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Did you plan for higher oil prices?
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SidewaysTakumi
macrumors 6502a
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I definitely took mpgs into consideration when buying my newest car. I was looking at three cars...Mazda 3 wagon, Subaru WRX wagon and the Honda Fit. I chose the Fit because the EPA mpg mileage estimates were higher. I am now getting even higher mpgs (40+)...I definitely made the right choice.
I definitely took mpgs into consideration when buying my newest car. I was looking at three cars...Mazda 3 wagon, Subaru WRX wagon and the Honda Fit. I chose the Fit because the EPA mpg mileage estimates were higher. I am now getting even higher mpgs (40+)...I definitely made the right choice.
notjustjay
macrumors 603
Whether gas prices are $0.50 a liter or $2.00 a liter it doesn't matter -- the less you need, the less you pay. (Current gas prices here in Canada hover in the $1.15 per liter mark, which works out to about $4.37 a gallon, assuming Canadian dollars at par with USD.) So you always win by getting the most fuel efficient vehicle you can practically use.
I drive a Toyota Matrix and frankly I'm a little disappointed. It's smaller than the RAV4 it replaced but it doesn't seem to significantly improve on the RAV's gas mileage. Kind of the worst of both worlds.
I drive a Toyota Matrix and frankly I'm a little disappointed. It's smaller than the RAV4 it replaced but it doesn't seem to significantly improve on the RAV's gas mileage. Kind of the worst of both worlds.
Promoting ecology and patriotism will not achieve the same results that higher prices do. How about a variable federal energy tax to establish a minimum price so this trend can continue? The money could be rebated back as a reduction in payroll tax and for alternative energy funding.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
I have adjusted my budget to have more flexibility for gas prices
That and I will use my motorcycle more in the summer!
That and I will use my motorcycle more in the summer!
We bought a Fit 18 months ago and we love it. It won't win any drag races, but you can cram a weeks' worth of stuff for a family of four into it.
We are now a 2 Smart Car family. Unfortunately we need two cars because we live out in the country - no transit nearby, and we both are on volunteer boards (luckily it's just the two of us). Whenever we need more "haulage" we will rent a van.
Mousse
macrumors 601
I brought a gas can and a siphon. Now my gas problem is a thing of the pass. My neighbor, OTOH, wonders why his brand new Mercedes is getting only 4mpg.😀😀😀
I haven't changed my driving habits at all. Fuel economy was a big factor for me even back when gas was under $1 a gallon.
I haven't changed my driving habits at all. Fuel economy was a big factor for me even back when gas was under $1 a gallon.
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
Me did not really change my habits to much but then again MPG was something on my mind when I got my last car. At the same token I am very willing to get up some MPG for a little larger of an engine for more power. It is a balancing act.
I still did not get an SUV and it is a Sentra but with larger engine. My next car will still be a small car but at the same time performance is a factor in what I choose. It will get at least as good of MPG as my Sentra does but like hell am I going to go to something like a Smart Car which do not get very impressive MPG for something that size. Plus they are way to small for my 6'4" frame.
I did do things to try to lower my bills and say conformable. In my apartment I would use a space heater during the winter for my bed room so it could say a little warmer at night than the rest of the apartment.
As for bashing SUV. Sorry but they do have their uses. They are really nice when you have kids since they are larger and give the kids more room plus they can haul stuff around. My parents sold their last SUV because we kids were more out of the house and did not take it on trips any longer. But until then they owned one because it was useful for trips. It was replaced by a car with better MPG.
I still did not get an SUV and it is a Sentra but with larger engine. My next car will still be a small car but at the same time performance is a factor in what I choose. It will get at least as good of MPG as my Sentra does but like hell am I going to go to something like a Smart Car which do not get very impressive MPG for something that size. Plus they are way to small for my 6'4" frame.
I did do things to try to lower my bills and say conformable. In my apartment I would use a space heater during the winter for my bed room so it could say a little warmer at night than the rest of the apartment.
As for bashing SUV. Sorry but they do have their uses. They are really nice when you have kids since they are larger and give the kids more room plus they can haul stuff around. My parents sold their last SUV because we kids were more out of the house and did not take it on trips any longer. But until then they owned one because it was useful for trips. It was replaced by a car with better MPG.
That's a blanket statement.
If more and more people start driving more fuel efficient vehicles, the demand for crude will drop and so will prices.
At $150/bbl in 2008 there were people saying $200/bbl crude was inevitable and we would never again drop below $120/bbl. Well...we did...ending WELL below that. (Sad that it took a massive recession to do it, but it certainly happened.)
Governments can push for even higher-efficiency vehicles and add a tax to gas/petrol to make it worth it to the consumer to switch and the demand for crude oil will , in fact, drop. Otherwise, this natural push toward fuel efficiency would occur on it's own ONLY at somewhere above $130 a barrel with prices dropping afterwards due to market forces.
If crude oil "only ever goes up" from this day forward, I would be absolutely shocked.
Yep it's a blanket statement... but I think you are both right. For the foreseeable future the price of crude is going to trend up. Some weeks it will spike up, and some weeks it will dip down. It might even cycle in months and years, however ... it's going to keep trending up - imho.
American/European driving habits are having less and less impact on the price of oil. What is going to be the driving [sorry!] factor in the price of crude is the sheer number of drivers coming on-lin in China, India, Indonesia, and a few other large developing nations. Those three nations have 2.7 Billion people, the vast majority of whom don't own cars... but want to. By comparison the Eurozone, USA, Canada, and Australia are not quite 0.7 Billion, or 1/4 of the population.
To put it another way.... if there was an increase of just 1 in 4 people in China, India, Indonesia to start driving... every single person in USA, Eurozone, Canada, and Australia would have to use half the gas/petrol to keep things neutral. (All of this is a grand over-simplification of course, but it makes a point, I think). We, in the western world, get excited about a 5% to 10% drop in gas/petrol consumption. But it is going to be dwarfed by the sheer numbers of new drivers that are starting to buy cars.
So yes, we are doing what we can to insulate ourselves from oil price hikes. One of the big things is growing more of own food, and supporting local food producers (less shipping, which is sensitive to oil prices). We're lucky in where we live... we can grow just about everything within a hundred or so kilometres. And our power comes from hydro.
Plutonius
macrumors G4
Not going to happen. Fuel (like gold, food, etc.) is a commodity and it will go up in response to inflation. We now have world wide inflation and the price of commodities is going up. Much of it can be blamed on us (USA) for devaluing our currency and printing out lots of money.
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
Petrol will only increase in price (trending upwards, not constantly increasing). 😉 Demand will be higher due to China and India getting more into cars, and there will always be less of it in existence.
And from what I read, when petrol prices increased, people were shopping for fuel efficient cars, and SUV sales nosedived. However, since petrol prices dropped in the US, SUV sales have picked up again. It's such unbelievable short-term thinking!
And from what I read, when petrol prices increased, people were shopping for fuel efficient cars, and SUV sales nosedived. However, since petrol prices dropped in the US, SUV sales have picked up again. It's such unbelievable short-term thinking!
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
yeah to many people get SUV/Trucks who never have any use for them.
I have no problem with people own Trucks or SUV providing they US THEM.
My family had an SUV when all of us lived at home because for a family of 5 a car just did not work very well for trips but it is a family of 5. As we got older and moved out my parents went to a full size car which gets better mileage and still comfortable for them to ride in on long trips. Plus they went from 20 mpg to over 30mpg and the city mpg jump by over 10mpg as well.
Now they still own an pick up truck but after my brother got the truck replace it was reduced to that of a work truck so to speak. Right now the truck gets used to haul stuff or when we need the bed. Only other time the truck gets used is if one of other cars is out of action for one reason or another.
Another good use of an SUV/Truck is if you know you have to drive off road or curb hope more often than not. I am not talking about major off roading but one that you need some grown clearance.
iJohnHenry
macrumors P6
Did you plan for higher oil prices?
No, but when they hit I will probably be in an electric scooter, or dead.
I am uncertain which I prefer. 😕
No, but when they hit I will probably be in an electric scooter, or dead.
I am uncertain which I prefer. 😕
Sydde
macrumors 68030
Reminds me of a classic single-frame cartoon by Bruce Beattie, in which a St. Bernard is about to rescue a man shivering in the snowy mountains: "Death seemed preferable to drinking from a barrel covered with frozen dog slobber"
This.
And it's not only short-term thinking economically. American driving habits seem to completely disregard politics and environmental responsibility as well. 🙄
Even if we found an unlimited reserve of oil, that still doesn't mean we should drill/refine/burn it in unlimited fashion.
I bought a Ford Focus station wagon as my vehicle recently.
Because:
So I guess yeah, I did. I sure as hell didn't buy the focus for interior looks 😱
Because:
- Cheap
- Can carry a ton with seats folded down
- Fuel economy (~30 mpg on freeway)
So I guess yeah, I did. I sure as hell didn't buy the focus for interior looks 😱