What would be your limit on gas prices to force you to change?

[broncosi]

wow . . . thats sounds good, not sure if it will work but it sure is an idea. My family used exxon growing up and when prices started to rise my dad basically said never again buy from exxon, and as a basic rule me and my sister never did. I think i might spend some time hanging out at our local 2 exxons and explain and see whats up and why they are there, because convience isnt an answer, we have a crown, bp, and shell about .2 miles down the road both ways.

Im deffinitly going to pass this note on as i miss the $1 a gallon gas prices when i was younger.

 

[broncosi]

oh yea, and im posting it up on myspace because i know teens and early 20's more than anyone hate paying for gas like this

 

[lockerc18]

I got this email yesterday.

There is a solution for every problem we face

 

[Falls]

Unless you just want a motorcylce, I wouldn't buy one to save on gas. It would only be cost effective if you got a good deal or used it for several summers.

I'm making a lot of assumptions here, but if you drive 5,000 miles paying $3.50/gallon, you would spend ~$1030 at 17 miles/gallon. If you got 55 miles/gallon with a motorcycle, you'd spend $318. So, you'd be saving $711. If you got a motorcycle for $3,000, given those same assumptions you'd need to drive it for ~21,000 miles for it to pay for itself.

If course, I did that on the fly and more than likely failed to take many things into consideration. I probably even made an error.

But, I say if you just want to have a motorcycle, go for it! They're lots of fun!

That's so true, even goes for buying a small used car, cost of the car , gas , maint, tax , tile , insurance....it add's up to more than people think.

I was even reading about this & saw it on the news about the hype on hybrid vehicles. If figure cost's of the vehicle itself , the add'l option for hybrid, maint.,tax, title ect... and right now a premium price since people are getting sucked in by these ( great thing but not a time to buy one , it's like going shopping for a snowblower during a snow storm,you'll pay what they want ) Anyway it was amazing to me how long and how many mile's it would take to even hit the break even point. On some vehicle's it was like 80,000 mile's.

 

[benhar]

Don't oil companies sell their unused gas to other gas companies? If that's the case, then Exxon wouldn't really suffer. It seems like what would happen is if everyone used the other companies, their supply would drop and their prices would jump up. After a while, Exxon's original prices would look cheap, so people would go back to them, and the end result would be that the "bar" has been raised with gas prices.

Dunno, I'm an Engineer not an economist. Maybe someone with more experience in this area can chime in.

 

[Thai]

I have been doing this for years...and not even knowing about the side benefit! I use Chevron and Shell exclusively. I don't bother with the other companies unless i am in a bind.

 

[benhar]

I have been doing this for years...and not even knowing about the side benefit! I use Chevron and Shell exclusively. I don't bother with the other companies unless i am in a bind.

Well, really, I do it too, but it's just because a Shell station is at the end of my street

 

[RonMAIDEN]

If it goes near $5 a gallon I might sell the truck and get something else fun but at least sees close to 25mpg but my commute isn't bad so right now it's a mild issue.

 

[BigHop]

I am currently working on a tri bike.

 

[charlier180]

That chain letter cracks me up since it has little to do with reality for some parts of this country. At least here where I live the brand of gas on the pump is NOT necessarily the brand you put in your tank.

Here in my area there is ONE gasoline tank farm that services the entire area. If you stand at the gates of this tank farm you will see tankers with "Exxon/Mobil", "Sheetz", "Sunoco" and a host of other brand names pull up to the same filling areas and fill up.
This wholesaler does not have nearly enough tanks or pipelines to keep all the different brands of gas on-site.

It would appear from all indications that the SAME gasoline is being pumped into the differently labeled Tankers. The only possible exception to this is the Hess brand of gas. Last I heard they still brought their gas from their own faciliity about 50 miles away. If, indeed the same gas is being used by all the different branded stations (Exxon, Sunoco) and the convienence stores (Sheetz, Wawa, Turkey Hill, etc) then boycotting a particular brand of gas is useless.

BTW, the wholesaler tank farm's signs say "Sunoco" on them.
There used to be another tank farm on the other side of town that had "Exxon" signs but that facility closed down and almost all the tanks were removed.

Boy, I wish I had a $1 for every time I saw this chain letter posted on an Internet Forum. All those dollars would have bought me about 4 full tanks of gas for my 4Runner as of now.

 

[pipspeak]

Buy an investment property and set up an LLC, that's what I did. I use it as a tax shelter and write off gas, mileage, meals, you name it.

You can write-off gas and mileage? I always assumed the IRS mileage allowance covered the gas (as well as wear and tear, insurance, etc.)

My solution to high gas prices has been to sell my Jeep, which got about 10mpg around town and about 18 on the highway, for a 4Runner (well, I kid myself that it was about gas mileage, anyway). And then I bought a cheap street bike to run errands around the city. So I'm set until gas hits about $4 a gallon.

Believe it or not, I can actually get places just as quick in SF on a bike as I could in a car through traffic. And I'm not burning half a gallon of gas every trip (or wearing down the brakes), and I'm staying fit.

Granted, SF is somewhat unique in that it's a relatively compact city. I certainly wouldn't be biking around LA if I lived there.

 

[spyne]

Spyne & Fastgenious , c'mon who are you guy's BS'n with milage of your Cobra or Vette , like you can really keep your foot off the go pedal...LOL . I know if I drive my Cobra nice it get's pretty good milage , BUT that's never happened.....lol

Well... I'm good most of the time.
But I always seem to find a reason for really getting on it at least once every time I take the Cobra out. :driving:
You know how it is, sometimes you just have to merge into fast traffic, or the light got green and you need to get in the other guys lane quick, or the turn you need came up faster than you expected, or the sun is shining and it's a nice day...

 

[scott78945]

I don't think I could physically pay $5/gallon for gas. I am already sick at $3/gallon. We were already talking today at work about carpooling. Worst case scenario, it if gets to $5/gallon there is always public transportation because I won't be driving my vehicle. I even started using my cruise control on the highway for my 20 minute commute. I think they are just trying to find out what the most people will pay for gas without disrupting the economy. Sort of like a threshold level. This way when the bring the gas back down to $2.75/gallon we will think we are getting a deal. Makes me sick...

 

[toto]

It does make you wonder where the threshold is...
A couple of years ago, we heard that the trucking industry and all businesses related to it would collapse if diesel hit $2.50 a gallon. Well, $2.50 came and went, and we heard hardly anything about it. There really is a limit somewhere, but I bet it's a lot higher than we would like to think.

 

[biglatka]

It does make you wonder where the threshold is...
A couple of years ago, we heard that the trucking industry and all businesses related to it would collapse if diesel hit $2.50 a gallon. Well, $2.50 came and went, and we heard hardly anything about it. There really is a limit somewhere, but I bet it's a lot higher than we would like to think.

People will do triage, they

 

[Uneek]

Don't know and never put much thought into it. I placed the order for my truck after Katrina and I saw the $3/gallon prices. Cringed a bit on the first couple fill ups and then just shrugged it off and accepted it as a cost of life. It probably cost me more to get rid of the 4R for something more fuel efficient than to keep driving it until the wheels fall off. With that said, I'd probably drive something else if it hits $6-7/gal.

I don't know about other bikes, but I'm told by R1 guys that they get like 120-140/tank, which works out to 30-35mpg. Not very fuel efficient for its weight, but definately efficient for the power, speed, thrill and excitement.

 

[Falls]

When I was a kid I remember when gas hit $1.00 per gallon, and my parent's and everyone was talking and complaining . People just accepted it and kept driving,and all was well after the shock wave.

I also remember when everyone freaked at $2.00 per gallon. and everything in between, life went on and everyone eventually accepted it after the shockwave was all over.

The same will happen in the future. American's are spoiled ( including myself) with our truck's , V8's , SUV , High HP car's , and life will go on.

They alway's jack up the price really high like say to $3.75 per gallon and then back it off to $3.10 and everyone feel's there gettin a deal and accept's it. It's a pattern that's gone on for year's and year's, since way before we were all born.

 

[charlier180]

We'll see if retail sales and the like for May are affected. The picture will become clearer then on what the impact higher fuel costs has on the economy. I would think you could expect a "pass-thru" of increased cost onto the consumer by fuel use intensive industries. Food costs could go up because of the increased transportation expense. They can

 

[atomic punk]

I'd hope that people would run some numbers before doing anything rash like selling their 4R and buying a more "economical " ride...

For example, the statement "just a Hybrid" seems like a good idea, but if you're going to pay $5-7k more for a Hybrid model "x" over a regular model "x", you have to weigh that cost over how long you intend to keep your vehicle and how mcuh your gas savings will be on a weekly/monthly/annual basis. On some cars under normal driving conditions, your cost savings doesn't start until year 7 or 8, so if you don't intend on keeping your car that long, then it wouldn't be worth it. (not to mention if gas hits $4-$5/gallon there is going to be a HUGE waiting list for every model hybrid car out there). There has been numerous articles on this..... oh yeah, and you'd be taking a big loss on selling the 4R too, so add a couple thous right there to your expense of buying a hybrid.

I bought the 4R knowing fully that the gas mileage isn't great, so I'll just deal with it. But beats my 13mpg summer vehicle, Jeep Wrangler.

I hate to say this, but it's up to the government to step in if they believe the the oil giants are making too much money off of the public. I don't believe a boycott will do anything - too many people are just too dependant on the fuel and will buy it no matter who is selling it or for what cost they are selling it.

 

[sharp4runr]

But, I say if you just want to have a motorcycle, go for it! They're lots of fun!

Yup that pretty much sums it up. The fact they get awesome gas mileage is just icing on the cake for me. I've been wanting to get one for a few years now and the rising gas prices have made me rethink the subject. I figure gas prices will just continue to rise so might as well get started now.

Yeah I did the calculations for the amount of money I'd have to spend to buy a bike as well as insure so I know I won't come out even until a few years. Till then I'll have a huge grin on my face while riding in the HOV lane...