Topic: Gas Prices and behaviour, not a moan...

[Triple Bob]

This isn't a thread to moan about the ever increasing price, but I was just wondering, has the price changed your behaviour at all yet, from say a year or two ago?

I'll hopefully (fingers crossed) not be living too far from work, so I could possibly bike it in the Summer.  But I am quite glad I won't have a really long commute.

Has anyone else on here considered changing car (or a different new car) or even moving house due to gas prices?

[ArticSteve]

Not so much cars, but other motorized sports.  I noticed boat traffic was way, way, down.  I didn't bother launching the jet skis this year mainly because of gas.  Snowmobiling is gonna take a big hit if prices don't fall.

[UmroAyyar]

Regular routine hasn't changed. I drive a 4-cyl 2007 Camry, it doesn't bother me much. Its pretty much essential commute to work, school for my wife and I, shopping and occasional jaunt through the backroads reminds us there's more to life than the concrete jungle.

I may have thought differently if I was spending time idling on the highway in rush hour.

[prufrock]

We have been trying to drive the 3 more than the Pilot, but honestly we can go 2-3 weeks on a tank so we don't need to ration too much.

I'd hate to be doing a 100-150 km round trip commute in our Pilot each day.

This summer we also saw a lot fewer American RVs coming through and more motorcycles. I won't complain about that, as the RVs can really plug the highways.

Lots of my neighbours were taking their trailers out to campsites and dropping them there all summer rather than paying the gas to haul them all over the place. There are plenty of used RVs and trailers available cheap right now too.

[Schmengie]

I live close to work so my daily commute is only about 11 kms, and that's going to the other side of town and back. Hell, I live close to everything - shopping, theaters, Timmie's, even my favorite hiking trails are only a few minutes away. A tank of gas can easily last us 2-3 weeks.

We're a little bit more careful about planning our trips these days, but other than that we haven't made any real changes. 

I've also noticed that RV traffic is substantially lighter , but there seem to be more cars on the road than ever.

[Mitlov]

I live 15 miles from work.  I briefly experimented with going there on my motorcycle, but I found that the extra time I lost suiting up and unsuiting was worth more than the $2.50 I saved each round trip.  Really, I've only noticed two differences:

(1) We're less likely to travel to a far-away store like Costco to save money on groceries or other goods, unless there's a lot of money to be saved.

(2) I'm more likely to bring work home on a weekend instead of going into the office for a couple hours.

[tpl]

No change in the last year since we moved.  We have two cars which we did not while living in TO but it is very rare that we are both driving somewhere separately. We don't commute and both cars are reasonably economical.

[sailor723]

I find myself driving my wife's Maxima a little more and letting the SRX sit unless I need the cargo space. Although that's at least as much to do with the Max having really low milage compared to what's allowed on the lease. I did notice a lot less power boat traffic on the river this summer and far fewer US RV's on the roads. (The 30hp/2.5 litre per hour diesel in my sailboat makes me feel pretty smug when I look at some of the power boats at our club with twin 454's )

[wing]

Only change is my pocket book

[ovr50]

No changes really. Both our commutes are brief and relatively easy.

Probably replace the HL in the Spring with something a bit smaller and more fun; but that would happen regardless of gas prices.

[safristi]

apart from my first few years in Canada......Don Mills  to Downtown commute on the DVP...less congested back then...and i was single and loved driving the MGB everywhere....i've had the luxury of living close to work,several times.....so much so that i've walked,pedal biked,motorbiked and even cross country skied to work for the major part of the last 25years (I must have Carbon Offsets coming out tha WAZOO eh!!!!).....no real changes here...Millie is thirsty around town and a Premium Sucker,but great on holiday trips...the Ranger is no gas sipper, but it uses old potato peelings and coke .........Back at ya BOBLAW...seeing as OUR GAS is so damn cheap...do ya just do burnouts inna parkin' lot fer fun at lunch...

[EV Dan]

I wont moan about gas prices. It may be not fair, but thats the price we finally have to pay for crapping up the planet for the past 100 years while being too lazy to look for solutions. These prices are the reason for automakers to notice not everyone is a "dubya" cowboy needing an F150, get off their ass and start building smth environmentally responsible. This is also good for economy because today everyone seem to want to buy Ener1 and such stock and there are even websites created specifically to list green collar jobs. Once electric cars are plentiful there will be urgent need to generate more power and providing we have proper env. laws in place it may be suddenly cheaper to use wind, solar, geothermal than worry about nuke safety and waste disposal. So yes these gas prices are tough on my pocket now (I drive a lot for work) but if they help to enjoy a better tomorrow so be it.
BTW there are lots of alternatives to everyday driving - bicycles, bikes, e-bikes to name a few. People just find cars the most convenient but for some reason those are usually the loudest moaners. 

[huota]

We used to have two cars in the family, but recently sold the gas guzzling Volvo S60. The decision was mainly driven by the fact we do not really need two cars, and that gas price hovers around 1.50 a litre where we live.

[dr_spock]

We still own two small cars.  Don't have any plans to move closer to work. 

[brou]

I'm glad I bought an Echo 3 years ago. I'm going a bit slower on the highway (~105) and I am careful to accelerate slower. However I did a very bad tire choice a few months ago when replacing my summer tires and that is costing me 0.5 to 1 L / 100KMs, which is 10 to 20% more fuel for this car.

When November comes, I will suffer with the RAV4. This little SUV drinks twice like the Echo, but it's much more fun during winter. However, highway with this one will be limited to 100 KM/h.

Now, I know I don't REALLY need two vehicles since I am single, but I like it and for now I can afford it.

[Triple Bob]

Only change is my pocket book

That GTR must have cost you a fortune in fuel...

Personally I haven't changed behaviour yet, but I actually think about the fuel I'm using whereas I never used to think about it at all.  My quest for a V8 sports car might have to be re-thought though!

It sounds like fuel costs are affecting peoples leisure activities more than anything else, same in the UK especially where low costs airlines are leaving people stranded.

I think if I get a sports car again it will be something light and fuel efficient like the Lotus (possibly something S2000ish), you can keep the same level of sportiness if you have a smaller engine, just make the car lighter.  On a good day you could get 7l/100km out of the exige, if absolutely thrashing it you would get 9.4l/100km

 

[Trainman]

We got rid of the Pathfinder for the Forester.  Also not seeing the hunters out this fall that you would typically see.  Other than that, not much.  Semis driving slower is one, but others are still driving fast.

[wing]

I get 25-30L/100km out of my S2000... but I'm thrashing it

The GT-R cost me $80 for 2 days of driving ... yeah ouch!

[Arthur Dent]

I rode my bike to work all summer. The gas pains will hit me as the temps drop though.

[mrthompson]

I changed the spark plugs in the Forka$$ yesterday.  Partly to improve fuel economy, partly to improve driveability.  It has been running like crap in recent days.  I'm driving slower on the 400 series highways lately; 100-110 km/h.  It's relaxing to set the cruise control and allow EVERYONE to pass you.