scott9050

If that were true there would be large dips every year. This winter was mild for most of the country with most east coast cities seeing little to no snow in March.

97QuasarBlue3.8

If $4/gallon does that, imagine what $8/gallon does!



I'm sure there's some point where all unnecessary trips are eliminated, public transportation is maxed out, demand exceeds supply of bicycles, and freight containers are double-stacked on trucks nationwide.

Then what are we going to do? Hmm?

tornLT1

I always assumed the yearly inspection station took note. guess i was wrong

FUTURE_OF_GM

So basically, you have become more isolationist and forfeited freedoms. this is exactly what I am striving NOT to do.

As for the price of gas... Had gas gone up gradually instead of through the roof in 4 months, the amount of driving and the amount of large cars being sold would still be steady. Americans will accept change and compensate for it, so long as it isn 't too drastic or fast.

JakeRobb

So they're using the number of gallons sold to represent miles driven, in a situation where number of gallons sold would probably make for a better representation of the facts?

guionM

It's now cheaper for me to fly to Phoenix to my sister's and 2nd home and rent a car than drive there. Ditto Las Vegas, which I used to enjoy driving to once in a while.

I haven't made a trip to San Diego in over a year (used to simply to get out of town). I even ration trips down to Monterey, which I used to drive to almost on impulse.

I'm about to sell my last Thunderbird SC because it burns only premium. I'm seriously thinking about buying my sister's '97 V6 5 speed Camaro as a daily driver instead of my B4C.

Fuel here pretty much ranges from $3.99 to $4.30 per gallon for regular. There was a gas station that helped me set a personal record. $60 to fill up my tank.

I eat out less, drink tea at home & work instead of Starbucks Cafe Mocas.

That pretty much is the list of changes I've mde.

ehaase

I get 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway in my Crown Victoria. If I had something like a Focus, I would get 25 mpg in the city and around 32 on the highway (based upon my experiences with small rental cars). That's not a big enough difference for me to give up the comfort and convenience of a big car especially since I only drive about 11,000 miles per year. Small cars would have to get about 40 mpg in the city and 50 mpg on the highway for me to change, but I am not really inclined to buy a Prius.

90rocz

What's sad is, those "unnecessary trips, fuel our economy further, people rely on them for a living.
I saw too, where the vacation season is in seroius jeopardy.
People are doing "stay-cations", staying home and some, camping out in the back yard. Hitting only those activities that are local, and cheap.
(I have to admit, outside of Indy, I'll be staying home for vacation as well this year.)
This will only add to our economic woes, once it's tallied up.

unvc92camarors

I've definately seen a change. I ride my bicycle more now along with my motorcycle. Other than that, carpooling has been something me and my friends now do more and more often.
It's amazing though how we've hit that tipping point. Not only do I see more bikes on the roads, but I saw on CNN some guy does a 42 mile trip on his bike each day.

routesixtysixer

I home office, so only drive about 6,000 miles per year (visiting clients, grocery store, etc.) but my wife has a 50-mile daily commute to her office. She drives an 06 Impala 3.9 that averages 26 mpg. I think at $4 per gallon, we calculated her cost to drive to work alone is $150 month. She just got a raise that will cover 2/3 of that (about $100 month net). Of course, that means she got no effective raise at all, since most of it is spent covering the higher cost of commuting to work. The Impala is paid for (and only has 30,000 miles on it), so it really makes no sense to trade for something that gets, say, 32 mpg, though I imagine her next car will be smaller and more fuel efficient. I have always made a concerted effort to consolidate trips to town (we live just outside of Oklahoma City, but only by about 1,000 feet). My 335i coupe averages 26 mpg on premium (just paid $4.01 per gallon on Wednesday, my personal record). Could be worse, I suppose, we could be standing in line "hoping" to buy $4 gas.

90rocz

In my area, there's a record number of motorcycles and scooters on the road this summer, even some mopeds.
But if you figure the milage/person, it's not a great improvement.
We've been consolidating trips for a while now, and mowing less too.

indieaz

I haven't forefeited any freedoms...I simply choose not to do those things that are unecessary.

When visiting my parents house now (about 20 mile round trip) I simply rid my bicycle instead. If I wanted to go across town for something I could, I choose not to. I have all the freedom I ever had, i'm just exercising it less. I guess there's just a limit to how much money I want to give oil companies and foreign nations

crYnOid

A few days ago I broke my record for a fill up as well. Over $100 for a full tank

Eric Bryant

I drive about 6,000 miles/year on my own dime, so the 23.5 MPG I get with my Grand Marquis (or, hell, the 12 MPG I get with the pickup) doesn't really bother me.

My wife, on the other hand, drives about 20,000 miles/year. Even at that, though, it still doesn't make sense to sell her Roadmaster (which is probably worth ~$2,000 at this point) and buy a smaller car. Swapping the RM out for something that gets 35 MPG would only save us $1350/year, so it'd take over two years to start seeing a positive return on a $5000 used Cavalier.

We'll most certainly buy her a smaller, more efficient car once the RM is on its last legs, but I'm not going to get overexcited about selling it before we've extracted every last mile.

I'd buy a Prius just because I think they're fascinating, but I've got better things on which to spend $25K (none of which are depreciating assets that roll on four wheels).

8cylinders>4

yeah that has as much affect as a **** in the ocean