Gulp, hope they are wrong!!!

[manning]

I was tuned in on several programs this saturday morning on Fox cable and they are seriously talking about...$5.00 per gal reg gas by mid to end of this summer. If there is any time to be wrong, this is it.

They also said all politicians of both parties going 30 years past to present can take the credit for this mess by not having the guts to address this.

 

[debden]

Yeah,I certainly think $3.02.9 per gallon in our area is waaaay high enough.We do not need the gas to go up to over $5 per gallon...
Thank goodness I own a car that's on the small side....at least it's not one of those big 8 cylinder trucks/luxury cars..boy people are going to have to rethink buying one of those gas guzzling machines now.
I am also thankful that my new job is only a mile from my house!
It's just unbelievable!!
Debbie

 

[ducklite]

I was talking to a friend yesterday who has a 6 cylinder SUV and drives about 70 miles a day to take her kids to and from school and for her job. She's really starting to worry.

I'm not terribly concerned, my car gets about 34-36 mpg, and I work about 32 miles r/t from home, so a gallon a day. Will high prices pinch a bit, yes, but they aren't going to be the end of the world for me.

DH bought a Prius about a year ago, people said that the gas savings would never make up the cost difference between that and a "regular" car. Of course some of those same people are now scrambling to get on waiting lists to buy a Prius.

Anne

 

[averill94]

My DFIL thinks that "they" will run it up by end of summer to make $3 a gollon look OK. I hqve a feeling he will be right.
My husband does round trip of 60 miles per day on a 6 cyl car - he just mentioned that we might have to look for a 4 cyl. I mentioned a hybrid?
Conserve and walk - my new motto and dont buy gas on Sundays certainly not from OPEC companies. (did everyone else get this email?)

 

[chris1gill]

We are lucky DH has a company van & the company pays to put gas in it... he drives 70 miles a day to get to work with it It makes me mad though as a matter of fact... if we lived closer to where he worked, we could find a good school system & conserve energy... he's not interested in that.... The whole thing is about conservation & as a nation of consumer's, well, we will pay whatever the cost is for our consumption If it were up to me, we would live next door to work & take public transport when necessary!

We paid 5.00 a gallon in Australia a few months ago, it pretty much prepared me for paying it here...

Why can't we develop other technologies like ethanol? These technologies have been around forever....

 

[ducklite]

My DFIL thinks that "they" will run it up by end of summer to make $3 a gollon look OK. I hqve a feeling he will be right.
My husband does round trip of 60 miles per day on a 6 cyl car - he just mentioned that we might have to look for a 4 cyl. I mentioned a hybrid?
Conserve and walk - my new motto and dont buy gas on Sundays certainly not from OPEC companies. (did everyone else get this email?)

If you are interested in a hybrid--don't wait. Even a year ago when gas was in the $1.40/gallon range, there was generally a six month or longer wait to buy one. My guess is that over the next couple of months people will scramble for them and it could be a year wait. We got lucky with ours, we got it in about three months time because it came fully loaded and no one on the dealers list wanted it loaded. Most were looking for a commuter car, and didn't need a lot of creature comforts. DH drives back and forth from NJ to FL every month, so creature comforts were important, and we had no problem paying the extra $6K for them. The dealers can't order them, they just get what they get and go down the list until someone wants that car.

Anne

 

[goofydad621]

I drive about 110 miles round trip for work, I am lucky in that I drive a full size car (Chrysler Concorde) but I have found that by setting my cruise control at about 70 MPH (if anybody is familiar with Rte 95 from NH line to Denver's Peabody Ma area they will tell you that is almost standing still) and get 28-30 mpg. I wish I cold afford a hybrid right now but not in our budget.

The country does need to do something, Ethanol, Soy/Corn oil, more available and more efficient trains etc.

 

[CarolMN]

Just yesterday, I came across this article on hybrids - they may not be as good for the environment or as helpful in reducing our dependence on foreign oil as we think! Apparently, it depends on the hybrid and how it is used!

Here'a a brief quote:

The car that started the hybrid craze, the Toyota Prius, is lauded for squeezing 40 or more miles out of a gallon of gas, and it really can. But only when it's being driven around town, where its electric motor does its best and most active work. On a cross-country excursion in a Prius, the staff of Automobile Magazine discovered, mileage plummeted on the Interstate. In fact, the car's computer, which controls the engine and the motor, allowing them to run together or separately, was programmed to direct the Prius to spend most of its highway time running on gasoline because at higher speeds the batteries quickly get exhausted. Indeed, the gasoline engine worked so hard that we calculated we might have used less fuel on our journey if we had been driving Toyota's conventionally powered, similarly sized Corolla -- which costs thousands less. For the owner who does the majority of her driving on the highway, the Prius' potential for fuel economy will never be realized and its price premium never recovered.

Here's a link to the whole article - worth reading and considering for those who are in the market for a hybrid:

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/381107.html

Best wishes -

 

[ducklite]

Just yesterday, I came across this article on hybrids - they may not be as good for the environment or as helpful in reducing our dependence on foreign oil as we think! Apparently, it depends on the hybrid and how it is used!

Here'a a brief quote:

The car that started the hybrid craze, the Toyota Prius, is lauded for squeezing 40 or more miles out of a gallon of gas, and it really can. But only when it's being driven around town, where its electric motor does its best and most active work. On a cross-country excursion in a Prius, the staff of Automobile Magazine discovered, mileage plummeted on the Interstate. In fact, the car's computer, which controls the engine and the motor, allowing them to run together or separately, was programmed to direct the Prius to spend most of its highway time running on gasoline because at higher speeds the batteries quickly get exhausted. Indeed, the gasoline engine worked so hard that we calculated we might have used less fuel on our journey if we had been driving Toyota's conventionally powered, similarly sized Corolla -- which costs thousands less. For the owner who does the majority of her driving on the highway, the Prius' potential for fuel economy will never be realized and its price premium never recovered.

Here's a link to the whole article - worth reading and considering for those who are in the market for a hybrid:

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/381107.html

Best wishes -

That is inaccurate. My DH drove I-95 from NJ to FL last week (he just left to drive back not ten minutes ago) and averaged 46 mpg. That's entirely highway--give or take the three miles of getting off to get gas or eat along the way. He normally cruises at about 5 mph over the speed limit. He uses cruise control on over 95% of the drive, and that will definitely assist in obtaining higher gass milage.

If he is driving "in-town" he usually gets 48-50 mpg. A couple of his co-workers who only do in-town driving report up to 51 mpg. They have figured out a few ways of "tricking" the car into using batteries rather than gas more often. (See what happens when you give an engineer a "toy"? )

I don't care what the articles say, I know what the truth is because we own one.

Anne

 

[kydisneyfans]

Allowing gas to hit $5.00, or even 4.00 per gallon would be political suicide in an election year for Congress--it won't happen. I think we have seen as high as we're going to get, unless Curious George has more poor judgement and bombs Iran. Last year after katrina, prices suddenly began to drop after the media uproar. We have just begun the media hype again.

 

[swkmom]

Allowing gas to hit $5.00, or even 4.00 per gallon would be political suicide in an election year for Congress--it won't happen. I think we have seen as high as we're going to get, unless Curious George has more poor judgement and bombs Iran. Last year after katrina, prices suddenly began to drop after the media uproar. We have just begun the media hype again.

I certainly hope you are correct! We are planning to drive from WV to WDW in our Dodge Durango in June, it is one of those 8 cylinder gas guzzlers! I hope we don't have to take my Nissan Altima to save on gas, that would be very cramped!

 

[bavaria]

Gas prices in the US have routinely been significantly lower than most of the rest of the world - compare to Canada, which is a major source of oil to the world, yet prices are much higher due to taxes (ie currently $1.18 a LITRE vs $0.90 a LITRE directly across the border in the US). Europe is even higher ie double.

Higher prices do create an incentive to find alternate sources of fuel, fuel efficient vehicles, alternate commutes, etc etc etc. Public transit is more accessable to more people where gas prices are higher, and more fuel efficient vehicles are driven.

In Canada, the Mercedes built 'Smart' car has become very popular (although it is ceasing production in Germany! less demand there because they had already found alternatives over the years) The Jetta TDI is a great option due to fuel efficiency - I drove a diesel VW 20 years ago in Germany.

I am fortunate to no longer have a commute (I commute to work via airplane, and my vehicle and gas while working are expensed). I drive a fuel efficient car, don't rent an SUV, and have somewhat curtailed my leisure road trips.

While high gas prices are definitely frustrating, hopefully they will lead to some changes in behaviour which will benefit us all....

(Ok, PSA over, back to your regularly scheduled conversation )

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

Gas is 2.93 here, or it was as of Friday. I have a minivan, and only get 18-19 per gal. This is horrid. I can't believe that the goverment would allow it to go on, but then again they are probably getting a cut somewhere. I am one that can't wait for 2008, something needs to change.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

It's pure capitalism -- supply and demand, but not just here in America or Europe. The booming economies in China and India have increased the number of automobiles and the accompanying gasoline consumption in countries where the combined population totals 2 billion. Meanwhile, the refining capacity here in the US has not increased in years, the last refinery having been built in 1976.

And don't pay attention to these "don't buy gas on a particular day" e-mails. The only thing that will happen is the people who would buy gas on those days will buy gas on other days. That e-mail has been around in one form or another for years (check snopes.com).

 

[sanfran22]

Gas is 2.93 here, or it was as of Friday. I have a minivan, and only get 18-19 per gal. This is horrid. I can't believe that the goverment would allow it to go on, but then again they are probably getting a cut somewhere. I am one that can't wait for 2008, something needs to change.

2008 is not the solution.i wish people would stop blaming everything on this current administration...it's alot bigger than that..

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Just yesterday, I came across this article on hybrids - they may not be as good for the environment or as helpful in reducing our dependence on foreign oil as we think! Apparently, it depends on the hybrid and how it is used!

Here'a a brief quote:

The car that started the hybrid craze, the Toyota Prius, is lauded for squeezing 40 or more miles out of a gallon of gas, and it really can. But only when it's being driven around town, where its electric motor does its best and most active work. On a cross-country excursion in a Prius, the staff of Automobile Magazine discovered, mileage plummeted on the Interstate. In fact, the car's computer, which controls the engine and the motor, allowing them to run together or separately, was programmed to direct the Prius to spend most of its highway time running on gasoline because at higher speeds the batteries quickly get exhausted. Indeed, the gasoline engine worked so hard that we calculated we might have used less fuel on our journey if we had been driving Toyota's conventionally powered, similarly sized Corolla -- which costs thousands less. For the owner who does the majority of her driving on the highway, the Prius' potential for fuel economy will never be realized and its price premium never recovered.

Here's a link to the whole article - worth reading and considering for those who are in the market for a hybrid:

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/381107.html

Best wishes -

Im glad you adressed that. Even though Toyota claims you can get 55 mpg hwy, this is under extremly perfect driving conditions. I know a few people with the Prius and they report overall millage in the high 30's. A standard Pontiac G6 (around the same size) gets 34 mpg hwy and is 1/2 the price of the Prius (not to mention the premium $$$ service is going to cost you in a few years when all those onboard computers take a crap!!)

EDIT!! My bad, after current rebates, the Pontiac is about $7,000 cheaper then the Prius (assuming that the dealer will give you sticker for the Prius)
After doing some math (hopefully i did it correctly ) For every 1,000 miles you drive (Assuming you get 40 mpg hwy average in the Toyota and gas prices are $3.50 per gallon) you would save $15.40. The Toyota would have to last 454,000 miles (under the same driving conditions) before it became cheaper then a similar domestic make that was powered by a conventional motor....

 

[ducklite]

Im glad you adressed that. Even though Toyota claims you can get 55 mpg hwy, this is under extremly perfect driving conditions. I know a few people with the Prius and they report overall millage in the high 30's. A standard Pontiac G6 (around the same size) gets 34 mpg hwy and is 1/2 the price of the Prius (not to mention the premium $$$ service is going to cost you in a few years when all those onboard computers take a crap!!)

EDIT!! My bad, after current rebates, the Pontiac is about $7,000 cheaper then the Prius (assuming that the dealer will give you sticker for the Prius)
After doing some math (hopefully i did it correctly ) For every 1,000 miles you drive (Assuming you get 40 mpg hwy average in the Toyota and gas prices are $3.50 per gallon) you would save $15.40. The Toyota would have to last 454,000 miles (under the same driving conditions) before it became cheaper then a similar domestic make that was powered by a conventional motor....

I don't know how you get gas milage in the 30's for a Prius. We are getting gas milage averaging 46-47 mpg highway, and 50 city.

DH just looked a minute ago, he's been driving at 75 mph with the a.c. running and is getting 47.6. If he's not running the ac he gets about 51 mpg highway. The worst he gets is when he's running the heat on the highway at about 46mpg.

If people you know are getting milage that low with a Prius, they should take it in for service, because there's something wrong with it.

We bought our Prius at list, no extra fees, and with the amount of driving DH does, it will pay for itself in three years at $2.25/gallon. If gas indeed goes up to over $4/gallon it will pay off a lot faster. Our Prius is 10 months old and has 23,000 miles on it. Knock wood we've never had to have anything done on it but oil changes and tire rotation--just the normal stuff you'd do for any car.

I just "built" a G6 with the comparable options that we have on our Prius, and the difference is actually under $3000. When you take out the $2000 tax deduction (not credit) we got for buying the car, it's even less than that.

Anne

 

[Disneyjosh229]

I just "built" a G6 with the comparable options that we have on our Prius, and the difference is actually under $3000. When you take out the $2000 tax deduction (not credit) we got for buying the car, it's even less than that.

Like I stated in my previous post, my calculations are for a standard vehicle (not the loaded one I assume you have.) Im glad that the prius is working out for you. Once again, for someone who doesnt get the loaded model or someone who doesnt drive 30k miles + per year, the Prius maybe the least practical option...

 

[ducklite]

Like I stated in my previous post, my calculations are for a standard vehicle (not the loaded one I assume you have.) Im glad that the prius is working out for you. Once again, for someone who doesnt get the loaded model or someone who doesnt drive 30k miles + per year, the Prius maybe the least practical option...

Yes, ours is fully loaded. For someone driving ten miles a day, r/t to the train station, it wouldn't be worth the expense. But then neither would a G6. In that case you would buy a used Geo Metro or Neon to leave at the station all day.

Anne

 

[manning]

It will be interesting to see what the new camry hybrid will do.