest price in their area by buying their fuel.”

So, it really does matter where you fill up your petrol tank.