Rising gas prices are driving many of us to extremes

Sunday, May 23, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Rising gas prices are driving many of us to extremes

By Peter Lewis
Times consumer-affairs reporter

Consumers feeling squeezed by gas prices are queuing up at Costco pumps, cruising Web sites for the lowest prices and buying gadgets to coax more miles from their tanks.
While all this may be emotionally satisfying, experts say the efforts are, alas, mostly futile.

"We can be a penny under the lowest price in town and see a significant increase in volume," said Paul Latham, Costco's vice president for U.S. gasoline operations. Costco has 12 sites in Western Washington that sell gas.

If people made a reasoned judgment, Latham said, some probably wouldn't travel to Costco for gas. But there is "an irrational sensitivity to gas prices." People will drive out of their way to save 2 cents a gallon, but won't think twice about buying an extra latte, he observed.

Take GasBuddy.com, a Web site that relies on consumers to post the latest gas prices in their communities. The idea is to steer users to the cheapest gas and, by extension, punish stations that charge the most. According to co-founder Jason Toews, the site currently attracts about 500,000 new visitors a week, up from about 75,000 visits a year ago.

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don't drive!

I live within 1 1/2 miles of my favorite grocery store. Last week, I stopped driving to store and began walking. That means 3 miles per trip. I feel better, dropped 5 lbs, and have saved about $40 in unnecessary purches because what I can carry is limited. If I used my shopping cart, I can carry more but I prefer walking and carrying packages. If I need to make a large purchase, I use my cart.

I refuse to shop or drive during the Memorial Day week-end. Talked to my sister in PA. They have purchased board games and batmitton to play in their own backyard instead of the usual trip to the beach in NJ.

I'm learning to love "Sorry" "Pinochle" "Spades" "Chinese Checkers" and nickel and dime poker with a group of friends within walking distance. We have begun a neighborhood club and play on week-ends when we pull ourselves away from the boards.

for something that gets a reasonable return in mileage for the money spent.

Public trasportation.

Minimize your driving utilizing the bus system that exists around you.

by taking the train into work every day, and have been doing so for 5 years.

they also drive small cars to conserve. We are slow to learn.

in everything, not just cars. i have a bad feeling that we will get our comeuppance :scared:

The main factor of the European gas prices is the far higher tax.
The case for the tax is pretty solid: Gas prices will never again drop significantly under the current level, all the tax does is advancing the price by a few years - the US is approaching the price Europe had shortly after the Euro introduction.
Even today the European infrastructure (gas-wise) is decades ahead of the American. In fact the old American refineries are one of the reasons for the current explosive gas price development - on both continents.

Most Americans don't live near public transportation. We have to drive to get to work.

has no public transportation.

I bought a Vego 600SX for my 7 mile commute to work and I love it. Costs about 10 cents in electricity either way.

They're dangerous! :evilgrin:

This is rich...Since I can't afford a Segway (and out here in the sticks, it'd be about as usefull as George Bush in the White House) I take extreme perverse pleasure in knowing there's a vehicle I can pilot that the "president" can't....

And I don't NEED no steenkeen training wheels!

Check your tire pressure. Carpool if you can.

Keep your automobile in tune: check the sparkplugs and fuel filter. A bad oxygen sensor can affect mileage, too, but I don't know how to tell one how to test that sensor. One would probably have it done by a shop with an engine analyzer during a tune up.

.... this yoyo says:

>>>If people made a reasoned judgment, Latham said, some probably wouldn't travel to Costco for gas. But there is "an irrational sensitivity to gas prices." People will drive out of their way to save 2 cents a gallon, but won't think twice about buying an extra latte, he observed.

Hey moron, ever think maybe it has to do with NOT WANTING TO GET RIPPED OFF? There is no economic justification for the current prices, they are high because the oil companies have raised them, and wrote themselves a fat profit check in the process.

Some people resent that, and seek to do their best not to participate. When I buy a latte (which is, let me think, NEVER) or something similar, I have the same attitude. It isn't about the cost, it is about whether or not I'm getting fair value for my money.

We've all seen this game before, so we know how it goes. Crude goes up, and pump prices go up twice as much. When crude goes down, pump prices might go down, after crude has "stabilized". Anyone can look at oil company profits every time these little games get played, and see that the game is rigged.

So thanks for your advice. I don't spend a lot of time looking for good gas prices YET, but I sure don't think people who do are "irrational".

in a capitalist economy.

We primarily rely on markets and prices to allocate labor and capital. But when prices start fluctuating people spend a lot of time trying to predict or avoid inflation instead becoming more productive workers and efficient companies.

This phenomenon was one of the factors that help reduce productivity in the 1970s and '80s.

I remember my wages rising $12,000 between 1983 and 1988 by changing changing jobs three times.

I believe economists call it "boot-leather" costs: the cost incurred from attempting to avoid inflation. I guess the boot leather term come from the wearing of the shoes from walking associated with searching and trying to avoid inflation.

The INTERNET might reduce the walking part, but the basic premise is still that people are spending time trying to avoid inflation.

Right now, its only gas but if people start try to avoid inflation in other sectors of the economy such as the labor market (e.g. changing jobs to get a raise that out-paces inflation) that could be bad for productivity and the economy.

Get about 30-35 miles to the gallon, and has an 11-gallon fuel tank. Living in CoCal the prices vary from $2.29 to $2.47 for regular unleaded with an average around $2.36 or so. That means that to fill up my tank, I would at most save $.77 (assuming the difference between average and lowest cost--I wouldn't buy from the $2.47 store).

What's the point? I was driving all over trying to find the very best gas prices--the "irrational sensitivity to gas prices", and probably used $.77 worth of gas finding the lowest price!

We are spoiled--I still laugh every time I see an Excursion filling up at the pump, with one person driving and no passengers.

what's the cargo capacity like?

--I realized I was doing the same thing--driving around or going out of my way to "save money"

or to be irrational. Here are my suggestions. You will save a bundle if you do these things:

1) Get rid of your SUV. Sell it for what you can get. Don't worry if you owe $30,000 but can only get $20,000. If you're lucky, you'll get that much. If you keep waiting, the price is only going to go down so be quick. Trust me on this one: your Hummer is going to lose its value the fastest.

2) For the rest of us who have gas-miser cars, don't drive so much. Park the car on the weekend and stay home. For shopping trips: combine them so you can do them all in 1 sweep. Start shopping for groceries once a week or even twice a month. Your car will love you for it.

3) Make sure the tires are properly inflated. Driving on flat tires can damage them & you burn more gas. Make sure the car is tuned up.

4) Use public transportation whenever possible. I realize not all areas have public transportation.

5) If you are planning to drive this summer (which the Saudi Sultans are counting on) calculate the cost of your trip. See if you can save money by taking the train, plane or bus. I believe AAA has a website where you can calculate exactly how much your driving expense will be. You just enter the starting city & your destination, and voila.

6) Remind yourself of what the evil Saudis do with your hard-earned dollars every time you pull up to the pump. Think about your crisp dollar-bills going to Al-Qaida and extremist madrasas. Think about Bush & Harken and all the corruption that's tied up in the oil industry.

7) If you do these things, you will be ready for next month, when they tighten the noose and jack the price up to $3.00 per gallon. You'll be ready for them!!!

but where I live public transportation is almost nonexistent.

Oh there's a bus system in the burb to the north and in the major city to my east. Yeah, that helps. My burb turned it down years ago.

There's a train that runs east and west thirty miles to the north of me. That doesn't do me a bit of good.

And there's a train that runs north and south through the downtown area of the city to my east. Don't need that, either.

I'm glad we have those limited things, but in my suburb, nothing, nada, zip. You don't have a car, you get nowhere.

It SUCKS.

I tried riding my bike everywhere two summers ago. Had a heat stroke.

The Smart Car. 60 mpg! They're just bringing them in to Canada.

http://www.thesmart.ca/index.cfm?ID=3371&Language=English

I've been driving my 86 sunbird and holding off getting a new car because I was waiting to get something really good on gas. I don't think they come any better than 60 mpg.

check out:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byMPG.htm

For those with kids, the Honda Civic hybrid comes close at around 50mpg! Surprisingly, the diesel VWs come close too (including a wagon). Toyota Prius gets 50-60 too! High MPG is almost mainstream if you can get cars with those "name" brands! Uh, but, where are the American brands? MIA.

:shrug:

On edit: Better link: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml

--this crisis, like the one in the 70s, will have the positive effect of strengthening demand for small fuel-efficient cars. (hopefully they won't also lower the speed limits like they did in the 70s)

it is sure cute!

If I didn't have to worry about my tiny passengers I would get one next time I am in the market for a car.

A: Can you buy a single gym shoe?

Get a motorcycle, preferably a 2 cylinder one. I see more motorcycles--and motor scooters--on the road than I did back in the '80's, when Raygun/Bush I engineered the last recession. Back then, gas prices skyrocketed out of control, as well.

A scooter or bicycle will do if you can afford the luxury of working relatively close to home.

Some people are just ~perfect~ for 'the system'.