Rising Gas Prices

[HRx]

The lowest I've seen so far has been $3.60 for regular unleaded. Still obscenely high priced though...but after nearly 12 years of increasingly high gas prices, I've seem to have been accustomed to getting gouged at the pump by Big Oil.

[CCC]

I was looking at past posts on this thread and they were stating that the price of gas per gallon was around $2 bucks!!! Fast forward to crazy 2011 and I'm spending over $4 bucks a gallon!

Signed,

Looking for a used Prius

[shark66]

If I said this here or elsewhere I apologize - FOrd and GM (Opel) are VERY big in Europe - the Ford Fiesta the SAME car that they sell here is sold in Europe with the "Euro" clean diesel engine - gets 65-70mpg!!!!!!!!!!!

What is considered "clean Diesel" in Europe would never make it through the barrier of CA emissions without adjustments...and the most economic vehicles would *not* survive the burden of U.S. safety regulations - which were imposed to discourage the import of foreign cars to begin with a long time ago...

And let's not forget that most European governments subsidize the price of Diesel...

The only one who can actually compete in the U.S. with their TD vehicles is VW, and only because they have a plant in Mexico. MB and BMW are out-of-range for a vast majority of this forum's readers...

Good luck to us all.

[RichM]

I think removing all fuel taxes from alternative fuels would help, but the fact is that we're still addicted to petroleum for the foreseeable future.

-Rich

[IamOld]

If I said this here or elsewhere I apologize - FOrd and GM (Opel) are VERY big in Europe - the Ford Fiesta the SAME car that they sell here is sold in Europe with the "Euro" clean diesel engine - gets 65-70mpg!!!!!!!!!!! The clean diesel tech is amazing...although yesterday I saw a Chevy Volt at the Chevy dealer - if I win the lottery I'm getting one of those - so very cool, and super efficient!

[HHM]

Sometimes I feel like a smart solution would be to give some type of tax break to the economical hybrid drivers and give an extra tax to the gas guzzler automobiles. If the govt starts putting stipulations and benefits on the type of vehicles we drive, we might be wiser and go green. Maybe a nice tax break for american hybrid auto purchasers, which in turn will stimulate our american economy. I know it won't help much, but it's a start. I understand it's hard though, everyone always preaches to buy american.... but the problem is buying "american" is so much more expensive. Simply because the foreign market is so much cheaper. I wonder what would happen if a law was passed where we had to meet a monthly "buy american" quota per household? any ideas?

Actually, there have been tax incentives for several years for hybrids...most have expired for now except for a few manufactures and there are tax incentives for electric cars. One issue, is the cost differential between a hybrid and fuel efficient car does not justify the extra cost until gas reaches about $6 per gallon. Do I spend $27K on a Prius or 19K on a Ford Fiesta and effectively only gain an extra 6-9 miles per gallon. Well, over the average lifespan of the cars, I can't make up the difference in price in fuel savings.

[Snuff]

Some of us want "Less" Gov't. If we had "Less" Gov't., we wouldn't be gas "Less".

[leadrival]

Sometimes I feel like a smart solution would be to give some type of tax break to the economical hybrid drivers and give an extra tax to the gas guzzler automobiles. If the govt starts putting stipulations and benefits on the type of vehicles we drive, we might be wiser and go green. Maybe a nice tax break for american hybrid auto purchasers, which in turn will stimulate our american economy. I know it won't help much, but it's a start. I understand it's hard though, everyone always preaches to buy american.... but the problem is buying "american" is so much more expensive. Simply because the foreign market is so much cheaper. I wonder what would happen if a law was passed where we had to meet a monthly "buy american" quota per household? any ideas?

[disconapper]

I drive a Hummer. I'm probably the dumbest person on the planet at the moment. Gas is literally bankrupting me ...at least that's what I tell people, little do they know that's the truth (though gas is not the reason). I'm surrendering the vehicle with the BK, looking to get a realistic and fuel efficient car.

[tobee43]

Tobee, the Subaru does great on gas for a AWD. We checked out quite a few all wheel drives and it was at the top for good gas mileage. We have the 4 cylinder which does just fine. A buddy of mine's neighbor has one in Mammoth (mountains) and he drove it and was surprised how well the 4 cylinder performed in the higher elevation.
Another decent vehicle for gas mileage is the Honda CRV. Hands down though, the Subaru Outback is a fantastic car.

yes, hers were 4 cylinder as welll....she owned 3 (new)...and now purchased something else since she moved to a "better" climate and no longer needed the AWD. what she just purchaseed....it's on the tip of my tongue, but was purchase; the new car after careful reseach and it's better milage...actually was mentioning it today after her long compute. but the subaru i know is much better than let say a jeep....

funny thing and true story we had a ...3 cylinder subaru...a justy....AWD....we gave it away at 260 thousand miles and it was still running well. since that time she's been a 100% subaru family her last 2 were the outback and they were just not made as well..( i guess we can say that just about anything and everything!) but for what's on the market it's still a good deal for the price....although the prices have gone up quite a bit as well. we just know the repairs were a small fortune...) ....like over 900 for the 'tuneup"...terrible. so it was the cost of the upkeep of the car as well. and i thought she would never change brands. but she said nothing was like her first...LOL!! i guess we can say that about most everyting.

the crv...at my dh's old place of employmnet...i don't know if it was just nj...but it also had some issues that many people mentioned. i suppose it depends if you get a "good" one.

all i know is this...it cost us 61$ to fill our tank today...........and our car usually gets 22 miles to the gallon...it's also AWD...and we only keep it because it's paid for.

[Logan]

ahhhhhhhh my daughter ONLY had subarus...all wheel drives....the "all wheel drives" are not good on gas either...

Tobee, the Subaru does great on gas for a AWD. We checked out quite a few all wheel drives and it was at the top for good gas mileage. We have the 4 cylinder which does just fine. A buddy of mine's neighbor has one in Mammoth (mountains) and he drove it and was surprised how well the 4 cylinder performed in the higher elevation.
Another decent vehicle for gas mileage is the Honda CRV. Hands down though, the Subaru Outback is a fantastic car.

[Freddy03]

Does this mean I could up my gas expense when I file??

Fill up my tank with the cheap stuff on Sunday and it was $51.90! That's the highest I have paid in my lifetime!

[tobee43]

Take a look at the Subaru Outback. That's the car I bought for my wife. It's AWD, does great in the snow and we average about 28 mpg.

Logan

ahhhhhhhh my daughter ONLY had subarus...all wheel drives....the "all wheel drives" are not good on gas either...

[tobee43]

Where do you live that you have to have a 4X4? I do just fine with my compact front wheel drive in New Hampshire. I drove 60 miles today in a snow storm without 4 wheel drive thanks to the snow plows.
As for the Prius--I have lots of friends who love it and are especially happy they own it when gas prices rise.

Ligan

logan...where we USE to live it required a 4 x 4...our drive way was at a 30% angle...our property at certain points went staight to heaven...(where all the greenhouses were located)...in the winter with the snow if we didn't hae a 4 wheel drive we couldn't go anywhere...even the store. (we were way out in the country and it took them DAYS to clear everything).

now....we don't have to shovel the sunshine here in florida,...nor need a 4 wheel drive to get food.... however...the gas and food prices were higher here, even than where we came from on the on set of our move.......now with this situation the farmers (we live in a farming community), need gas to get those crops to market and work their fields......it's like the domino theory at it's worse!

LOL!!!!!! shark must have been my neighbor!!!

[Logan]

Good luck to us all.

Take a look at the Subaru Outback. That's the car I bought for my wife. It's AWD, does great in the snow and we average about 28 mpg.

Logan