Gas Prices

[gavinrad]

so in some thread somewhere on this board, someone posted a comparison of international gas prices, which showed that America, despite our skyrocketing prices, still has some of the lowest in the world. It makes me wonder, how do you make money on something like food delivery when gas costs you 4-6 US dollars a gallon?

I drive for Pizza Hut, who charges a one dollar delivery fee and gives it to the driver as gas/wear and tear money. There is talk of increasing that fee lately due to the climbing gas prices, but I was wondering what you do in places where gas costs so much more. I have a falling apart 96 sentra that costs me about 35-40 dollars for a full tank, I can't imagine spending almost a hundred dollars to fill it up when I go through half a tank in one night of delivery.

[GrobbeeTrull]

I drive a Hyundai Tiburon, it's probably one of the most fuel efficient "ricer" cars you can imagine, usually getting 35 on the highway, 29-31 in the city... and it has a 12 gallon gas tank.

I just spent 30$ to fill up my car. Unheard of. I used to cry when it cost me 20 dollars to fill up my gas tank... but 30$? Christ almighty! I can't even imagine people driving SUV's or anything with a 15 gallon tank or bigger.

[Eomer]

There's been a few trucker strikes/walkouts/lockouts in Alberta (gravel/aggregate truckers, shut down half the construction sites) and BC (seriously fucked up the port in Vancouver) because they want better rates for their services. Can't say I necessarily blame them, but the market dictates the price. It's not my problem that truckers are stupid and willing to undercut each other, even if they're losing money doing it.

It's not affected us too much, other than the gravel strike which slowed down a few sites for awhile. Freight charges have gone up a bit, but for the most part we aren't charged freight for our in-town deliveries (just comes out of the wholesales' gross profit I guess).

[Bralkan]

i drive a volvo 4-door. Between highway and city, I average 23-25mpg.

It has a fucking 18 gallon tank and I drive 200-500 miles a week (Depends on what work requires). Sometimes I have to fill up twice in a week. Fucking $40 a tank...

I used to laugh at the Expiditions needing $40 back in highschool...that was 4 years ago....sigh

[Tigulated]

If you're not doing so, try a fuel additive, and keep your oil, filters as new as you can afford. Other than getting a new vehicle, there's not really much more you can do. Don't worry where you buy gas, just buy at the cheapest/most convenient. This isn't like the 70's where you got sold gas that would corrode your tank.

If a new vehicle is on your horizon, I would definitely recommend the Volkswagen Beetle TDi. A diesel, mine is a 2000 and still gets 40+ mpg. Diesel gas has a slightly 'off' price fluctuation to unleaded, as its byproduct.

[EnigmaticParadigm]

Supreme Unleaded is $3.05 here.

Diesel is $3.38.


Wha?

[sarinrathe]

Speaking of Volkswagon deisels - I read about a guy in National Geographic who uses the cooking oil from restaurants as biodeisel. Apparently it works fine in the engine (not sure if he has to process it). He ends up spending $5 a month on fuel.

[Crystara]

Fullsize Chevy truck with a 34 gallon tank here getting 20 miles a gallon. I drive 43 miles each way to work every day and it cost me 75 bucks on the dot to fill last week. These prices suck.

Edit: http://www.greasecar.com/ all about the Vegetable Oil vehicles, interesting concept if you can stand your car smelling like fries.

[Gudrid]

Originally Posted by Crystara

Fullsize Chevy truck with a 34 gallon tank here getting 20 miles a gallon. I drive 43 miles each way to work every day and it cost me 75 bucks on the dot to fill last week. These prices suck.

I just bought an 05 tacoma b/c i need 4x4 in the winter to drive to work 90miles a day, i feel your pain. My toyota dealer has prius' on backorder and the next closest dealer is 500miles away, but they're sold out also. In 2-3 years im probably trading in for a prius regardless of the snow issues T,T

[Benito Fireslinger]

a guy at my college, whose family owns a few gas stations here in GA was explaining to me that the oil companies limit how much gas they can by depending on the price.

if the gas is really expensive they can by more, however, once the price goes down they cant buy as much. And with this alot of the reserve tanks that gas stations get their fuel from are only 1/4 full, whereas in the 70s during the storage they were almost always full no matter what.

He went on to say its all about the oil companies controlling the flow of gas. Its really screwed up but I honestly dont doubt it.

What we need it someone to invent a decent looking car/truck that has good hp/torque that runs on hydrogen or some type of fuel cell. Most americans arnt going to buy a car like a prius cause it looks like a POS. When I can buy a hybrid/hydrogen powered vette or f150 thats when the US will quit using Gas.

[Crystara]

It's been invented for years, but there is no way in hell the oil companys will let it get released to the public.

[Dis]

The best kind of cars to drive nowadays IMHO are not the hybrids, but the fuel-efficient used cars that can be paid off rather quickly. Someone above mentioned a Tiburion(sp), but when that sucker is paid off, he wont have to worry about spending 10kish for a new set of batteries on his hybrid plus he is getting around 30 miles to the gallon.

I drive a Honda Accord that I bought used, paid off now. I get on average 25-27 miles to the gallon. It hurts to see my gas bill at 30 bucks, but it hurts less because I only paid 13k (nearly the price for the rep batteries alone on a Prius) for the car, and now it is paid off.

[Dis]

Originally Posted by Benito Fireslinger

a guy at my college, whose family owns a few gas stations here in GA was explaining to me that the oil companies limit how much gas they can by depending on the price.

if the gas is really expensive they can by more, however, once the price goes down they cant buy as much. And with this alot of the reserve tanks that gas stations get their fuel from are only 1/4 full, whereas in the 70s during the storage they were almost always full no matter what.

He went on to say its all about the oil companies controlling the flow of gas. Its really screwed up but I honestly dont doubt it.

What we need it someone to invent a decent looking car/truck that has good hp/torque that runs on hydrogen or some type of fuel cell. Most americans arnt going to buy a car like a prius cause it looks like a POS. When I can buy a hybrid/hydrogen powered vette or f150 thats when the US will quit using Gas.

Fuel cell technology, to be implemented, would have to have a complete new energy infastructure (IE gas stations, but for hydrogen fuel cells). That is extremely costly.

Dont knock the hybrids yet. We are finally seeing car companies actually use an important tool that many other retailers have been using for years TECHNOLOGY. Over time you will see batteries get smaller and smaller, and become more effecient at being recharged and holding a charge. You will also see the price of the batteries drop considerably over time. With hybrid cars being manufactured domestically you will also see a drop in pricing.

As far as design? Honda Accord Hybrid looks exactly like the Honda Accord. Styling has to do with the designer, not it being a hybrid.

[Zinke]

almost any turbo diesel is good gas mileage.. The 80's Mercedes turbo diesel engines are one of the most rock solid engines ever made. You can run that thing into the 500k+ mile range and it'll keep going, just regular maintenance.

But, for newer cars all the Volkswagen turbo diesels (TDI, they offer it in almost all their models) get similar gas mileage as the hybrids (which have inflated mpg rates, practical use of the cars by car magazines have shown they get 30-40mpg, not the 50+ some of them are claiming)

[Ronne]

Originally Posted by GrobbeeTrull

I drive a Hyundai Tiburon, it's probably one of the most fuel efficient "ricer" cars you can imagine, usually getting 35 on the highway, 29-31 in the city... and it has a 12 gallon gas tank.

I just spent 30$ to fill up my car. Unheard of. I used to cry when it cost me 20 dollars to fill up my gas tank... but 30$? Christ almighty! I can't even imagine people driving SUV's or anything with a 15 gallon tank or bigger.

I so want a Tiburon, did you buy new or used? I'm kinda torn, according to Hyundai's website they will sell me a brand-new one with all the options for just over 18 grand, but two year old 20k-40k mile Tiburons are all still over 15 grand in my area, most without nearly all the extra goodies I want. Someone is lying to me, but I can't figure out who.