Are the normies noticing rising gas prices yet? Gas is at a multi-year high price.

[MetroMPG]

Gas prices in the US & Canada are back to high points for 2018, and within ~8c of a multi-year high in the US.

UPDATE, April 17: 3 weeks later, prices are now at 2+ year highs, touching 2.74 / gallon in the U.S.

Have normal people started to notice yet? Or are the crew-cab pick-up truck commuter vehicles still flying off the lots?

I know they've noticed in Vancouver, B.C., which recently hit all-time highs (owing to a combination of factors including refinery issues affecting supply).

I think I've been seeing more "5 ways to save gas" types of news alerts than usual lately.

But what really made me take notice was last week 2 friends emailed me out of the blue asking about fuel-saving cars.

One wanted to know the best fuel-miser for his once-a-week 800 km / 500 mi round-trip commute (commercial pilot who drives to Toronto for his 3-day shift flying the giant jets around the world). Previously this was never a topic of conversation.

Another (musician / music teacher who drives to gigs around the area) wanted to know my opinion of the Nissan Leaf EV.

On the other hand, they both already drive 4-cylinder compacts (Impreza 5-speed; non-ECO-Cruze automatic). So maybe they don't really count as normies?

[California98Civic]

I think people have noticed. I over heard someone complaining about fuel costs the other day. And I think speeds on the freeway are inversely proportional to the price of a gallon of gasoline. People seem a little slower right now!

[iikhod]

Compare those prices to for example finnish prices, feels cheap again
Would be around 6.5 dollars per gallon.

[MetroMPG]

Yup. It's all relative.

Do the Finns care or do anything different when the prices increase further?

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I think people have noticed. I over heard someone complaining about fuel costs the other day. And I think speeds on the freeway are inversely proportional to the price of a gallon of gasoline. People seem a little slower right now!

Yup, driving 60 MPH on the highway has people passing me at the same rate as they used to at 65 MPH...people are definitely limited themselves to 5 over instead of 10 over the speed limit it seems lol.

[Stubby79]

I've heard comments at work about how high it is...but I haven't heard anyone talking about having to trade in for something more economical.

In this little town/city, there's nowhere to go, unless you're commuting in to get to work. Those are the people who tend to drive semi economical vehicles.

This is unlike 8-10 years back, when it flew up to new highs (pretty much the price it was before the latest jump), when everyone was moaning and groaning...when you compare it to the rest of the cost of living here, it's barely noteworthy.

[wdb]

I'm seeing a lot of memes, especially in California. Apparently they're over $4/gallon in some places.

I guess the price rise is due to the Saudis giving up trying to starve out competitors?

[jamesqf]

IDK: Around here (northern Nevada) prices don't seem to have gone up recently.

[iikhod]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Yup. It's all relative.

Do the Finns care or do anything different when the prices increase further?

I guess we cut down the "for fun" drives a bit.
Econocars are popular here, at least for commuting.
I don't know what would be the tipping point for gas prices where people would do something drastic about it

A big part of gas prices are taxes. Taxmoney brings lots of good things.
That sure went off topic carry on.

[ksa8907]

My wife and I noticed a few local dealer lots have very few cars, both new and used. Virtually all the inventory is in suv's and trucks.