6xStang

Funny you should mention this; my father in law was stunned the other day when I told him that I bought gas from an Exxon (albeit an exxon that is known for good prices) for two cents less than he paid at the Costco in the same neighborhood!

JStang78

Yeah...I've tried that one. Seems to work for the fuel economy. The fun factor, on the other hand...

As for reducing demand...that simply will not happen. Oil is not merely used for gasoline. Do you get plastic bags instead of paper? That's another draw on demand. Plus, just because YOU curtail your use, who's to say that someone won't buy a new Hummer and offset your savings, and then some? Plus, with China and other countries contributing to the demand, and the raw materials being controlled by criminal regimes that form cartels, there are FAR MANY more forces at work here than simply those of the market. And then you have the fact, as Viking pointed out, that these companies, Exxon specifically, made record profits last year. Not record profits for their industry, but just OUT-AND-OUT RECORD profits among ALL industries and businesses. That clearly indicates collusion, price fixing and the fact that these artificially inflated prices are NOT justified by high prodcution and materials costs. If the costs were that high, they'd be "just" making a profit, rather than making a RECORD profit.

That said, I really don't complain about what I pay for gas because I traded in a '02 ZX2 for my V6 Stang. I got 27-29 CITY mpg in that car regularly. In the Mustang, I hit 26 on an all-highway road trip once. Other than that, it's a good week when I manage to hit 20 mpg. I knew very well what I was doing when I bought the Mustang. The reality of it sucks a bit more than I expected...but it's the fruits of the choices I made...

viking396

Thanks, you too, and I didn't mean what you're doing is lame mind you. The frustration we all feel considering the lack of action from our representatives is huge. I feel lucky because I make decent money but still, I used to put racing gas in my Chevelle because it required it, this was as little as 4 years ago and 100 octane cost me $2.90 a gallon back then and I was like holy crap!

I'm now paying $3.10 for 93 octane and thanksfully it's for a car I don't have to drive but even at $2.80 a gallon my daily ride is getting more and more expensive to drive. I instituted telecommuting at work and we all may start working from home more often to offset this crazed gas price increase.

viking396

Your argument lacks strength, it doesn't matter what we drive and owners of the mighty Prius will have other issues to deal with and so will the environment when Toyota doesn't recycle the batteries like they claim they will.
Aside from that the price of gas can be complained about no matter what you drive or how often you fill up because it doesn't need to be this high. If it did the gas companies wouldn't be laughing their collective asses off all the way to the bank each quarter, they would be crying.

As American's we have the right to b*tch about it because we're getting screwed collectively, not because of what we drive but because we lack the conviction to do something about it and they know it. We require something major to act, it sucks but 9/11 helped prove it.... see anything being done but forum quibbling? Nope.

JStang78

I'm with ya there, and thanks for at least offsetting some of the "hypocricy" I feel when I start to complain about the price of gas...but then I'm thinking...I knew what I was doing when I did this...still... What's really galling, is that you continually hear these price increases justified by supposed "potential future disruptions because the hurricane season is coming up" (or pick your "hot button issue" of the day, in lieu of "hurricane season"...), so they jack up the price of gasoline based on "potential future disruptions," and should one of those supposed "disruptions" actually manifest, they jack up the prices again "as a result of" whatever. Wait...if you made your money in advace to pad the impact of this "disruption," then the increases should NOT be significant, if at all existant.

Until the corporations, you know, those who the corporate-sponsored politicians actually serve, complain, it won't matter. All the people do is make money for those that pay for politics.

Newbreedgt05

The only person who can put an end to the gas prices is the Presidesnt, but hes got too many friends in the oil industry that are making a killing off of it.[sm=smiley35.gif]

RetiredGeneral

I'd normally be the last person to suggest the gov't get involved and start regulating prices (I'm all about the free market and supply and demand... I could care less if the GT500's got for $80K!!!) But another option is govt regulation of the prices. When you think about it, oil isn't a luxury... it's a necessity. It is vital to the US economy and safety in many ways... so would it be bad if our gov't took over the oil industry completely? Look at it this way, if they did, and the prices still went up, at least the profits would be going toward roads, schools, and the like (instead of some old retired CEO's pockets!).

Another note... what are hybred's getting MPG? 50ish? You know, back in high school my friend had a '77 Honda Civic that got 40-45 highway, and my other friends sister had an '80's CRX that got 50 highway... so how far have we really come?


Maybe the gov't should give serious tax breaks or incentives to American car companies to develop alternative fuel vehicles...

KFC

Flame away, I'm grown up enough to take it without getting upset. The reason for my response is that I've seen this and hundreds of things like it over the years and it's always the same. Someone is passionate about something and they think there's no harm in trying it. Well...it's not a new idea, it's been around the block several times already, and some people have already tried it mutliple times. You are not going to reach enough people from this forum or your e-mail to affect the balance of supply and demand.

I don't know about you but since I work in the tech/IT industry and I've been online since early 90's, I've seen my share of "here's a great idea, again, forward this to 10 of your friends". I consider those chain e-mail as spam and I am sick to death of it regardless of the intention....hence I will berate friends or family for sending it to me.

4wheelkillr

Are you friggin' kiddin' me?

Another WHINING ABOUT GAS THREAD?

You drive a flippin' MUSTANG!!!....you wanna save the planet go buy a friggin Prius....I have my GT mustang and a '90 Accord EX that gets 37 miles/gallon-that I use as my daily commuter...don't like the gas prices...buy a car with better mileage.

I'm so tired of all this gas crap...people who don't know SQUAT about economics and oil production complaining about the prices being too high!!!

Oil companies make PENNIES PER GALLON....PENNIES!!!!

Federal/state/local/county/district/import and many other taxes take about 47% of the cost of a single gallon....

Mad about the gas prices? Write your congressman and stop blaming who did you say: Exxon, mobil, bp texaco...yadda yadda yadda so on so forth?

Grrr.

chrisc

i buy gas ony from chevron? am i good?

anyways, if i wanted something to save the environment, i would have got either a tin-can-car, or a tin-can-car that runs on electricity


unless you get half of the United States to stop buying gas from all these places, this plan is not going very far. and while you are at it, try to convince the air plane and boating companies.

ps. our gas prices in the USA are cheap