<p>Yeah, I change my air filter pretty often. That really helps. And they’re not very expensive… I think mine is about $15.00. I also check the weight of my tires every other week or so, just so I can make sure they are all even… because i think that is bad for the car if they are not. I want my car to last as long as I can.</p>
<p>i get what you’re saying dmd, which is why i said i wasn’t referring to you… I just know a lot of people that I work with and other folks who are complaining about how expensive gas is, while driving around their gas guzzling mini van’s and trucks. If they drove something more economical gas would be half the cost for them. </p>
<p>My car gets about 36 highway, 30 local… so i’m usually somewhere in the middle depending on what type of driving i did during that tank of gas. Right now I really want to buy a Mazda Miata, but I can’t see myself spending the money on a second car… Now if I find one that works for about 2 grand, then we’re talkin… :)</p>
<p>fendergirl, on average you lose about $5000 (and often more) by trading in a car on a new one; that will pay for years and years of gas. This is why it takes 3 years of higher gas prices (based on previous history) before driving habits change. </p>
<p>There was an analysis recently that the additional premium for a Prius is so high that it takes 21 years of gas savings to make up the difference.</p>
<p>I’ve had a Miata twice. They’re definitely fun to drive. The whole convertible concept has never quite worked for me, however; if it’s warm enough to have the top down, you bake, otherwise you freeze. But of the convertibles we’ve had, the Miata was the cheapest to drive and maintain.</p>
<p>Buying a new car, even an energy efficient one, is an energy sinkhole, when you consider the energy costs of building a new one, and junking an old one.</p>
<p>Best thing you can do is buy used - VERY used - and keep it running by paying your local mechanic.</p>
<p>keep it running by paying your local mechanic.
or learn how to take care of it yourself
who has time for their car to sit in the shop all day?
I don’t- and I have had my car screwed up just by getting an oil change-
the wrong radiator fluid put in- not replacing the oil pan gasket properly.
Yes it does pay to have a good shop that you trust to do major stuff, but little stuff like rotating your tires and changing your oil, everyone should be able to do themselves and will save a lot of money and time.
Of course if you have more money than time, go ahead and run it to the shop to change your windshield wipers and the air filter, of course if you have that much money, you probably don’t pay much attention to gas prices either. ;)</p>
<p>I am so glad barrons has accepted gas prices, good for barrons</p>
<p>Me, I think about my mom, other seniors, truck drivers, cabbies, my H, and all the people who barely make it, but need a car to work and can’t afford a new one</p>
<p>And when prices go up for fire departments to do their job, ambulances, shipping, mail, airplane flights, school buses, guess the 30% increase EVERYWHERE is okay as well</p>
<p>Well, had you bought oil futures and oil company stocks, like I astutely suggested some months ago, you wouldn’t be complaining, and it would more than offset your prices at the pump. It would be the only red-blooded American thing to do.</p>
<p>And if you didn’t buy the stocks, you must be an immigrant. ;)</p>
<p>Cheap oil has lead to bad decisions about many things from urban planning to transit. Maybe now we will smarten up a bit. You thought the party was going on forever?? Get real. $3 is nothing. Wait until it’s $6 like most of Europe. Maybe the guys at the firehouse will quit driving the truck to the store to buy groceries and to my apt. building to check the smoke alarms. Do we need to bus kids all over Seattle to balance race?? Many things can be examined for fuel efficiency and necessity.</p>
<p>“And when prices go up for fire departments to do their job, ambulances, shipping, mail, airplane flights, school buses, guess the 30% increase EVERYWHERE is okay as well”</p>
<p>CGM, one would EXPECT that the rising fuel costs would translate into rising prices throughout the economy. However, for some reason that has NOT happened as the inflation indicators have not moved in relation to the transportation costs. It may be one of the strange things just like feeling the economy is horrendous when it is not, or believing our economy is tanking when the stock market is the highest it has ever been. </p>
<p>As far as understanding the reasons behind the gasoline price increases, I’d suggest to read the testimony of Daniel Yergin from May 4th, 2006. </p>
<p>"Daniel Yergin testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 4, 2006. The hearings were set to discuss concerns around the rising price of oil. “If there is a single message,” said Dr. Yergin, “it is that we cannot begin to understand what is happening at the gasoline pump unless we see it in the global contextinvolving both crude supply and refining worldwide.”</p>
<p>I just spent $20 on gas- I got 6 gallons- oh boy
30 years ago what I made an hour would fill my gas tank up twice and then some, now I can’t even fill it up once.</p>
<p>( I just put air in my tires so lets see if that makes a difference)</p>
<p>I know, but that was before fossil fuels, because the dinosaurs were still alive! And the dinosaur outside the Sinclair station was the real thing. ;)</p>
<p>My first job (1966) paid $1.15 an hour and that bought about 3.8 gallons. Today it would take about $11.50 to buy the same amount. But my 57 Chevy got about 12 miles to the gallon so I could go less than 50 miles on that gas. Now I can go over 100 miles in more comfort and safety.</p>
<p>dmd, you could loose money… however i’m sure you could trade in like a 2002 giant 4wd suv for a 2002 economical car… and probably have money left over. i won’t buy a new car, only used… i’m very particular about things. i think new cars are a complete waste of money… and even with used cars, i have to get the very best deal out there. I bought my car over a year and a half ago from a dealership, and the blue book retail value NOW is still more than i paid for it in 2004.</p>
<p>Fendergirl: while it is true that you could trade in a larger, more expensive car on a smaller car and possibly have cash left over, every time you trade a car, the dealer makes money on the car they sell you AND by selling your trade-in; those two bits of profits come right out of your pocket. And right now they don’t want big SUVs as trade-ins, so they aren’t paying much for them. For example, a friend paid $29K for her car last year; she wants to trade it in (the seats aren’t good for her back) but the best offer she’s gotten for it is $21K. If she keeps the car until it dies, in about 10 years, it should cost her $3K per year to operate, so trading the car would cost her about $5K. (I’ve suggested she could save a lot of money by buying a new seat, but she also has new car lust, so I think the money is gone.)</p>
<p>The blue book retail value of your car may be more than you paid for it, but a) that’s not necessarily what you could sell it for, b) you’d still have to buy another car, and c) don’t forget there are taxes and fees to be paid on every sale, too.</p>
<p>People are certainly looking for cheap high mpg cars. When we put the 97 Honda Civic in the paper we had about 30 phone calls and sold it the first day. Some were afraid of the high mileage but a smart buyer knew this well maintained one owner car would run another 100k without a problem.</p>
<p>I guess, not one of my concerns. I buy the best product I can afford wherever it’s made. That means three German cars, one Italian (Ok it’s just good looking but not that well made), and two Japanese (but US assembled I think.)</p>
<p>Yes, I have a car hobby/addiction. Right now I am working out how to convince my wife a Porsche GT3 would make sense. I’ll have to check on the gas mileage. That’s the ticket.</p>