Gasoline: How low will it go?

[Perd Hapley]

Gas just dropped to 2.99 here in St. Louis County.  The highest we paid for regular was 3.99, as I recall.

How much is gas in your neck of the woods?

How low will it go?  Yesterday, some "expert" said it would go down to about 2.25.

[Tallpine]

If it goes below a dollar, I'm buying 

I should have sold all mine when it was over $4.00

[mtnbkr]

we have a few stations at 2.99 here, but most are in the 3.15-3.25 range.

Chris

[MillCreek]

Most of the stations in this area (25 miles north of Seattle) are currently selling unleaded regular for $ 3.30 - 3.65 per gallon.  At the peak earlier this year, it got to a high of $ 4.50 per gallon.  Diesel is currently selling for about $ 3.75 to 4.15 per gallon.

PS: edited to add: I am told that Washington has among the highest per gallon state gas taxes in the country, so that may explain some of the disparity.

PPS: As I read through this thread, I see that not only are the local housing prices inflated compared to other parts of the country (as we discussed on another thread) but the Pacific NW pays a bit more for gas than some other parts of the country.

[Perd Hapley]

Don't forget to tell us where you are. 

I know you guys are in Montana, Virginia and Washington so, so far so good.   

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

2.99 on rt 1 at valero

[Scout26]

Most are in the 3.40-3.60 range.  The one I go to is at 3.24.  But then I live in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Blago and Obama (aka Illinois)

[lee n. field]

$3.39 last night.  Dunno what it is at this instant.

Maybe now I can afford to drive to the range.

[Myself]

$ 3.20 in PA.  Will we all go out and buy fuel guzzlers?

[Gewehr98]

$ 3.20 in PA.  Will we all go out and buy fuel guzzlers?

Funny you should mention that!



You know that's what some folks are contemplating as they watch gas prices fall...

[PTK]

$3.19/gal for low test here in Denver.

[MicroBalrog]

The only problem with that comic, Gewehr98, is that it forgets that vehicles' gasoline efficiency rises over time.

Even today's SUV's are more fuel efficient than the family cars of the 1960's. The term 'gaz guzzler' used to imply a car with under 10 mpg milleage but today there's precisely one vehicle like that on the market, and that's the International XT. Even Hummers now get about 14. [Yes, I really hate AM General for killing the H1, but you knew that].

[drewtam]

2.90 @ Shell on Rte 29 in Peoria, IL
3.05-3.10 on the north side of Peoria (on top of the bluff)
3.50 in Joliet, IL, last weekend I was there.

[Scott]

3.09 here in Ellsworth, WI over the border in Red Wing, MN there is a station selling for 2.75.

[grislyatoms]

$2.82 - $2.85 'round these parts

[Zed]

Gas is still around $3.50 ish here and Diesel around $3.89 here

[RaspberrySurprise]

About 3.35 a gallon here in the Eastern UP of Michigan.

[Ben]

Diesel has dropped down to the price of regular in my neck of the woods -- ~$3.60. I'll be interested to see if it goes back lower than gas again or not.

[Regolith]

Regular is $3.47 here (eastern Oregon).

[Gewehr98]

MB, please.

I've been around far longer than you think, and not as a basement-dweller, either.

I cut my automotive teeth on air-cooled 1964-1972 VW Bugs. I got so familiar with them that my best engine-change time for a Bug was 30 minutes!  I had a 1980 (German) Ford Fiesta that was a fuel miser - I miss the little bugger, actually.  There were VW Rabbits, Dashers, and Scirrocos, Honda CVCCs, Datsun B210s, Ford Pintos, Chevy Chevettes, you name it.  Did they have the automatic tushy-wipers of current vehicles?  No.  Did they have the mandated safety systems of current vehicles?  No.  But they were still very much fuel-efficient, and that was running with those supposedly Gawd-awful carburetors, too.  Electronic engine controls?  Hell no.  Your foot pedal was directly attached to the carburetor's throttle butterfly and accelerator pump, and that was that.

IOW, there was indeed a plethora of economical vehicles once the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 hit (that's probably before you were even a gleam in your father's eye, I know...), as automakers cranked out fuel misers and throttled back on their land yacht production.  Now it's 2008, and Deja Vu' has struck again. It amazes me that some watch in horror as the GM Tahoe/Suburban factory in Janesville, WI shuts down this December for good. Well, Duh! 

A 14mpg Hummer (aka, Tahoe w/codpiece) is still a bona-fide gas guzzler, any way you look at it.  Even my new Jeep Liberty with 3.7L V-6 only gets about 24mpg highway, with a tailwind, cruise control on, and lock-up torque converter engaged. 

The truly sad part is that I can guarantee people will see the current drop in oil prices as an excuse to go out and buy a mobile zip code of a vehicle, not realizing that their jobs that pay for such luxuries are still very much at risk until the economy settles out.

 

[MicroBalrog]

Even my new Jeep Liberty with 3.7L V-6 only gets about 24mpg highway, with a tailwind, cruise control on, and lock-up torque converter engaged. 

That's only 1 mile per gallon better than a first-gen VW Rabbit as you referenced could get at optimum.

Now, I'm not saying your analysis is wrong. I'm just saying that it's more complex than that, because not only do prices rise and fall, but engine technology improves over time.

The original VW bug could get 32.5 miles per gallon at best. The New Beetle gets 38 MPG combined and 42 highway.

The old Scirocco which you so fondly referenced – that used to get 39 miles per hour according to company info, and fanboy forums state some guys managed to push it over 42. The Scirocco II, which is out this year? That gets 55 miles per gallon.

A similar progresssion has occurred with four-wheel-drive vehicles and 'big cars'.

And again, I am not saying you're wrong, I'm saying it's more complex.

[Gewehr98]

The old Scirocco which you so fondly referenced – that used to get 39 miles per hour according to company info,

Holy crap, that's FAST!   

Regardless, a gain of only a few mpg over the course of 30+ years ain't exactly breathtaking, in my book.

The fact that we've regressed from our fuel economy strides, not just in technology but consumer trends, is what's ironic.

I feel it ties in with the folks who bought more house than they needed with an ARM that came back to bite them in the posterior.

Mommy needs a Suburban to haul her gaggle of crotchfruit to and from soccer practice and Chuck E. Cheese.  Oh, Noes, gasoline went over $4.00/gallon, what will she do? 

So now that crude dropped down to $80/barrel, we're supposed to believe that it's easy street again?  Not even. 

[MicroBalrog]

Okay, I nerded out and looked at the EPA report, Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2008. While there's way too many tables for me to rapidly make sense of it all, there is a shiny graph there that shows the increase of vehicle average fuel economy over time. It appears an average 2005 truck eats less gas per mile than an average 1975 car, and that cars have become more popular as compared to trucks around the time the new oil crisis hit.

Which confirms my theory (which is not really mine) that both are true - people buy  fuel-efficient vehicles when fuel is expensive and return to shiny vehicles when price falls, but the progress in engine technology means that fuel efficiency grows in the long run to ensure that a 2020 SUV will probably eat less fuel than a 2001 HippieMobile Special.

[charby]

$2.79 for 10% Ethanol, Ames, IA

[Jamisjockey]

we have a few stations at 2.99 here, but most are in the 3.15-3.25 range.

Chris

Lowest I spotted today between home and Cox Farms was $3.02.  We didn't need gas in the ESV, but I told the wife if I see it under $3.00 we're stopping anyways. 

And for those counting, yes, Mtnbkr and I are in Northern Virginia.