If gas is $ 5.00 dollars a gallon?

I would like to hear some input. If the price surges uncontrolably what are you going to do about it. Will you cut back driving leaving only essentials, will you look for thriftier transportation, small car , bicycle , car pool. Would you look at an electric vehicle or even attempt a conversion to an existing one. Lots of ways to look at it. Maybe even a small community ran methane plant, or electric generation. Just looking for opinions not to start an argument. thanks

reply to post by smallblockchevy



uhmm, in the netherlands we pay 8,74 per gallon.... so your answer will be: Nothing... we'll still need it

Carpool to the grocery store and that sort of thing would help. But besides that my miles aren't all that much, would just have to suck it up.

reply to post by faceoff85


Well in the Netherlands the rate of exchange is different than USD$ and also, I would imagine we use fuel a lot more on a daily basis.

Now in the event of a $5.00 gallon, I believe most people will cut back on everything, making the economy even worse.

That's just my thought.

I will still drive. Its 8 miles one way, and 8 miles back home for me. Being in my city, its overcrowded sometimes at rush hour traffic, and at night, during summer, downtown, the bad people come out. Worked with aguy few years ago, rode his bike to work one day, came in, unched int he face and bump on his head. bunch of low income late teens ganged up on him just too take his bike! im driving*
But for those in less violent citys..bike is the way to go. I know about engines and oil. No matter how good a car or truk is rated in terms of MPG..yuo cannot avoid city traffic. the constant sitting and burning of fuel in bumper to bumper trafffic, constatn stop signs, car pile up..doing that burns WAY more fuel. an engine was designed to run constant, not run at idle. thats when more carbon deposits build up in the engine, outisde of neglegent care, and cause more fuel loss over time.
kinda wish electric cars were all around us now. come in handy at times like this! electricity is way cheaper than fuel. gas..is old school technology now, and nothing more than a money making scheme. we need, to switch to something more efficient.

reply to post by SkitzoTeeJay


Actually I already converted the 1,68euro per liter to your dollar/per gallon. So my answer is valid. Nothing will change... A handfull of people will try carpooling or using a bike over a car. however it will not be noteworthy.

And to add to your claim of using more fuel. That is true, however these prices are quite common for most of western-europe.

Now when we start talking about the efforts made to buy a car with high mileage, I think western-europe is making more effort in comparison to the US. Guess thats what changes the most.

reply to post by smallblockchevy


Honestly, I would be very depressed. I am a car guy, and I would not be able to use and of my toys anymore. No more Monte Carlo.... that 70 Charger I'm restoring and building a BB for, forget it, might as well be a lawn decoration. I love my carb'd gas hogs. I always fear the gas prices because of this. I barely get 4 mpg with the 84 MC SS...so..... do the math lol.

Well, 2 years ago gas was over $4 and people adjusted as they could. Many turned to public transportation, riding bikes, walking/running, etc. but then, I live in a progressive city that was already working very hard at making alternative transportation available to and (maybe more importantly) a first choice, for the public. For those who don't have such access, it's much more difficult. The far greater concern (IMO) is how prices will affect commercial business.

The bigger concern for me isn't my individual driving because, frankly, I will just have to pay whatever "The Man" forces me to.

My HUGE concern is the cost across the board for transportation of goods that I would buy.

That should be everyone's concern.

Glad I drive a Honda.

Assess 1 line penalty here ----------------->

reply to post by smallblockchevy


Resort to public transportation...

If it remains around 5.00 for a while and I'm talking about diesel we will see rises in cost of everything. That is where the little guy will get slammed. I fill up around twice a month so that will cost me an extra 60-70 bucks a month which isn't the end of the world but with food prices already what they are tacking on even more will hurt. As the poster mentioned we gotta have it we'll just beetch and moan and eat it.

I hate paying $3.39 right now, I'm seriously considering buying an electric car next week.

If Petrol was $5.00 a gallon I would be over the moon and very happy since it would be saving me a fortune in the UK (I generally travel 50 miles each way to work and occasionally 250 miles each way)

However to answer your question, nothing much will happen... I keep thinking the UK will fall back into the fuel strikes of 2000 to try and drive the rip off prices back down, but alas, it isn't going to happen.. but if prices do spiral uncontrollably.. then I can see the specter of a return to the 1970s 3 day work week.

Tho at some point the people will snap...

I think about that too what most people would do. I believe you would find some people carpooling, or riding bikes, but like the one poster said, some places just aren't safe to do that in. Also depending on your commute, riding a bike would just take to long. I think most people would still pay for it, and cut back while complaining.

I thought about what I would do, and honestly, I might try to go old fashion and get a horse. It seems silly I know. and the care & upkeep of a horse is rather expensive, but it would be a nice positive spin on things. Imagine riding your horse to work. I know I would really enjoy that.

Im looking towards a motorcycle for this year. Sucks when it rains but nice when its hot, would be hard for passengers. I live in the country so a traffic jam is waiting for a tractor to pull out a stuck oilfield truck. You cant even make your own vehicle without going through a ton of red tape. Surprised to see the thread take off, keep it coming.

During the high gas prices of 2008, I noticed that some people started car pooling, using transit, scooters, bicycles, etc. The amount of traffic on the road during the weekday commute dropped by maybe 15% to 20%, yet people still managed to get to work, go shopping, and go on road trips. I think if it becomes more expensive to drive, people just plan better and try to get more chores done with one car trip.

As soon as the gas prices dropped, though, all the commuters went back to their old ways. I guess we all love our cars...

We live 17 miles from town.. yes we are out in the country so there is no public transportation at all. Basically our only option is to either move to town or pay for gas. Its pretty simple. as it is we only go to town 2 or 3 times a month to pay bills and to the grocery store. A boring existence for sure but living in the country is worth it. BUT when gas was $4.00 a gallon a couple of years ago they were talking about adding a sir charge for the school buses.

reply to post by RustyShakleford92


damn! 4 MPG???? have you de carboned the engine totaly? checked any valves and valve seals? thermostat? damn!!! get some chevron techron, or gumout regaine..they have the highest concentrations of cleaning agents..poly something another its called. run whole bottle in half a tank, run it near emtpy, replace spark plugs..oil, filter, best one can do..well you could use distilled water, boiled about 24 ozs..let the brake booster line suck it up slwoly or spray into throttle body..proved time and time agian to steam clean carbon form the pistons tops in runa quart of marvel mystery oil in place of a quart of oil..WILL in about 500- 800 miles, totaly clean the insie of the engine of carbon

I feel bad for you that are across the pond, but havent the prices been high always, and your closer to most oil than we are in the us. The cost of food and other related goods was brought up, this will be the demise. $5.00 was just a nice # to put up maybe it will be $6.00. What ever it is it wont be good thats for sure, but there has to be a way to have affordable transportation also, it just isnt there. How many times have you seen a show on nat geo or something like that and there is 4 people riding on a tiny motorcycle., not that we would do that?