Usually the wife, kids and I head out on a 2500 mile round trip every memorial day. This weekend, we're staying home - only postponing the trip to June 22nd.
Gas here in SLC for premium is now $4.00. Pop around you can get $3.89, or a few cents, but $4.00 is here to stay.
I have a 2007 CX7, which I have parked on the side of the house. That gas guzzler gets 14.6 MPG and would cost me $375 a month right now. So I drive my 2008 MX5 Miata instead, which I am averaging 27.5 MPG on - but come winter, I have to go back to the CX7 for a couple months till the lease is due.
Wife's car, the 2007 CX9 needs to be filled up once a week and is costing us about $60-$65 a week, averaging about 16 MPG. Last year, on our annual 2500 mile trip, we got 25 MPG, so our gas costs this June will be around $400-$450 to go those 2500 miles. Not bad, that beats four plane tickets.
This fall my lease will be up on my CX7 (thank God, what a freaking brick) and I will be dumping it for a Mazda 3 5 speed (non turbo) to combat the gas costs.
For the wife, her lease ends next March, and we need the bigger car - but gasoline is seriously eating into our budge. What used to be last year $300-$400 a month in gas costs is now $700-$800 a month. And big gas guzzlers like the CX9 are really hurting the pocket book. I have to make a big decision. Stay with the CX9 and pay the huge gas costs, or go back to a smaller car and save some money.
Gasoline, it's whats for dinner. $4.00 is here to stay. At $135 a barrel for crude, I predict by the end of the year, we will be at $170 or more. Next year, gas will be in the mid $4.00 dollar range. And to lease out a 2009 CX9 that only gets 16 MPG means a huge sacrifice to the family budget. Car companies had better start changing because we are starting to scale back.
Amenities and comfort? Yes, the CX9 has it. But with the lease payment AND the tremendous monthly gas payment, well, there is a chance we may be walking away.
Gas here in SLC for premium is now $4.00. Pop around you can get $3.89, or a few cents, but $4.00 is here to stay.
I have a 2007 CX7, which I have parked on the side of the house. That gas guzzler gets 14.6 MPG and would cost me $375 a month right now. So I drive my 2008 MX5 Miata instead, which I am averaging 27.5 MPG on - but come winter, I have to go back to the CX7 for a couple months till the lease is due.
Wife's car, the 2007 CX9 needs to be filled up once a week and is costing us about $60-$65 a week, averaging about 16 MPG. Last year, on our annual 2500 mile trip, we got 25 MPG, so our gas costs this June will be around $400-$450 to go those 2500 miles. Not bad, that beats four plane tickets.
This fall my lease will be up on my CX7 (thank God, what a freaking brick) and I will be dumping it for a Mazda 3 5 speed (non turbo) to combat the gas costs.
For the wife, her lease ends next March, and we need the bigger car - but gasoline is seriously eating into our budge. What used to be last year $300-$400 a month in gas costs is now $700-$800 a month. And big gas guzzlers like the CX9 are really hurting the pocket book. I have to make a big decision. Stay with the CX9 and pay the huge gas costs, or go back to a smaller car and save some money.
Gasoline, it's whats for dinner. $4.00 is here to stay. At $135 a barrel for crude, I predict by the end of the year, we will be at $170 or more. Next year, gas will be in the mid $4.00 dollar range. And to lease out a 2009 CX9 that only gets 16 MPG means a huge sacrifice to the family budget. Car companies had better start changing because we are starting to scale back.
Amenities and comfort? Yes, the CX9 has it. But with the lease payment AND the tremendous monthly gas payment, well, there is a chance we may be walking away.
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