Gas Prices: When Do You Complain?

[chrisj]

I was just wondering at what price you look at the gas station sign and go S*IT, that's ridiculous! Of course I am sticking with my Buck a Gallon philosophy when it comes to what I think a fair price for gas is (not going into that one!), but there is a point where I just say I'm gonna stay home more.

My price is anywhere near $3.00. When I first saw it touch $3.00 it was in 2005 and I was 7 hours away from home in St. Louis. I thought I would die seeing that price, and now I have a mental block against it. God forbid it should get there and stay there. Thank God for the Yaris! :thumbup:

[Slick]

I would have to say $5 a gallon. Even in the Yaris, a $50 fill up from empty is a bit steep imo lol

[Cosmonaut]

when a gallon cost more than my lunch....i live on the cheap so like around $3.5

[chrisj]

I would have to say $5 a gallon. Even in the Yaris, a $50 fill up from empty is a bit steep imo lol

Man, I can't even imagine 5 bucks. More Hummers on the lots!

[BailOut]

Every time I see a 5,000+ pound vehicle with a temporary tag on it I know that gasoline still doesn't cost enough yet.

[BluYrs]

Weird for me to look at your guesses...

At the moment, I fill up at just a bit over $6 a gallon. Not complaining yet. I could probably take up to $10 per gallon- from there I'd be rethinking some of the trips I take.

[silver_echo]

Weird for me to look at your guesses...

At the moment, I fill up at just a bit over $6 a gallon. Not complaining yet. I could probably take up to $10 per gallon- from there I'd be rethinking some of the trips I take.

wait, estonia has roads? just kidding...

now when you say $6, are you talking converted to USD? and are they imperial gallons or the other?

i start bitching when i have to pay $4.50 USD for it...

[NinjaPirate]

Here in Oz prices jump between AU$1.10 - $1.30 per litre. When it hit $1.00 ages ago I started complaining and haven't stopped lol.

Now a conversion...
1 US gallon is 3.79 litres. So at $1.20 a litre that's about AU$4.50 a gallon.

At today's exchange rate that's USD$4.44.

I think I did that right...

[Black Yaris]

No point in complaining, price of gas is not going to change if you do so. Just suck it up, and buy petrol when your car needs it.

[SailDesign]

Right now in the UK it is about $7.20 per US gallon.
I'm not ready to complain about American gas prices for quite a while! :biggrin:
But - that is why I always drive a small car.

[chrisj]

After seeing those European and Australian prices, I sat here with my mouth open. I paid way more off base while I was stationed in England even back in the 70's, but they were Imperial gallons, so I rationalized it that way when I was on a trip and couldn't get it for my usual 75 cents.

Those prices are just unreal. Americans would freak completely 100% out with prices like that, but you know.......there would NOT be any wasting of it like there is now here. Everyone would be in small cars like they should be and I could get me an Escalade for about $500 and live in it here in S. Jesus!

[jonismyname]

i can do 95% of my travel by bicycle year round. i choose not to because of the (crippling) convenience of my car, and my obsession with motor vehicles.

if it gets expensive enough for me to whine about it, i'll ride my motorcycle (50-60mpg when i ride aggressive) or my bicycle (20 miles/banana).

complaining about it doesn't change anything, riding bicycles makes me lose weight and helps the banana import market.

part of me wishes gas was $10 a gallon. when i parked the bicycle and bought my first motorcycle i gained almost 50lbs. makes me much slower.

[Sabina74]

in italy the price is about 1,35/1,40 euro per liter....it's very very expensive!!!!

[chrisj]

if it gets expensive enough for me to whine about it, i'll ride my motorcycle (50-60mpg when i ride aggressive) or my bicycle (20 miles/banana).

:thumbup::laugh:

[DebbyM46227]

$3.50 and above would do it for me. It was $2.84 this morning when I stopped to get gas. I remember in the early 70's paying 23 cents a gallon. There were 8 gas stations by the interstate that always had "gas wars".

[chrisj]

^ Yeah! Whatever happened to gas wars? I guess the war was won and WE lost. LOL!

[JBougie]

Every time I see a 5,000+ pound vehicle with a temporary tag on it I know that gasoline still doesn't cost enough yet.

:iono: I had a Denali when gas was $4.46 a gallon in MN. Didn't bother me any. I still drove it just as much.

I would have to say that once gas hits $2.90, I start b*tching - I don't care how much gas is though, I never stop driving any .... but seriously, I started driving 10 years ago - on my 16th birthday my dad filled up my tank for $.97 a gallon and he was complaining about how prices went up. I'd give anything to go back to that lol

[nemelek]

A few years back gas was $4.10.

[fnkngrv]

We are at $3.07 and have been that way here in Northern Maine for about a week. To me once we break the $3 mark I start to get a bit peeved. When I lived in Memphis in 08 there was one of those world events or weather that was looking to come through and I paid close to 6 a gallon because idiots were panicking...it was insane. People were waiting at the pumps and causing backed up traffic on the highways for miles. I really wish that I could remember why the gas skyrocketed that weekend.

[why?]

i will still complain as long as we pay 1 cent in special taxes on gas. The evil greedy fools in the state house and washington should be forced to try and live like we do for a week or two, and i bet a lot would change.

[kargoboy]

Every time I see a 5,000+ pound vehicle with a temporary tag on it I know that gasoline still doesn't cost enough yet.

100% agreed.
And I'm an old guy who still loves the rumble of a V8...

[chrisj]

Every time I see a 5,000+ pound vehicle with a temporary tag on it I know that gasoline still doesn't cost enough yet.

:clap:

[rningonfumes]

I personally should be okay with gas up to about 7 bucks a gallon. I'm sure I'll feel the hit at about 5 gallons from prices related to transport costs going up...ie things which need to get to market. This is assuming that the price of gas goes up more than inflation is affecting it.

Then at 7 bucks, I'll need to figure out how to eek out more mpgs. I've been less diligent with my mpg because prices went down.

[.Kevin.]

Aslong as I am filling for 3 percent of my pay cheque once every two weeks I am fine.

[chrisj]

What gets me most about rising gas prices is shipping. I ordered something yesterday that was $7 and the shipping was $8. Yeah, now THAT makes me upset, but what are you gonna do?

[TLyttle]

The fact that everyone wants their stuff TODAY is where the freight hit is coming from. Shipping by rail is 1/10th the price, bu no one is going to wait for their stuff. So now it comes by truck, longhaul, by guys who are driving for below minimum hourly wage... unless they are on, shall we say, "other imports". Sure, it is faster, but since diesel became popular, the price will be what the market will bear, and the hell with ruining the country.

Europe has an elaborate and efficient rail system for both freight and passengers, and we are stuck in our cars... Ah, well, GM etc are making good money on their truck sales, and all is well in North America!

[rningonfumes]

For me, I meant food, clothing (my wrangler/lees that get to walmart), etc..stuff that I can get from Target, Walmart, or the local grocers/chains. I don't see myself buying a TV every week.

[.Kevin.]

Who needs a tv s the question

[rningonfumes]

Exactly.

[chrisj]

^ Well, I never ever order anything rush, but just standard ground. Prices really jack up when you want it by air or something. I have done that in the past, but only for an emergency part for a computer or something, and even then I warned my customer of the hit.

I try to conserve shipping when I can, and try to save orders until I get a few things I want to order at once. I like Amazon because a lot of their stuff has free shipping if you're willing to wait about 1 1/2 weeks for it. I generally take them up on it.

The UPS/FedEx hike came about 5 years ago when gas got up to over $3 a gallon here (I think that's when I remember it rising a lot). It never went back down.

This is way off, but I remember many years ago wheat took a hit in our Midwest, and the price of breakfast cereal doubled. Thing is, it never came down either. I don't even buy it, because it's just too high.

[BluYrs]

I meant 6 USD per US gallon. This being relatively cheap when compared to Western Europe (UK etc). So yeah, glad I got the 1.0 :)

[chrisj]

My wife and I are thinking of taking a driving tour through some of Europe next year sometime. Seems we should start saving up now just for the gas!

[p123456789]

I remember the last big hurricane that came through here a few years back I was filling up my subaru next to this lady that looked like she was going to cry as the filled the tank of her excursion v10 I glanced over at the total after she left and it was $180!!!. I wonder if she had to have her suv after that. The only good thing about higher fuel prices is cars like ours will increase in value, I sold my 95 honda civic during that time for $1000 more than I paid for it. I could really care less if people drive suv's but I dont want to see you on the news when gas prices go up complaining about it, Its your own damn fault you don't drive something more efficient plenty of midsize cars get 40 mpg now.

[p123456789]

I meant 6 USD per US gallon. This being relatively cheap when compared to Western Europe (UK etc). So yeah, glad I got the 1.0 :)

Is 34.9 your average? I always get atleast 39mpg out of mine driving it kinda hard in 50/50 traffic.

[why?]

The fact that everyone wants their stuff TODAY is where the freight hit is coming from. Shipping by rail is 1/10th the price, bu no one is going to wait for their stuff. So now it comes by truck, longhaul, by guys who are driving for below minimum hourly wage... unless they are on, shall we say, "other imports". Sure, it is faster, but since diesel became popular, the price will be what the market will bear, and the hell with ruining the country.

Europe has an elaborate and efficient rail system for both freight and passengers, and we are stuck in our cars... Ah, well, GM etc are making good money on their truck sales, and all is well in North America!

Um, this is USA, not europe. There isn't a real rail station within 2 or 300 miles of where I live, probably more. And then it is passenger only. Rail is far too expensive to lay down in the USA. There is simply too much land. So yes, the cost of shipping by rail is cheap, the cost of laying it down is not.

[TLyttle]

I'm aware of that. In fact, after the war it was decided by the fuel companies, and vehicle manufacturers, that rail was too cheap, hence the switch to road vehicles. Stuff gets from place to place "faster" by truck, and they are still selling that crap to justify their industry.

Rails opened up this continent, both in the US and Canada, but tearing up the rails and closing stations and depots has been the byword for 50 years. Consequently, road transport is the only viable option left...

[why?]

I'm aware of that. In fact, after the war it was decided by the fuel companies, and vehicle manufacturers, that rail was too cheap, hence the switch to road vehicles. Stuff gets from place to place "faster" by truck, and they are still selling that crap to justify their industry.

Rails opened up this continent, both in the US and Canada, but tearing up the rails and closing stations and depots has been the byword for 50 years. Consequently, road transport is the only viable option left...

50 years? Try since the Civil War when the north destroyed around 80% or so of all rail lines in the entire south.

We will eventually get real rail lines as the air industry becomes less and less safe, they are perfecting high speed rail in other countries, just like safe nuclear, it is only a matter of time before we get high speed rail.

And then Amtrak will finally go under, and private rail will change the country again.

[yaris2010RS]

personally i dont worry about gas anymore, when i was driving a v6 camry it was a bitch! i remeber paying over $80 CDN to fill her up. and now with gas at $1.06/L on our little tank it makes no difference.

i dont comlain about gas at all, even with the way i drive i still get almost 600km per tank

[BluYrs]

Is 34.9 your average? I always get atleast 39mpg out of mine driving it kinda hard in 50/50 traffic.

Yeah, that's my average. But most of my driving is done home to work on a really-really short distance (ca 2 miles) with constant stopping and starting, so the engine doesn't even warm up. In any other car in the same conditions I'd be lucky to get low 20s MPG.

[TLyttle]

Not sure about your predictions there. One of the big problems of rails in North America is the instability of much of the landscape. In Canada we built a rail line through Manitoba/Ontario on muskeg, using logs for a roadbed. It has to be replaced every few years as the logs sink, but we continue as we have for 130+ years. The highways through that area are built the same way, and my longhaul buddy says that when you are parked, a truck going by is enough to make one seasick... Try building a high-speed line on THAT!

I've ridden the European rails, and they are truly wonderful, but they have the geology that suits rails. The rail companies HATE passenger traffic, and that is why one will have to live a LONG time to see a passenger rail system work here in North America.