I remember those days all too well - and when driving around in a '78 K5 that got 10 MPG, $5.00 didn't go very far (even at $0.90/gal).

I managed to bump into a $100 pay-at-the-pump limit a couple of weeks ago with my K2500. Ouch.

With regards to those that buy vehicles like the Sclade, I'm damn sure that they don't pay much attention to fuel costs - if you can afford the insurance and payments, you damn well had better be able to afford to fill it up.

And while I don't own a vehicle like that (18-24 months' worth of payments on it would cover every vehicle my wife and I currently own), frankly, gasoline just isn't a huge part of our household budget. My concern comes more from what effect the prices may have on the overall economy, but so far they don't appear to have made a dent. Are most people filling up their tanks using money from their HELOC?

 

Fed rates keep going up. Hopefully inflation won't catch up to gas prices. I'm locked into a 3% this year and a 1.9% next year raise at work

 

I don't know where some of you folks are buying gas, but we have two Tahoes and its always over $60 to fill them now. Has it changed my buying habits? Next week my wife and I plan to start taking the train to the office (25mi round trip) rather than drive. Last night my son asked if I could put his Tahoe up on craigslist.com. He wants to trade down to a Silverado.

Hell yes its changed my buying habits.

 

I bought an '07 Tahoe a month or so ago. Payment is $800/mo, insurance is 100/mo, gas is $200/mo total $1100/mo.

Now gas went from $2 to $3 causing this big scare. Do the math and it comes out to $66 more a month for me to drive this thing. Its not that big of a deal when your already spending $1000/mo.

My Evo only averaged 18mpg and it used premium. My monthly gas bill hasn't really gone up that much since I switched from that.

 

the high price of gas saves me on buying tires sooner, so that is a plus I guess.

 

I think it's normal if you ask me.
People buying new cars shouldn't care about gas mileage. If you buy NEW, you're obviously not caring too much about money.
That's why I never understood people who believe the commercials. Buy a NEW car so you can save a fractional amount of gas money each month and instead pay a 150-500$ a month car payment plus increased insurance costs.

 

Not true, some people buy new so they have a more reliable car that also has a warranty and roadside assistence.

Or they want a newer model that is much better than the prevous for what ever reason.

In my case after the GM card, UAW rebate, and getting the truck for under invoice, it was actually cheaper to buy new instead on 1 year used.

but in the cases where your one goal is to buy a car with better mpg to save money, it doesn't make sence. Corola uses about 20% more gas than a Prius, but a 2 year old used one cost $10,000 less and will have less repair cost and insurance costs.

 

San Francisco.
$3.79 for premium.
It now costs over $60 to fill my beloved '89 Thunderbird SC.

Recently took a trip to Pheonix.
It was cheaper to fly down than to drive.

 

Or, as is the case with my daily driver, you get something that uses twice the gas of a Prius but also only cost $950 and has been dead reliable.

Maybe what should be agreed upon here is that no new-car buyer should be financially pinched by rising fuel costs, because if things are that tight, someone should be looking at a solid $4-5K car. The folks that are really going to get hurt with rising fuel costs aren't the people who are taking out $50K loans for a new SUV; it's the people driving around in 20-year-old beaters on their way to $8/hour jobs that are likely to feel the pain, and those people don't typically affect the new-car market in any significant way.

Put another way - if new-car buyers change their buying habits due to fuel prices, it's because the vast majority of them want to, not because they have to. And by the time we're talking about dorky uber-lux SUVs, the real "pain at the pump" experienced by those owners isn't the cost of fuel, but rather the lost productivity. After all, it's difficult to sue someone, pimp, deal drugs, or whatever the hell people do to afford Escalades when you're sitting there filling up a thirty-some gallon tank.

 

Eh, people are used to spending money they don't have anyway. What's the big deal about racking up debt faster?

 

There was an article on the front page of the Business section of my paper this morning that says SUV sales have slumped... at least here in the Bay Area.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...s/14599087.htm

 

 

Also, in the Bay Area, the SUV backlash has been going on for years now, and has finally come home to roost out in the suburban areas. Not just for the wastefulness, but the mommy-mobile perception has put them about one notch above minivans. Showing up at a dinner party in an SUV could be a humogous faux pau out here.

I think the woman who was selling her SUV for a Prius pretty much embodies that attitude -- it's not really about utility, it's about conspicous consumption.

As others have said, it's not really about the $50K Escalades, it's the cheaper Explorers and the like that have taken the huge sales hit. For the same money one can get a nicer sedan with much better mileage.

 

seems as though the high gas prices have driven up the prices of used fuel efficient vehicles just a tad

my old saturn that gets damn near 30mpg city with me beating on it is now suddenly worth something instead of being a $500 junker.

 

Damn. And here my daily driver is a Tahoe and I thought I looked cool.