F%&king Gas/Fuel Prices......

[Surefire]

I do think that the government should be doing more to keep gas prices in check, but I dont believe that they are intentionally causing it.

Do you think Iran really would take their oil off the market, or is that just a silly threat?

It wouldn't really be in their interests to do such a thing, because as far as I know it is one of the main sources of income for the country. Obviously I don't know the answer to this, but I wondered what other people thought? Also a couple of other things I got at in previous posts; Is fuel really expensive now, or has it just been cheap in the past? At the moment the US has some of the cheapest fuel in the world, is there a reason they shouldn't pay as much as other countries?

[geezer]

Do you think Iran really would take their oil off the market, or is that just a silly threat?

Don't know why it is so cheap in the USA, but it is so expensive here because something like 60-70 percent of what we pay is actually government tax.

[Surefire]

I know most of the cost in the UK is tax.
Its unlikely the government will do anyhting about it either as it suits them. Normally they have to announce tax increases, but everytime the price of oil goes up, the (absolute, not percentage) amount of tax on fuel goes up too, without any announcement.

The same could be said of income tax, VAT etc, but wages and retail prices don't increase in price as quickly as fuel has.

[ZTB17]

No more going 15 miles out of the way to pick up my friends without cars.
When my friends and I travel to the city we each pay up five dollars to the driver. (about 35 minutes to a good bigger city)
No more cruising aimlessly when we are bored.
No more driving without purpose basically.

[Lemay427]

No more going 15 miles out of the way to pick up my friends without cars.

Where do you live in Indiana. I'll be in Columbus for 6 months

[HansMoleman]

Gas prices have definitely affected the way I live. Like the previous post, no more driving around when I am bored. No more meaningless trips around town. No more picking up friends on the other side of town.

Gas is now my biggest monthly expense aside from my mortgage.

[GaijinGolfer]

Do you think Iran really would take their oil off the market, or is that just a silly threat?

Whats to say they wouldnt just stop selling it to the United States and it's allies? I definetly wouldnt take Iran lightly.

Also a couple of other things I got at in previous posts; Is fuel really expensive now, or has it just been cheap in the past? At the moment the US has some of the cheapest fuel in the world, is there a reason they shouldn't pay as much as other countries?

"Cheap" and "expensive" are relative terms. On average though, the price of gas now is higher than it has ever been.

As you said, a lot of the reason why countries like Canada and the UK have such high gas prices is because of all the taxes that are added onto it. In the U.S. we dont have anywhere near as much tax and thats why its cheaper. If you take away all the extra taxes on gas that the UK pays, they are paying only about $1 a gallon more than people in the U.S. are paying. I think the reason why Americans are so unhappy isnt so much that our gas isnt dirt cheap anymore, its that the oil companies are raking in record profits and the price of gas has gone up so much in such a short period of time. Our government gives the oil companies tax breaks and they are trying to take those tax breaks away, but oil companies say they need that money to fund research for alternative fuels. If they are raking in record profits, it seems to me like they dont need all those tax breaks. So, the outrage isnt so much on the price of fuel, its that a select few in the oil industry are getting filthy rich, whereas the common people are barely getting by because of how much money they are spending for gas.

[WilsonWedgeMan]

when I started driving in 1971, gas was around $.30 a gal... took 5 bucks to fill up the bomb I bought. wages were about 3.00/hr for a labor type job. new houses were around $25000 dollars... new cars around $3500 for your average Ford/Chevy family sedan(Dad bought a new 70 Chevy C-10 for $3500...loaded...got about 15 MPG).
you'd have to be making $40/hr paying $4/gal to be equal in 70s money... your house is 10x more expensive, meaning you'd have to make $30/hr to be even with yesteryear..... new vehicles are at least 10x more expensive now than then....and lets' not go into all the taxes you pay from every dollar you earn, on everything you own,especially in states that have personal property taxes(like WV) along with Real estate taxes/fire fees/ambulance fees/etc...
no one had a sewer/water bill to pay then..you do now. no one paid for TV reception other than an antennae, not so today.. lots have cable/sat/etc.
you could put a set of Firestones/Goodyear/brand name tires on your car for under $100... that won't buy 1 Michelin today.

do the math... wages did NOT keep up with expenses we have accumilated.
and I fear it's only gonna get worse before it gets better. I see where FannieMae/FreddieMac need to be bailed out (like other S&L; failures) by the taxpayers, meaning you'll be paying more taxes to cover it,meaning less disposable income in your check(as if Gas wasn't eating enough of it already!)
combine that with job losses mounting,interest rates rising, stock market falling, and you can see that $4/gal is the least of our worries.

did I hear someone mention Iran? they have 1 thing on their minds right now...preparing to try and eliminate Israel from the world(those missles were not to fired to threaten the US). what oil they produce will always be sold,their weak economy requires it. but that's not to say they won't cut us off, cuz theres' always another country that will take the oil.

[nevets88]

I've experienced the crazy gas prices outside of the US, so it's hard to sticker shock me. I know what it's like to pay more for gas than airfare.

Because of those experiences, I changed my driving style awhile ago to save gas - no jack rabbit starts and try to keep it 60/65 on the highways, which in the US, is really hard to do. Not quite the hypermiler, but I try.

From my experience, I don't notice people slowing down at all. People still speed - don't they know how much more $ they burn by driving 75/80?

I also noticed European cars, not the shrimp sized ones, get better gas mileage than US equivalents. More efficient engines.

You can easily save 1-2 mpg by using stick shift. I really don't see any movement at all towards manual transmissions.

[GaijinGolfer]

You can easily save 1-2 mpg by using stick shift. I really don't see any movement at all towards manual transmissions.

Thats becuase most Americans would rathar pay $1,000 more at purchase time and give up a little gas milage for the luxury of not having to shift gears.

[Surefire]

Thats becuase most Americans would rathar pay $1,000 more at purchase time and give up a little gas milage for the luxury of not having to shift gears.

From my experience of American driving, you wouldn't be shifting all that much anyway, unless you live in a city.

I'm guessing its more that auto gearboxes have become standard rather than an active choice. However I disagree that auto boxes are less economical than manual. Old ones are for sure, but modern auto boxes can actually have better mpg than the manual equivalent. I guess this is because really they are semi auto and computer controlled.

[Surefire]

On the other subject I was talking about. When I refer to people in the US being used to cheap gas, I'm not just talking about the price at the pump.

I'm referring to the fact that many people own trucks that do single figure or teen mpgs. They don't haul anyhting around or tow anything, but they have a big truck because it is 'cool' or 'manly'.

When I was in MI a couple of weeks back cars were being advertised that do 30mpg as if this was amazing.

In Europe this is a pretty average figure. Economical cars do 65mpg here.


On the topic you pointed out of the top guys at oil companies making loads of money. What is the problem? I thought the US was pro capitalism? Isn't that what capitalism is all about? They have a product that you want, so they can sell it at whatever price they choose.
If they are able to get tax breaks aswell, surely thats just good business?

[Big_M]

Well... when we bought my wife's car a few months ago we bought a 4-banger Escape instead of a 6... and this decision was based soley on gas prices and the fact that we really don't need the extra power to tow anything or the like. Also, while my driving habbits have not changed I bitch a lot about having to drive around and do think about it a lot more. Also... riding my motorcycle for a few hours now costs about the same as golfing... that sucks since it used to be my cheaper alternative for a nice day outside.

[23Rounder]

Paid 4.79 for diesel this AM. It cost me about $140 a week or a little over $7k per year to go to and from work. Just can't justify buying another vehicle just to offset some of the fuel cost.

4.79 per gallon? that would be 6.60 in Australia prices at the moment. You get of really cheap!

[GaijinGolfer]

From my experience of American driving, you wouldn't be shifting all that much anyway, unless you live in a city.

It really depends where you are driving. If you are driving on the highway, then yes you would pretty much leave it in the highest gear most of the time, but if you live more out in the country you would do just as much shifting as you would in the city.

You are right though the automatic transmission are becoming standard and that its almost getting to be where you dont have a choice. The automakers are finding that most people are opting for an automatic transmission and in some vehicles the demand for a manual is so low that the automakers dont even offer the option of a manual transmission.

However I disagree that auto boxes are less economical than manual. Old ones are for sure, but modern auto boxes can actually have better mpg than the manual equivalent. I guess this is because really they are semi auto and computer controlled.

In some cases, yes and in some cases, no. It really varies from vehicle to vehicle. In small, 4-cylinder cars you typically get a few MPG better with a manual, but in bigger cars with V6 or V8 engines there really isnt much of a MPG different between a manual and an automatic.

Lockup torque converters have done a lot to improve the MPG of automatic transmissions (basically eliminates the loss of efficiency from the slippage of the torque converter) and the newer 6-speed automatics have also done a lot to improve milage.