1930fordpickup Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Just have to make every trip count . Time to start building the stash of kits the girl friend says i do not need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 It's mutual. Without oil companies I wouldn't have any petrol to dump into my big bloody V8, so I love them. What I hate are politicians. 80% of what I pay for the petrol are their stinking taxes. About sums it up for me, except I havn't owned a V8 in years. Oil companies make 8% on gasoline, the goverment gets 15% and calls the oil companies gready. I still drive no more than I have to when the price is up, sorry retailers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I've cut down on needless driving, too. Gas here is $4+ and going up real fast. I wonder how high it'll go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Has not yet, and I doubt it will, right now my car is getting great gas mileage as I have not been able to drive since the first week of Feb, its still in the shop( it was running when it went), but when I do get the car, I dont drive it very much. I can get close to two weeks out of a full tank, and with the issues that I have having fix, the mileage should go up . The other half car gets good mileage as well, but she has to fill up twice a week, as her car has a small tank, but she drives 40 miles one way to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Nunes Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Regular gas is now 3.99 a gallon here in Up North Michigan. In 1999 I bought a new Ford Escort and now have about 69000 miles on it...the 'ole gal gets 34 - 35 miles per gallon on the road so that's what we drive around. I keep the 2008 truck close to the home front. Of course, one must remember that at 62 years old I can get away with driving that Escort 'cause no one's looking! LOL So far it hasn't effected the hobby for me... Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Just payed $4.18.9, cost me $23.00 to fill up. my BIKE ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Just payed $4.18.9, cost me $23.00 to fill up. my BIKE ! I hear you...Premium @$4.07 = 15.00 fill up....HEY I used to use CHANGE............ :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKcustoms Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Well I'm not driving regularly yet, but I'm sure I'm going to be spending a lot less on model related stuff once I am. Especially with the terrible gas mileage I'm probably going to get once I finally put my 350 into my Regal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Budget....what budget?...I haven't had one since June of 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Right now its between 4.35 and 4.59 for regular in my town. I dont get this. When the news reports prices, the one and only place in the US that is higher is Hawaii. I live in this stupid bubble, my home town defys all reason and comparison with the rest of the country. I've seen the grocery store prices rise sometimes as much a 400%. One item I purchased regularly for 4.99 on sale is now 12.99. Last time I went to Michaels, the Revell 34 Ford snap kit was $24.99. Despite what the politco's say, I think its gonna get taken out of our pockets no mater what. I can deal with 4.35 a gallon gas because I drive only 2000 miles a year, but each and every company that has transportation costs will see increases, and then pass them onto us. I would not be surprised to see $30 or $35 dollar kits the norm, already my LHS has priced Tamiya paint at $10 or more...O, wait, they went out of business! Hope springs eternal! Edited March 12, 2012 by Draggon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Regular gas is now 3.99 a gallon here in Up North Michigan. In 1999 I bought a new Ford Escort and now have about 69000 miles on it...the 'ole gal gets 34 - 35 miles per gallon on the road so that's what we drive around. I keep the 2008 truck close to the home front. Of course, one must remember that at 62 years old I can get away with driving that Escort 'cause no one's looking! LOL So far it hasn't effected the hobby for me... Joe Since you provided all the necessary information in one post, I take the liberty to use your example to make my point. So let's do a bit of math. 69000 miles since 1999 is roughly 5500 miles a year (for ease of caculation). Let's just say the price always was 4.00 a gallon. Let's also just say, the Escort does 25 miles a gallon. All for ease of calcualtion, but the figures probably aren't very far away from reality. So, that's 220 gallons a year = 880 $. If it was a big 20 mpg car, it would need 275 gallons a year = 1100$ So the difference would be 220$ a year, or $4.23 a week. Even if it was an ancient 15 mph V8 behemoth, the difference would be less than 10$ a week. Keeping with the Escort, even if the price would increase to 5.00$ a gallon, it would cost no more than $4.23 a week extra, based on 5500 miles a year. I don't even drive 5500 miles per year. It's more like 3000 miles. Hence I couldn't care less how much petrol my car needs, or how much it costs, since it just doesn't make that big a difference. What stinks is the 80% tax I pay in Europe, not because it makes such a difference (see above), but because 80% tax just stinks on a general principle. I know who my enemy is and it's not the oil companies. Just today, the petrol station across the street upped the price per litre by 3p, i.e. from £1.329 per litre to £1.359 per litre. This means, I have to pay the whopping sum of £1.80 more per tank. I need two tanks a month, so this sets me back the exorbitant sum of £3.60 per month. We are talking about petrol, for which wars have to be fought, oil has to be pipelined for tousands of miles, then it has to be shipped haf way around the globe, then it has to be refined in facilities the size of Belgium (imagine the mere real estate value), then distributed to each individual petrol station in the country and dispensed from rather expensive looking petrol pumps. Beer in comparison is little more than boiled water. But they charge me in the neighborhood of 5 quid a litre for that stuff down at the local. Why is it that so many people moan about the price of petrol, while this totally unjustified rip-off beer price doesn't seem to bother anybody? Edited March 12, 2012 by Junkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 It was over $4 in '08, so been there, done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 It was over $4 in '08, so been there, done that. And the economy went into the dumpster and never came back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I've cut down on needless driving, too. Gas here is $4+ and going up real fast. I wonder how high it'll go? I don't want to think about that Harry, the store is now farther away from home now than it was in '08. Dad mentioned that there was a street racing wreck recently that not only killed all involved, but also managed to take out an oil pipeline running to some of the local refineries, so expect things to get worse than the rest of the region for those of us here in the Chicagoland area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyBad Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 The only thing the price of gas has effected me is in the 1:1 cars I drive. They keep getting smaller.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I could live with gas prices if I had confidence that they were real, market-driven prices. But so much of the price of a gallon of gas has to do with factors outside of supply and demand... the speculators, all the taxes, and the constant "unrest" in the middle east (has the middle east ever been calm???) that the oil companies conveniently blame the surge in prices on. There's so much at play here... so much that goes into the price of a gallon of gas, more so, it seems, than any other commodity. I just can't help but feel that the consumer is being shafted... by more than one source. That's what really bugs me-the fact that the price of oil is so manipulated, so artificial, and hardly based on supply and demand at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Beer in comparison is little more than boiled water. But they charge me in the neighborhood of 5 quid a litre for that stuff down at the local. Why is it that so many people moan about the price of petrol, while this totally unjustified rip-off beer price doesn't seem to bother anybody? How about just plain water? If you buy it in bottles at the convenience store it's probably pushing $10.00 a gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I don't even mind the gas taxes since they're supposed to go towards maintaining the roads, I'd kinda like not to have to own a rally car or pre-runner style truck just to drive down paved roads like Rte38 had gotten to be until last summer. What pisses me off it the whole speculation nonsense and little excuses that seem to pop up, had a customer tell me last week that two of the local refineries were shut down at the same time for "Maintenance", and of course gas prices rose accordingly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Gas, beer, wine, water, Starbucks coffee ($4.95 for my venti triple-shot latte) are some of life's fluids I can't do without... Not a fan of small cars, still have my Jeep that gets 18 mpg but added a new car last year that gets about 22 mpg (and still weighs over 4000lbs). Edited March 12, 2012 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Well, as someone who has a job that provides a car and gas, the price really hasn't affected my hobby but the increases in other areas have. My property taxes went up $530 this year, first real increase in 6 years so I can't complain but it still hurts. Medical insurance and car insurance (added a teen aged driver) have seen significant increases but the biggest hit has been at the grocery store. Add in the usual increases in other areas not mentioned (utilities, clothing, etc) and it is hard to find extra cash to spend. I have considered selling off some of my multiples of certain kits but what will I gain if everyone else is hurting? Not that I was planning on retiring off of my model collection but why take $5 for a kit I paid $15 and is worth at least what I paid for it? I work in the auto parts business and where it has impacted me is at the repair shop level. If we are all struggling to pay for higher gas, then repairs aren't getting done unless absolutely necessary. If shops aren't buying parts, then the parts stores aren't either and that is where I make my money. Not sure what the answer is and I don't think changing political parties occupying the White House will impact gas prices as much as bringing some calm to the Middle East. The fact of the matter is that we have plenty of gas here, it is the speculators that "think" there "could" be a supply problem and thus we have oil at $110 a barrel. The problem here in NC is that they index the gas tax to price of gas so as it rises, so does our taxes! Gotta love those smart politicians! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I can't see spending five bucks on a cup of coffee. Even if I was a millionaire I wouldn't do it. FIVE DOLLARS for a cup of freakin' coffee??? Not me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my80malibu Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) It goes right in line with what the Politicians here in my state are trying to do with My Budget. and the what the banks have already done. Edited March 12, 2012 by my80malibu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Something else to keep in mind. As we all start driving fewer miles and more fuel efficient vehicles, the government will have to raise the gas taxes to keep pace with inflation and less fuel being used. While I see the importance of conserving our resources, the government does not factor that into their budgets and we get screwed twice! 5 years ago here in Charlotte we were having a terrible drought and we were told to curtail our water use- no lawn watering or car washing- and as good citizens, we complied. What was our reward? Well, they had to raise the water rates due to a drop in revenue due to the conservation efforts of the citizens! Heaven forbid some of the water department employees who are good at holding up a shovel while watching others work would not get as much overtime or worse, be laid off!!!!! If an electric car uses the same roads as a gas powered vehicle, how does the government collect taxes to pay for the roads? You watch, coming soon, new taxes or as a politician likes to say "USER FEES" ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Something else to keep in mind. As we all start driving fewer miles and more fuel efficient vehicles, the government will have to raise the gas taxes to keep pace with inflation and less fuel being used. While I see the importance of conserving our resources, the government does not factor that into their budgets and we get screwed twice! 5 years ago here in Charlotte we were having a terrible drought and we were told to curtail our water use- no lawn watering or car washing- and as good citizens, we complied. What was our reward? Well, they had to raise the water rates due to a drop in revenue due to the conservation efforts of the citizens! Heaven forbid some of the water department employees who are good at holding up a shovel while watching others work would not get as much overtime or worse, be laid off!!!!! If an electric car uses the same roads as a gas powered vehicle, how does the government collect taxes to pay for the roads? You watch, coming soon, new taxes or as a politician likes to say "USER FEES" ! Yep. You said it perfectly. The consumer gets screwed, no matter what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 We will all end up riding mo-peds and bicycles while they ride in limos, just like other third world countrys before it's over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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