Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel prices

Anyone know how much further this can go?!? Gone up again today, that's now 86.9ppl ($5.69/us gallon) here. Has now got to the point that I literally cannot afford to run my jeep, going to have to sell it or I'm not going to be able to get to college shortly. When I got it, it was costing me around £45 a week in fuel, that figure's now up to around £75 a week, and it's running more economically now than it was back then.

Figures, spent four years trying to find a car I like. Finally, found it. A little on the greedy side, but not unmanageable. Now a year on, and I'm being forced to sell it thanks to spiralling fuel prices. I'm not pleased by this, really, really like my jeep.

Anyone know anyone looking for a low mileage Lada Niva?

it's getting pretty expensive here too. nothing like over there in Aberdeen of course.

i almost had to sell my car to stay in college after i got a speeding ticket, but luckily my insurance didn't change. insurance on top of gas would've been tough to handle.

good luck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

PS how's the price of diesel over there?

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

My Mazda 626 can do almost 32 miles/gallon. I don't know how common this is (would be nice to compare). I know the *very old and crappy* Toyota we had before could do 22-24 miles/gallon.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

I get $40 mpg in the Toyota Corolla (lately about 38 mpg, because I haven't been driving too careful). Still if you figure what you will lose trading to another car, you may be able to hang on for a bit. My boy complains about his Chevy truck that I let him drive, but the truck is free. If he had to shell out actual money for a vehicle, instead of just gas... let's just say he could drive quite a way on the cost of a different vehicle.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

can you do things to improve its fuel economy ?
put smaller wheels and tires on it.
get street tires with a relativly smooth tread pattern.
drive it slower - tune the engine
drive it less some how

I was behind a woman last night she took 50 seconds to get to 33 mph in a 35 mph zone (I actually timed her)-very annoying.

my 88 grand am gets 28 mpg at 80 mph
and I have aftermarket components to enhance the power of the 2,300 cc dohc 16 valve w41 ho quad 4
I remanufactured the engine not too long ago.
and my job is less than 10 miles from home.
it does not have 5000 miles on it yet
new 3 speed automatic transmission too (with performance upgrades)
I bet I get 32 mpg at 55-65 mph.
in drive it shifts into second gear at 60 mph
0 to 60 in under 6.7 seconds or so.
the lockup torque converter clutch is 11 precent bigger and locks up at 34 mph instead of 40 mph.(anoying untill the car is fully warmed up)
I think the torque converter holds 1.5 quarts less fluid.
now if the paint was as new as the drive train I would be happy.

if I had to pay 5 bucks a gallon for gas I would
drive less and get a motorcycle or some sort of desil car.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

fuel cost here in OKla is aprox. $1.80 per gal.

My FJ60 landcruiser get 12 to 14 mph. been thinking of switching to a cummins turbo desiel Dodge truck. Those are suppose to get 16-24 mpg.

would like to get the smallest bodied desiel version dodge truck. would like to find a extra low milage 89-91 model.

Please PM if you got one for sale.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

did the dodge dakota ever come with a desiel engine ?

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

Diesel is as much or more than high test gas here in Richmond, VA. During the summer it was still cheaper than regular.

Anything to make the engine breath better will help, taking it easy accelerating too to speed. My dad used a vacuum meter and kept that high as possible to keep fuel economy at max. He also had free-er flowing exhaust, K&N air filter.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

Cobb, that's probly due to local popularity of diesel. as far as i know, diesel costing more than gasoline isn't very common outside of the US.

here's a pretty good article i found about gas vs. diesel: Gas vs. Diesel from TruckTrend.com

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

I'm reading this thread with great interest. Those who've seen my past posts on the subject of fuel costs will realize that my feelings are divided on this subject. For the sake of harmony, I'll simply say that I *am* sorry for your inconvenience, Zalendeth. Expensive gas will inconvenience us all - some (much) more than others.

Ah... almost missed the question!

[ QUOTE ]
Zelandeth said:
Anyone know how much further this can go?!?

[/ QUOTE ]

The answer is that there is no limit to how high gasoline can go. The product is finite, and consumption rates are growing exponentially (most recent increase with China). There is no way to keep prices down indefinitely - as we have been doing for a few decades. Compared to the price of a barrel of crude, todays gasoline prices are a huge bargain!

I am sorry to hear that you have to sell your jeep.
Is there any kind of mass transit there that you can ride to and from college?

Try one of the hybrids - the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic Hybrid. It's nothing like your jeep, but it sure beats looking at it and not being able to drive it. You'll still have to fill up at the gas station, just a lot less often.

motorcycle

A vacuum gauge will do wonders for you gas mileage IF you use it religiously IE never let the needle dip in to the red(low vacuum situations).I installed a vacuum gage on one of my first cars and literally doubled my gas mileage by using the vacuum gage to drive by. Someone earlier mentioned someone taking a long time to get to speed and it was bugging them. Jackrabbit starts are the bane of good mileage, drive like you have a raw egg tween your foot and the gas pedal to achieve your best mileage. todays cars do not need to be warmed up for longer than it takes to show oil pressure on your gage if you have one or after the idiot light goes out. Of course there is the old kentucky credit card, a length of hose to siphon your neighbors gas tank to run your vehicle.

I walk a lot. My jeep is parked and I use it for work stuff or when I really needed. If something is within 30 min walk I do it.

Can someone please tell me what a vacuum gauge is? Is it something that you get installed that improves your fuel economy?

[ QUOTE ]
RH said:
Can someone please tell me what a vacuum gauge is? Is it something that you get installed that improves your fuel economy?

[/ QUOTE ]
An internal combustion engine creates vacuum in the intake manifold - the more fuel/air mixture that is allowed in there, the lower the vacuum becomes. (when the throttle is wide open, there is almost zero vacuum) If you have ever been in a car with an instantaneous MPG gauge - that info is most likely coming from a vacuum gage. The gauge doesn't improve economy - just lets you know what is happening so you can make better decisions on how much throttle to use for a given situation.

When a vehicle is equipped with a vacuum gauge, the fun activitiy to keep you entertained on long trips is how high to keep the vacuum, instead of how high to keep the speedo.

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

a vaccuum gage is a meter that hooks up to a vaccuum source with a rubber hose. It measures pressures less than the atmospheric pressure of the earth which is about 16PSI (pounds per square inch). Automobiles create a vaccuum when the cylinders pull down to suck in the fuel/air mixture and then the valve closes and compresses the mixture to explode it. The gauge itself doesn't improve a thing but while driving you watch it and adjust your driving habits according to what the gauge reads it will help you improve driving habits that are more fuel efficient.

ah phooey! I came in second place saying the same thing.
Darrell stop reading my slow mind!

Re: Now having to sell my jeep thanks to fuel pric

didn't we thrash this whole hybrid thing out before? This STUDENT can't aford to save all that gas money by buying a $20K car! he'd never make the money back up! He's not suddenly going from a POS Jeep to such an 'elegant' solution to an 'economic' problem. A cheap used car that gets better gas mileage is really his only choice. Anything else is just so much bruhaha