$4 a gallon coming?

Welcome to the tipping point... (Hopefully consumers will stand up soon)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Atreides @ Apr 26 2007, 05:51 PM) [snapback]430785[/snapback]</div>

What do you think customers will do? Complain to congress, stop driving, get cars with better gas mileage? I'm not being snotty, I'm just wondering what options might be considered.

Tom

 

Well, we really started needing to stand up long ago. I fear it's almost been to late. I sure we'll find a way out of it though.

As for the gas prices. They don't bother me so much anymore. I say like the prices continue to climb. The stupid Americans will learn to drive less and carpool more, whether it be in cars or the use of public transportation.

I'll just continue to laugh at all my dumbass friends who have their gas hogs. Some by choice, but others because they don't have money to get anything else ATM. In fact one of my friends just got this old nice person Ford F100. Yea, I said F100. It's from the 80's and he's basically had to rebuild the car. I'm not sure all that was done, but the engine and transmission were fine, except that the transmission was backwards.

He always says how he doesn't have money, yet he went from a Pontiac Grand Prix to the much crappier truck. Not only will the fuel economy be much worse, he also had to pay for the new car and some of the work being done on it. I can't help but tell him how much of a moron he is being right now. Guess it's typical of a lot of rednecks though. I never thought him to be a redneck, but ohh well.

I bet that instead of fixing the problem with the cars, though, that they will just build more refineries to put the price back down. They always want to take the easy way out, but eventually they will realize that the easy way out isn't always the best way in the long run.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Apr 26 2007, 04:58 PM) [snapback]430789[/snapback]</div>

The SUV to CAR ratio has dropped dramatically here over the past few months. Traffic now consists of significantly fewer guzzlers. I have no clue what the guzzler owners are doing differently, but the observation is impossible to dismiss. I suspect they are driving less overall and/or favoring their secondary more efficient vehicle.

Change has occurred. That's evidence supporting the "gas price threshold" has been reached. It's too expense to carelessly consume anymore. Concern about global warming is likely having an influence too.

My guess is the trend will continue and sales of hybrids will remain very strong.

 

I know we got the prius for 3 reasons.
#1 our Jeep was geting 13 mpg tops
#2 the jeep tranny was going out for the second time only 177k miles
#3 to help the enviroment

We have put 3800 miles on the prius and have only spent 139.00 in fuel cost
now someone said you can't save money on gas right away with the prius well you can.
we had a smaller jeep payment and now a larger prius payment by the time you add the gas cost for the jeep and add the gas cost for the prius and minus the old payment from the new payment and so far we save 225.00 due to fuel alone and 86.00 less a year on full coverage insurance.
So it seems like wow what a big car note but when you add gas in the jeep you can see the savings right away.

so hopefully those who think it is high priced car ( which I was one) can do the math and see it's actually cheaper in the short and long run of it.

I know and I hope you know gas will not get cheaper it will only get more costly.

To be fair any new car that gets over 13 mpg would have been better than our jeep but liked the partial zero emissions of the prius also.

Yeah I have a friend that say's what ever it cost I like my big nice person truck doesn't need it but willing to pay whatever it cost.
I laugh when I see him drive it.
then if I say lets go to bla bla he said are you driving it's cheaper


then I say you follow me in your truck or we can all fit in the truck he now gets the point.

 

Just to stir the pot....

Now, I feel I'm in the majority on this, but I could be wrong. Does paying more for gas suck? Yes. Has it altered my life? No.

I still eat out. I still go to movies. I still waste TONS of money that I shouldn't. If gas went from $3 to $10 - THAT'S life altering. As it continues to rise, little by little, we adjust, little by little.

With that in mind - when gas creeps up $0.30, and you pay that extra $3-$5 dollars, what does that really cost you? You'll continue on and gripe about gas being $3 a gallon.

As rambly as this is, I guess my point is this: gas prices rise gradually, and we get used to it. Not until a "tremendous" change in price will we see a "tremendous" change in lifestyle.

...Here we go...

 

Visitors from Europe are amazed at the size and number of passenger trucks here, the vast number of lights just blazing away, and - get this - the cheap gas. From another perspective, gas here is half price, and a Prius is a big car.

 

Thanks for the link, Tony. The current price here of $1.23 CDN per litre translates to $4.17 US per US gallon. Too bad GasBuddy doesn't show the expensive places. :huh:

 

I can make in on my income but I feel sorry for young poor parents who are really going to feel the pinch of higher gas prices. Sure, I know they didn't get an education and work at McDonalds but it is going to be hard on them and their children. The feds shouldn't asist them just as they shouldn't help us if we get deeply in debt and have to go bankrupt (I never have) This is just my 2 cents worth and how I feel at the moment. Don't mean to offend anyone.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Atreides @ Apr 26 2007, 04:51 PM) [snapback]430785[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Atreides @ Apr 26 2007, 02:51 PM) [snapback]430785[/snapback]</div>

Hopefully consumers will realize that there's something they can do besides bitch about the price.

We can't "stand up" against increasing gas prices. We can stand up against NEEDING gas. We can lower demand. Those are the only ways we can practically control the price. And once we do those things, it won't matter so much what the price is.

 

If we really want to see alternative sources of energy kick in, they need to be economically competitive with the cost of fossil fuels. Rising gas prices help make that happen. So, maybe the price going up at the pump isn't that bad a thing. - No Pain - No Gain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danatt @ Apr 26 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]430916[/snapback]</div>

We don't even have to raise the price of gasoline to make this all happen. All we have to do is charge for gasoline what it costs us already - hidden in taxes, health care costs and lost lives. We subsidize the heck out of gasoline - for what benefit?

 

And Exxon helps things along.

"Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. kicked off 2007 with a 10 percent rise in profits, its best-ever first quarter, as higher margins on refining and chemical operations offset lower prices for crude oil and natural gas."

 

It seems like Prius drivers have already stood up.
Today, I spent $20 to fill up.
I don't look forward to the $4 per gallon as the same fill up would be close to $26.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Apr 26 2007, 07:25 PM) [snapback]430892[/snapback]</div>

Darell,

Convinced my brother to buy a PRIUS. He questioned my sanity when I bought mine 9 months ago when gas was cheap.

He likes the ride, the feel, and the knowing that we can cut emissions.

I still envy you because you have a true EV. SUV style to top it off.

Still waiting for my first production EV to buy. Cannot wait to stop using gasoline for transportation.

If not a production one, I will seriously think of converting a car to all electric.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Apr 26 2007, 05:25 PM) [snapback]430805[/snapback]</div>

I wish I could say the same. I've owned my Prius for over a year and still I have the only one in parking lot where I work. I work at a factory of over 1,000 direct and contract people. I still see brand new pickups and SUVs at work and on the roads around here.

I get passed on a no passing lane 45mph road at least once a week by a truck or SUV. And they fly! This week a truck driver passed me in the no passing zone and ended up at the convience store just a mile down the road. I drove by him just as he was pulling into the parking lot.

Maybe, just maybe, the $4/gallon gasoline will wake the sheep up!