Gas Prices - My 2 Cents - Stop Whining!!

[wildmark]

Originally Posted by badger

All I can say is this - I wish my petrol was as cheap as yours is in America, some people just don't know when they are well off. Current UK price is £1.12 a litre and rising rapidly!!!! (That's about $US2.20 a litre, or to put it another way, not far off $9.00 per US gallon!!!!) That's why my Hemi is converted to run on LPG at $1.16 per litre.
Now, before anyone shoots me down, I have NO debts whatsoever (paid off the mortgage), all the vehicles we own are bought and paid for, and yes I do have money in the bank to survive if we have to. Even with an income of roughly $50k per annum, the rapidly rising fuel costs are hitting hard in this country, so why not compare the cost of fuel as a percentage of average earnings then do the same for us poor souls in the UK?

Like I said its a lot cheaper here than in the UK, my last car there was an Audi diesel which gave almost 50mpg, and it still hurt!

[NVmyC]

Originally Posted by OoTLink

NVmyC, at least they don't sound like a talk show host. XD

Game show host? That is interesting, well the day that I give away a new car is the day that I sound like a game show host. LOL.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by gfrost

Dude, I dont think you get it! Even if you can afford to pay $20.00 a gallon doesn't mean you have to like it.

Hard working people are getting robbed by the oil companies and all you have to say is "stop b*tching"?!?!?!

Wow!

I couldn't afford to pay a ton more than we are right now......but I'm just saying.......If gas is going to continue to rise I'm not going to cry like a baby about every day.....i'd sell my car.....buy something cheaper I can afford and get on with my life. Do I think the oil companies are raping us???? YES.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by Midnight

Gforst, I agree with you a 100% It affects all of us, rich, middle class or poor. PureEnjoyment is really enjoying himself right now and I hope he will continue to.

Please, we should not take any of our back and forth seriously, its just our thoughts and how we feel about the state of this great nation.

Peace to all,
Midnight

$3.80 at the pump is hardly "enjoying myself" haha. I just think people need to be more realistic before they buy a car.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by Flossin22s

personally its not the price it self but the fact that companies were making record quarterly profits.........that right there is what bugs me since i've seen people not being able to afford to go to work..........what about the people like my aunt who bought their suv when gas was 1.70 and the go to 3.99 in just three years.


now im really glad i have a v6.....driving 50 miles to work a day, 6 days a week would suck if i had a hemi

What would I say to your aunt? How about "think ahead". Obviously you did your home work and made a rational decision.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by OoTLink

NVmyC, at least they don't sound like a talk show host. XD

LOL

[kevenj]

Originally Posted by PureEnjoyment

What would I say to your aunt? How about "think ahead". Obviously you did your home work and made a rational decision.

Well that's easy to say now that we have 20-20 hindsight. In my case, when I bought my 300C gas was around 2.40 - 2.50 a gallon here. That was August 2005. It had just passed $2 for the first time ever. I really thought it would go up close to $3, and then over time settle to the low $2 range. This is what I saw happen when I first started driving in the late 70's - - gas went from 50 cents to well over $1, then settled back to just above $1 a gallon for 20 years, so that was what I based my prediction on. Obviously I was wrong, but I had a rational reason for thinking that's what would happen.

I'm lucky I don't have a long commute to work, but everyone has to have noticed that it costs a lot more at the grocery store than just a short time ago; I can park my car if I have to but I have to buy groceries. And to ad insult to injury, since the Fed started printing money at an even more frenzied pace to "stimulate the economy" the interest I'm getting on my savings has dropped amost 2 points.

[OoTLink]

Originally Posted by PureEnjoyment

I couldn't afford to pay a ton more than we are right now......but I'm just saying.......If gas is going to continue to rise I'm not going to cry like a baby about every day.....i'd sell my car.....buy something cheaper I can afford and get on with my life. Do I think the oil companies are raping us???? YES.

The problem with that logic is that you're forgetting these SUVs/cars/whatever have to go somewhere, it's funny because a lot of the heavily criticized tree huggers get nailed for the same thing (what's so environmental about throwing out a car that's still usable only to buy a new one?)

So in the end, if you decide to sell your 300C for a more efficient car, you're going to be paying a lot of money, perhaps even more than if you just kept the car for the rest of the period you were planning to keep it, I mean you've already taken a nasty hit on depreciation.

If you sold your 300C for $20k, which isn't unusual for them right now, you'd have paid $15000 to drive that car for 2-3 years, if you kept it another couple years you'd lose maybe $5000 more out of its value, maybe more..

If you bought a Prius, you'd be paying more $$ right off the bat - $23000-25000 for a nicely equipped one, after taxes and stuff, somewhere between $6000-7000 out of your pocket right there.

And let's assume that the Prius gets 45mpg average and the 300C gets 17mpg average - and you drive 12,000 miles a year. That's 267 gallons of gas for the Prius, and 706 gallons of gas for the 300C.

At $5 a gallon, the prius would cost $1335 to run per year in gas, the 300C would cost $3530 a year.

So it'd take you about 3 years and 2 months to make up the $7000 you paid to "trade up" for a Prius in gas savings, that's not counting depreciation.

In the process, you've caused demand for another car, lowered the resale value of the 300 for those who buy them, and have just blown $7000 on something you won't really make up for immediately.

It's the old chicken and the egg thing. The 300C is our family car and we thankfully own it outright, so the only costs we worry about are gas and insurance, and I think the insurance is a far scarier number (at least while gas is barely $4 a gallon here).

Maybe in some years' time we'll consider it, but I think the idea of trading in for an economical car is silly.

The profits from the oil companies don't all go to the crazy guys in the middle east, a lot of it goes to the investors - probably quite a few people on this board profit from the higher gas prices (in a crappy way), retirement funds would invest in them at times wouldn't they?

The problem is conflicting interests - a red blooded right-winger will go red in the face yelling at how any form of government intervention with a company's profits would be downright evil, and the blue blooded left-wingers will lecture you about how you should drive a hybrid, and never ever ever touch a plane, as those are only reserved for politicians. Oh yeah, and more alternative fuel subsidies, because of course that worked

Sometimes I agree with the "unite, go right down the middle, and ignore the stupid parties" crap - the only problem is in politics, the "uniters" are overhyped idiots that the major news networks push 24/7.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by kevenj

Well that's easy to say now that we have 20-20 hindsight. In my case, when I bought my 300C gas was around 2.40 - 2.50 a gallon here. That was August 2005. It had just passed $2 for the first time ever. I really thought it would go up close to $3, and then over time settle to the low $2 range. This is what I saw happen when I first started driving in the late 70's - - gas went from 50 cents to well over $1, then settled back to just above $1 a gallon for 20 years, so that was what I based my prediction on. Obviously I was wrong, but I had a rational reason for thinking that's what would happen.

I'm lucky I don't have a long commute to work, but everyone has to have noticed that it costs a lot more at the grocery store than just a short time ago; I can park my car if I have to but I have to buy groceries. And to ad insult to injury, since the Fed started printing money at an even more frenzied pace to "stimulate the economy" the interest I'm getting on my savings has dropped amost 2 points.

I can respect that logic. What people just forget to take into account is all the other things that go could go wrong in life too and they just get tunnel vision on trying to get that real expensive item. I started this thread not to piss people off but as more of a wake up call to some.

Let me just brainstorm a couple things that could happen to any of us today completely out of the blue.....furnace breaks, fridge breaks, washer/dryer breaks, computer dies, damage your car, get in an accident as your own fault, medical emergencies, etc. Imagine all that happens at the same time in your life........you should have a safety net in your back pocket at all times anyways right???? Then why the big fuss about a little gas increase? Yes it's unfair, yes we are getting screwed, yes we feel like there's nothing we can do and its all bs & politics. Anything short of lobbying, voting, or running for office and there's not really a chance to make a change. Just complaining about it day in and day out does no good.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by OoTLink

The problem with that logic is that you're forgetting these SUVs/cars/whatever have to go somewhere, it's funny because a lot of the heavily criticized tree huggers get nailed for the same thing (what's so environmental about throwing out a car that's still usable only to buy a new one?)

So in the end, if you decide to sell your 300C for a more efficient car, you're going to be paying a lot of money, perhaps even more than if you just kept the car for the rest of the period you were planning to keep it, I mean you've already taken a nasty hit on depreciation.

If you sold your 300C for $20k, which isn't unusual for them right now, you'd have paid $15000 to drive that car for 2-3 years, if you kept it another couple years you'd lose maybe $5000 more out of its value, maybe more..

If you bought a Prius, you'd be paying more $$ right off the bat - $23000-25000 for a nicely equipped one, after taxes and stuff, somewhere between $6000-7000 out of your pocket right there.

And let's assume that the Prius gets 45mpg average and the 300C gets 17mpg average - and you drive 12,000 miles a year. That's 267 gallons of gas for the Prius, and 706 gallons of gas for the 300C.

At $5 a gallon, the prius would cost $1335 to run per year in gas, the 300C would cost $3530 a year.

So it'd take you about 3 years and 2 months to make up the $7000 you paid to "trade up" for a Prius in gas savings, that's not counting depreciation.

In the process, you've caused demand for another car, lowered the resale value of the 300 for those who buy them, and have just blown $7000 on something you won't really make up for immediately.

It's the old chicken and the egg thing. The 300C is our family car and we thankfully own it outright, so the only costs we worry about are gas and insurance, and I think the insurance is a far scarier number (at least while gas is barely $4 a gallon here).

Maybe in some years' time we'll consider it, but I think the idea of trading in for an economical car is silly.

The profits from the oil companies don't all go to the crazy guys in the middle east, a lot of it goes to the investors - probably quite a few people on this board profit from the higher gas prices (in a crappy way), retirement funds would invest in them at times wouldn't they?

The problem is conflicting interests - a red blooded right-winger will go red in the face yelling at how any form of government intervention with a company's profits would be downright evil, and the blue blooded left-wingers will lecture you about how you should drive a hybrid, and never ever ever touch a plane, as those are only reserved for politicians. Oh yeah, and more alternative fuel subsidies, because of course that worked

Sometimes I agree with the "unite, go right down the middle, and ignore the stupid parties" crap - the only problem is in politics, the "uniters" are overhyped idiots that the major news networks push 24/7.

I'd say i'm a conservative republican and I say steal the profits of the oil companies.....lol. I think you kind of took my comment a tiny bit "out there". I wouldnt never really do that if I ran into this type of situation....In fact I just sold my 2005 and bout an '08 SRT design. My point is more that people from the start need to see the whole picture before diving into the pool. See my post above this one