It's all well and good if people want to drive petrol guzzlers like ford's F150s, Hummers, and other horrible looking cars, but what they shouldn't do, is whinge about the price of petrol
It's kind of like buying a large house, knowing that the property taxes is going to be high, or its going to take a lot of hydro to run it.
Yes, I know what you mean. I think if I heard a hummer driver complaining of gas prices, I don't think I could help but laugh at the stupidity of it! :roll:
We traded our jeep not long after moving to Atlanta as sitting in traffic was a killer on the gas miles, only 200 miles to a tank! Not that we traded for anything too good on the gas as I like some power under foot, but the V6 Accord is better than the Jeep at least. Thou gas was not the only reason as having a car is far better in the city than a 4x4 for darting in and out of traffic along with parking.
It you went by the news reports I am seeing in the morning and evening, you would think the whole country is going to come crashing down on its knees.
This morning 'ABC' concentrated on the effect it will have on the kids schooling. Less after school activities because the teacher cannot afford the gas money, heating and air conditioning being cut back, less text books(?) less teachers, fewer buses plus fewer stops and a whole host of other things.
I think the way things are going the USA will be suffering a collective nervous breakdown soon. :lol:
Its almost as bad as when it snows in the UK..
I gues the change has affected us because we are noticing and thinking about it. We leased a truck in Utah that we no longer need, but because of gas prices we cannot get rid of it. My wise uses it to commute to work and gets about 17 miles a gallon which is bad, but not the end of the world. If we have long journeys to do we will use the car, and we will probably switch to her commuting by car if it gets much worse. Overall though we earn enough to cope with the Gas prices if they go up another couple of $ per gallon.
Was able to get gas over the weekend for 94.1 / litre, also bought a jerry can from wal-mart and filled it up for the other car.
As we own a cab company there isn't a lot we can do but hold our head in our hands when the gas bill comes in BUT - we haven't upped our prices just cos gas has gone thru the roof, yet people moan about the cost of a cab all the time. I would just love to lose my cool with one of them one day and tell them to look at the friggin price sign at the gas station as we sail past...
Sarah
No, but we've been here for less than 5 years so still retain our frugal instincts when it comes to gas. If something is close, we horrify the locals by walking or biking there. We have one minivan and an itsy Focus. If both cars are available, the more efficient "compact" Focus goes out unless all 3 children are in attendance (can't fit 3 car seats comfortably across the back, dangerous to put small child in front seat with airbag (....wow that means some people must have a van because they actually need it to ferry people about and not just storage roll)
Definitely more concerned about insurance costs and abhor Michigans No Fault policy. It sucks nuts.
If people genuinely will be driving less, in theory, and it has been mentioned in professional circles that the cost of auto insurance will go down.
Well I bit the bullet the other day and put regular unleaded vs. premium unleaded (which is what the owners manual says I "must" put in the car) petrol in the swedish beast after I called the dealership and the service manager told me that Volvo engines were built to run on regular unleaded! WTF? So then why does Volvo say you "must" put premium in it? Whatever!
The service dude also laughed and said they are getting about 15 calls a day asking that very same thing, and the responses have all been along the same lines.
So here's to hoping my engine doesn't fall outta my car! razz Actually, to be completely honest, in the three days since I've filled it up, I've noticed a slight, albeit very slight improvement in gas mileage, and I don't notice any "knocking" or anything else negative. Knock on wood.
Now I'm off to feed my own "mommy beastie" with a big, fat, gooey, warm Cinnabon. Been craving those like mad lately. razz
From the Volvo V70 Manual
Fuel
Minimum octane requirement - AKI 87 (RON 91) Regular
Fuel tank volume
Front wheel drive models18.5 US gal. (70 liters)
All Wheel Drive models 19 US gal. (72 liters)
V70R 18 US gal. (68 liters)
From the Volvo V70 Manual
Fuel
Minimum octane requirement - AKI 87 (RON 91) Regular
Fuel tank volume:
Front wheel drive models:18.5 US gal. (70 liters)
All Wheel Drive models: 19 US gal. (72 liters)
V70R: 18 US gal. (68 liters)
My manual is almost identical to what you've posted about, with the exception of the Minimun octane requirement. It states that the Minimum Octane requirement for my V70 is 91. :???:
Either way, I'm taking the service managers word this time. He works on the cars everyday and it backs up everything I just read, here:
http://theserviceadvisor.com/octane.htm
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$3.58 per gallon here for 87 octane.
Until the preice gets to 6 buck a gallone, I couldn't give a toss.
I think you are in norm here. I suspect that the American consumer won't change their habits until this mark.
And I wouldn't be surprised if gas goes to at least 5 dollars a gallon in the next year. Europe proves the inelasticity of demand for petrol.
So, brace yourselves.
Of course it won't affect me much as I'll be sailing for the next month.
Definitely more concerned about insurance costs and abhor Michigans No Fault policy. It sucks nuts.
At the risk of hijacking the thread, I am more concerned about them allowing insurance companies to let your credit affect your insurance premiums. We pay much more than we should because we have bad credit. Now if we paid less for our insurance maybe we could pay our other bills on time...
As for the price of petrol, there is an interesting angle on this which I am going to experience first hand this autumn, starting next Wednesday. I start a job where the contract bid stated 36c per mile reimbursement for mileage. The IRS rate for this year is more like 40c per mile.
Yesterday I would have paid about 10c per mile to run my car @ 25mpg which it averages. As of today it is 14c per mile. I have another $5.50 per gallon ($9 at the pump) before I would lose money on it, but still...
I was looking at the trip down to Bloomington Illinois to pay for my catalytic converter being fixed earlier this week. A 580 mile round trip would bring me $208 in expense claims. The trip would use about 20 gallons at highway consumption rates, which will now cost me $70 rather than $50 yesterday or $30 just a couple of years ago when they set the 36c mileage rate in the bid.
You know, we can compare US prices to UK prices all we like, but the economics and geography are different here. This short trip across one state line and a corner of Indiana is the equivalent of south London to Newcastle-upon-Tyne!
at the risk of continuing the hijack, I'm not so bothered about the credit rating thing, but then it won't really affect me, so I'm probably just being complacent. but I tend to wonder could it not be said that a poor credit rating could indicate a bad risk-taker? yes I know, all us newly landed expats have crappy ratings and it's unfair, but the majority of American insurance customers are not expats.