When will the price of gasoline change your habits?

[PaulBot]

Or has it already?

We still own the same two cars and that's not going to change: a Dodge mini-van that gets 17mpg when the wind blows with us and a 4-cyl Mazda that gets 25. They both are paid off and we are on the very low end of what the average American drives (about 15K per year if you add BOTH vehicles together).

We have made changes in the past: thinking if our trip is really necessary, combining errands, taking the Mazda instead of the mini-van, and some carpooling.

I did some serious number crunching last year and compared our mini-van to a Toyota Prius, and at the time it would take the value of our van PLUS $4,000 to get a Prius. How long would it take to recover that $4,000? Over five years. Also, the four of us (wife, 2 kids and me) couldn't possibly fit in a Prius with all of our stuff when we drive somewhere on vacation.

Grin and bear it (and gripe a little) for us.

[CrayolaSmoker]

We just got the wife a new VW Beetle, which gets good mileage.  I'm still paying off a Jeep Liberty which gets aboslute shit for mileage.  And my post-graduation job is not a short drive.  With any luck, I'll only need to fill 'er up once a week, which'll put me at working about 3 hours each week just to pay for gas.  Sounds like alot, but it's not entirely unreasonable.  I'll likely get a more sensible car when we've got the means.

[Farscry]

I tend not to drive much, and I live relatively close to work, so I actually only need to fill up once every 2-3 weeks (usually around the 2 week mark).  However, for a while now, I've been filling up each time I hit the half tank mark to avoid being stuck without enough fuel if there's a short-term shortage (if there's a long-term one, well, we're all screwed anyway).

Price-wise, there's really no way for me to cut down on gas usage short of taking the city bus, which is impractical for me with the way the bus routes are laid out here in CR.

[farley2k]

It really doesn't for me.  

My tank is 15 gallons.  Prices have gone up .18 cents.  That means an increase of $2.70 per fill up.  That is nothing really - a couple less Diet Cokes (at $1.40 for the 20oz. ones), a movie rental, a bag of chips.

[whiteboyskim]

I live and work in the same area so driving around here is very quick and easy for my truck which is a complete gas guzzler. Fortunately my wife drives a VW Passat which gets killer gas mileage and once she's out of school then daily drives to Fort Worth won't be necessary. Right in time for summer gas price hikes too.

[pr0ner]

No real change for me, either.

With my driving habits, and where I live, I only need to fill up once every 3-4 weeks.  Plus, I've always been in the habit of combining errands and plotting my route in advance to be most efficient, even before gas prices went this high.

The only time the price bites is when I take longer trips to see the folks or what have you.  Then it's annoying, but those are infrequent enough not to be too big a bother.

[Kevin Grey]

Price?  Not much at all.  Even with gas at $3.00 vice $2.00, that's an extra $12.00 a week for my car and $20 for my wife's.  That's less than the cost for us to eat out so it really doesn't impact my bottom line much.

Availablity?  Whole different story.  A lot of stations have been running out recently due to the ethanol changeover or whatever and it does bother me that to make sure that I can make it work I have to go out of my way and fill up earlier than normal (I usually wait for the gas light to come on).

[Eduardo X]

I'm riding my bike as much as ever, although my allergies are making me consider taking the train to work.

[whiteboyskim]

I'm riding my bike as much as ever, although my allergies are making me consider taking the train to work.

I'd figure that public transportation in Chicago would pretty much be a given. I'm a huge fan of public transportation when it's well implemented, which in my experience is pretty much everywhere but where I live. DART sucks ass, not to mention Dallas is so spread out that a uniform system is nigh impossible to put together.

[hepcat]

damn price of gas has already changed my usual routine...

...killings are down in my neighborhood by 75 percent!

 

[Nth Power]

I'm thankful I live pretty close to work and I drive a Honda Civic, so the prices don't affect me as much as some, although it does make me have second thoughts about any long road trips.

[Kev199]

As long as my Airfare prices don't go up in the next two weeks...


I drive a Jeep but since I'm at college, I don't use it all that much.

[Eduardo X]

damn price of gas has already changed my usual routine...

...killings are down in my neighborhood by 75 percent!

 

Drive-by bike killings may rise... AS I'M INVADING WITH MY RAT PATROL GANG!

Yeah, it was almost a joke.

[Purge]

damn price of gas has already changed my usual routine...

...killings are down in my neighborhood by 75 percent!

 

Drive-by bike killings may rise... AS I'M INVADING WITH MY RAT PATROL GANG!

Yeah, it was almost a joke.

Can't you PEOPLE BE SERIOUS??? I mean, come ON. Driveby shootings are down ... sheesh. Yeah, RIGHT.

It's not like the cost of bullets has gone up.

[gameoverman]

I don't drive as much as I used to, so it's not really changing anything, but I am feeling the hit with gas over $3 a gallon over here.  If this had happened back when I was cruising alot, oh man I would have been really pissed.

Of course we have no practical public transportation in So Cal either.  When I was in school, and riding the bus, I used to marvel at the sheer determination it took to use the bus system out here as your main form of transportation.

[hepcat]

damn price of gas has already changed my usual routine...

...killings are down in my neighborhood by 75 percent!

 

Drive-by bike killings may rise... AS I'M INVADING WITH MY RAT PATROL GANG!

Yeah, it was almost a joke.

Can't you PEOPLE BE SERIOUS??? I mean, come ON. Driveby shootings are down ... sheesh. Yeah, RIGHT.

It's not like the cost of bullets has gone up.

you have to DRIVE to the ammo store, don't ya!?

 

[Knightshade Dragon]

It already changed my habits.  I was thinking Dodge Magnum but drove away with Mazda 3.

[PaulBot]

damn price of gas has already changed my usual routine...

...killings are down in my neighborhood by 75 percent!

 

Is that because the drive by shootings are now "pedal by shootings"?  

[PaulBot]

It already changed my habits.  I was thinking Dodge Magnum but drove away with Mazda 3.

That was a VERY SMART MOVE!

The Dodge Magnum is a very cool, macho vehicle, but the Mazda 3 is a very slick but much more practical vehicle!

Congrats on buying a car with your brain instead of your <censored>  

[CrayolaSmoker]

The Dodge Magnum is sexay!  Going purely on looks, it's very near the top of my list of cars I'd like to own.

[Purge]

I wanted the charger with the 425hp...

[HankRaptor]

I own a Durango... 60-70 to fill up 12mpg

it wont change ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, I own the car outright its in great shape.... I just am thankful I dont have a car payment.

What it will change is I will look at a hybrid next... the Tahoe Hybrid should be out by then.

[unbreakable]

It will not really change my habits, since I hate driving anyway, but it did lead me to a really cool alternative.

I was contemplating selling my car, because all the incidental expenses (plates, city sticker, insurance, upkeep) were huge compared to the VERY few times I use it.

So instead, I signed up with a car sharing service.  You go online or call them, reserve a car, and just pay them an hourly rate for the car (my plan is about $9/hr, the basic is $6 + $.50/mile).  I figure if my car expenses using the service are less than $1000/year, I'm winning at life.  BTW, the hourly rate already includes gas and insurance: all you pay is your rate (and $25/year membership).

Plus, I don't have to worry that some crackhead is going to steal my catalytic converter again.

[gellar]

32 mile commute round trip (160 miles/week)
19 mpg on average
$3.50/gallon the last time I filled up

$29.50 per week on gas for just commuting.

When we get to four times that, I suppose I'll start thinking about it.

gellar

[PaulBot]

Wow: we were talking about this two years ago. I had forgotten when gas prices went crazy and knew I had started a thread about it.

Any changes since then?

We have the same cars and drive as little as possible, but with our kids in a private school 8 miles away, we' re paying $100 a month just getting them to/from school.

I've done some reading or numerous web sites about how to save gas, and have started doing a few things based on what I've read:

Shutting off my engine at some stop lights

Taking longer to accelerate

Watching ahead for opportunities to let other people get to the red lights before me and let them sit there while I slowly approach and end up sitting less or not at all

Using my cruise control more. I lock it in on the freeway a little slower than what traffic is flowing at so I don't have to turn it off very often. Most the time I'm driving at the speed limit, so I don't consider myself a slow poke who could be considered a road hazard

[leo8877]

Yes, I work to pay for gas now.  $4 a gallon.

[The Grue]

I bought my new car with MPG in mind because of these insane gas prices.

[PaulBot]

I bought my new car with MPG in mind because of these insane gas prices.

Whatcha driving?

[Purge]

Or has it already?

I've switched from rags to Listerine.


In all seriousness, my next purchase will be based on cost effectiveness. I'm not going to buy a hybrid that I have a 6K bill to replace batteries 5 years from now unless I lease.

[PeteRock]

I'm PeteRock.  Price matters not to me.  My manicures, pedicures, and trips to the spa are no less frequent.  Relative to my beauty costs, gas is nothing. 

[YellowKing]

I'm lucky in two areas. One, I drive a 2005 Corolla which gets pretty good gas mileage, and two, we live in a very convenient section of town. We have a grocery store, Lowe's, Wal-mart, tons of restaurants, Blockbuster, etc. all within a mile of the house. Not counting my daily commute to work, it's very rare that I ever have to drive more than a couple of miles round trip during the week, and that even holds true most weekends.

About the only habit we've gotten into is driving my car more often than my wife's for errands, because she has an older Mitsubishi that isn't as good on gas. However, we've been in that habit practically since the first day I got my Toyota, so I don't consider it much of a "change."

The fact remains, however, that it costs me $15 more per tank to fill up than it did 3 years ago when I bought the car. That's roughly $45 more a month for my gas, and my wife's is even higher than that. Combine that with rising food prices, and my yearly salary raises have pretty much been flushed down the toilet.

[The Grue]

I bought my new car with MPG in mind because of these insane gas prices.

Whatcha driving?

Oh, it's nothing great as far as MPG, but it is better than the 4Runner I had, which had horrible MPG.  I got a Honda Element.  I wanted something I could still take up into the mountains, but got better MPG than what I had.

[leo8877]

I'm PeteRock.  Price matters not to me.  My manicures, pedicures, and trips to the spa are no less frequent.  Relative to my beauty costs, gas is nothing. 

What an awesome smiley...."Sugarcookie"

[gellar]

32 mile commute round trip (160 miles/week)
19 mpg on average
$3.50/gallon the last time I filled up

$29.50 per week on gas for just commuting.

When we get to four times that, I suppose I'll start thinking about it.

gellar

My commute has turned to 0 miles per week.  Hooray home office.

gellar

[PeteRock]

I'm PeteRock.  Price matters not to me.  My manicures, pedicures, and trips to the spa are no less frequent.  Relative to my beauty costs, gas is nothing. 

What a fabulous smiley...."Sugarcookie"

Fixed that for you. 

[The Grue]

My commute has turned to 0 miles per week.  Hooray home office.

gellar

Yeah, that's me too, until I have to drive almost an hour to the airport.

[PaulBot]

The fact remains, however, that it costs me $15 more per tank to fill up than it did 3 years ago when I bought the car. That's roughly $45 more a month for my gas, and my wife's is even higher than that. Combine that with rising food prices, and my yearly salary raises have pretty much been flushed down the toilet.

That's what really sucks. I've had two raises in the past seven years, and the increase in just my medical coverage has more than consumed my two pathetic raises.

[gellar]

My commute has turned to 0 miles per week.  Hooray home office.

gellar

Yeah, that's me too, until I have to drive almost an hour to the airport.

Yeah my airport is only 30 mins away.  And if I do that (or go to my actual corp office, which is an hour away), I get to expense that mileage anyway.

gellar

[The Meal]

I recently (six months ago) purchased a new car with mpg in mind (went from about 15 to 38).

Am considering a new job within biking distance of our home.  Compare that to a daily 47.7 mile commute...

[current job] 47.7 * 5 * 50 = 11925 mi/year (commute + incidentals)
[consideration] 150 mi/year (running around that'd normally be done during the commute)

11925 - 150 = 11775 mi / 38 mpg * $3.75/gal = $1162 difference per year.

So it's costing me about $100/month (or ~$35 per paycheck) to commute to my current job vs. taking one within biking distance.  That's pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things.

[Harkonis]

I'm PeteRock.  Price matters not to me.  My manicures, pedicures, and trips to the spa are no less frequent.  Relative to my beauty costs, gas is nothing. 

Yeah, but with gas you get what you pay for