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Automotive News & Views Are gas prices fueling your pain? 
10042 messages, Last post on Jul 12, 2008 at 3:07 PM
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 02, 2008 12:22 pm) Heck, it doesn't seem that long ago that $40 worth of fuel would've gotten me through a busy Friday and Saturday nite of delivering pizzas in a Dart, Newport, or Gran Fury copcar, and I would've been pulling in about $280-320 over the course of those two nights. If I did it in something like an Echo back in those days, I guess it would've taken $13-15 worth of gas at 30 mpg, and only about $10-12 at 40 mpg. Although I guess 40 mpg would've been tough to eke out in those conditions, even with an Echo. As for running out of fuel, I have to confess that I've done it more times than I'd care to admit to. When I got my '68 Dart, the fuel gauge didn't work. I knew it had an 18 gallon tank though, and I also knew that my previous Dart, a 225 slant six, would get around 15-18 local, maybe 22-23 on the highway. I figured the 318 couldn't get THAT much worse mileage. Boy, was I wrong! Even worse, eventually that Dart's fuel tank got punctured, but I still had the '69 sitting around as a parts car, so I took its tank off and put it on the '68. Suddenly the gas gauge worked again! Yay! Only problem is, with the '69, that needled could actually drop below the E and not run out, but in the '68, once it was working, the needle would sort of get hung up just before the E, at maybe 1/10 of a tank, and stay there till it ran out. I remember one time when I ran out of gas, I was doing about 50 mph, and luckily was able to coast to a gas station! I ran out of fuel once in my Mom's '86 Monte Carlo. I had gotten spoiled, I guess, by newer, more luxurious cars. My '79 Newport had a low fuel light, and so did my '82 Cutlass Supreme. Grandma's '85 LeSabre did, too. But I found out the hard way, that Mom's '86 didn't! Luckily, I found that out about 200 feet from a gas station.  I ran out of gas once in the pickup truck. I could've sworn that it had 20 gallon tanks, as that's what Granddad's old '76 GMC crew cab did. So when the thing stalled out after only around 240 miles, I didn't even think about it running out of gas. After all, it got about 15 mpg, so it should've still had about 4 gallons left. I was about 1/4 mile from a Shell station, and I got their wrecker driver to come and tow me back. But first, he wanted to see if he could get it started. When I cranked it, he said it sounded like it was out of gas. I swore up and down that it couldn't have been that. But just to humor him, I pressed the button to switch tanks. And damn if it didn't fire right up! That was a $20 lesson in common sense.  Needless to say, Granddad looked at me like I was an idiot for thinking that truck had 16 gallon tanks! But I figured hey, and '85 and '76 are the same truck, so why shouldn't they? That truck's 18 years older, and not exactly showroom new these days, so 15 mpg nowadays would be a dream!
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Jun 01, 2008 4:20 am) Yes, a lot of boomers are moving into RVs --- so are a number of families with kids. Mine has been my only retirement option for some time as my second husband took a ride at my expense. Since I have my own business I can work from anywhere as long as I have internet access. Yes, I've thought about shortages. By starting out in Missouri, I am not far from my son and his family ---- and friends and a few relatives aren't too far. My whole idea in full-timing is NOT to be on the road a lot. I've worked for law firms for 30+ years and for the majority of that was stuck with a 2-3 week vacation per year limit. At times I traveled as a freelance journalist. I traveled on a mighty lean shoestring. My idea is to be able to stay somewhere for a few months at a time so I can get to now the surrounding area --- or to go left instead of right at an intersection, if I chose. Not having to be somewhere on a deadline . . . . if gas becomes an issue, I'll stay where I'm at. I was thinking of some sort of scooter or bike. The problem being finding one light enough to be able to get it into the trailer plus the added weight to the trailer. Any suggestions there are welcome. Haven't ridden a regular bike in years, but could probably manage it. North Dakota --- not likely in the winter although I've always wanted to visit there. I hope to spend a few months each year in SoCal as it's been my home for nearly 20 years and I run a nonprofit located out here. So I figure I will likely travel cross country twice a year. Which is better for ND --- spring or fall? I appreciate the obvious --- I'm the proud new owner of a gas guzzler at the worst time possible. Also no longer have my wonderful veggie garden at a time when it would be useful. Just have to make the best of it one way or another.http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/we- bxicons/emotorcons/emo_grin.gif grin
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Replying to: fedora (Jun 02, 2008 2:06 pm) |
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Replying to: lemko (Jun 02, 2008 8:11 am) With all these stories of more motorists running out of gas, did their fuel gauge suddenly stop working when they started putting less gas in the tank? "E" still means empty (or darn close), whether someone fills the tank or puts in 5 gallons. Edit: I hadn't seen the many replies about the stupidity of people who run out of gas nowadays before I typed that. Anyway, there's an easy way to tell just how close to empty your tank is when the needle is close to "E". Look up the fuel capacity in your owner's manual and the next time you fill up when the needle is almost on "E" pay attention to how much gas it takes to fill it up. With mine, I've determined that "E" really means EMPTY. I don't think that cheating the gauge by leaning all the way to the left and reading it would get me very far. Come on, I know I'm not the only person in the world who has ever done that. 
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Replying to: andre1969 (May 25, 2007 1:13 pm) Darn those SUV's always going off on their own and hitting people. Those Hybrids are much better behaved. Now if there had been a person driving that SUV we could blame him/her. Then we could say "got hit on her bike last year by this stupid driver". But alas, the SUV was driving around by itself. Can't trust 'em.
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Replying to: tedebear (Jun 02, 2008 2:58 pm) Yeah, but I think it's a psychological thing. When you get hard-up and put less gas in the car, maybe you also start driving it more gently...or at least get it in your mind that you are, whether it's true or not. So you think you can go further. Dunno if that's the most rational explanation, but perhaps one possibility. All I know is that I've learned my lesson. On my cars that have a low fuel light, I try to refill as soon as that light comes on. Although I learned with my Intrepid that it comes on once I've used about 13 gallons. And it has a 17 gallon tank, so there's 4 gal of reserve left. Some cars aren't so generous though. My '79 5th Ave has a 21 gallon tank, and its light will come on once I've used about 19 gallons. On my cars that don't have a low fuel light, I just try to err on the side of caution. With my '85 Silverado, which only only as a 16 gallon tank (had twin saddle tanks, but both failed and I only paid to get one fixed), the needle will hit E but still have 3-4 gallons left. My '76 LeMans, which gets horrible mileage, thankfully has a large fuel tank...something like 21-22 gallons. Because I consider it a midsize, I think I subconsciously get it in my head that it only has a 17-18 gallon tank...nevermind the fact that it's an old-school midsize. The needle also seems to get to E pretty quickly, so there's usually plenty of reserve. And now, for something really weird. My '67 Catalina's fuel gauge doesn't work. The needle doesn't show up, and I thought that the gauge was either broken, or the needle came off somehow. But then one day I let it get really low, and suddenly the needle showed up! What happens is that when I fill it up, the needle actually extends so far that it's off the face of the gauge. It goes up there and stays there. But when I get low on fuel, the needle appears, and will slowly sway back and forth across the face of the gauge. Weird.
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Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jun 02, 2008 3:13 pm)  Actually, don't read too much into that. I said that someone got hit on their bike by an SUV, because, simply, that's what happened. That's all I know. If they got hit by a Prius, I'd say" got hit on their bike last year by a Prius." If they got hit by a '57 DeSoto, I would've said "they got hit on their bike by a '57 DeSoto". I didn't mean for that post to demonize SUV's. Hell, one of the vehicles I own is an '85 Silverado, which a lot of SUVs were based upon. And some of my old mastodon cars would probably make an SUV seem petite, in comparison.
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My partner in Alaska was always waiting until the last minute to fill his tank. I went fishing with him and 8 miles back in on this dirt road he ran out of gas. We walked back to the highway. Luckily someone was headed back into our fishing spot and gave us a ride back to the truck. That was in 1975. I have not been in a vehicle since that has run out of gas. If I am riding with someone else which is rare, I check their fuel gauge out of habit. I never let mine go under 1/4 tank if I can help it. My wife's Lexus gauge went bad. I always reset the trip odometer to zero when I filled the tank. When we got to 200 miles I started thinking about refilling the tank. I am wondering at what $$price parents will stop giving their teenagers gas money?
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California consumed 4.5% less gasoline, including aviation gas, in January 2008 than in January 2007, according to figures released by the State Board of Equalization (BOE). The BOE is able to monitor gallons through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors. Total gallons of gasoline used in January 2008 were 1.234 billion—58.2 million less than in January 2007. For all of 2007, Californians used 0.97% less gasoline compared to the previous year. Californians used a total of 15.672 billion gallons of gasoline for the twelve months of 2007—a decline of 153 million gallons from the total of 15.825 billion gallons for the calendar year 2006. Gasoline consumption in the state has now fallen for two years in a row
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 02, 2008 3:52 pm) 
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