Scary gas price conclusion...

[MikeR]

So my wife & I are out farting around yesterday & stop by a local Ford dealership. We look at a couple of the Fusions & Foci (Focus plural) and I start running numbers in my head.

For what I spend in gas every year (at current prices over $3.50/gal) in my truck ('05 F150 4x4), I could have a new Focus Titanium package loaded out with every option. The Focus I looked at (optioned out as mentioned above) was just over $26K. In 5yrs at current prices, I will put $26K of gas in my truck!

Now, I'm thinking of getting one to commute to work & run errands. The truck isn't going anywhere, I'd let my youngest (17 in HS) drive it to school (20mi roundtrip), then reclaim it during hunting season. When he finishes school, his grandmother is buying him a new car (probably a Focus) and my truck will have been paid off (got it used 2yrs ago).

Kind of made me go "oh damn" when I did the math on how much I spend in gas just to go to work & back!

 

[Hunh Bruh]

Look at a used efficient car and it's even scarier

 

[Gus McCrae]

I car pool with 4 people. It's great.

 

[CEHollier]

It's eight miles to my business one way from the house. If my lazy ass wife got up early enough we could carpool.

 

[Hunh Bruh]

It's eight miles to my business one way from the house. If my lazy ass wife got up early enough we could carpool.

 

[Hogin]

It's eight miles to my business one way from the house. If my lazy ass wife got up early enough we could carpool.

My couch is not comfortable enough to make that statement on a public forum lol.

 

[bigjakewelch]

I drive a 1997 Chevy 3500 with the 7.4L 454 that gets 6 miles to the gallon. I sometimes think that I could pay off my house off with the gas expenditures that I go thru in a year. I'm driving no less than 400 miles a week.

I just might be single handedly responsible for the record profits that Exxon has made in the past few years.

 

[Yrdawg]

My couch is not comfortable enough to make that statement on a public forum lol.

She who must be obeyed at Painmans house is scared of him...Physical Terrorism being what it is...the man has NO fear

 

[JBE]

Makes me glad that I only have to drive back and forth to work once a month...

Glad I bought a compact truck that gets decent gas mileage instead of a Cowboy Cadillac like what the rest of the guys I work with drive...

 

[ABNsurveyor]

I bought a Honda Insight new 2 years ago for less than 19k (base model). Get 48-49 MPG average daily commute. HWY speeds of 65-75 MPH I get 45 MPG. The average MPG for the life of the car so far at 39k+ miles is 47.8 MPG. When your friends and/or co-workers give you crap for driving a Hybrid, just smile and let them know the gas mileage you are getting i.e. “I drive about 45 miles a day and use less than a gallon of gas.” My truck sits in the driveway 98% of the time. The Honda Insight cost a lot less then the Toyota Prius with only slightly less MPG.

 

[glimmerman]

It's eight miles to my business one way from the house. If my lazy ass wife got up early enough we could carpool.

A "Real" master of his domain would back that up tomorrow morning and throw cold water on her to wake her up and then demand she get to fixing him some breakfast!!!

 

[MikeR]

Makes me glad that I only have to drive back and forth to work once a month...

I only drive to/from work twice a month...from Carencro to Houma & back. I did some more figuring...at current gas prices (which aren't going to get better) I spend $70 in gas on each trip to/from work...a Focus would cost $25 per trip!

 

[AK shooter]

I do not want to do the math on what my wife spend on gas from Raceland to Oschner Kenner 5 days a week in a Infinity QX56.

 

[LACamper]

I miss my 4cyl ranger! I have an xterra now. While not as bad as the 3500's listed above, its not good (17 hwy. give or take). OTOH, I pulled my popup (3K lbs) this weekend and it didn't really hurt my mileage much.

 

[JBE]

I only drive to/from work twice a month...from Carencro to Houma & back. I did some more figuring...at current gas prices (which aren't going to get better) I spend $70 in gas on each trip to/from work...a Focus would cost $25 per trip!

I drive from Welsh to Houma, then Houma back to Welsh about once a month (14/14)...It's about 140 miles one way...In my little truck it winds up costing me only b/w $35-40 to get back and forth to work so I can't bitch too much...

 

[edman87k5]

I have had a work commuter of some sort for 6 or 7 years now. I have always had a gas (or diesel) hog of a truck, and when you need it, you need it. My current work commuter is a 02 civic that gets 40 mpg. Thats a lot better than the ranger I had before that got low 20s. Others have included another ranger, a samurai, a camaro (yes, they get 25-30 mpg very easily), a corolla- all changed for no particular reason except the samurai because it couldnt get out of its own way.
Point being, even with a average commute, if you buy used and only carry liability insurance, you will have a free car and be saving money and not wearing out your big ride all at the same time.

here are some numbers for you to compare:
My 2000 f250 crew cab 4x4 7.3 diesel gets 17-18 mpg unloaded
My 98 jeep tj gets 10-13 mpg
My civic gets 36.5 (worst tank checked) to 42 (best tank checked).
With current prices, the civic saves me a minumum of $50 per week, but since I drive it other than just to work and back, it is really more. Insurance was around $130 for 6 months. It is much cheaper to repair or replace than my f250. So, it actually saves me quite a bit of $$!

 

[jms]

My new z 71 gets 17.5 mpg.5.3 L. Since October I have only put 5000 miles on it .My little vw JETTA tdi GETS 38 IN TOWN ,50 ON INTERSTATE . The Z will be setting for a while .

 

[sonanth]

I applaud your use of "foci."

 

[JWG223]

This is part of what inspired my daily beater purchase a couple of years back.

 

[Russo]

i traded my paid off Dodge Dakota that was getting 14-17 mpg on a F150 Eco that gets 18-22 mpg... the discount they sold me on the truck plus trade in, resulted in a 1 1/2 year pay off and that was the difference in gas... so after that year and a half (i owe $7500 on the f150) it'll be great