Our local heavy fuel prices are about $2.25 right now.....still hurts at $70 per week!! Our heating oil is cheaper...at about 2.00, and even better at the 1000 gallon rate. I think I'll put a filler on my furnace tank and keep the lucasoil close by

Chris

 

Fellers - I saved a lot of money when I was younger by keeping a compact car for a long time. That savings helped me buy my truck. After 3.5 years of paying on my truck, and paid it off, I replaced a 2nd old beater with a new Corolla.

Now I drive around as much as I can with my '04 Corolla manual tranny. I'm getting around 40 mpg, and buying 87 octane. I go ~500 miles and fill'er up with about 12.5 gallons. That's $25 in gas for 500 miles.

The ride is good, and quiet. It parks mighty easy, and has more knee room in the back seat than my quad cab. The only thing I'm giving up is girth. I ordered my Corolla with side and curtain airbags. NITSA (I think it was) just aired a special on 60 minutes (I think it was). They tested most or all compact cars in a test called something like IIHSUV (I think it was), but the test simulated a full size SUV impacting the driver's side at 35 mph. The test impacted just aft of the A-Pillar, in order to get maximum penetration into the cab/doors. All performed poorly even with side airbags, except for 2 cars. The Chevy Cobalt and the latest Corolla. They earned acceptable ratings for side impact. So even though the Corolla is giving up a lot of girth, I'm fairly confident with its ability to take a blow.

Fellers, I'm here to say, there's no shame in driving a small affordable car. They have their applications. And even though I really like my truck, I don't see the need for spending any more money on fuel than I have to. I justify owning my Corolla when I'm gassing up next door to a Navigator (or the like).

I already have a 2nd mortgage, I don't want to have to take a personal loan for fuel. So I'll drive the little beater around as much as I can, and use my truck when I need to. But I'm sure some of you guys need it for a daily driver and there's nothing you can do about it. Good luck, and may the fuel needle point to 'F' as long as possible!

- JyRO

On edit: Even though you guys likely don't care, I found a link to the side impact tests I was referring to above. Small car side impact tests

 

Good point JYRO. My daily driver is a Focus ZX3. It gets much better mileage than my truck. It's pretty fun to drive too .. until I bought the truck. Now it's sort of a dog but I can't afford to make mods to my truck and the Focus.

 

Just waitin' fer the weather to warm up.
The G-G gets about 40 MPG.

 

You really can't compare the US to Europe or Asian countries. The US built roads to get people from one location to another. Countries like Japan have mass transporation available every where. Fuel/gas is very expensive in Japan, but mass transporation is readily available and most families do not own cars. That is whay Toyota, Nissan, and other foreign auto makers want US marketshare. Because everyone in the US dreams of freedom to travel anytime, anywhere. I find it hard to believe when I bought my Ram I was paying $1.19/gal for Diesel, now it's $2.19/gal. It's hard to justify pulling the 5'er when a hotel stay and a Dodge Neon equal the price of the Ram and a campground.

 

Yep, like airplanes and boating, if you try to justify RVing through economics, it doesn't work! We do it and will continue to do so because it's one of the activities that my my wife and I both enjoy.

Rusty

 

i bought a tour glide, all set up to be fat boy friendly. nice cushie seat, and a radio. i drive about 90 miles a day and the weather here is pretty decent most of the time. so my dually is going to get a rest except when i need it. and i have been lookin for an excuse to buy a harley, but the wife won't understand. she will say something slilly like why can't you ride the bmw or the triumph. silly girl

 

We tried that last year sept with the Durango. It gets 20mpg with the cruise on 70mph calculated with the calculator. Only 12 in town though so not much bragging rights with it. So off to Pensacola we went to stay in a nice new $135 a night hotel. The room smelled like a wet dog and stale cigarettes. I sneezed half the night. The matress was a thin lumpy el cheapo and probably covered with things I'd rather not know about. I'd forgot about kids running up and down the halls all night and the soda machine racket. Never again. It's expensive to buy a truck and 5th wheel. Even more expensive to feed it. But well worth taking "our" bed and living space with us.

 

If the snow birds would leave and take their grandma with them, I might crack out my '92 FatBoy for a ride. Why the whole north east sends their grannies down here to run over bikers every winter is beyond me. Harley's are pretty thirsty too compared to Hondasakis and Yamazukis. Mine gets 42mpg highway and 27~ putting around town. There are several small cars that get better than that.

 

I don't think fuel will get cheap with big oil people running the country. Why should they care, they aren't going to run for office again. Not political, just common sense.

 

About half the representatives and senators will be up for reelection in '06.
Vote them all out, doesn't matter which party they are.
It's painfully obvious they don't work for the people that elected them but rather for the big corporations that pay for their campaigns.

 

I live in Oak Harbor, but it's worth it to go off the island to fill up at the USA Mini-Mart on Burlington Blvd. As of yesterday it was only $2.499/ gal. From what they told me there, they get all their oil from the refinery in Anacortes. At least the money they get for fuel isn't going overseas. Other than that, it's the same prices here on the island as it is elsewhere in Burlington/Mount Vernon. $2.739 was the highest that I saw at the Chevron station right by exit 230.

Going to have to get in touch with the guy here on the island that makes bio-diesel and start adding a few gallons to every tank especially since he's only a few miles away.

And I've also been wondering. Why the BIG jump in diesel prices and only a small jump in gasoline prices?

 

i just dusted off the good ol 10 speed....................bicycle...... thats it...im gonna be one of those ****** in the mornign that bike on the road in crappy weather...honk if u hate me

 

That'll work great on the 410 -

Honk Honk Honk Honk Honk Honk Honk Honk HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK......


Yeah, put some fuel in the truck tonight....I stopped when it hit $70.... Wasnt even full.

 

a guy i use to work with use to haul oil in the 80's and he filled up with oil at the ships coming from overseas and take it to the refinery. he said for every 50 trucks one truck would empty his load in a dried up oil field in either texas and louisiana.