Next stop: $3.35 per gallon, according to fuel experts

[hill]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 5 2007, 10:57 PM) [snapback]418583[/snapback]</div>

So what is that? Self serve on the left and full service on the right?
[/b]

Yes

[Godiva]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Apr 6 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]418777[/snapback]</div>

Yes
[/b]

HA!

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know.

[fshagan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(screaming red @ Apr 5 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]418643[/snapback]</div>

The Ex stays for now to haul the camping trailer around the big, beautiful West, and because we have 3 kids and haul up to 8 on occasion. I'm trying to think of it as really expensive lawn art....
[/b]

Yeah, this is the problem for us in this country. While in Europe, car manufacturers do make passenger cars with towing capacity, none of the US sedans can tow more than about 1,000 pounds. At least, the last time I checked. It used to be that your average Impala or Thunderbird could tow up to 2,500 or 3,000 pounds ... enough for most of the middle class campers and boats out there.

The rich "green" stars in Hollywood can afford to jet to Cannes for vacation and then lecture us about CF light bulbs, but most Americans who like to fish and boat really can't afford to have more than two cars. It doesn't make economic sense to buy a car you never drive except for those long weekends and the two weeks of vacation you get. So you have to buy at least one car that can pull the trailer. And it has to serve double duty as a daily car also. So instead of an Impala or other sedan, you have to buy a SUV, truck or mini van.

[Ari]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Apr 6 2007, 03:06 PM) [snapback]418982[/snapback]</div>

... but most Americans who like to fish and boat really can't afford to have more than two cars. It doesn't make economic sense to buy a car you never drive except for those long weekends and the two weeks of vacation you get. So you have to buy at least one car that can pull the trailer. And it has to serve double duty as a daily car also. So instead of an Impala or other sedan, you have to buy a SUV, truck or mini van.
[/b]

Or, you can simply rent that truck or SUV for the few days of the year that you really need it. Once I had to haul about 2000 lbs of building materials from Fresno to San Diego. So I rented a brand new F150 4x4 from Hertz for the day : about $60 plus gas. Sure was a lot cheaper than buying my own truck or having someone ship the stuff!

[jgills240]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 5 2007, 11:50 PM) [snapback]418624[/snapback]</div>

But they have been recording record profits. Time and again. And nothing happens. Probably because those in a position to do something also own oil stock.
[/b]

Yes I do believe that oil company profits over the last couple of quarters have been upwards of $10 billion [link] apparently that's not enough.

I would like to see gas prices increase dramatically under one condition: the increase is solely due to increase in tax used to improve public transportation or perhaps to help fund battery research or such. basically do it like the euros do. That way fuel efficient vehicle drivers would still not effected as much as the gas guzzlers would be. which would hopefully have a more pronounced effect of hybrid sales, and lead to commercial EV production sooner.

[Godiva]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ari @ Apr 6 2007, 03:56 PM) [snapback]419013[/snapback]</div>

Or, you can simply rent that truck or SUV for the few days of the year that you really need it. Once I had to haul about 2000 lbs of building materials from Fresno to San Diego. So I rented a brand new F150 4x4 from Hertz for the day : about $60 plus gas. Sure was a lot cheaper than buying my own truck or having someone ship the stuff!
[/b]

Not to mention paying insurance on the thing for a year.

[darelldd]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Walker1 @ Apr 5 2007, 08:51 PM) [snapback]418626[/snapback]</div>

Are you aware that some people on this forum want gas to go way up? Yes, they think that's the answer to the problem. I disagree. [/b]

I'm aware. Because I'm one of them.... well sort of. My official position is that expensive gas won't solve all our problems, but that cheap gas certainly got us into many of them!

Here's the deal: As long as I keep hearing that expensive gas makes people think about buying a more efficient car, and that they even consider *gasp* not driving so much - then that tells me that the only reliable way to head the direction we need to go is for gas to be more expensive. Yup, some people will be hurt. And at the rate we burn gasoline today, EVERYBODY gets hurt. You do the math, and you come up with the realization that expensive gas is what is best for most people - even if they don't realize it! Charging more for gas at the pump doesn't mean any of us really pays more for the gas - we just do it at the pump where it belongs.

Even I had to buy gas back in early March. Sucks. I might have to do it again in May.
Last month's tally for family travel:
525 miles by bicycle (me)
1030 miles by EV (my wife)
212 miles by Prius (the whole family)

[Walker1]

[quote=darelldd @ Apr 6 2007, 06:04 PM) [snapback]419056[/snapback]</div>

I'm aware. Because I'm one of them.... well sort of. My official position is that expensive gas won't solve all our problems, but that cheap gas certainly got us into many of them!

Here's the deal: As long as I keep hearing that expensive gas makes people think about buying a more efficient car, and that they even consider *gasp* not driving so much - then that tells me that the only reliable way to head the direction we need to go is for gas to be more expensive. Yup, some people will be hurt. And at the rate we burn gasoline today, EVERYBODY gets hurt. You do the math, and you come up with the realization that expensive gas is what is best for most people - even if they don't realize it! Charging more for gas at the pump doesn't mean any of us really pays more for the gas - we just do it at the pump where it belongs.

Even I had to buy gas back in early March. Sucks. I might have to do it again in May.
Last month's tally for family travel:
525 miles by bicycle (me)
1030 miles by EV (my wife)
212 miles by Prius (the whole family)
[/b]

OK, Here's my deal: We live in the country and it's 11 miles to I-95 & civilization. We built our house in 2000 when gas was reasonable. Both of us have to do the "work" thing 5 days a week. Minimal miles on our 2 daily drivers equals about 220 miles/wk. with NO miles logged for pleasure, shopping, or any other trips. You might ask why we don't move. We'd LOVE to. But, here in FL we have 3 major problems] this time. 1) Homeowners Ins. is absolutely insane with no help from the state in sight. It went up 70% lasy year alone. 2) Property taxes. We have a "homestead" exemption of $25000 off the full value of our house. In 1992 we voted for a cap of 3% on taxes for homesteaded properties. If you live in your home all year round you get the break. OK, We are safe with taxes, but all the part time residents & people who bought a house in the last 2-4 years are paying 2-300 % more for taxes on the same size house like ours and they don't like it. 3) Add to the misery the GREED factor-For the last 4 years or so a bunch of greedy people who DID NOT intend to live in any of the properties they bought up forced the cost of real estate to absurd prices. My house cost $160,000 to build in 2000. At the mkt. peak we were told we could get $480,000 for the house. Now all the speculators and "flippers" have left FL as the mkt. is flat at best. Prices have dropped on many homes and those who bought when the mkt. was super high and have variable mortgages-(They are nuts) are paying hundreds of $$ more a month for their taxes, ins., and the mortgage. They all want the Homestead cap to be dumped so they can get some relief. Hmm. We did just fine with the cap since 1992. It wasn't until all the greedy fools came here and Fu**ed the whole mkt. up that the bitchin' began.

This all relates because neither my wife or I can just sell the house and move ???? We are forced to work at jobs and have no in demand skills that can transfer anywhere. We are stuck between a rock & a hard place. Besides, do you know of a state where wages and good jobs are plentiful? We also don't want to live in a cold climate-(We are from CT). We are both college grads. I find it ironic that only 15 miles east of here there are tons of billionaires like D. Trump. R. Limbaugh etc. on the island of Palm Beach.

I would love to leave FL, but really can't afford to. It's so obvious that there is almost no middle class in this area. The halves have NO problems-(Unless you count Paris Hilton's DUI/Parole violation) The have nots suck off we the shrinking middle class. We have a 2003 Accord with a V-6. It's a sweet car and gets about 25 MPG around town if you drive it easy. I would love to go to the local Toyota dlr. tomorrow and bring a new Prius home to double my gas milege. Big problem, no extra $$. There's no way we can afford another Prius on 1 f.T. salary and 1 p.t. salary. It just isn't enough.

When posters here advocate serious increases in gas prices we just look at each other and shake our heads. We have done our part to cut back & conserve as much as we possibly can. If gas goes over $3 again it will really hurt us. We go nowhere after work except shopping once a week. Luckily we have a nice computer with HSI cable and for now HBO.(We are Sopranos fans). I would love to not have to worry about money, but it's not in my cards. When school ends for the summer I will have no money coming in for 11 weeks. In FL if you work in a school system you are barred from unemployment comp. I think my class is about the only one to get the shaft that way. Anyone else who gets laid off for lack of work collects U.C.

I really hope and pray we win lotto this Sat. and no hurricanes hit us this year. Other than that we'll do the best we can with what we have. Good night.

[dmcelvain]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boxster...WRX...Prius? @ Apr 6 2007, 03:57 AM) [snapback]418678[/snapback]</div>

People can piss and moan about high gas prices all they want. As long as we keep buying, they'll keep raising the price for every little thing. Investors continue to speculate on the cost of oil and profits of the producers, which drives up the price because so much oil stock and contracts are being bought.

[/b]

Here's a fine bit of irony. I just bought an '07 Prius, AND I'm in the oil/gas industry. I'm part of a small family run company.
However, the oil and gas companies are not the ones that are to blame. Are they(we) raking in profits? You betcha. Will it continue? Absolutely.

It's called simple economics. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the concept of Peak Oil. Actually, it should be called Peak Cheap Oil. The easy stuff has been extracted. What's left is either low quality (meaning more expensive refining to make it useful) or having to go to difficult places to get it. So, it's just plain more expensive to bring to market.
On top of this, you have the 'Power of 2 billion'. Right now, the 1 billion people in the developed world have gone through the easy stuff. But, India and China have seen the Western lifestyle and want it. So, what's happening is the oil/gas demand is in the process of tripling while production is leveling off. In the next few months, Peugeot will introduce a new car into the Chinese market. A brand new, if not featureless car for $5000. This is within reach of many Chinese families. On top of THAT, gasoline usage in the this country is higher than it has ever been. It must not be too bad yet, because we keep buying.

An Econ 101 course will tell you what will happen to the price.

I'm an oiler and even *I* believe we need to do something in this country to get off the juice before it's too late. It's going to take a massive investment in alternative energy. Unfortunately, even with that investment it's going to take a LONG time to turn the boat around - like 30 years. In the meantime, we'll continue to use oil. The pain of hyper expensive gasoline is coming. The only question is when.

[deh2k]

It is depressing that even on a site like Priuschat, so many people complain about high fuel prices. Here's the scoop:

• Gas is worth a lot more than what we're paying for it now.
• Gas costs a lot more than what we're paying for it now (your income taxes are paying for the $1 trillion we're paying in Iraq to protect our oil supplies for example).
• The government has the responsibility to be proactive to handle the current energy and environmental problems. The free market is generally just reactive.
• Most people behave selfishly and will not conserve fuel unless it's in their best interests to do so. That's human nature.

Sure, more expensive fuel will be painful, but it's time to get real about our energy use. I can't believe all the whining about $3, $4, $5 gas. It's essential that we curb our fossil fuel use and no significant progress will be made as long as it is cheap (subsidized, no less).