Gas PRICES

[inkpot]

Last time I looked a Civic Hybrid was 28k and up. A wee bit more than I can pay for a new car. If they would let them go for right around 20k or less, I would have one.

Howdy! You don't even need to get into the "hybryd cars" to get super gas mileage. My daughter has a 2000 Toyota Echo. Ugly, but sort of neat when you get used to it. Fun to drive in traffic and fair for cruising on the freeways. She get between 40 to 45 MPG, depending on speed, load, and wind, from here to the west coast about every two months. She has had dealer service since day one, but it has only needed normal maintenance and a couple of sets of brakes in about 130,000 miles. I think it sold for about $11,000 new. I am thinking about getting a clean used one for a commuter car myself. John

 

[MaddBaggins]

have you seen "the Incredibles" ?
I just had a vision of me in an Echo. Like putting an elephant in a horse trailer. Thats nice mileage though, worth a look for sure.

 

[RHINO]

true dat john, and thats kinda my disapointment with the hybrids. i think they are trying to make them perform for a sales thing, ya know, make people realize you can get good mileage and still race off the red lights, i dont know. my wifes 4 banger camry has never left me wanting more power for a sedan type car, i set the cruise at whatever and it pulls 7% grades w/o slowing down. it still gets 30-35 MPG. why on earth would i spend double the money for the hybrid camry at only a claimed 40 MPG??? with todays gas prices i might see my return but still. honda has several little four bangers that claim 40+MPG and knowing honda they are prolly plenty peppy.

 

[Relix]

My old 1987 Honda CRX HF got over 45MPG, my Current 1992 Civic VX got over 40 MPG(stock with 92 hp and 106tq) and was fun to drive...Now my Civic has a B18C under the hood with 11.7:1 compression makes 235hp @(On 91 octane) the wheels(278 @ the flywheel) runs high 12's in the 1/4 mile and it gets 32MPG and is extremely fun to drive and will suprise the s*** out of people that rev on me....

Now how is it that Me(Jeremy) can build and engine(pick the parts) that will make plenty of HP and get good mileage and run reliably & I'm a bartender not an engineer for a big car company....I'm sure if I had the resources and the time and the machining equiptment I could devolope more hp or more MPG...Yet the big car companies can't/don't for some reason...

 

[DSRTRDR]

My old 1987 Honda CRX HF got over 45MPG, my Current 1992 Civic VX got over 40 MPG(stock with 92 hp and 106tq) and was fun to drive...

Yeah, my Civic in the early 90s got excellent gas mileage as well, and Michael's CRX would run forever on one tank; still thinking he shouldn't have sold it in 1999 - oh well.......

I would drive one of these again if they still has the nifty CRX styling or that old hatchback utility; the current civics just look bland, somehow undistinguished

 

[RUSH55]

I hear another $0.40 price hike is in the future. And, get this, big oil set a first quarter record profit of $8 billion!

 

[RHINO]

yup record profits, good for them in some ways. its interesting how gas pricing works, i mean the government never stepped in on the rising housing costs yet buyers were doing plenty of complaining. sellers sure liked it though, kinda like the oil companies lately i suppose. love the profits but at some point its gonna reach a breaking point, just wonder what that point will be.

 

[DBAX]

Exxons CEO,CFO, whatever, just retired w/ a $400 million pension. Ya' think a couple-few hundred million of that might offset the cost for a while?

 

[Relix]

Ya' think a couple-few hundred million of that might offset the cost for a while?

maybe like a penny less on gas for half a day...

 

[BMAN]

yup record profits, good for them in some ways. its interesting how gas pricing works, i mean the government never stepped in on the rising housing costs yet buyers were doing plenty of complaining. sellers sure liked it though, kinda like the oil companies lately i suppose. love the profits but at some point its gonna reach a breaking point, just wonder what that point will be.

Prolly somewhere around $5.50 to $6.00 would be my guess.

With baby #3 on the way we're looking at upgrading to a LC again but are hesitant to pull the trigger based on fuel costs. Went and looked at the new Camry last night. Damned nice rides that should get decent MPG's but 3 carseats would be TIGHT back there. This fuel thing is a quandry I expected but still wasn't quite ready for... oh well, life goes on.

 

[Project FJ80]

Nah, I dont think they would let it get past $4.00 a gallon.at least not this year. Right now, there is no reason for it to go that high... by the time it reached $4 they would do something... then lower it to 3 so we would all feel better, but it would never go back down to 2.50. so we would all be happy at $3.00 instead of $4.00 Thats how they did it last time, and thats how they will do it again im sure.

 

[GeoRoss]

Prolly somewhere around $5.50 to $6.00 would be my guess.

With baby #3 on the way we're looking at upgrading to a LC again but are hesitant to pull the trigger based on fuel costs. Went and looked at the new Camry last night. Damned nice rides that should get decent MPG's but 3 carseats would be TIGHT back there. This fuel thing is a quandry I expected but still wasn't quite ready for... oh well, life goes on.

Hey Brandon,
We found that we couldn't fit two car seats and a booster in the back seat of our 2002 4Runner. I can't see it working in a Camry at all. I hate to say it, but I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and go mini-van.

Ross

 

[-Spike-]

I was thinking the same- I doubt that 3 car seats would fit in an 80 well- that is, if you're a tallish person and like your seat all the way back. Be a bitch gettin' a little one in the middle, but doable I suppose. 3 kids, you're gettin' into full-size van territory there. Friendly with any domestic car dealers?

-Spike (I shudder at the very thought)

 

[RHINO]

went and looked at a few cars this w/e, so i could be an informed crankmeister.. the CAMRY hybrid is damn nice, but still they could do better than claimed 40MPG IMO. the YARIS is pretty lame. good concept but i went over to honda and the new FIT blows it outta the water at only about 1K more,(14K) and for another grand you can get the sport FIT which has all kinda cool things such as steering wheel paddle shifters and awsome sound.. i actually like the FIT, i think if i was a commuter i would really consider it for a real fun and energetic play car. the CIVIC hybrid looks great, claimed 50MPG at 23K price tag. like the CAMRY its a real car not a freak like the prius. the wife likes the CIVIC hybrid and one could go in our garage (despite my MPG disapointment). we'll see.

 

[GeoRoss]

I was thinking the same- I doubt that 3 car seats would fit in an 80 well- that is, if you're a tallish person and like your seat all the way back. Be a bitch gettin' a little one in the middle, but doable I suppose. 3 kids, you're gettin' into full-size van territory there. Friendly with any domestic car dealers?

-Spike (I shudder at the very thought)

You can easily fit two boosters and a car seat into the middle row of an 80. I am pretty sure that I could fit two car seats and a booster in as well, at leat that is the plan.

Ross

 

[BMAN]

Hey Brandon,
We found that we couldn't fit two car seats and a booster in the back seat of our 2002 4Runner. I can't see it working in a Camry at all. I hate to say it, but I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and go mini-van.

Ross

Ross,

The discussion hes been had and we will NOT be buying a minivan. It's way too much like giving up on life. I have a neighbor who oversees the "detailing" departments for all of the Earnhardt's dealerships in town. I've got him keeping his eye out for a 100/470 for me. Nice thing is that I'll get a crack at any trade in even before the wholesalers get their look. He said they take in 1 or 2 a month usually across the valley so our chances are good. Have you ever tried the 3 seats across the 80? I'm gonna have to check the hip room #'s to see where we'd actually be.

Regardless of our decision I think we'll have to leave the whole fuel thing out of our equation for the time being. There's a certain level of comfort that we like to maintain now and it seems that fuel savings falls lower on our priorities than I really expected.

 

[BMAN]

you posted as I was typing. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[re_guderian]

Ross,

The discussion hes been had and we will NOT be buying a minivan. It's way too much like giving up on life.

It's really not so bad. Large doors, tons of space, decent mileage, great road trip cars, and when loaded, danged nice inside. Keep the cruisers for the "manhood" factor, but you just can't beat a minivan with kids. Ease of entry, trying to schlep kids in and out, getting kids AND groceries in there, heck, we've even had 6 people and all their luggage for week in ours. And you can do it without using a roof rack.

We have had a 1993 Chrysler Town and Country (piece of crap reliability-wise, but nice otherwise), a 2003 Honda Odyssey, and now 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring model. Wouldn't ever go back.

 

[RHINO]

mini vans are great for what they are, in our case though, we only have two kids (teens finally) so our next car purchse is our final approach so to speak, dont need to fit young kids and all the crap that goes along with'em. my kids raod trip contents consists of music, movies and video games.

 

[RUSH55]

Hey thanks for investigating that RHINO. I myself will prolly be more interested in the used market - like seeing what those figures look like in a couple more years.