My household (S.O., twin brother and I) has two vehicles (the Wrangler and brother's '96 Blazer), at this point I feel fortunate that neither belongs to me (well, most of the time). I don't need one, really, but there are times I'd like one. Have to plan my vehicle usage based on who's at work, not using their vehicle, not home, etc. Anywho, both get ~14 mpg city and 19 highway; I really wouldn't mind one vehicle that did at least 50% better, don't think that's too much to ask (twice as good would be excellent). Kind of a drag spending $75 just in gas now to go see my mom for the weekend!
We've been holding steady at $3.29 for 87 here in SE PA since about Sunday. I found it for $3.19 down the street from me, but that's been the cheapest I've seen it since I filled up my little Chevy S-10 last week for $2.38. My mother has a Jeep Cherokee and I'm currently looking for work, so we swapped out, she's using my truck, which gets much better gas mileage because she has a ten mile commute to work.
Up here they've started selling a lot of locking gas caps because of the threat of people siphoning gas because of the skyhigh per gallon prices.
I broke my vow to drive gently, lost my nerve, and stomped the pedal to the floor! I drove the convertible to work today, and the exact moment I pulled out of my yard, a Prius, of all cars, comes flying over the hill and, instead of easing off, immediately proceeds to get practically right up my tailpipe. Am I not the only one that sees a bit of irony there? :confuse:
The speed limit on our road is only 30 mph, and up at my end, it goes down to the yellow 10 mph warning signs, because of an S-curve and limited visibility. The way I go into work though, about 500 feet from my house, it goes from a narrow 2 lane road out to 4 lanes. I kept a low speed through the two lane parts, accelerating very gently. As soon as it got to 4 lanes though, I got over to the right. Prius decided to blow me off, so I punched it! Ha-Ha, lady, let's see you make your EPA estimates now!!! :P
Now I didn't punch it TOO hard, because, well, it's not that hard to blow off a first-gen Prius, plus there's a hill up the road, and I didn't feel like going airborne!
Once I got out on the main road (45 mph speed limit) I got up to where the speedo was around 50-55 (it's a little fast in this car), and people were passing me like I was standing still! I guess they've gotten adjusted to these higher gas prices and don't care about how fast they burn through the stuff! Speeds pretty much seem to be back to "normal" around here.
Prices dropped 20 cents here this morning to $2.99. Still running 20 cent gaps between grades. With the mileage I get, I was able to "span the panic" and not buy while the price was above $3 :P
the 9/10 of a cent, anyway. Why don't they just round up? As for around here, the local Shell's still holding at $3.159 for 87 octane. Most of my vehicles are still pretty full...the convertible's only gone maybe 20-25 miles since I filled up its 26 gallon tank. The NYer's only gone around 30 or so, on its 21 gallon tank. And the Intrepid's gone maybe 120 miles since it last got its 17 gallon tank filled.
$3.359 for 87 Regular $3.459 for 89 Midgrade $3.559 for 93 Premium $3.639 for 94 Ultra
Woo-hoo! It went down a whole FOUR CENTS! Now I can save up for that pack of Juicy Fruit I've been eyeing up. The prices would have to fall by at least a $1.50 before there's any semblance of sanity. Until things settle, I'll leave the Cadillac home and take the Reeboks.
We went to visit my sister who lives about 25 miles north of here. Gas was $2.78-$2.84. Go 20 miles west of here and gas is at $2.99+ with the exception of one station that was $2.84. Can there really be that much of a price difference in a 40-mile radius?
I think the 9/10 cent is a holdover from ancient times when gas was about 20 cents per gallon. Then, it made a little sense: regular for 19.9 cents/gallon, ethyl for $21.9 cents/gallon!
Same logic as selling a widget for $1.99, sounds cheaper than an even $2.00.
Geoffrey, it sounds like a new Toyota Prius is calling your name! It would be a perfect balance for the other cars in the household. You could "all" go out and see "Mom" at about $17.50 if you can get 60 mpg on the road with a Prius!
From your numbers, it looks like your Mom lives about 150 miles from you (300 miles round trip for $75 in gas?)
My twin brother drives a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II and is complaining about the 15 mpg's he gets whether it's city or highway. :sick: He loves the truck but he has to drive out to see customers and is spending more than he wants on fuel.
Mark
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
A reporter is hoping to hear from folks who have been spending over $100 to fill their gas tanks recently. Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com no later than Wednesday, September 14, 2005 with your daytime contact information, vehicle make and model, and a few lines about your experience.
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....mom lives 198 miles away as I drive; I figured $75 based on $3/gallon, x25 gallons, getting roughly 16mpg in either vehicle. Of course, gas is actually more in Chicago (which is why I usually put a minimal amount, if any, in the tank en route to mom's), and likely less in Indiana. Of course, the $75 doesn't count snacks, drinks, local Indiana Auto Trader magazines, or any trips I make while I'm there (mom usually drives).
I have two problems with the Prius (OK, maybe four): at $25k, I'd likely never make up the $8-10k over the cost of a Corolla in gas costs alone; I'd rather not cough up whatever the next batteries will cost 'X' years from now (or any as yet unknown maintenance costs over a 'regular' car); it's ugly, and finally, I greatly prefer manual transmissions, which aren't available on the Prius. I do like the idea of getting 55mpg around town, which is the majority of my driving, but still....
Gas was cheaper than 20 cents if you go back to the automotive boom years of the 50s/60s. The 9/10 came from the taxes applied - and in fact, there were different tenths posted on pumps based on the locale and the tax rate.
Mt. A Exxon dropped over 10 cents a gallon on all three grades today... go figure.
In Potomac, MD the nearest Exxon is charging $3.46, but I went to Greenbelt last night and found gas for $2.99, right across the street from Beltway Plaza.
Can't believe I'm saying this but nowadays, $2.99 is cheap!
is that place you're talking about the Xtra Fuels? I used to hit it all the time back when I went to the U of MD. In fact, I had my first accident right out in front of that place, just before the traffic light! A girl in an '82-83 Cavalier slammed on her brakes in front of me "because I heard a siren" she said, and I nosedived my '80 Malibu right up under her. I really lucked out, because she never reported it. And my car took the brunt of the damage, because I basically caught her bumper with my grille.
Next time I'm running low on fuel, I might just have to take a trip down there, like during lunch or something. That place is always packed during rush hour. And it's only about 3-4 miles down the road from my job.
...are as low as 2.69 for regular, although 2.79 is a more common price. Here in MN, all gas has 10% ethanol, so we usually are a little cheaper than most of the rest of the U.S., although MPG suffers a bit.
North of town, on my way to work, all of the stations are now at $2.999 for 87, as of yesterday afternoon. But going the other way (toward town), the lowest I've seen is still $3199.
My wife's uncle was an oil broker for many years. I remember him saying that if gasoline was selling for 1.00 a gallon that diesel should be about 55 cents in order to make the same amount of profit.
Around here, diesel is about the same as gasoline.
I pity the independant truckers and I pity us who eventually will have to pay increase prices for the products they haul.
At Excel (off-brand), formerly a BP station, all 3 grades are now $2.999/ gallon. Come and get your premium at the same price as regular while supplies last!
NOT because prices at the pump dropped 10 cents again today, but we had the added bonus of it happening DURING a Penn State home football game. That NEVER happens
The Sunoco in my neighborhood has regular going for $3.09, (a 22 cent drop since Friday!) yet it's $3.28 in a crummier neighborhood about 3 miles away. You'd think it would be cheaper there. Maybe they didn't yet get the word.
Lowest in town is $3.31 highest is $3.37 for regular unleaded. We have a monolpoly in the area of gas stations owned by one company, the Sierra Trading Post. They keep the prices artificially high and the couple of independents "look good" at .03 less and the consumer gets ripped off. A survey a couple of years pegged gas in Amador County as the HIGHEST in California. We aren't some backwater either...just about an hour from Sacramento the Sierra Nevada foothills. I think the locals are on the verge of a "revolt"...finally!
That's about the lowest I have seen here in Visalia, CA as well. Premium was over 3.40 at some stations a couple of days ago, I think it was Chevron though. It's been over 3 bucks in Visalia for at least a month.
I saw that the local Shell station dropped their price for 87 octane, by a whopping 2 cents. Now $3.139 per gallon. 89/93 are still holding at $3.219/3.279.
Yesterday I went to the Baltmimore Aquarium with some friends, but instead of going up the Balt-Wash Parkway I went up 3/301/97, because I had a couple errands to run at the same time. Going up, I could see a WaWa from the interstate that was down to $2.999. So I decided to come back that way. On the way back, once I got off the interstate, the first station I came to was an Enroy. Same $2.999 per gallon, so I just stopped there. Ended up passing the WaWa on my way to get back on, and saw they had dropped to $2.979!
Oh, another sneaky trick I've seen recently is that some of the stations are putting the Diesel price at the top of their signs, in big numbers. That way the first thing you'll see is "$2.849" or something similar, and think they're really reasonable. And then, by the time you've pulled up to the pump, if you're lucky you might notice that what you're actually putting in is $3.299 or so!
Comments
kcram - Pickups Host
Roosevelt Ave San Juan PR
87- 3.21
93- 3.32
Up here they've started selling a lot of locking gas caps because of the threat of people siphoning gas because of the skyhigh per gallon prices.
The speed limit on our road is only 30 mph, and up at my end, it goes down to the yellow 10 mph warning signs, because of an S-curve and limited visibility. The way I go into work though, about 500 feet from my house, it goes from a narrow 2 lane road out to 4 lanes. I kept a low speed through the two lane parts, accelerating very gently. As soon as it got to 4 lanes though, I got over to the right. Prius decided to blow me off, so I punched it! Ha-Ha, lady, let's see you make your EPA estimates now!!! :P
Now I didn't punch it TOO hard, because, well, it's not that hard to blow off a first-gen Prius, plus there's a hill up the road, and I didn't feel like going airborne!
Once I got out on the main road (45 mph speed limit) I got up to where the speedo was around 50-55 (it's a little fast in this car), and people were passing me like I was standing still! I guess they've gotten adjusted to these higher gas prices and don't care about how fast they burn through the stuff! Speeds pretty much seem to be back to "normal" around here.
Still "spanning the panic" for me too.
Interesting little sidenote: Pure Oil has dropped the silly 9/10ths from their prices (at least on the signs, I don't know on the pumps).
So I should be okay for awhile, I guess.
$3.359 for 87 Regular
$3.459 for 89 Midgrade
$3.559 for 93 Premium
$3.639 for 94 Ultra
Woo-hoo! It went down a whole FOUR CENTS! Now I can save up for that pack of Juicy Fruit I've been eyeing up. The prices would have to fall by at least a $1.50 before there's any semblance of sanity. Until things settle, I'll leave the Cadillac home and take the Reeboks.
After Katrina gas is 87 3.49 89 3.59 93 3.69
What a rip off!!!
Same logic as selling a widget for $1.99, sounds cheaper than an even $2.00.
From your numbers, it looks like your Mom lives about 150 miles from you (300 miles round trip for $75 in gas?)
My twin brother drives a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II and is complaining about the 15 mpg's he gets whether it's city or highway. :sick: He loves the truck but he has to drive out to see customers and is spending more than he wants on fuel.
Mark
The Sandman
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Review your vehicle
I have two problems with the Prius (OK, maybe four): at $25k, I'd likely never make up the $8-10k over the cost of a Corolla in gas costs alone; I'd rather not cough up whatever the next batteries will cost 'X' years from now (or any as yet unknown maintenance costs over a 'regular' car); it's ugly, and finally, I greatly prefer manual transmissions, which aren't available on the Prius. I do like the idea of getting 55mpg around town, which is the majority of my driving, but still....
Gas was cheaper than 20 cents if you go back to the automotive boom years of the 50s/60s. The 9/10 came from the taxes applied - and in fact, there were different tenths posted on pumps based on the locale and the tax rate.
Mt. A Exxon dropped over 10 cents a gallon on all three grades today... go figure.
kcram - Pickups Host
Can't believe I'm saying this but nowadays, $2.99 is cheap!
-juice
Next time I'm running low on fuel, I might just have to take a trip down there, like during lunch or something. That place is always packed during rush hour. And it's only about 3-4 miles down the road from my job.
Funny thing is other stations in the area were $3.15 to $3.30, so it was a big difference.
-juice
Sunoco truck stop, Palisades Park NJ
87 - $3.199
89 - $3.299
93 - $3.399
94 - $3.439
diesel - $2.799
Still a wicked hoit to the Visa... 29.657 gallons of #2-diesel - $83.00
kcram - Pickups Host
Around here, diesel is about the same as gasoline.
I pity the independant truckers and I pity us who eventually will have to pay increase prices for the products they haul.
Or maybe all three tanks are filled with 87?
I do think that's hilarious, though. Turbo owners, REJOICE! LOL
-juice
87 is at $2.89, 89 at $2.99, and 92 at $3.19
Sorry, there's no valid market economy reasoning for these trends
I'm still riding around (a little) with gas purchased for less than $2.50/gal. in both of my vehicles. Still hoping to "bridge the panic."
:surprise:
We have a monolpoly in the area of gas stations owned by one company, the Sierra Trading Post. They keep the prices artificially high and the couple of independents "look good" at .03 less and the consumer gets ripped off.
A survey a couple of years pegged gas in Amador County as the HIGHEST in California.
We aren't some backwater either...just about an hour from Sacramento the Sierra Nevada foothills.
I think the locals are on the verge of a "revolt"...finally!
Yesterday I went to the Baltmimore Aquarium with some friends, but instead of going up the Balt-Wash Parkway I went up 3/301/97, because I had a couple errands to run at the same time. Going up, I could see a WaWa from the interstate that was down to $2.999. So I decided to come back that way. On the way back, once I got off the interstate, the first station I came to was an Enroy. Same $2.999 per gallon, so I just stopped there. Ended up passing the WaWa on my way to get back on, and saw they had dropped to $2.979!
Oh, another sneaky trick I've seen recently is that some of the stations are putting the Diesel price at the top of their signs, in big numbers. That way the first thing you'll see is "$2.849" or something similar, and think they're really reasonable. And then, by the time you've pulled up to the pump, if you're lucky you might notice that what you're actually putting in is $3.299 or so!
$2.999 for Regular 87
$3.099 for Mid-Grade 89
$3.199 for Premium 93
They don't advertise Ultra 94's price but it's probably $3.299.