There is no way i'm paying $45 to fill up my tank in my civic

[evil-nick]

Originally Posted by Compaq888

I use my atm card or cash to fill up, I don't have a lot of money on my account and i get a paycheck every 2 weeks so I have be really careful with my money. This allows me to have some money on my account in case i really need it. And I can always buy more gas.

$15 lasts me 157.5 miles.

At least that makes sense

At least we don't live in Europe... gas is way more expensive there. Of course, there's better public transport there too

[louisb323]

At the rate things are going I'd fill it up for $45 now because next month it might cost $55 or more to fill it.

[trikkonceptz]

I know it seems like we are babies .. crying over the price of gas, even though the rest of the world has it worse. But for the most part the rest of the world has it better .. How? They have choices, more fuel efficient cars, better public transportation and set infrastructure that gives the public the choice to either spend the money on fuel or choose an alternative.

We here do not have that, and while we may think we had a hand in deciding that the SUV would reign supreme over all, there are no further improvements in public transportation or availability in more FE cars for those of us that do not drive monster SUV's. I know we are crying for answers, but the US has been caught behind the eight ball and politics will not allow us to unravel this mess for some time.

If there were vehicle like the ones in europe available to us now, there would be a wave of SUV's at Carmax and the Euro-sub compact market would explode. In the meantime, Hybrids are on back order, Toyota and Honda are seeing double digit increases in sales monthly and every other car manufacturer is trying to sell you the idea that 30mpg is efficient.

We have no choice but to wait it out and make the most educated decisions we can until we have a viable option.

[thebrad]

Originally Posted by louisb323

At the rate things are going I'd fill it up for $45 now because next month it might cost $55 or more to fill it.

From my experience the cheapest stations in town are the Costco near Winchester & Ynez and the Shell near old town off Front St. (near the 15).

trikkonceptz, necessity is the mother of invention. Those European developments you mentioned did not happen over night and I am sure they went through just as many growing pains as the US is and will continue to experience for the next couple years. There was a point when we had every opportunity to purchase these fuel efficient (sub)compact cars, but Americans as a majority love their cars (the more power, the better) so there was no reason for the companies producing these cars in their domestic markets to fight an uphill battle trying to sell these putz cars (for lack of a better term). Even if you lack reliable/widespread public transportation in your area you can still socialize and network to find carpool partners, which will help you make new friends and take a few cars off the road.

Only people who aren't willing to try to do something better are caught behind the eight ball, I mean you already meet your goal of 40 mpg so why are you "crying" you've experienced first hand that there are things you can do despite still having to rely on gasoline.

[evil-nick]

Originally Posted by thebrad

trikkonceptz, necessity is the mother of invention. Those European developments you mentioned did not happen over night and I am sure they went through just as many growing pains as the US is and will continue to experience for the next couple years.

Different growing pains perhaps... Remember, cities and towns in Europe go back several centuries, whereas much of N. America was only "settled" in the last 150 years. Europe installed the rail system when it was the height of technology, in the US, many places had no need for a good rail network until after semi's were developed, at which point it was cheaper to use trucks than build new rail lines. In the post-war years we moved into the suburbs and chose to commute to our jobs, Europe didn't have the room for massive suburban development.

I'm sure what I just said isn't 100% accurate, and there are details I don't know and misunderstand, but overall I think that's fairly accurate

[trikkonceptz]

I'm not crying myself, in fact I will have to be swayed to change my vibe now. I will need an electric car with a 400 mile range before I get rid of the gas sipper I am building. I am saying that the majority of people do not have the power to actively change their lives like we have so abruptly and I use that term lightly because I know some of you have been practicing this for a long time. But working in the car business I see it every day, people feel alienated because they think there is no other solution other than trade the yukon for a yaris syndrome. We as a public need to be educated, because the answer is not ditch gas and plug in, it's use what you have to the best of its ability.

And unfortunately with these situations we will see people get taken advantage of and that bothers me more ..

[louisb323]

Originally Posted by thebrad

From my experience the cheapest stations in town are the Costco near Winchester & Ynez and the Shell near old town off Front St. (near the 15).

Hey! You're in Temecula too...sup!

Ya, I only use Shell cause I've got a card w/ them that gives me 5% back and at over $4 a gal. now it's really adding up.

I also use www.gasbuddy.com to find out where the lowest prices are before I fill up. You can text them and they'll text you back the 5 (?) lowest prices in town.

[ebacherville]

It is sad how in the USA the best MPG 4 seater mid sized car you can get is either a over priced hybrid at only 48mpg or a 36mpg compact car.. either way the cars are not that efficient.. however i do see the return of the smaller =50mpg cars inthe next few years.. gas sint going to be getting cheaper and even coworkers that were loving that tahoe are now driving smaller used cars that cost them as much as 8 fillups on there bug SUV's.. either there trading them in and or just using them when they need to tow something.

I have also noticed huge demand for Geo Metros and parts for them on craigs list and ebay etc.. people are feeling the pinch and don't expect any relief.. there getting the message. Honda and Toyota are going to make a killing this year.. GM and ford terrible attempts so far are so sad.

What people need now are very efficient low cost transportation.. the first company that drops a 10,000 dollar 50+ mpg car in the market will make HUGE sales on it. Honda had the CRX and GEo made the metro, ford had the festiva.. If they were still available they sell like hot cakes. Alot of people I know want a prius or hybrid honda just for the MPG's but cant spend the 25k to get one.. and there big SUV aint worth squat for trade in any longer, there is no demand even in the used car market for gas suckers.

Even the diesel trucks are being off loaded with diesel at almost $5 a gallon.. and there pretty efficient for a truck.

[Nerys]

When gas prices are "rising" its best to fill up as often as is sensible. taking most advantage of the price before the next increase.

When they are falling you wait as long as you can.

I really really hate it when people say "move closer to work" such statements are utter insanity.

NOW if your just RENTING. Maybe just maybe this makes sense. If you own a home DECADES worth of gasoline will not come close to matching the "cost" of the move to a new location. Grrrrrrr :-)

You guys in europe can just shush up. YOU GUYS get the nice cheap 52+ mpg Diesels that are illegal here or they refuse outright to sell here.

HELL half the cars from chrysler are diesel and get great MPG and get immediately shipped over seas NON sold here. Grrrr

Alas I hate living in the city. Gas would have to be $30 a gallon before I would live in a city.

The problem is we have no choice but to buy gasoline. I need an utter minimum of 12-16 gallons a week JUST to survive.

No I can not afford a prius and it would take over 11 years just to break even on the gas savings. Thats assuming the battery pack would hold out for the 600,000 miles I would have to drive it JUST to break even on the cost.

No I can not move closer to work NO we do not have any public transportation worth mentioning (and did I mention I would die before living in a stinking city)

What I WANT is my damned electric car. They I can KEEP my rural living with NO consequences to me my pocket book OR the environment. TOTAL freedom and free of cost.

Griping and GROANING does have a distinct advantage. IT EDUCATES people about the problems and potentially the solution.

The only way we can get our electric cars is to FORCE the auto makers to give them to us.

And one other thing. WHILE I really do love this site and in the SHORT term is goals are commendable in the long term its (fuel economy) utterly pointless.

There is NO such thing as Fuel Economy being a good thing.

We pay $4 a gallon and average 20mpg. If I could suddenly make every car on the road 40mpg average friday morning can you all tell me what the result would be?

Nothing. Thats what the result would be. By saturday all gas would be $8 a gallon. meaning I pay the same stinking amount per mile.

SO FE gains only work so long as only a FEW of us GET FE gains :-)

What we need is INFINITE FE in regards to gasoline IE NO gasoline. Then no "price increase" in gas can harm us.

[Chris D.]

I just paid about 52 bucks to fill my tank..
on average I can pull 400 miles from my trucks tank till the gas light comes on..

Why not just find a job closer to where you live