Ga$ Price How high will they go?

[RallyBob]

And Detroit's Big Three are churning out fuel efficient cars right now. And they're shutting down plants that manufacture larger vehicles. They are certainly responding to the changing conditions faster than I've ever seen them respond.

Agreed. And I think it's because they didn't think the Japanese manufacturers would EVER get such a strong foothold in the US. My parents were the first on our block to buy a 'small car' back in the early 1970's. Remember the 'first' fuel crisis? I was a kid, but I remember sitting in lines with my folks waiting to get gas. Anyway, the neighbors literally all walked up to my parents' house to stare at their newfound import...a 1972 Toyota Corolla wagon. They probably thought we were sellouts, as the car my father drove previously was a 1967 Plymouth Fury III convertible...talk about the opposite end of the spectrum! But the Corolla got 28-30 mpg and hauled our family of 4 around reasonably well. It also handled like a slot car compared to the Plymouth, and you could park it anywhere. And it only needed to fill the tank every two weeks, unlike the Plymouth. Eventually, pretty much everyone in our neighborhood also had a small car. Mazda's, Datsuns, Opels, Toyota's, Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colts and a few MG's. It sure made sense from a fuel cost point of view. That car was also dead-reliable, and in fact I still have it today! (sure it's a pile of rust but I can get it to run in 10 minutes)

The point of all this is that the 'big three' never saw the fuel efficient cars as a threat. And look where we are now! GM is in trouble, Ford is in trouble, Chrysler has been in-and-out of trouble for years....and does anybody remember AMC? Toyota is #1 in the world, and GM now knows they have to get their act together to compete.

Bob

[neuropel]

So how about Dodge/Chrysler now subsidizing part of your fuel costs if you buy one of their guzzlers? Talk about irresponsible...

Todd

[jeff denton]

Well, do the math. It works out to be no different than a rebate.
The truck market is getting hurt badly. Gone are the days when we can use a big bad one ton diesel just for fun. We Montana rednecks use 3/4 and 1 tons for daily drivers and basic transportation when we could be accomplishing the same thing with a Geo.
However, those rigs are also used to haul loads, pull trailers, like mine does every day. And to haul fuel and tools and parts out to the construction/logging site. Gotta have 'em. So we now have no choice but to use them only when needed, drive the Geo or whatever every where else.
That truck market will never go away, it's just being narrowed down to serve those of us who really need them and can justify the expense. Half ton pickups could have their performance reduced and economy improve, that could help, but does me no good, a half ton is NOT a truck.

[ungermm]

my father drove previously was a 1967 Plymouth Fury III convertible...Bob

I hope the Fury is still in the family. It's worth a lot of gas!
Jerry
ps cheapest around here is $4.35 for 87 unleaded, that's up 50 cents in just a couple weeks. Oh well, that's less than 15% increase, or geeze, that's almost a 15% increase in just a couple of weeks.

[hrcollinsjr]

We Montana rednecks use 3/4 and 1 tons for daily drivers and basic transportation when we could be accomplishing the same thing with a Geo.
... a half ton is NOT a truck.

I used to teach in an affluent community and the kids wanted to drive crew cab dually's and the parents let them. I finally figured out the trucks were bought to haul cattle and horse trailers and were sitting idle unless being used for that so when the kids got there licenses they were perfect. The parents already owned the vehicles and didn't want the headaches of driving the behemoth's every day to work. They were also bigger, slower and maybe safer for the kids. I was brought up that a real truck had to have a long bed, city or play trucks were short bed. After a lot of consideration I bought a short bed Dodge club cab. There are times I can barely manuver it through places especially parking lots. I inherited my Dad's std. cab long bed. The wife wants me to get rid of one because we don't need two. The long bed is my farm truck and MY club cab has the bigger engine and better suspension and pulls a load better. Both are 2wd 1/2 tons. I've had over 3000# of text books in my 1/2 ton! Didn't know it at the time. Will it do what a 3/4 or 1 ton will do? No, but I don't need that much truck either. I also behave a lot better in a truck. I do prefer to drive good handling cars but wonder if you figure in the tickets I'm more likely to get, if the truck isn't cheaper.

Harold

[West Coast GT]

I remember those gas lines in 1974. Fresh out of high school, my first car. I drove from Michigan to California always on the lookout for fuel. Carried 10 gallons of gas in the backseat to extend my range.

[PROPEL]

UAE oil minister says price spikes "crazy" (Reuters)

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Recent huge spikes in oil prices are "crazy" and unrelated to supply and demand fundamentals as world markets are adequately supplied with crude, the United Arab Emirates energy minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

[West Coast GT]

Not my idea - just something floating around the Internet today - but an interesting concept.

Forecasts are that we will have $5.00 a gallon gasoline by summer and it might go higher. Want prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. This is an interesting concept. It is not the 'don't buy gas for one day’ plan.

Now that oil companies and OPEC have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is cheap at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to teach them that buyers control the marketplace, not sellers.

The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that without hurting ourselves. Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we can impact gas prices if we force a price war.

For the rest of this year, do not purchase gasoline from the two largest companies (which now are one), EXXONMOBIL. If they are not selling gas, they will be inclined to reduce price. If they reduce price, the other companies will be forced to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. If each of us send this to at least ten other people, and they send it to at least ten more, and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth tier, we will have reached over three million consumers. If those three million pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted. One more level and we’re talking about 300 million people.

I suggest that we not buy from Exxon/Mobil until they lower their prices to the $2.00 range and keep them down.

[traytodd]

I had a '63 4dr 210 cid Buick Special in 73/74 during the oil embargo. It was an economical car in its day getting 15-18 mpg. I once got as high as 23. For the 80 fuel crisis, I had my '74 Manta Ralley. I would pull into the lines at the pump, shut the car off and then get out and push it up to pump. It rolled easily so was no effort compared to all the Detroit iron. I would also coast hill in neutral to save fuel.

I wish now I had the Buick engine in a Manta chassis.

Gas was $4.42 at my favorite Valero station tonight, down 8 cents since the weekend.

Terry
Placerville, CA

[RallyBob]

I hope the Fury is still in the family. It's worth a lot of gas!

New England winters are not kind to steel, even the big American stuff! The last time I saw the car was in 1978 or so, and at that point there was nothing below the doors, and the passenger side torsion bar socket had rusted out and left the car literally sitting on the ground on the right front corner. I think my dad left it where it was and took $50 for the car from the first guy who looked at it.

I have fond memories of that car, I remember 'driving' it down dirt roads for 10 miles at a clip with my father pushing the gas and brake pedals when we went to visit family in Moncton, New Brunswick. I could barely see over the dashboard. That had to be 1970 or 1971 (before the Toyota), so I was all of 5 or 6 years old then! And I remember going to see my first drive-in movie in that car with my family, it was 'The Man with the Golden Gun'. It was a pretty cool car...

Bob

[traytodd]

Re: boycotts

Boycotting Exxon or any other single major oil company hurts the retailers far more the then the oil company. If consumption remains constant, with the all US refineries running at capacity, the other oil companies will just make up the difference by buying wholesale from Exxon. It is common now to see a truck from one brand pull out of a refinery from another. The SF Bay area has 4 refineries, Valero (the old Exxon Benicia plant), Shell, Chevron and Conoco/Philips. There are lots more branded stations in the area than 4. While some of the fuel maybe trucked, floated or piped in, a lot of it comes from just these 4 plants.

The best plan would be to buy from the lowest priced retailer in the area whoever they may be depending on the day.

Terry

[grslightng02]

A major network television station news reported Diesel fuel costing nearly $6.50 a gallon in Spain and as much as $9.00 and up a gallon for diesel in Brussels, Belgium!

Perhaps we should all fill up our tanks on a Friday, avoid driving on the weekend, and only drive to work or as needed, carpool, bus, etc. If the nation were to do this for one week in protest it would certainly make a larger statement than just everyone complaining.

[Mike Trout]

I went and got diesel tonight in the new wrok truck and i paid $5.30 im thinking about playing the lottery just for gas money.

Mike-

[MICAH1]

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread, but a friend in Mexico sent this to me about a guy using water H2o to power his modified dunn buggy. Anybody heard of him? I also understand that he has been killed. X-Files.....trust no one!!!

YouTube - Water Car Inventor Murdered!

YouTube - Run Your Car On Water Today: STAN MEYER KILLED Pt 1

YouTube - Run Your Car On Water Today: STAN MEYER KILLED Pt 2

[Paul]

This just came in the e-mail this morning from Northwest....

An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now. Visit Stop Oil Speculation Now | S.O.S. NOW.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem. We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting Stop Oil Speculation Now | S.O.S. NOW.

Robert Fornaro
Chairman, President and CEO
AirTran Airways

Bill Ayer
Chairman, President and CEO
Alaska Airlines, Inc.

Gerard J. Arpey
Chairman, President and CEO
American Airlines, Inc.


Lawrence W. Kellner
Chairman and CEO
Continental Airlines, Inc.

Richard Anderson
CEO
Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Mark B. Dunkerley
President and CEO
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.


Dave Barger
CEO
JetBlue Airways Corporation

Timothy E. Hoeksema
Chairman, President and CEO
Midwest Airlines

Douglas M. Steenland
President and CEO
Northwest Airlines, Inc.


Gary Kelly
Chairman and CEO
Southwest Airlines Co.

Glenn F. Tilton
Chairman, President and CEO
United Airlines, Inc.

Douglas Parker
Chairman and CEO
US Airways Group, Inc.

[tomking]

The water powered car thing is BS. Yes, one can break down water into hyrogen and oxygen; but it isnt economical or practical as techonolgy to run a vehicle yet.

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread, but a friend in Mexico sent this to me about a guy using water H2o to power his modified dunn buggy. Anybody heard of him? I also understand that he has been killed. X-Files.....trust no one!!!

YouTube - Water Car Inventor Murdered!

YouTube - Run Your Car On Water Today: STAN MEYER KILLED Pt 1

YouTube - Run Your Car On Water Today: STAN MEYER KILLED Pt 2

[Hank Marvin]

In my part of the world a gallon of petrol would cost you $10.35. (hope my math is good) It is €1.45 a litre

[OpelGT-de]

In my part of the world a gallon of petrol would cost you $10.35. (hope my math is good) It is €1.45 a litre

..some cents more in Germany

[Gumby]

In my part of the world a gallon of petrol would cost you $10.35. (hope my math is good) It is €1.45 a litre

No your math is wrong. It's actually $8.62 at the current exchange rate of 1:1.57 @ 3.78541178 liters per gallon

..some cents more in Germany

$9.09/gallon

Sadly this is still pretty close to what we pay when you factor in the differences in our economy…

[manta2009]

no thats not up to date.

today i paid 1,61 euro for a liter gas.

so 1 liter is 0,26 gallons

and consider the currency amount...

thats 9,60 $ for a gallon gas. so now its your turn :-)

my mom said i will get a full tank on christmas. oh how i look forward to that.

previous my dad said. its saturday. lets take a ride and have a coffee and a piece of cake.

today he says...new month...should we dare to take a spin to fill up our tank?