Record High Gas Prices?

[Piwoslaw]

I remember seeing long lines of cars with Czech plates waiting to get fuel in Polish stations, while on the other side of the border lots of Polish cars parked in front of Czech liquor stores...

[cleanspeed1]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

The two most expensive countries surprised me. Norway is one of the richest countries, and has lots of natural gas, but apparently this doesn't translate into cheap fuel.
On the other hand Turkey isn't exactly a rich country, so I doubt that they would be paying taxes like that. Or maybe this is how the Turkish gov't is fighting emissions? I bet every Turk that can cross EU border fills up in Bulgaria, where petrol is cheapest.

You brought up something that is similiar to here. The US is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, yet we don't use it en masse. T. Boone Pickens, not exactly one of my favorite people, brought up converting a lot of our fleet to CNG, which would make perfect sense. The reasons for not making the conversion over to it is it would stop everything that is happening now.

[jamesqf]

Another of those annoying (to _some_ people_) personal anecdotes: put $20 worth in the Insight last night (5/05) as I happened to be in Carson City where gas is typically 8-10 cents cheaper than Reno. The previous fueling was $20.47 worth on 4/05, and I could have gone another couple of days. So $20/month for gas is sure breaking my budget :-)

FYI: $3.92/gal in Carson, cheapest Reno station I've seen in the last week or two was $4.01.

[cleanspeed1]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Another of those annoying (to _some_ people_) personal anecdotes: put $20 worth in the Insight last night (5/05) as I happened to be in Carson City where gas is typically 8-10 cents cheaper than Reno. The previous fueling was $20.47 worth on 4/05, and I could have gone another couple of days. So $20/month for gas is sure breaking my budget :-)

FYI: $3.92/gal in Carson, cheapest Reno station I've seen in the last week or two was $4.01.

$20.00 a month?

Wish the Insight wasn't so small; my family of 4 can't all fit.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by cleanspeed1

$20.00 a month?

Wish the Insight wasn't so small; my family of 4 can't all fit.

Yes. It's been pretty consistent so far this year that $20 lasts me 3-4 weeks. Now I admit it's partly because of weather and a knee injury that let me do only about half as much skiing as I'd like kept my driving down. Now that spring's here and the knee's better, I'll probably get up to $40/month or so if prices stay at the $4 level. But still, not budget-breaking.

Re the Insight & family of four, how often do you drive with more than yourself or one other in the car? Consider two vehicles, rather than one that handles largest possible load but is inefficient for the majority.

[MetroMPG]

Problem with the fleet approach - at least here in Ontario - is the cost of insurance.

The bare minimum, least expensive insurance costs me ~600/yr to add another vehicle (liability only - no protection of the vehicle itself). Hard to save money in that situation (if that's your goal), unless you're driving a LOT, or driving a serious gas hog, or both.

EDIT: while on the topic, can I gloat please, please, please?? I put $92 worth of fuel in the Firefly last year. (2 full fill-ups, plus a splash.) And a bunch of electrons in the EV. I really don't pay attention to gas prices.

[cfg83]

MetroMPG -

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Problem with the fleet approach - at least here in Ontario - is the cost of insurance.

The bare minimum, least expensive insurance costs me ~600/yr to add another vehicle (liability only - no protection of the vehicle itself). Hard to save money in that situation (if that's your goal), unless you're driving a LOT, or driving a serious gas hog, or both.

...

I've been toying with the idea of a third car but my SW2 was hit by a drunk a few years ago when I left it parked by the curb for just a few hours. It was kind of freaky the way it happened, but I'm not eager to takes my chances again. I was super-lucky in the sense that he didn't do any damage to my rear axle, just a scrape to the rear quarter panels.

In addition to the extra insurance + regisistratoin + lack of space, the city I live in charges a yearly fee to allow me the privilege of parking on the street at night.

Because my car is so old I like the idea of a "rescue vehicle" car that would be insurance-limited to 5K miles per year and would primarily be used for when my car is in the shop.



CarloSW2

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

EDIT: while on the topic, can I gloat please, please, please??

This is your site so I suppose if we really try hard we can let you

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I put $92 worth of fuel in the Firefly last year. (2 full fill-ups, plus a splash.) And a bunch of electrons in the EV. I really don't pay attention to gas prices.

ON reflection your gloating is just too much, so I now hate you....

(not really, done for comedy...)

[cleanspeed1]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

This is your site so I suppose if we really try hard we can let you



ON reflection your gloating is just too much, so I now hate you....

(not really, done for comedy...)

Thppppppppppppppttttttttttttt!!!!!!!


This is why I dig this site. I was telling the wife I just want to get the expenses back to where they were when we first got together. I live in a pretty dense part of the city and having a fleet is hard.

Looking at a motorcycle or scooter for myself.

Diesel, of course.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The bare minimum, least expensive insurance costs me ~600/yr to add another vehicle (liability only - no protection of the vehicle itself).

That seems pretty outrageous. Are Ontarians really such bad drivers as that? Mine is a bit less than $500/year for both. Don't have the bill handy, but I think the incremental cost for the second is about $150.