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09-13-2010, 01:26 AM | #1 |
Hooch Brewer-Shine Sipper
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Fuel Prices
This is a new thread started on fuel prices and what is fair/unfair/good/bad.
My problem with fuel prices is how weather or breakdowns in a refinery or an oil spill may drastically affect pricing on any given day. I have been driving since 1972 and I don't remember this kind of thing happening until just a few years ago. Pricing was fairly stable for years until the Oil Crisis in 1973 (I think). Even 3 years later though, I was paying 76 cents (yes, that's right) a gallon for gas. I was paying 99 cents in 1991, so in 15 years the price only went up 23 cents. This is fact, because I lived it. We can now see gas go up 23 cents in a day. I think $2.50 a gallon is too much, for sure. I would like to know exactly what the cost of producing a gallon of gasoline is, then I could either feel better about it or get more upset. I would say that I would get more upset if I found out what it costs to refine. The entire reason for trading to a Yaris from our trusty 1998 Avalon was fuel economy (also, the Yaris just looks better). I did lots of research before settling on the Yaris because I know that gas prices will be higher again, and one day they will stay higher. I am just heading off the inevitable. It costs just about 1/2 to fill up the new car than it did the old one. Of course the tank is smaller, but we get just about the same amount of miles from a tank. We have already figured that in gas savings alone, if we keep the Yaris as long as we kept the Avalon, the Yaris will basically be free, due to gas savings alone. So, while I hate $2.50 a gallon gas, we all have to pay it, and it only makes sense to get a car that gets the very best fuel economy.
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09-13-2010, 01:30 AM | #2 |
Hooch Brewer-Shine Sipper
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Oops. This thread probably should have been in the Fuel Economy forum. :/
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09-13-2010, 08:26 AM | #3 |
Drives: 2017 Yaris IA, Pulse Red, Auto Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 538
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This is telling my age but I remember when I got my first car (a used 1969 Cougar) I paid 25 cents a gallon! The gas stations by the interstate had gas wars.
I really think now it's supply/demand. Everyone in China now drives a car where they used to ride bikes. |
09-13-2010, 09:43 AM | #4 |
2.50 a gallon is super cheap compared to our Canadian prices. I understand even more so compared to what they pay over in Europe.
On my way to work this morning I passed a gas station at 0.999 per Litre, which according to google is equivalent to approx $3.67 USD/gallon. Back in the summer of 2008, only a couple months after we got our Yaris I remember buying gas at $1.38 per Litre (about 5.07 USD/gallon). Thankfully it didn't stay that high for long, it gradually lowered over a few months. |
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09-13-2010, 10:11 AM | #5 |
Only Happy When it Rains
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A huge chunk of the final gas cost we pay is taxes. The average state gas tax is around 27.2 cents a gallon, and the federal gas tax sits at 18.4 cents a gallon.
And this is a great article on how much taxes oil companies pay in general. So basically oil companies pay more money in taxes than what they earn in profits each year. Yup, the governments and its elected leaders are thieves and thugs.
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Colin Chapman disciple |
09-13-2010, 10:21 AM | #6 |
Hooch Brewer-Shine Sipper
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Speaking of Canada, back in 2001 my wife and I went on vacation to Nova Scotia. I had rented a car in Portland, Maine and took it over on a ferry, and I was amazed at how cheap the price of gas was! Of course that was PER LITER. My excitement didn't last long. lol
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09-13-2010, 10:23 AM | #7 |
Hooch Brewer-Shine Sipper
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Right after gas hit nearly $4 a gallon a couple of years ago, it took a nose-dive to about $1.50 a gallon, slowly easing upward to where it remains today. Anyone remember paying that buck and a half?
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09-13-2010, 10:29 AM | #8 | |
Only Happy When it Rains
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From the other thread
Quote:
Yea, maybe at one point that was true, but then again, at one point someone believed money collected for social security would not be stolen by congress, and look how well that worked. Inflation is almost non existant. A table for inflation since 1913. And an inflation calculator. Even during the late '90's gas was still 99 cents a gallon. In fact, using the above calculator, just using inflation, gas would have to have been 99 cents a gallon in 1980 for it to have been inflation that makes it $2.50 a gallon now. Gas should be inexpensive because we have plenty of it, and it isn't going to run out any time soon. It is expensive because of greedy governmental types who think they can tax the heck out of anything, and they know they have people like you around who will say it is ok, because it is what we "should" be paying for gas. As I noted before, oil companies pay more in taxes then they earn each year in profits. So that makes our gas prices at least twice as much as they should be. Kinda sickening, huh?
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Colin Chapman disciple |
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09-13-2010, 12:19 PM | #9 | |
Drives: Yaris, duh Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In my car
Posts: 76
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Quote:
How is it greedy to want to fund the government? If tax money were being embezzled or misappropriated, I would agree with you. If they are going to pay for the programs written into the law, then we are really talking about what should be the responsibility of government. |
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09-13-2010, 01:16 PM | #10 | |
Drives: '08 LB MT Bayou Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,671
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Quote:
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09-13-2010, 02:05 PM | #11 |
"LibertyRides!"
Drives: 2010 Yaris 3Dr LB | 2020 Stang Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: State College, PA, USA
Posts: 576
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Not government, but a Corporatocracy... Public (government) and Private (corporations) sleeping together in a technocratic business association...
Cheers!
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~ Mark ~ 2010 Yaris 3-Dr Liftback, 5-Speed Manual, P185/60R 15, Bayou Blue Pearl I Love my YARIS - (Click below to see Gaslog): Most miles Tank: 538 tank/10.148 gal = 53.015 MPG / Most MPG: 54.95 MPG (ethanol) 425 tank/7.73 gal "The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people." -- Frank Kent |
09-13-2010, 01:22 PM | #12 | |
Only Happy When it Rains
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Quote:
It is greedy to want to steal money and then use it for whatever they want to. And that is what they are doing at this point, just stealing more and more of our hard earned money. You can't possibly think it is ok to waste trillions of dollars doing absolutely nothing. And then there is the fact that at some mythical time gas taxes were suppose to only go for infrastructure maintenance and improvements, but that changed decades ago. Now they use the money for whatever suits their fancy. Governments and bureaucracies are always innately evil. The more you allow them to do, the more evil they get.
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Colin Chapman disciple |
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09-13-2010, 01:35 PM | #13 | |
Drives: Yaris, duh Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In my car
Posts: 76
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Quote:
The government does use the money for something, not nothing. They can't use it for whatever suits their fancy, only what the law allows them to. In my humbled opinion, you are being very paranoid. If the government is always a problem move to a country without one, like Somalia. |
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09-13-2010, 02:36 PM | #14 |
Drives: '08 LB MT Bayou Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,671
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The same can be said of corporations no? Though you should really take it a step further and blame human greed and corruption since it is the people that comprise the governments and corporations that do these evil deeds, right?
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09-13-2010, 02:42 PM | #15 |
What I thought I'd do was
Drives: 09 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northwest Alabama
Posts: 1,140
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Power = Corruption.
Be it government (all types), corporations, or management at McDonalds. Anyone with power will, at some point, take part in some corrupting activity. Gas is around $2.65/gal here.
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My Nissan Hardbody (D21) 4x4 build log Check out my YouTube channel (mostly shooting) - http://www.youtube.com/user/47MasoN47 |
09-13-2010, 03:05 PM | #16 | |
Drives: Yaris, duh Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In my car
Posts: 76
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Quote:
There are some altruist out there but not many. Your statement is generally true which is why all developed countries have checks on their powers. |
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09-13-2010, 03:32 PM | #17 | ||
Only Happy When it Rains
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Quote:
You give people that type of power, and they must be watched over like a hawk, or you get the quagmire of waste and bribes and corruption that we currently see. Quote:
And all the governmental types have to do is write the law to be able to use the money for anything, they know they can do it, because they voted for something last week to give someone else a ton of money to use however they want. Anarchy is suicide. If people were perfect, anarchy would absolutely be the perfect form of government. Since they are not, government is required to protect the people.
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Colin Chapman disciple |
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09-13-2010, 05:50 PM | #18 |
Drives: Yaris, duh Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In my car
Posts: 76
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Yes, taxes change. They are not the main reason for the volatility in the price of gas.
If you think government is ran ineffectively then vote for an effective government, or revolt. And sorry if the Somalia bit was a little hyperbolic. |
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