Petrol prices may be coming down at last, but driving a car is still an expensive business. Tax, petrol and insurance can run into thousands of pounds a year - and that's before drivers are hit with bills for repairs and maintenance.

If you cannot afford to trade in your car for a cleaner, more fuel-efficient model, here are our ten tips on cutting your motoring costs (for tips on reducing car insurance premiums, see here).

1. Use your car less

It is an obvious statement, but it is worth reviewing your driving habits to see if you could reduce your mileage. Combine short trips, such as buying the paper and collecting the children from school, into one journey. If a neighbour or colleague is making the same journey as you, ask if you can car-share.

2. Find the cheapest petrol stations

Go to petrolprices.com to find the cheapest fuel in your area. It covers 9,704 stations and has 8,000 daily updates. The difference between the most expensive and the cheapest can be 15p a litre.

3. Use loyalty cards

Not only do supermarkets tend to offer the cheapest prices on the forecourt, many also offer reward points or vouchers when buying their petrol.

The Nectar card offers one point per litre of fuel purchased at Sainsbury's forecourts - and one point is worth 0.5p, which can be redeemed in-store (but not on petrol). The Tesco Clubcard, meanwhile, offers one point per £1 spent on fuel. Each point is worth 1p, which can be redeemed on petrol or in-store.

Tesco is also offering a 5p-a-litre discount on petrol for each time that you spend £50 in-store until November 30.

4. Choose your garage carefully

The car servicing industry is worth more than £8.35 billion a year, which works out at more than £300 a car. A few basic checks can help you to find a reputable garage and avoid being ripped off.

Joanne Mallon, of Sainsbury's Bank, says: “Motorists should ask friends and relatives for recommendations and make sure that they receive a quote before agreeing to any work. Ask for a detailed invoice showing a breakdown of all the parts used and the labour costs.”

Some local authorities also have MoT test centres that they use for their vehicle fleets. Members of the public are allowed to use these test centres, which have no incentive to charge for unnecessary work because they do not conduct repairs.

5. Pump up your tyres

Chris Satchwell, of the consumer website save-petrol.co.uk, says: “Check your car manual for the recommended pressure. If your car's tyres are underinflated by 20 per cent, this will result in a 3 per cent rise in fuel consumption and reduce the tyre life by 30 per cent.”

6. Lose weight

Every extra 50kg will increase petrol consumption by an average of 2 per cent, according to save-petrol.co.uk. So keep all your golf clubs - or anything else littering your boot - at home. Roof racks and bicycle carriers also create extra wind resistance and increase fuel consumption.

7. Turn off the air-conditioning

This reduces petrol consumption by as much as 10 per cent, so if it is only mildly warm, use the fan or open a window. However, if you are travelling at more than 60mph, having the window down will increase drag and fuel consumption, so it would be preferable to use the air-conditioning.

8. Change the oil

Clean oil reduces the wear on moving engine parts, which helps to improve fuel consumption. You should change the oil in a petrol car once a year or every 7,500 miles. For a diesel engine, it is recommended that the oil is changed every six months or 3,000 miles.

9. Be a smooth operator

Acceleration and deceleration use most fuel, so try to slow down gradually, avoid heavy braking and try not to rev your engine too much. Also remember that the faster you drive, the more fuel you use. Driving at 70mph uses up to 9 per cent more fuel than driving at 60mph and up to 15 per cent more than at 50mph, according to the Department for Transport.

10. Avoid rough surfaces

Gravel or heavy dirt surfaces can increase your fuel consumption by as much as 30 per cent - not to mention the damage that they can do to a car's paintwork. If there is an alternative route involving smooth tarmac, even if it is slightly longer, take that.

Try a clean machine

IF you are thinking of buying a new car, opting for an energy-efficient model that emits low amounts of carbon dioxide

will save money on vehicle excise duty, or road tax, and running costs. The biggest gas guzzlers not only incur high petrol costs, but owners are charged £400 a year in road tax, too.

The difference between the cleanest and dirtiest cars can be surprising. For example, the Ford Focus, 1.6 Duratorq TDCi five-door saloon costs £30 in road tax and £938 in fuel costs per 12,000 miles. The 2.5 Duratec three and five-door saloons incur £300 in road tax and £1,902 in fuel costs.

For more on how to choose the most cost-effective car, go to www.dft.gov.uk/actonco2.

Case study: Any colour, as long as its green

Joy Robinson recently bought a new Ford Fiesta, which she uses mainly to drive to work.

The 57-year-old auxiliary nurse from Prenton, Merseyside, says: “The car cost £8,000 and I knew from the green label in the showroom that it would be relatively cheap to run. With petrol costs so high at the moment, I wanted to keep tax and running costs to a minimum.

“I do try to combine short journeys so that I am not always popping out in the car, but I still have to drive almost every day.”

The Fiesta, which runs on petrol, is in the third-cheapest band for vehicle excise duty, at £120 a year, with fuel costs of about £960 per 12,000 miles.

Ms Robinson also saved money by shopping around for her insurance. She says: “Ford quoted a very high figure to insure the car, but after shopping around I found a deal with Shelia's Wheels for half that - at £245 a year.”