If a person cannot afford the fuel for that particular vehicle, then they got to get a less expensive and more fuel efficient vehicle.

If they cannot afford that, either they got to make more money or ride a bicycle or just plain old walk.

Fact of life and simple as that!

My 4Runner V8 gets better mileage than my older V6 Toyota pickup.

Maybe I'll cash them both in and buy a Prius.

Unless gas jumps to completely un-affordable levels overnight, I plan on keeping my truck, boat, snowmobile, and other gas-wasting toys.

Gotta pay to play, and I'm gonna play till I can't pay no more.

I drive 60 miles a day for work only, not counting any other after hours excursions, and between the Runner and the wife's Accord, I'd rather be in the Runner. I go through this ever year when the summer hits, and at the end of the day buying a more fuel friendly car isnt going to really save you much once. First the car, then the insurance, etc.

Not that being said, where was the option to park the Runner and buy a motorcycle?

You'd have to act waaaay before $5/gal if you wanted to get rid of the 4R for any sort of reasonable selling price. Otherwise you'd be one of a million people trying to sell their SUV and buy an economical car. And you can forget about buying a hybrid if gas gets that high, the waiting lists would be years long.

That was supposed to happen at $2 a gallon. And it was only a couple of years ago that everyone said the trucking industry would completely collapse in this country if diesel ever got to $2.50 a gallon. We're way past that now. So people deal with the costs and life goes on, even if they ***** about it.

Yes, that's true, in part because the demand is greater that supply. That's Econ 101. The oil companies are charging it because they can get it. It's akin to paying $1000-$1500 per seat for the Super Bowl. Although some people need a lot of gas because of a long commute, and they're the ones getting screwed, there are lot of other people that still take their long road trips or make lots of little trips to the store that could use less gas if they thought about it. Some of us do have a choice in how much gas we use, and even at $3, we're not choosing to use less. So the demand stays up and the prices go higher.

It's wrong that the oil companies control the supply as much as they do. "There's a shortage of summer gas." Why - didn't someone read the calendar?? No company has built a new gasoline refinery in the U.S. in many years - that would help, too.

And then there's our dependence on foreign oil, which controls the price per barrel on crude. China is also consuming a lot more crude in the last few years, so that's increasing demand at that level. We're pumping 80 million barrels per day out of the ground worldwide, and we're consuming every drop of it. The slightest blip in that supply makes crude prices go nuts.

Is there greed involved? Sure. But it's also a tough situation from an economic perspective, and Congress won't ever be able to fix that.

People will just deal with the prices. Look how fast we got used to $2 a gallon. $3 will come and go, too, as will future increases.

I would still drive my T4R but and buy a toyota prius to drive on alternate days.

It's not if gas will get to $5/gallon..just when it does.

I've thought about it quite a bit. Prices for everything have risen a lot in the last 2-3 years. And living on the coast doesn't help matters with homeowners insurance etc. If (when) we get another hurricane here, I'll be looking at the possibility of not even having the option to buy insurance, and if I can, at rates 5-10x what I pay now.

So $5/gallon (or greater) gas? I don't know. I have spent my entire life spending time around and enjoying fossil fuel burning hobbies. If I'm forced to sell my 4R, and boat (who'll buy them at that price?), and buy a 50+ mpg diesel or some POS beater for a ride back and forth to work--sadly, my quality of life has gone to crap. At that point, is it worth it to put up with the stress I have to every day for the money at my current job? Do I quit my decent paying job, get something less stressfull, all because the payoff isn't worth the effort?

I don't know.

I would set aside money from other things to pay for it....need the car for work. Offer to ride to work with someone share the cost....just a couple ideas. when you commute the cost of 15K miles per year and the difference between 20 mpg and 30 mpg........not that great....not wanting to change into a smaller less safe car.............

I think you're missing the problem for some of us.....I use my 4-low weekly and my tow hitch with the same frequency.

If you actually bought the vehicle to use some of its capabilities, it's not as simple as buying something else with better mileage. A Rav4 is an awesome rig, but it won't tow a 4,000lbs trailer. A minivan is a great cargo hauler, but it won't stradle a water-bar to get to your favorite bike trail. A Civic gets great mileage, but it can't push through 3 feet of snow.

If all you're using it for is commuting, it may be easy to switch to a more economical unit. But if you use the 4Runner for what it's worth, there aren't any choices that give substantially better mileage with the same capabilities and features.

I selected number 2. I want to keep my 4Runner for a long time. I'm looking at Certified PreOwned vehicles such as the Matrix (~32MPG), Tacoma 4x2 Access cab non-PreRunner 4-cyl (~23MPG) and the Yaris LB (~35MPG). Yes they are all Toyotas.

This does exist places in the US. In the virgin islands any company that comes in tho start up a business, and invests over 1 million in real estate, and employs at least 6 locals on regular salaried payroll, donates a certain amount (I dont think it is very much) to local charities every year, and pays thier taxes to the Virgin Islands is eligible for 90% off thier taxes for the first 10 years. We have the Western Hemispheres largest refinery already, built probably 30 years ago when a less atractive version of this benefit went into effect. Next to Hovensa (the Hess oil refinery) is an old Alcoa plant that has been for sale for years, it would be available to be torn down and a refinery or power plant built there, but no one has been interested in many years.
I think refineries are not being built not only because of the huge cost to build something that will not be available for years, but also because it is not the refineries that are causing low supply (except intentionally by OPEC, and downtime due to damages after Katrina). The low supply is coming from not having enough crude oil to refine. Companies are spending money to find untapped crude oil, but there just isn't that much out there that is not found or does not have some other issues keeping it from being pumped.

Im not an expert on the subject, but just my opinion based on some facts that I do know, and things we learned in High School (you learn a lot about oil when half your class's parents work at an oil refinery).

Oh, and I only drive about 6k a year so it wouldnt pay not to keep the 4Runner if it was just for the issue of gas prices.

I'll pick up the next gen Corolla and use the 4Runner for snowboarding. Selling the 4Runner won't do anything for me, since SUVs would take a huge hit on resale at $5/gallon. My current daily driver gets the same mileage as the 4Runner.

So what does that have to do with the oil companies making record profits on the order of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars a quater? And profits are profits, they are after all the expensis like drilling, pumping, refining, storing and exploring. Honestly I don't see an excuse for the oil companies and wouldn't defend them for one minute. This isn't some product many people can just say "hey if they are charging that much I'm not going to buy it" That is a little unrealistic with oil.

16K a year with average of 16mpg = 1000 gallons.
at $3 gallon = $3000 a year
at $5 gallon = $5000 a year

Still not worth buying a second car, unless it remains at $5 for more than 5+ years

Continue driving 4runner.....priceless

Toybox, I was not defeinding the oil companies - per se; just pointing out a strictly economic observation. I am not wild about forking over sixty bucks to fill the 4Runner's tank, but am at least semi-fortunate that I can drive my less-fuelish Sentra when necessary.

As for paying $3+ for gasoline (still about $2.75 here), it definitely sux - big time. However, would you rather pay the "market" price and have plenty of fuel available......or have some type of government 'price control' enacted and face long lines, supply disruptions and rationing? I remember the odd/even days and gas lines from the 1970s and don't want to return to that.

So long as we lag behind demand with regard to our refining capacity, it won't matter how much crude oil we can get.....the supply of gasoline is going to be tight.

Besides, I find it funny how many people will complain about three bucks for a gallon of gasoline as they pay $1.50 for a liter of bottled water. The same chumps also have no remorse about dropping nine bucks for a movie ticket when the same flick will be out on DVD in just three or four months for a mere fraction of that price.


Again, I was not trying to 'defend' the oil companies; just pointing out some economic information. Things may be tight and there exists the chance that someone is "gouging" people; but the alternative of socialism & dictatorial fiat is far worse in comparison.

That is all -- class dismissed.
(humor switch turned to the 'on' position)