Oh, man......gas to be at $3.75/gal by March.

xj4094dg

I've been working from home for the last 2.5 years so I don't really pay much attention to gas prices these days.

When I do need to drive, my Jag gets about 15mpg city, 20 mpg highway (premium fuel only). My receipt says I paid $3.53/gal yesterday.

I can't imagine driving a little hybrid or economy car at this point, so, my next car will be the new XJ. Those little cars just don't feel right anymore.

Owning a car is a huge pain-in-the-**** but almost unavoidable in Los Angeles. When I lived in D.C., i didn't own/need a car. That was GREAT!

Happy motoring!

Toolfan66

Good thing my new Camaro is not a daily driver!!!! They are going to do what they are going to do nothing we can do about it. I see people want to go out and buy something else with better fuel economy but now you just spent thousands on something else or have another monthly bill. It's a double edge sword...

treitz3

That's where I'm at. Just paid off the truck a couple of months ago.

Jstas

Man. After $65+ fill ups 4-5 times a month in the Lightning I was HAPPY to have two $37 fill ups a month in the Lincoln! That still doesn't get the greatest gas mileage (19 city 24 hwy) but takes regular now instead of "highest available octane".

But I really don't see gas being $5 a gallon. It'll go up but it'll happen just like it did in the summer of '09 when they were predicting $5 a gallon gas and that never materialized. The reason why is demand dropped like crazy because the costs were already too high for the market to bear. Demand drops, supply stockpiles and they have to cut price to unload it all.

And, to answer the original posted question, no I haven't heard that, Tom. I've noticed prices steadily climbing but being in N.J. the gas prices are often far out of line with the national average. Being as two of the major East Coast refineries are in the state as well as a couple in PA, being so close, overhead costs are low. NJ also has low taxes (whoda thunk?) on gas so we are typically 30-60 cents lower than the national average. We also tend to be more insulated from price changes because of the proximity to production and distribution facilities.

Jstas

treitz3 wrote: »

That's where I'm at. Just paid off the truck a couple of months ago.

Yeah, the Lightning is paid off but at 10 years old and 122,000 miles, I didn't want to be relying on it anymore. hence getting the MKX. Better mileage, AWD, COMFORTABLE! Got it used so I didn't pay nearly as much and I have another car payment now too. But it's been much better on fuel and I don't have to wait for the clattering of the forged engine parts to heat up and stop making noise and burning oil on the cold mornings. Insurance went down too.

It's just as all around better deal. Find something used so if you have to make payments they stay low. If you go to a dealer, you can usually get a pretty comprehensive extended warranty and you have an almost new car. Ford, Honda, Toyota all get great ratings for their extended service/warranty plans. In the case of Ford and Honda, you can actually find something that's fun to drive too! Even if it is a V6 Mustang.

If you want a truck, you could also get a Ranger. Indestructible and they are cutting serious deals on them. Most fuel efficient pickup on the market too. The 143HP 4 cylinder gets 22 city/27 highway. You can get a 6 ft bed, extended cab and it'll hold 1,130 pounds in the bed and the 4 cylinder will tow about 2200 pounds. Does it for around $20K too plus about $8K in incentives last I looked.

exalted512

bobman1235 wrote: »

That's the funniest reason for driving standard I've ever heard.

Pfft. Have you ever driven/maintained a standard? Clutches and transmissions are way cheaper than brake pads!
-Cody

concealer404

exalted512 wrote: »

Pfft. Have you ever driven/maintained a standard? Clutches and transmissions are way cheaper than brake pads!
-Cody

As a manual transmission driver, i don't quite understand the sarcasm here....?


(Btw, clutches ARE cheaper than a new set of brake pads worth anything for at least 2 of my cars )

mhardy6647

my luck with clutches is phenomenally good.
My wife's and my first purchased new car (Chevy Corsica) went all of its 188k miles under our ownership on the original clutch.
My 2000 Focus ZX-3, recently handed down to our daughter and son-in-law, is past 185k on its original clutch (although the throwout bearing is bad so its time is short).

I like manual transmissions - a lot. Best of all, they make one actually have to do something while driving!

concealer404

mhardy6647 wrote: »

my luck with clutches is phenomenally good.
My wife's and my first purchased new car (Chevy Corsica) went all of its 188k miles under our ownership on the original clutch.
My 2000 Focus ZX-3, recently handed down to our daughter and son-in-law, is past 185k on its original clutch (although the throwout bearing is bad so its time is short).

I like manual transmissions - a lot. Best of all, they make one actually have to do something while driving!

But how do you text and drink your coffee?

mhardy6647

heh :-)

The new car has "Sync", so the car essentially becomes the phone when I drive. Rather handier than even a hands-free phone.

BlueFox

I have never owned a car with an automatic. Nor have I ever had to replace a clutch. If you use the engine to brake then maybe you do deserve to be replacing clutchs, transmissions, and engines.

[edit] I take that back. I just remembered I had to replace the clutch in my VW Fox. Of course, one clutch in 200,000 miles is probably normal wear and tear.

bobman1235

concealer404 wrote: »

As a manual transmission driver, i don't quite understand the sarcasm here....?


(Btw, clutches ARE cheaper than a new set of brake pads worth anything for at least 2 of my cars )

I can't imagine how that would be true, especially if you factor in labor. Brake pads cost next to nothing and take 20 minutes to change, a new clutch is in the hundreds of dollars at a minimum and takes hours.



And yes, I drive and maintain a standard. But it ain't because I don't like "braking."

concealer404

BlueFox wrote: »

I have never owned a car with an automatic. Nor have I ever had to replace a clutch. If you use the engine to brake then maybe you do deserve to be replacing clutchs, transmissions, and engines.

[edit] I take that back. I just remembered I had to replace the clutch in my VW Fox. Of course, one clutch in 200,000 miles is probably normal wear and tear.

And a clutch is way cheaper than the automatic transmission on that car that would have failed by then.

concealer404

bobman1235 wrote: »

I can't imagine how that would be true, especially if you factor in labor. Brake pads cost next to nothing and take 20 minutes to change, a new clutch is in the hundreds of dollars at a minimum and takes hours.



And yes, I drive and maintain a standard. But it ain't because I don't like "braking."

I wasn't accounting labor. Nobody touches my cars but me.

I also don't run Autozone crap pads on my cars. Pads for the Celica in particular run about $150 for the set, while a clutch can be had for $80.

Last clutch i bought for the Escort was $70.

The clutch for the MX6 is a bit more expensive. But it should be, since it's rated to 425ftlbs. :eek:


I believe the point that was being made that set this off was the fact that engine braking is a useful tool on a manual transmission car, then we all just ran with it. (Yes, i'm that moron that heel and toe downshifts coming to a stop or a sharp corner.)

bobman1235

concealer404 wrote: »

I wasn't accounting labor. Nobody touches my cars but me.

I presume your time is not worthless though. Maybe that was my mistake

wayne3burk

seriously though.... using a manual transmission to assist in stopping makes a world of difference in your control over your car.

manual transmissions is for drivers
automatic transmissions is for ....

you know

concealer404

bobman1235 wrote: »

I presume your time is not worthless though. Maybe that was my mistake

It isn't worth much to me when talking about my cars. It's another hobby.

But even if you were to "charge" what i make at my day job for the labor.... it's really only $60-$80 bucks. Clutch change doesn't take long at all.

bobman1235

wayne3burk wrote: »

seriously though.... using a manual transmission to assist in stopping makes a world of difference in your control over your car.

manual transmissions is for drivers
automatic transmissions is for ....

you know

Toyota drivers?

[Deleted User]

bobman1235 wrote: »

Toyota drivers?

I was going to say people who text. :cool:

PerfectCreature

I pay around 3.339 a gallon for regular.
I use Plus, and it is just shy of 3.47

Tour2ma

anthony,
Thanks for reading my long post, bro... your reply got me thinking a bit more.

Until a couple minutes ago, I did not realize just how small the royalty is that oil companies pay the MMS. It's no wonder all the profit is in crude production...


As for cars...

• - my '94 Accord is a hairsbreath from 230,000 mi;
• - still gets 28 mpg w/ A/C (was 31 for a long time); and
• - is still on the original clutch.

And I still love driving it...

tonyb

....you forgot the best part Tour.....it's been paid for, for a very long time.

Same boat as you,2 cars,one Honda Accord, One Lexus 300, 160,000 on one and 180,000 on the other, both paid for,both running strong and never a major repair yet. So nice to not have a car payment.

treitz3

tonyb wrote: »

So nice to not have a car payment.

Yeah, I agree. The wife and I have been talking about this and we came to the conclusion that I will stick to my original plan and drive the truck into the dirt. I paid extra to have a truck that lasts the test of time and though it may pain me to see the prices at the gas pumps now, compared to when I purchased it, there's no since in taking out a loan to save money. That and I'm a kinda big guy who doesn't fit well into a smaller car comfortably. I'm just gonna suck it up and have the mindset that I will have to pay for the luxury of having a vehicle I can fit into comfortably. I'm cool with it.

Plus, I like to have the available power when needed. Not to mention being able to haul and use the pickup for whatever purpose needed, whether it be for friends or myself.

Ricardo

Oh, man.......the world is going to end next year.

steveinaz

I don't worry too much about things I cannot control; and focus on those I can.

Tour2ma

Down to $2.83 here now...

Time to go grab a Suburban...

xj4094dg

After I filled up today, I had to stop and get a shot of this (and a shot of something else when I got home).

That's my gas-guzzling XJ in the shot. She takes only premium.....

This is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.

tonyb

Cali is well into the mid 4 buck range for premium already. That wackado sets those oil fields on fire, you'll see 5-6 buck gas in no time. Plus you could probably kiss off any chance of an economic recovery for awhile longer.

megasat16

Well, I just filled my tank with regular unleaded at $3.63/gal in Cali.

Looks like it'll pass $3.75 by the end of March and most likely $4 if the middle East situation is getting worse.

xj4094dg

megasat16 wrote: »

Well, I just filled my tank with regular unleaded at $3.63/gal in Cali.

Looks like it'll pass $3.75 by the end of March and most likely $4 if the middle East situation is getting worse.

Did you see my photo in post 91? That was taken today on PCH just south of Sunset....