How do Retail Gas Prices at the Pump affect you?

[MTL_4runner]

If you have some pain threshold not on the poll go ahead and post it up.
Supposing you have already changed significantly then let us know what you did to effect that too.
Finally if you're immune to gas price increases, let us know what you'd cut in your budget instead.

[hillbilly]

If it goes much beyond $4-$5/gal, I'm seriously considering another Honda XR650L. I'll just need to figure out what to do if the school calls to pick up a sick kid scenario...

[bamachem]

i get paid mileage to drive to work : 120-miles round-trip : and i get $0.485 per mile right now. as the IRS raises the deduction rate, my compensation goes up to match it. i have to drive it to work, so it's really out of my control, but it's also not a factor for me. around town, we're seeing the crunch since the wife drives the land cruiser and it gets about 15MPG in mixed driving. she limits her drives and tries to take care of all her errands at the same time. also, a lot of times she'll wait until i get home to run around and get groceries. 23MPG in the acura isn't quite as bad, and she doesn't have to fill it up anyway! d'OH! :shake:

[xcmountain80]

Man I tell you with 3 work vehicles and its killing me. I need to start riding to the office again and leave the 4Runner parked. Or maybe a DualSPort Motorcycle is the way to go then write it off as equipment then write the miles off as my 4Runer. Yes I know not ethical but I paid $32k in personal taxes, so why not? And to top it off pay $3ish a gallon, dont even get me started.


Aaron

[Ric]

i messed up. lol voted before i read the whole question...
i dont care how much gets gets... Im still going to wheel. period.
i may buy a bike (motorocycle) again, and use that in the summer, but then i would just spend more money modding it, lol

[91_4x4runner]

$4 per gallon is my limit. If it comes near there, I'm going to get a motorcycle or something similar that gets over 30mpg.

[ChickenLover]

I've already cut back considerably. I don't take nearly as many trips as I used to. I've pretty much cut out all unnecessary driving. A tank of gas lasts me about 2 weeks now. Unfortunately, that means wheelin', camping, and hunting trips are kept to a minimum.
:(

[Seanz0rz]

im commuting with my 4runner once a week (80 miles just commuting) between home and the dorm.

things that ive changed:
drive speed limit or less. ive found its so much easier to follow big trucks doing a constant 60mph.
keep unnecessary trips limited
no more adventures, that means camping, wheeling, random road trips, etc.

my parents are willing to pay for my gas, but only what i use for school. i end up paying for off road trips, etc. and i simply didnt have enough money when it was still 2.50, now that its 3.40 (what i spent 50 on for about 14.5 gallons), i stay in my room alot!

still trying to track down a replacement to the honda, and im looking at the early 90's MR2, gets about 30 mpg. better than the 18 i just recorded on the 4runner, which is significantly better than the 15 i was getting. cleaning the maf really helped!

[Markduce]

Now I see why the goverment lowered the speed limit to 55 long ago. Driving 60 or above just kills your mileage.

Ive slow down and left the interstate. and get 20-23mpg
I dont use the cruise unless the road is flat. Our cruise goes nuts on rolling hills.
I dont go out and drive just because im bored anymore.
I am going to sell my other cars. and not going to get another until it either runs on a fuel thats cheap or gets 40mpg or better.
I also dont plan on replacing my subs that got stolen. I dont need my amp pulling on the alternator making my engine work harder and use more fuel.

The key with my runner to get above 20mpg is when going down the hyw dont let the rpms go above 2k which is around 60mph.

[mastacox]

As it is, I have already started limiting my driving to try and keep my costs down (I fill up weekly, about $50 right now), but if things go much farther north (say above $4.00/gal) I'm seriously going to have to get a motorcycle or diesel VW.

I would like to buy a motorcycle just because it would be cheap to buy and cheap to ride; but I think the fiancee would worry too much about me, and it would be worthless on long road trips. I may try finding a early 90's Civic instead, but a Diesel Golf or Jetta would be ideal (50mpg, mm tasty).

[Seanz0rz]

the thought of riding a bike on the interstate, especially the 10, it terrifying to me, no way i could do it.

im also thinking about a tdi golf, or even the new rabbit tdi (which i cant find anywhere, but i know it exists...)

[TroysToy]

The gas prices have been bittersweet for me... I now ride my bike to work about three days a week to save money.

[Paul H.]

The 4runner stays parked now except to take the dogs to the dog park once a week. Told the wife to cut out extra driving, like driving to her parents 4 times a week, knock it down to twice a week. No extra driving for me. Will only combine trips into one now. By the way, gas is now $3.05 a gal.

[tulsa_sr5]

The wife and I pretty much just commute, and we work together so it's less painful than it could be. With the scion getting a consistent 30mpg+ we aren't going to worry too much no matter what it does.

The one way I might change my habits would be to start using more hypermileing techniques. Last week was nasty weather so we drove the 4runner all week. Managed to bump it from a very consistent 17mpg to over 20 just using some out of gear coasting, and really looking way ahead to avoid getting on the brakes due to accelerating towards red lights.

[expatoz]

I want bigger tires and wheels, a roof carrier, steel rear bumper etc but the cost of gas is really holding me back.

I use $70 a week easily on gas just for work and odd runs for kids sports.

Every week I think of buying a cheap beater for DD but I can't get over the additional cost of another set of licencing fees, maintainence, insurance and most likely, breakdown and repair costs. Then I consider getting a new hybrid for a DD but I think of the cost of servicing a loan and its not justifiable. If it got to $4.50 I'd really have to look at the options seriously.

[Elton]

i really dont go place i dont need to not like i have freinds or anything so staying at home all day saves money

[GrnGrand97]

There really isn't much I can do. My driving mostly consist of going to work and back. I get 10mpg in the city with my Jeep. I was considering buying a car, but I figured I would start modding that too, so I would be out the money anyway. I will wheel no matter what, so I guess Im SOL right now.

[slosurfer]

Most of my driving is for work, so if the job isn't close by it gets passed on to the customer. I try to limit my driving of my work truck, so if I have a big job, once the majority of my tools are on the job I use my 4runner to commute. How sad is that, my 4runner is my economy vehicle. My wife has cut back on odd trips to SLO and now tries to bunble it all into one trip. Other than that, there isn't much I can do. As it is I still sometimes don't have room for everything in my work truck and the majority of my tools are in the utility bed. My POS work truck gets about 9 MPG no matter what, loaded, empty, towing, etc... Pretty soon, I want to sell it and get one of those dually one ton toyotas with a utility bed and a 4 banger.

[Texas Jim]

I know that the $3 a gal is killing my carpet cleaning business. People who commute don't have any extra money left after the end of the month. I also hate to charge extra for the gas but I just have too. I know that the government doesn't care what we pay but this is stupid. As soon as I can get situated with the Bail Bonding I will be looking into a Pries or something I can start waving my middle finger at Citgo, or any other Arab owned gas company. TJ

[drguitarum2005]

I ride my bicycle or walk to campus for class all the time now. Only reason I drive to campus is to drive the 3/4 mile to my friends dorm if im hanging out for the night. I don't feel comfortable walking back late at night in downtown atlanta. Once I finally get a flashing light thing, I can ride back late at night and be visible. I've already stopped driving around when I'm bored and I don't make trips to places just to get one small thing if it can wait til I go out for another reason. I'm trying to make my tank stretch a couple of weeks at a time now. My roommate and his mustang GT get about 12 mpg and he drives ALL THE TIME EVERYWHERE, so I always take him up on his eagerness to drive and let him drive to the grocery store and such.

[SLC Punk]

There isn't a lot I can do. There is not really a good way for me to get to and from work except drive. We did decide to use our skymiles for our vacations this year instead of drive.

[EWAYota]

All I've been really able to do lately is just driving to and from work. Little extra just around town, but not a lot. I'm getting 18-19 mpg with my truck and I'm not sad about it but the 50.00 a week hurts. Plan on it having larger tires when the 33's are shot, but a lot depends on if I have what I need for it (gears, locker at least in back) etc.

My gf's brother is selling his 84 rabbit for 100.00 so I think I'll probably just buy that and use that for my DD, then I can tinker with the truck a bit.

[Texas Jim]

Chicago broke $4 a gallon today 5/22/07 That just sux!!! TJ

[91_4x4runner]

San Antonio is sitting just under 3.00 for the most part. On my trip to Virginia last week, it was around 2.10 (cheapest I saw).

[fustercluck]

http://www.pangaea-expeditions.com/images/productimages/supersiphon/SuperSiphon252.jpg

:hillbill:

[slosurfer]

http://www.pangaea-expeditions.com/images/productimages/supersiphon/SuperSiphon252.jpg

:hillbill:


:spit: That's hilarious!

[ecchamberlin]

As a family I would say we have radically changed our situation. 6 months ago we had my lifted 33" tired 4Runner-16mpg and her 2004 Tacoma-17mpg.

Now we have a 2007 Prius Hybrid-51mpg actual, 95 Paseo-37mpg and the Runner sits in the garage all week and only gets used for what I am building it for which is my enjoyment. I only drive it to and from work once every other week or so and on the weekends.

This change actually saved my money in auto insurance. By making my Runner the Rec Vehicle-Full coverage and the Paseo my DD-Liability, I am saving about $50 every 6months.

The Paseo was $2,500. Now our gas costs have been reduced by about 2/3rds. It really is a big savings all added up. Well worth it IMO.

[Bob98SR5]

eric,

i may do the same in a few months. actually, i started researching veggie fuel conversions. since i sell churros overseas, there's no shortage of used veggie oil from that plant!

bob

[EWAYota]

I love churro's.

[jrallan26]

Gas prices dont really affect me so much, I ride my motorcycle everywhere. I go through 10$ a week..

[BennyTRD]

Fuel, where I live, is currently at $122.9/liter. Which equates to $4.6702/U.S. gallon in CDN funds. With the cuurent exchange rate of 1.0794, that works out to 4.3266/ U.S. gallon in USD.

Last Sept I had regretably sold my Honda which got and easy 38 mpg on the highway, and 25-28 mpg in city use. The Toyota averages just over 20 mpg on the highway, and a meager 15 in the city. I have noticed a noticable jump in my fuel costs over the last year and has got me to wonder if that decision was sound.

My job is driving. Pulling GVWR 72,500kg King Bee's with High Calcium Quicklime to the Uranium mines in my province. No-one gets hit harder than the trucking Industry. With a year round average of just over 4 mpg, the average fuel costs are astromonical.

Over have the Gross Profit goes to fuel costs. Thats how the current fuel prices effect me.

[Bob98SR5]

One thing that it has spurred me to do is to research veggie oil cars. i've done quite a bit of reading this weekend and its pretty darn cool! since i sell churros for a company, they have tons of waste oil for me. fueling won't be an issue ;)

bob

[YotaJunky]

Fuel, where I live, is currently at $122.9/liter. Which equates to $4.6702/U.S. gallon in CDN funds. With the cuurent exchange rate of 1.0794, that works out to 4.3266/ U.S. gallon in USD.



The last time I checked, we in Vancouver, BC were at $1.27/liter!

[MTL_4runner]

The last time I checked, we in Vancouver, BC were at $1.27/liter!


We're still at $1.14 / liter right now. :D

[Good Times]

already been driving an accord way before the 4runner so I guess I've been ahead of the curve ;) looks like I'll be driving it to the ground!

[fustercluck]

Yeah, when do we get free churros? I like mine warm and cinnamony :hillbill:

[Bob98SR5]

fuster,

come to CA and i'll hook you up with more than you'll ever care for!

bob

[Seanz0rz]

since cleaning my MAF and TB, my gas mileage has increased from 15-16 to 17-18, with the big tires and the wind brake known as my surco rack, i think im fairing pretty well. still looking at getting an mr2 as a commuter

[Nick]

I love churros. Anyway -

I've cleaned up/repaired just about everything that can affect gas mileage on my '96 'cept the O2 sensors. I still get about 15-16MPG city. Not everyone lives in such a high volume population/traffic center as I do. If I have to drive on the freeway, it's in traffic. If I'm driving on the street, traffic or not, it will be stop and go as there are traffic lights everywhere. I spend a lot of time looking for parking, since I park on the street.

So gas mileage is dismal. Which is the only thing I don't love about my truck. I bought my 4Runner in November thinking I'd keep it 'till I drove it into the ground. I had a contract which said that I'd be stationed in Alaska. Hence the truck. Unfortunately, the best laid plans go awry! So now I'm stuck with a gas guzzling vehicle and a measly income - most of what I make is instantly converted to gas money. If gas goes beyond 5 dollars a gallon, I simply won't have enough money to pay. I don't know what I'll do then - I really don't want to let go of a 1996 SR5 with only 59k . :(

[Seanz0rz]

i will never give up my truck because of gas prices. i will however buy a cheep gas sipper to drive back and forth to school and work.

anyway, i think this is an interesting read: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/30/seriously-gas-isnt-that-expensive/

whatever it is, the price has still increased from what it used to be, and without any good reason, so people get suspicious of price gouging.

[MTL_4runner]

1996 SR5 with only 59k .

WOW! That's really low mileage.
It still may be worth replacing the front O2 sensor to eek out a little more mileage though.

[Nick]

It's REALLY clean. Thanks! :) What I know about the previous owner, who traded this in for an FJ at the dealer - judging from the beach pass that I found, and, not to mention the twenty pounds of sand and cheerios under the carpet and elsewhere, along with a pacifier and a wooden ice-cream stick, it was a mostly garaged vehicle that was used to transport a family to the beach in the summer.

I'm thinking the same thing - though they're not throwing a CEL, they're still pretty old at this point. By the end of July I should have enough to at least replace the front.

[Bob98SR5]

nick,

15-16 is average for an SUV in the city. but its really not enough for most when the gas prices keep rising.

bob

[BennyTRD]

1996 SR5 with only 59k .

WOW! That's really low mileage.
It still may be worth replacing the front O2 sensor to eek out a little more mileage though.


For mpg camparison's, Jamie are you using a CDN (4.55) gallon or a US(3.79) gallon.

[MTL_4runner]

For mpg camparison's, Jamie are you using a CDN (4.55) gallon or a US(3.79) gallon.


I still use the US gallon (3.79) just like I have trouble using the metric tonne (1000kg, 2200 lbs) so I usually use a US ton. :laugh:
I'll get it eventually, but the other ones, to me, just come more naturally.

[BennyTRD]

For mpg camparison's, Jamie are you using a CDN (4.55) gallon or a US(3.79) gallon.


I still use the US gallon (3.79) just like I have trouble using the metric tonne (1000kg, 2200 lbs) so I usually use a US ton. :laugh:
I'll get it eventually, but the other ones, to me, just come more naturally.


I hear ya. I like using the CDN gallon beacause 22 mpg sounds better than 18!!