Gas Prices!

[Nor'Easta]

I traded my CRV for a Hybrid Civic. I only fill up once a month now. Miss all the extra space I had in the CRV, but the fuel bill is certainly much lower.

How do you like the Hybrid Civic? I am thinking about buying one too.

 

[QA4Jet-A]

A friend of mine out in LA FINALLY completed the Certs for the "Smart Car" for the EPA and they are now selling them IIRC. It supposedly gets over 70 MPG. It's a tiny thing but kinda cool, only half ugly. Somewhere in the neighborhood of between $20 & 30K. OTOH, I wouldn't want to be driving one if my Ex wife was coming the other way.... if you catch my drift..... BTW, I'm stuck with an Expedition and life is cruel at the gas pump. It's paid for but, it sux. With current Industry downturn, it's tough to add that damn car payment again. <shrug> I'll live, I like the comfy ride for now. Thank gawd I'm out of town 3 days out of five, weekends at home with "Better" fuel, called Beer. Cheers to all....

 

[eolesen]

Gas prices aren't hurting us as bad as diesel prices... We traded the minivan for a diesel Jetta, and it's been a lifesaver. 43mpg is the average, so even with the higher cost of diesel, it's almost paid for itself with 60% less consumption than the minivan.

Oh yeah, and the fuel prices are not effecting my household nearly as bad as the 17.5% paycut, reduced paid time off, and the unbelievable out-of-pocket medical expenses from a recent surgery.

Please... You have no idea how good your benefits package still is until you start looking closely at what other companies offer.

You're paying about paying half as much for your health care as the majority of the Fortune 500, and most of them are profitable. The national average for companies AMR's size is about 20-25% of actual cost. AMR's average is around 15%, and that's out of whack because the pilots are paying around 17% of their estimated portion of actual costs. My new employer has a $4000 out of pocket per family. AMR's is somewhere around $1250 per family.

Sick time? You're lucky to get banked sick time up to six months. Anything more than a month that isn't maternity or a workman's comp issue, and you'd better have short term disability insurance.

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

Gas prices are out of control.
Why dont they sell the Volkswagon Lupo here in the US it gets 70 MPG Google it. I was thinking about having one shipped over

I will set up a link some guy has his car running on water and can go 400 miles on ounces.

How about Bio Diesel or That stuff thats made from corn Ethanol. Venezuala is running the whole country on it. Their biggest car manufacturer is GM its called a flex vehicle it runs on diesel or Ethanol

The answers are out there but everyone is making to much money on oil. Conspiracy Theory at its best.

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

Gas prices aren't hurting us as bad as diesel prices... We traded the minivan for a diesel Jetta, and it's been a lifesaver. 43mpg is the average, so even with the higher cost of diesel, it's almost paid for itself with 60% less consumption than the minivan.
Please... You have no idea how good your benefits package still is until you start looking closely at what other companies offer.

You're paying about paying half as much for your health care as the majority of the Fortune 500, and most of them are profitable. The national average for companies AMR's size is about 20-25% of actual cost. AMR's average is around 15%, and that's out of whack because the pilots are paying around 17% of their estimated portion of actual costs. My new employer has a $4000 out of pocket per family. AMR's is somewhere around $1250 per family.

Sick time? You're lucky to get banked sick time up to six months. Anything more than a month that isn't maternity or a workman's comp issue, and you'd better have short term disability insurance.

If we have it so god dam good then why are we all ways bitching.

I"ll tell you why...
All of us arent drinking that AA cool aide and wearing your Rose colored glasses Thats Why 😀


Water Car

 

[kirkpatrick]

Gas prices are out of control.

Gas prices are actually just about in line with inflation over the last forty or so years. When I pumped gas in the late sixties for a dollar an hour, an hour's work would buy me about 3.5 gallons of the product I sold. An hour's work at entry level wages will still buy about the same amount.

In the same period, a brand new Volkswagen ran about $1800, a new Camaro or Firebird close to $3500, and something really big and fancy, like an Impala with radio and AC, just under 4k. Multiply by ten and do the math today.

MK

 

[Garfield1966]

Gas prices are out of control.
Why dont they sell the Volkswagon Lupo here in the US it gets 70 MPG Google it. I was thinking about having one shipped over

I will set up a link some guy has his car running on water and can go 400 miles on ounces.

How about Bio Diesel or That stuff thats made from corn Ethanol. Venezuala is running the whole country on it. Their biggest car manufacturer is GM its called a flex vehicle it runs on diesel or Ethanol

The answers are out there but everyone is making to much money on oil. Conspiracy Theory at its best.

Just a few things to keep in mind when bring over a car not designed or the US market. It is called a grey market import. It was very big in the mid-to late 80's due to the strength of the Dollar against the weak Deutch Mark. The cars are not made with the same safety and emissions equipment. The red tape involved in importing a car is heinous at best. Last time I checked you could not import a new car to the US. It must have at least 6,000 miles on the ODO. You will have to fine a company, licensed by the EPA and DOT who can convert the car. My car is a grey market and back in 89 when I brought it over, it cost an extra $6k to legalize it. Door reinforcements, safety buzzers, head lights, all the paper work .... blah blah blah. PIA that I will never do again.

A car manufacture will sell what ever they can make a profit off of. People in this country do not want to have smaller fuel efficient vehicles. They want their SUV's and trucks. They are used to driving all over the place instead of having viable public transportation as an alternative. In Berlin, you could not turn around with out seeing a Smart or some other such small vehicle. Add to which nearly ever car there is a diesel. Even the "big" cars such as the 7 series BMW and "S" class Mercedes were diesels.

Back in the 80's when the US manufactures put out diesels they screwed the market up. The converted gas engines for diesel use and gee wiz, the engines failed. Wonder why.

americans have this idea the diesels are loud smelly and slow. They are not loud (a few decibels higher at idle) they are not smelly or smoky at all any more) and the Mercedes diesel has more power and more torque than the gas engine in the same car. The fact remains that the american do not care about being dependent on a finite world resource that China wants now as well. We want what we want and damn the consequences. And americans wonder why we have the reputation that we do.

 

[777 fixer]

Well I ditched the digital cable. Two hundred channels and I watched about eight of those so no big loss. Talked my intrnet provider down to a lower price.

Car wise before I go somewhere I ask myself do I really need to take that trip and could I consolidate it with another if I have to make it. Fortanetly for me I own a four banger so I'm not getting hammered like some of my coworkers who drive SUV's and trucks. Also it will be paid off preety sone so that gives me a bit more breathing room. I've noticed that some of the gus who drive SUV's and trucks have gone out and either bought used four bangers for the commute or motorcycles.

Gas prices are out of control.
Why dont they sell the Volkswagon Lupo here in the US it gets 70 MPG Google it. I was thinking about having one shipped over

I will set up a link some guy has his car running on water and can go 400 miles on ounces.

How about Bio Diesel or That stuff thats made from corn Ethanol. Venezuala is running the whole country on it. Their biggest car manufacturer is GM its called a flex vehicle it runs on diesel or Ethanol

The answers are out there but everyone is making to much money on oil. Conspiracy Theory at its best.

You must be thinking of Brazil.

 

[TWU informer]

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[Vortilon]

Hmmm. I could have sworn I said "I am glad"….. yep, I see it there in black and white. I was not aware that all of Europe was socialist. Have you told them that?

When fuel prices increase, people are more conscious of their driving habits. After Katrina hit, fuel consumption fell by 3%. Very few cities in the US have any type of viable public transportation system. Here in TX, the house hold car is a truck which is hardly ever used for what a truck is designed for.

Not sure how the roads are in your neck of the woods but here in the DFW area, they suck. It’s one giant pot hole. I have no problem paying extra for fuel if the funds were to be put back into the society for road repair and public transportation.

I also support an over haul of car registration. The fees should be based on the weight of the vehicle.

People in the country have a tendency not to look to the future, just at the here and now. There is no reason we should not have more efficient vehicles on the road in the states. People have this addiction to SUV and trucks. Fuel prices go up and they start bitching. I bust out laughing at people at the gas station all the time. They are such dumb asses. The big 3 are hanging them selves. I saw in the paper that truck sales are down again (OH imagine my surprise). I went to a Ford dealer with my father in law and they were practically giving away the trucks. A F-150 SLT for less than $20k.

It was funny when the fuel started to go up, the car commercials all were touting the mileage of their cars.

I could care less what the $8 goes too. If it makes us kick our dependency on oil and gets all these oversized pieces of crap off the road, I am all for it.

Spare me the socialist government crap. We either pay for it up front, or at the back end. My mom fell and broke her elbow in Germany. She had 4 screws and a plate put in. Hospitalized for 11 days with IV antibiotics and physical therapy. The cost was less than $5,000. That’s the regular cost. So as a tax payer here in the US you can either pay more tax and get excellent health care or you can pay less tax and pay for your health care your self and go bankrupt doing it. Have you priced out a minor surgery lately? Personally, I’d rather everyone pay a little so that we have a system in place that can help us all.

No I won't spare you the socialist BS as you put it putz! My sister in law is from Germany, and she would gladly trade German health care for American. Reasons - too many to list. You sound as if you would like fuel costs to sky rocket. Are you mad? Please return to your Al Gore junk science movie. 😉

 

[eolesen]

Check out this 100 mile on 4 ounces WATER car...

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Interesting website. In the fine print, the company shows as being headquartered in Clearwater, FL, and they list a Greg Klein as Director of Product Development.

Greg Klein is the general manager for AA in TPA.

Coincidence?...

 

[Garfield1966]

No I won't spare you the socialist BS as you put it putz! My sister in law is from Germany, and she would gladly trade German health care for American. Reasons - too many to list. You sound as if you would like fuel costs to sky rocket. Are you mad? Please return to your Al Gore junk science movie. 😉

See post #2 where I said I was glad price of fuel is going up. Sure sounds like I want fuel to go up. Increase in price means decrease in consumption. Look at the consumption stats after Katrina hit. Personally, I do not like being beholden to the oil suppliers. I do not like the idea of 2,500 US solders getting killed so that you can drive your SUV/Truck in comfort. If the US would invest the money we are wasting on oil exploration and the war in Iraq into alternative fuels, we would not have to worry about this mess in 10-20 years.

I always shear people say that about our health care. Funny how their opinion changes when it comes time to pay for the health care. Time or News Week had a piece on the cost of surgery and hospital stays for various procedures. They compared the costs here in the US to the costs in hospitals in India and Asia. The cost were anywhere from 50% - 75% less out side of the US. People who do not have health insurance or who have poor coverage cannot afford to get life saving care here in the US. It ends up costing them less to buy a ticket to Asia or India, have the procedure, stay for recovery and then fly back than to have the same procedure done in the US. BTW, the hospitals are equipped just as well there as they are in the US and most of the doctors are educated here in the US or other "1st world" nations so the quality of care that you get is excellent. The care my mother got in Germany would not have even been offered here in the US since an 11 day stay in hospital for a broken elbow would never have been authorized.

I know it’s easier to hurl insults but why not present an argument supporting lower fuel costs?

 

[s80dude]

[quote name='Nor'Easta' post='394613' date='Jul 6 2006, 10:55 PM']How do you like the Hybrid Civic? I am thinking about buying one too.[/quote]

It's not really a powerful car, but I only have to fill up once a month and that is a beautiful thing! It's a 4 door Sedan so it has a decent amount of space as well.

 

[777 fixer]

Time or News Week had a piece on the cost of surgery and hospital stays for various procedures. They compared the costs here in the US to the costs in hospitals in India and Asia. The cost were anywhere from 50% - 75% less out side of the US. People who do not have health insurance or who have poor coverage cannot afford to get life saving care here in the US. It ends up costing them less to buy a ticket to Asia or India, have the procedure, stay for recovery and then fly back than to have the same procedure done in the US. BTW, the hospitals are equipped just as well there as they are in the US and most of the doctors are educated here in the US or other "1st world" nations so the quality of care that you get is excellent.

I read that article as well. It was a bit misleading. Reading it one almost gets the inpression that wow, even people in thrid world countries have better access to health care than we do. That's not the case. Since the cost of living in India for example is far cheaper to Americans it seems like a bargain. However does the average Indian citizen or lets say someone living in the slums of New Dehli have access to that same level of care? Considering that India's infant mortality rate is about nine time that of the US and the Americans live on the average thirteen years longer I would say no.

 

[TWAnr]

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