I have a confession to make about my Prius.

I have the opposite impact on the market.

Last summer I purchased a ScanGauge-II in order to put an MPG display in an older car, to help with driving efficiency. That purchase broke 2008's oil price bubble.

This June I bought a Prius, breaking the spring's price runup and causing a month-long price decline.

This latest price trend is only ten days old. I'm not yet ready to buy anything more.

 

Why do you think Wall Street is to blame? When oil prices are high most of the incremental money goes overseas. A rational greedy person would want the money to stay in the US, get invested by an entrepreneur for a new business that goes public and makes more money here, for example in computers, software even green tech such as EVs, windmills, batteries, etc.

3PriusMike

 

LOL! I picked up my Prius II a week ago, I'm still on my first tank of gas, getting 54 mpg and smiling every time I go by the gas station. I used to obssess over the price fluctuations to try to time when I would fill up. I'll still watch the prices, but doesn't bother me as much that's for sure!

 

x2

 

From what I can tell, the Prius is a win / win. By that I mean it apparently pollutes less, burns less fuel and I didn't have to give up anything.
I cringe at the higher cost of fuel especially Diesel. Why? because the cost of almost everything is tied to fuel costs. My belief is that when fuel costs rise, the world's economy suffers.
Yes something needs to be done about the fuel hungry SUV's etc. Soccer Mom doesn't need a 9 passenger 10 MPG monster, she has it because it's fashionable, all of her friends have one. They have their place of course, but maybe not as the average transportation vehicle.
I believe when I lived in Germany years ago, the vehicle tax was based on fuel mileage. If you wanted your big Benz autobahn burner and could afford the tax, then you had it.
The problem with taxing fuel is that everyone pays, not just the big fuel hog vehicles.
My .02 C

 

I can't say that I laugh out loud at increasing gas prices, but my stomach doesn't get upset when I fill up anymore. Going from $50 every 4 days to $20 every 7 days is ok with me.

 

Not laughing exactly, but yes it reminds me how happy I am with my purchase. $4/gal prices last summer were a warning shot that people should have heard loud and clear. We need to start adapting, and those who don't, well, it's gonna hurt.

 

We should smile because we are in harmony between man, nature and machine.

 

LOL - you got it!

 

What really ticks me off, is that it did NOT cost the oil companies any more $$$ to process the oil today vs. 6 months ago! but yet they stick it to us, and are reporting staggering profits!!! It is pure BS if you ask me!

 

In reality, our fuel prices SHOULD be on par with what Europe has been paying for years. Think about this for a minute..... $2.50 a gallon for gas vs. $4.00 for a gallon of bottled water?? Now, you make the call and look at the processing it takes to drill, ship, refine, and distribute fuel vs. water. Is this making sense now? Hell, water falls from the sky!

 

• The cost of gasoline in the US reached $4.25/gal last summer, now it's around $2.50/gal at least where I am. Did you write the oil companies to thank them?
• Actually it does cost them more to deal with summer formulations vs winter '6 months ago.'
• Last year when Exxon was making their highest gross profit/gal on gasoline, did you know you still paid more in federal/state/other taxes/gal? Are you 'ticked off' at your politicians also?
• Crude oil makes up about 2/3rds the total cost of gasoline, unfortunately those revenues go largely to Canada, Mexico, Venezuala and then Saudi Arabi (4th) so I guess it's our neighbors who are 'sticking it to us'...

Don't get me wrong, I don't like high gas prices, although it's pretty clear the mainstream population is not going to curb their consumption until prices are consistently higher. But it's not as simple as blaming oil companies.

 

hmmmm, I guess I need to do some more research then! Thank you for pointing that out!

 

The volatility of the pricing simply can't just be supply and demand can it? I mean both the supply and the demand are somewhat constant aren't they? So why did fuel cost $4 a gallon? Has anybody ever heard that explained? And what happened to drop the price again?

 

I used to go out of my way to get to a gas station that was 2 cents per gallon cheaper. Now that would only save me 20 cents to fill up, it's nice not to worry about.

 

About 2/3rds of the cost of gas comes from the cost of crude oil. Remember what crude oil prices were when gas was $4/gal+ in the US? There's tons of information on this topic online.

 

I'm really sorry to hear that there are people that think like that. I have a Prius but regardless, I wish gas prices were really low because not everybody drives gas guzzlers by choice. There are lots of people who cannot afford filling up the tank in times like these and cannot afford to change to a more efficient car either. People should not be penalized because they made poor choices on buying less efficient cars in the past. This is a democracy, and if something is available for sale, let people buy whatever they want, otherwise don't call it a democracy. Think about our town budgets going thigh because of the crisis and being aggravated due to high gas prices. Think about the billionaire oil companies who are also happy like you when see prices going up.

 

Hi Indyking,

I do not have the smug-lette attitude like HK appears to have, but your comments are wrong too.

The only way to keep gas cheap is to use less of it. The recession illustrates certainly. And when the economy gets going again, we are going to have to be in a position as a country that we are using a bunch less gas per unit econmic output. Or we as a country will be in big trouble just that much sooner.

This has nothing to do with democracy.

You can feel for people who cannot change to a more efficient car, and the government has a duty to help them and is - ie the Cash For Clunkers program, but it makes no sense to support people to keep drving cars that just keeps the price of gas high, al-Queda in blankets in bullets, and dictators in power, either.

If a car become uneconomic to use, even if its not worn out, that is just a sign of a changing world. And HK's attitude is that he is happy its changing as he has bet on change with the upfront cost of his new car.

People are ALWAYS penalized for making poor choices. That is the way of the world. And its part of growing up to know better. That includes car purchases. You can say that well, when the person bought the Guzler eXtreme, they thouht gas would stay cheap. But that is a bet on the future just like HK's. If you gamble, you sometimes loose. And nobody should be changing that.

 

But not with the taxman. If everyone drove a Prius either the tax per-gallon would at least double or they would start taxing us on total miles driven.

 

Right, and that was just recently talked about...