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How many of you (I guess, LOL!!!) sensible gay men have downgraded your vehicles to save on the cost of gas?

I drive a vehicle that uses regular and only get 17 something to the gallon. I could get it higher but I don't feel like driving like a senior citizen. And I have the nerve to be contemplating a new car that takes PREMIUM!! Go figure!

For me, I'm not going to let the gas prices dictate what I do and where I go and what I drive.

I thought this was the land of the free?

DISClAIMER: This is in no way implying that if someone HAS downgraded their vehicle that they are in any way foolish or stupid for doing so. You have to do what right for you! I know how some people can be on here! Nothing but LOVE for you all!!

D.

My next car is SO.... gonna be a hybrid

I average around 30 with my car (2008 Toyota Matrix XR 5 speed), but I am getting more conscious about trying to drive less aggressively to save gas. I've always tried to plan out my errands, but I am making more of an effort with that as well, trying to wait for things if I can or stock up a bit for fewer trips.

Our gas is high, but nothing compared to Europe. And when you compare the cost increases of gas vs. the cost increases of say - real estate over the past 30 years, it helps to put things into perspective.

For instance, in 1978 an average house in the Bay Area of California sold for about $100,000. Gas then was around $.75 per gallon. That same house is now approx. $950,000, or 9 times higher. Gas is high, but not 9 times higher than it was 30 years ago.

Think also about salaries 30 years ago. Not many of us were working then - but it is interesting to compare salaries from then to now. Bottom line - we're better off than we were then, even though some things cost more.

I telecommute and rarely drive.

It's my patriotic duty and I do it for you guys.

i bike to work and walk everywhere else

I telecommute. I get crap for driving an SUV, which is 3 years old and has 28,000 miles on it. Yes, I drive less than 9,000 miles annually. I walk, bike, and take Light Rail. I live in a neighborhood where I can bike or walk to everything I need except for groceries. When I do drive, I get 20 mpg in a 6-speed 4x4 ... same mileage that I got in a rented Mercury Grand Marquis on a business trip.

Truck does not always equal bad mileage, nor does sedan always equal good.

I get 24-25 miles per gallon on my Mercury Cougar.... so no downgrading for me for a while. I figure I will drive this car until it dies on me... it is 5 years old, meh it will probably be fine for another 3-4 years. By that time I am hoping someone will be able to come up with a hybrid that does not suck on the highway ( I need to be able to go 80 mph to stay with the traffic here)....

So here's hoping...

Caslon4000 saidI telecommute and rarely drive.

It's my patriotic duty and I do it for you guys.

you just like working naked

I walk across the street to take the train to work, so I only drive about 9k miles/year. But I'm still dying to get a higher mileage car. I'm going to eye the Jetta sportwagon (diesel) coming out in the Fall, which is supposed to be 40-50 mpg. yes, diesel is about $0.80 more per gallon, but if it gets over twice my current mileage, I'd still be making out fairly well.

I drive an old Honda and make no excuses. I do my part.

I saw my first American Smart Car this morning on the way home. I'm sure I'll be seeing lots more of them.

I wish I had the extra cash stowed away so I could get rid of my truck for something smaller.

Why sell a paid-for car that is running beautifully, and maybe has low license and insurance costs - for some little piece of crap that is expensive to buy, and won't last all that long without seriously expensive upkeep - or - you'll have to replace the thing more often? Not me. I'll keep the good cars I have - and in the long run, with lower insurance and license fees, I'll be fine. If I need to save a bit of money, I'll eat out a bit less often. I'm not trading in 3 great cars and taking a bath on the trades, for some miserable piece of crap made of tin. I've worked like a dog all my life, and I'm not about to start driving some boring little piece of crap. What am I going to do if I saved a few more bucks, leave it to another charity or church?

My Wrangler's not going anywhere for a while. I'll drive less first (or get another motorcycle )before I replace the jeep.

Well I wish I could improve from the 35 miles per gallon I get with my Ion, but its better than my 4x4 gets.... and gas is a bitch. It went up from $3.62 to $3.79 per gallon in Wichita.

i ride my bike everywhere and at the rate traffic gets from place to place here, i figure it takes me maybe twice as long to bike it instead of drive it.

so i look at the price of gas going up and laugh. especially when we are right next to the port.

drakutis saide, I'm not going to let the gas prices dictate what I do and where I go and what I drive.

I thought this was the land of the free?

Of course it's not. This is the land off the "free" as defined under legal terms.

You are of course free to drive what you want, but you should accept by doing so your only adding to the American attitude that makes us the biggest consumer on earth per individual.

As for my personal choices I drive a hybrid and get 60 mpg now that its summer. Of course living in a rural region I have few other transit options, so far I've just decided to do all shopping at one location such as Walmart or the supermarket.

I can't wait for higher gas prices. We need all the more motivation for a bigger fuel efficient car selection.

I agree with Trance, I'm kinda glad that prices are high, so people will start being more responsible. If i lived where i needed a car, i probably would have got a hybrid a couple years back.
as it is, i'm about to sell my car, the couple of times a month i use it isn't worth it for the cost. I can rent a car for much less than i am paying to park ($225 a month) and insurance.
Granted if i didn't have a subway stop 3 blocks from my apartment, i might not be as enthused.

If only we as a county had learned our lessons in the 70's and kept up with the fuel efficient cars. I can only imagine what the public transportation infrastructure in this country would look like today. Just look at Europe, and the high speed inter-city rail that they have. not to mention the high percentage of people that ride bikes. What would our country's collective waistline look like then?

I too am interested to see what will happen to people's habits when prices rise. In Vancouver gas is 1.49 a litre today (close to $6 a gallon...). My partner and I live downtown and we both walk the 12 or so blocks to work each day. I don't even bother taking the metro. It's great not to have to rely on a vehicle, though I still have my mazda for weekend get-aways and such.

I think a lot has to be done in terms of urban planning in most of north america to allow people to live closer to where they work, and increase density. I'm happy to see all the work that is being done locally in that respect, but there is a long way to go.

I'm getting this...

Yeah gas here in Phoenix are expensive now. I have to fill up my car 40 bucks now. Few days ago, it was only 30 bucks. When I was a teenager the gas price was much more cheaper. I remember I fill up only for 20 bucks.

mickeytopogigio saidI'm getting this...

I am thinking about getting this car lol

I got rid of the problem by getting rid of my car altogether. Now I drive one of these.

What is Chicago Card? It is like a light-rail?

mickeytopogigio saidI'm getting this...

The one I saw today was red and black. They come in convertable and roadster versions too.

i had a toyota prius rental car this past weekend and it was great because i spent $37 on gas and drove all weekend (around 400 miles), but i am still buying my Audi A8L W12 i cant stand not having a car with a huge engine.

I've already had a Yaris(hatch) for over a year, and I would say that I've lucked out through this except it wasn't so much luck as planning. I suppose I was lucky that I also happen to love small cars. I would have had one when they first became available in 2006 had I been in the position to buy a new car at the time.

The only thing I would trade up or down to at this point would be an (affordable) all-electric or diesel. The diesel of course would be promptly converted to run on used vegetable oil.

The 'smart' car IMO is not exactly the smartest buy. At least if your doing it for economical reasons. The current model available in the U.S. has only a slight real-world advantage in efficiency over other larger, more practical sub-compacts and it requires premium fuel and a higher price tag. If you want it because it's cute/stylish, then by all means jump on it. It's still a very efficient car.


Also to the OP: As far as driving like a senior citizen goes, I've had no trouble zipping through traffic, much less keeping up. And that was before gas prices spiked this Spring and everyone in their powerhouses started driving like senior citizens.

Driving a 2001 Chevy S-10 I get about 20 mpg if I Drive like a normal 19/20 year old. However, I prefer to drive like I'm 80 (instead of driving 80) so I get as much as 26 mpg...my attitude is who cares about the middle fingers people throw at you...

Though when I get the money (in other words, once I'm out of college) I want something more eco-friendly and less "Get-r-done hick."

Now that's it's gotten over 4 bucks I've started biking to work when when I can

It takes almost $50 to fill up my Wrangler

My Mazda 3 gets about 36 mpg on the highway and about 30 in the city. My commute is only 4.3 miles each way. I am planning to experiment with riding the Metro bus this summer - Cincinnati is NOTORIOUS for having labyrinthine bus routes in order to keep certain sections of the city from having easy access to other sections of the city, i.e keep the poor blacks out of the well to do white neighborhoods. Luckily I've found a route that's somewhat direct - just a few blocks walking required both in my hood and in the work hood - although it doesn't match my work schedule at all. So we'll see.

I walk a LOT in my immediate neighborhood. I need to get another bike - my last one was stolen - and start biking to the grocery store and other neighborhood trips that normally require the car due to distance with cargo.

I am lucky enough to live in the NY Metro and there are so many options for me that I really only need to use my truck on the weekends or when going to the gym.

My new building has a gym in it so that makes life even grander and will equate to me starting to drive less. I'll be damned if I get rid of it though the next car will be a hybrid or a Mini or just something smaller and sporty.

HndsmKansan saidWell I wish I could improve from the 35 miles per gallon I get with my Ion, but its better than my 4x4 gets.... and gas is a bitch. It went up from $3.62 to $3.79 per gallon in Wichita.

Here in Boston, it went up from $3.97 to $4.09 overnight, so you're still getting the better deal!

We didn't downgrade to save on gas, (although we're saving for sure) but I had to respond, since it's "Now" $4 a gallon or more in places...

Here in Australia, based on my vague recollection that a US Gallon is 3.5 Litres, we pay about AU$5.60/Gallon. (~$1.60/Litre) if the US Gallon's 4.5 litres we're paying about AU$7.20/Gallon.

Today, the AU$ gets 94.9 US cents, so... US$5.31 per gallon here at the moment.

We haven't had $4/gallon in over a year.

Those prices are regular.

We traded about 2 years ago for a Suzuki Swift, and I drive about an hour each way each day, so thank God I did! It's now costing me about the same to fill up the Swift as it was costing for me to fill the Commodore V6, which had an extra 20L of fuel tank. I get about the same number of miles to a tank, so it's a lot cheaper than it would be if I was still driving the Commodore.

I live close to work so I don't drive much except for long-distance trips. The Altima 4-cylinder gets about 28-31 mpg, not bad for a 4-door sedan.

Crimthann said[quote][cite]mickeytopogigio said[/cite]I'm getting this...

The one I saw today was red and black. They come in convertable and roadster versions too.



[/quote]

The roadster is so cool but isn't available in North America. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love mine.

I have a 01 Alero sedan. I get around 25mpg in town. and it still cost over $40 to fill it up. I've considered getting a bycicle or motorcycle, but don't have the $$$ in the budget for either one yet. I did buy a reel-type lawn mower. last time i bout gas for the mower it cost $7 for two gallons! And I have a pretty big yard, so it takes at least a gallon to get it done.

So with a 44 gallon tank it's costing me close to 200 bucks a week, but i don't see myself downgrading or switching. maybe this time next year, when gas is 7 a gal.

Before you start freaking out. Remember that the cost of a new hybrid has yet to off set the cost of gas. You feel the crunch now, but its only raising your gas bill a few dollars a fill up. I have been doing the research and, though I eventually want to sell my jeep to pay some bills, the end result is not a huge amount of savings.And in the case of putting almost a 6k premium on hybrid technology as compared to non-hybrid cars, it could take you several years to reap the benefit of the savings.

Ask me that in a year from now and I will likely have a different story.

Allow me to deflate the cost myth. For one don't compare a hybrid to a base model. My civic hybrid is an EX without sunroof plus some additional electronic controls and features. Factor in the still existing $1000 tax credit that remains and the price difference between the EX and hybrid is only about $2000 or so. I get 60+ mpg. What does an EX driver get?

Plus add in the trade in/ resale value. 2006 Insights bought for $19,000 are selling for $24,000 on ebay. That's 5000 over original MSRP on a USED car! Hybrids retain value longer because of simple savings.

The popular car is the Prius, which comes closest to a Matrix. It has all the storage space plus options beyond anything found in a Yaris.

Plus consider this: The most popular series of cars are the mid range market, Camry's, Accord's, Malibu's, etc... These are cars costing over $20K+ With these cars you could easily for the same price get a Prius and even option it out. For example you could get a technology package TSX for 33,000 or you could get a Prius with package 6, same toys and leather for 30,000. You not only have $3000 but you get better gas mileage.

A normal car only makes sense if your planning ownership for only a few years and are willing to get a base model Yaris, Smart, Fit, etc.. **




**( If you NEED a truck then please just get a used one as a second car or rent!)**

GQjock saidMy next car is SO.... gonna be a hybrid

I thought of getting a hybrid but with it only getting +-10MPG then my current car its not worth they price tag, when you factor it that it cost 10-20k more. I get 35MPG while my neighbors prius is getting 42. If and when they get them to 300MPG wo having to retro fit a new engine then Ill get one.

I've always driven a pickup and probably always will. That said, at 14 mpg in the city, and I go through a tank of gas every 5 days or so, my monthly gas bill is pushing towards $600 a month -- OUCH! That said, I'm probably going to hold onto my current truck, rather than trade it in for a new one every two years or so like I usually do, and hold out that they will be coming up with a hybrid or even an electric truck in the next few years.

Please let me know when hybrid cars are not the ugliest cars on the road... Prius and Insight are horribly styled. There are a few new hybrid cars that have regular versions, but are about 25k+. I think I might go for the Mazda3 wagon. I think it gets 22 MPG, which may be costly down the line. My concern is the mix of car payment and gas cost.

I do think that everyone getting into crisis mode and freaking out about SUVs will hurt the economy more than raising gas prices. America already has an excess of SUVs on lots and with people dying to sell theirs so quickly to downsize (me included) there will be even more surplus. Plus people will be left with the burden of needing to sell their car OR not getting an appropriate resale value. The end result is an even greater loss of investment in a car and a drop in the money circulating both from new and used SUV sales. Not to mention potential price gouging on gas sippers.

I'm walking everywhere I go, barely going out and taking public transportation. Sure wish I never bought my car with my now ex. I was content walking, biking and taking public trans before all this gas stuff went nova. But maybe the public transit authority in Scottsdale and Phoenix will be extending it's routes and taking better care of it's buses now that we've all taken a step back a century before the 'luxury' automobile came to market.