Yesterday, when I got in my car to go home from work, I noticed that I was enough under 1/4 tank that I really needed to fill up before I went home. I did, and the total came to $29 and some change. Read it and wail and gnash your teeth and bash your heads against the walls, people who drive big SUVs just to commute, and anyone who drives a Hummer!
Note: I have nothing but sympathy for people who actually need a vehicle with the carrying or towing capacity of an SUV or minivan on a regular basis and who are shelling out a lot of money at the pumps. But the ones who have them for status, or (even worse) because they want the other guy to be the one injured or killed in an accident instead of them or their kids- I laugh at them, paying more than they need to for gas.
Oh yeah. For anyone who makes fun of my Honda Civic:
Let’s compare receipts next time we fill up at the gas station, how about it? Let’s compare car payments, too- mine are $0/month, because I was able to write a check for the car I managed to avoid debt and spend less money on gas by getting a smaller car
I do kind of wish my Civic had a bigger tank- sometimes I have to fill up after only five or six days, and I’d rather only do it once a week. My last car, a Pontiac Sunfire, had a bigger tank, and that’s one of the few things I miss about it. It got decent mileage, but when I replaced it with the Civic, I found I was paying between 2/3 and 3/4 as much for gas per week
What kind of gas mileage do juggernauts get, anyway?
I was going to say, I usually fill up (Civic too) for less than $30 but that’s because the tank only holds 11.9 gallons (would it have been that hard to spring for .1 more gallons??) and I don’t let it get below 1.9 gallons.
36 in town, 40ish highway, and he’s eight years old. Good boy.
I walk to work, and either walk or ride my bike most places. I think it costs me about $45 to fill up all the way, and I did so, uh… two weeks ago, I think. Yesterday, I drove the car for the first time in about a week, and noticed that I’ve still got about 3/4 of a tank.
And I’m sure that people see me in my SUV and curse me for wrecking the earth.
I’ll bite… which car weighs 3300 lbs AND gets 30 mpg/city?
At to the OP, I think I’ll stick to bitching that a tank of gas costs $30+, regardless of the vehicle. We’ve already been reprogrammed, in less than a few years, to consider it “normal” for gas to be about $3/gallon. Somewhere an oil company exec is wringing his hands and cackling madly.
Heh. New '06 Pathfinder owner here. 4700lbs. I get 19 mph going over the continental divide (11,500 feet) on my way back and forth to work. Flat open road, probably about 21. Not sure about in town. I never really drive ‘in-town’.
It has a V6 in it. I’m really surprised at how well it does power-wise. They’ve come a long, long way in engine performance and gas mileage. I’m am truly happy for that.
I almost bought a 4-runner with a V-8. The vehicle that I test drove had a little less bhp and a little more torque than the Pathfinder. It also did not offer the features I needed (adjustable pedals for one).
Thanks to the OP for the acknowledgement to those of us that need and have real use for bigger cars. Love mine. So far it’s been doing everything I need it to. Haven’t had much chance to check it out in the snow as I purchased it in May. Though we did have a few small snow storms towards the end of May.
It replaces a previous Pathfinder. I was well aware of the price of gas, and the type of vehicle I needed when I purchased it. I looked for a long time, and approach it this way…
First and foremost, the car needs to be able to do the things I need it to do that is in my price range. Range Rovers where right out.
I also look at vehicle reliability. That’s often a crapshoot and sort of falls into the first group above.
For my last purchase, I had narrowed it down to two different vehicles. At that point I will start looking closer at cost and convenience options. Gas mileage doesn’t really come into the picture since the vehicles I could choose from are pretty close at this point. It’s not like I was looking at a Civic or an Expedition.
I also looked at more of the little comfort and convenience issues. Since I bought a brand new car this time, I was able to do a little bit more customizing. I was really, really glad to see that Nissan made the new Pathfinder a bit bigger. It’s perfect for me.
I fill up my SUV about *once a month * (I don’t need to drive very far or very often) and when I do, I use this gas station called GetGo, which is right next to one of the places I drive to regularly.
GetGo is tied to a local grocery store chain. When you use your customer bonus card thing, you get 10 cents off per gallon at GetGo per $50 you spend. I share a card with my mom, who has no interest in driving out to GetGo. We rack up between 60 and 120 cents off per gallon in a month. These points can be applied from pharmacy and gift card purchases too (gift cards for other local stores like Applebees or Sears).
So tonight, when I go to get gas (for the first time in over a month), I’ll be paying $1.87/gallon to fill up about 14 of my 16 gallon tank. That’s **$26.18 ** a month for gas in my SUV, baby!
I think I need to go get a less fuel-efficient car, just so I can stick with the status quo
I don’t know exactly (I don’t have a trip odometer), and I don’t remember exactly when I filled up the car the time before this (I fill up about once a week). But I commute 30 miles each way, in stop-and-go Bay Area traffic.
Isn’t the VQ35DE great? I am amazed that in a 5000lb car, with 280 hp, and being as quick as it is, I am still averaging over 20 mpg (2005 Infiniti FX owner here). Good on ya, Nissan!
99 Toyota Corolla
City - 30 mpg winter, 35 mpg summer
10 gallons to fill, lasts 2 weeks.
Seriously angered me when we bought a 04 minivan and the stinking underpowered POS gets about 20. My 71 GTO 455 H.O. got 15 (unless there was no traffic/cops, then it got considerably less). 5 mpg improvement from a tiny little engine and over 20 years of advances - no wonder the big three are losing money.
48+ mpg so far this summer, and I generally only use it for my 26 mi round trip commute across 520 on weekdays, although that’s changing as I get around to this thing called a social life.
Costs me $30 to fill it 4/5 of the way – I get paranoid about running out of gas – and that seems to last me about 2 weeks. I’d have to check my credit card bill to be sure, though.
I managed to avoid debt and spend less money on gas by getting a smaller car 
