If filling up your gas guzzler is eating up half your paycheck, you likely have thought about ditching it for a more fuel efficient vehicle.

Imagine, for instance, the savings if you traded in a Hummer for a Prius!

Well, Edmunds.com, an online provider of auto information, has come up with a reality check. Its online calculator allows you to plug in the make, model and year of your car and what you want to trade it in for. Then it figures if there's a savings or not.

"Car buyers think they can save money by dumping their gas-guzzler and purchasing a gas-sipper," says Edmund's Philip Reed in a statement. "But when you look at the big picture -- total cash out of pocket -- a very different situation is often revealed."

Edmunds uses the example of ditching a 4-year-old GMC Yukon worth $13,483 for a spanking new Toyota Prius worth $21,647. That's an $8,164 difference. If the consumer drives 1,200 miles per month and gas costs $4.07 per gallon, the monthly fuel savings will be $201.34.

Sounds good, but is it? It will take 41 months - more than 3 years - to pay back the extra cost of the Prius over the trade-in value of the Yukon, Edmunds reports.

I plugged in the information on a 2005 Hummer vs. 2008 Prius. As it turns out, there's no cost savings.

Play around with the site yourself. Let us know if you think it useful or not.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

If you plan on speeding in the Atlanta area, you better brace yourself for a fuel surcharge on that speeding ticket you got slapped with, too.

Under the "Here's something interesting about how high fuel prices are affecting us" category, MSNMoney is reporting that speeders in the Atlanta suburb of Holly Springs, Ga., will soon face a $12 "fuel fee" when the motorist is pulled over and ticketed. According to the law, $8 from every fine will go to fuel costs for the police department.

Apparently, the idea has gone over so well with city government types that Atlanta may not be far behind in adopting the practice and other jurisdictions in Florida and California are thinking about it, too.

Continue reading "Nabbed for speeding? Pay police for fuel costs, too." »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Do your eyeballs pop out of your head every time you fill up the gas tank? Are you afraid to look at the price signs to see how much fuel is going to cost you next time you pull up to a pump? Do you need a release for some of that anger?

Settle down, people. I am NOT advocating violence.

ConsumerWatchDog, formerly The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, launched a campaign last week to get you to send a consumer letter to elected officials to let them know what each driver paid for the last fill-up, the price per gallon paid, and the family’s estimated monthly fuel bill.

The idea, CWD says, is to get the attention of "Washington’s elected officials, who rarely have to use their own money at the gas pump. With gasoline prices at or within a penny of their all-time highs, families are at the breaking point, while elected officials are in a bubble until they hear from constituents."

Continue reading "Gas prices got you angry? Good. Tell Congress." »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The high price of gas might make you stop paying at the pump.

Some gas station owners have banned credit-card transactions entirely. Others are charging more for the privilege of paying with plastic.

I have heard of stations locally --- on Falls Road in Hampden, on York Road in Timonium and near Taylor Avenue in Towson --- that have set two different prices per gallon of gas: one for those paying with cash and another for credit cards.

The difference can be as much as 10 or 12 cents a gallon. One of my friends, faced with the prospect of paying nine cents more per gallon, said she got back in her car and drove to another station.

She wisely did not pay the extra fees to use the ATM at the station, which would have charged her a fee --- along with her bank.

Why the difference?

Continue reading "Gas more expensive when paying with credit cards?" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

After ten consecutive days of record breaking gas prices...

... get ready for it...this is big.........you're going to feel sooOOOoooo much richer....

The average cost of self-serve regular in Maryland fell two tenths of a penny today to $4.051 a gallon. According to AAA, this price is 35 percent or nearly $1.06 more for a gallon of gas compared to last year at this time.

AAA found that almost all metro areas throughout the state that are surveyed on gas prices are above $4 a gallon for gas on average. Salisbury is still the lowest in Maryland at an average $3.99 a gallon for self-serve regular gas.

Two-tenths of a penny. Gadzooks. Just think of all I'm saving at the pumps now. Where ever am I gonna spend it all?

But before you get too giddy about gas prices falling again, curb your enthusiasm, please.

Continue reading "Gas Prices Drop... two tenths of a penny!" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Most people probably knew you would pay a premium when you let the car rental place fill up the tank of the car you rented over a weekend. But $8 for a $4 gallon of gas? That's pretty unreasonable.

Now, after the state attorney general's office threatened to sue or fine the companies, the major car rental companies agreed to charge no more than 42 percent more than what local gas stations are charging.

That will cut fill-up rates by more than a third, but it will still be expensive, according to the story by Laura McCandlish: 

Beginning July 1, the state's eight major rental car companies will charge customers returning cars in Maryland no more than 42 percent over local pump prices. Hertz, the largest rental car company, agreed to charge no more than 35 percent more - or $5.40 when pump prices are $4 - or a $10 flat fee.

Hertz now charges BWI customers $7.99 a gallon, the highest in Maryland and around the country, Gansler said.

Hertz announced this week a nationwide program beginning July 1 to charge market rates plus a $6.99 service charge to refuel.

But even with this agreement, making refueling rates among the lowest in the nation, you save the most money if you pump it yourself, consumer experts say. 

Continue reading "Renting a car? Refuel it yourself." »

Posted by Liz Kay at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Remember way back when gas prices were almost $2 a gallon and people were really mad and said they'd stop driving as much? Maybe they'd walk or bike more and stop taking so many trips? But that didn't really happen, right?

Well, noted consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow of Golden Gate University says that as consumers prepare themselves for another big spike in gas prices (some areas are close to $5 a gallon as that photo from a Chicago station shows), this jump will finally "mark a tipping point in the way that consumers psychologically respond to gas prices and begin major shifts in behavior."

Our prior optimism about prices eventually falling allowed us to avoid changing our behavior in the hopes of a decline, Yarrow says. But now, she says that we consumers have wrapped our brains around the fact that prices aren't just temporarily high, but that prices are continuously rising and the days of seeing low gas prices are over.

Faced with that realization, Yarrow says we'll have to decide to devote more of our income to gas or we're going to find ways to reduce our consumption.

Continue reading "A Tipping Point for Gas" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

 
June 11's timely Urban Word of the Day (courtesy of Urban Dictionary) is

hypermiling: driving techniques and car mods aimed at increasing your gas mileage to the absolute max. Often practiced with a Toyota Prius or other hybrid vehicle.

Yoshi is hypermiling cross country this week. He is trying to go from Chicago to LA on one tank of gas!

The hypermilers in my story today were able to eek extra miles out of each gallon by making simple adjustments that frankly most driving instructors would approve of: driving at the speed limit and accelerating and braking gently, keeping tires inflated and decreasing other demands on energy such as idling, air conditioning and heavy loads.

And the savings eases all the pain sometimes felt from the rude gestures from their fellow motorists, although most hypermilers say they stay to the right and yield to faster drivers.

But on a week like this one, how do hypermilers survive the heat without AC?

They minimize it. Here are tips from Wayne Gerdes, of cleanmpg.com:

Continue reading "Hypermiling and air conditioning" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

As of today, Maryland, like 23 other American states, is home to $4+ gas, AAA Mid-Atlantic reports. The higher prices can be found in the Washington suburbs and Hagerstown.

Gas Prices as of June 10, 2008

(Self-Serve Regular)

Continue reading "Gas prices more than $4 in Maryland" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Middle River Baptist plans to discount gas at a nearby gas station by 50 cents a gallon for three hours on Monday.

It's a strategy we told you about earlier --- how churches, noting the anxieties surrounding fuel costs, are offering free or low-cost gas as a kind gesture to consumers.

These offers generally stand with no strings attached and few limitations (they'll only fill vehicle fuel tanks --- no portable ones) ... but if it convinces a few drivers to check out Middle River Baptist to check out a Sunday service, they won't say no.

Here's the details if you want to go help yourself to the offer: 

Continue reading "Bless this cheap gas" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

 
According to this story, more Marylanders "staycationed" over Memorial Day instead of traveling this weekend. Traffic was down on the Bay bridge and at toll plazas along I-95; hotels were not booked despite lovely weather on all four days.

Well, Budget Travel has compiled a list of deals designed to lure you out onto the open road by overcoming the gas price dilemma. Many are still in effect for at least June, if not the rest of the summer.

Here are the specials within reasonable driving distance:

Continue reading "More free gas-for-travel ideas" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

It was inevitable.

With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon comes news that gas theft is on the rise.

Although drive-offs have declined earlier this decade since most stations make you pay before you pump, the National Association of Convenience Stores says they’re rising sharply again.

Even worse, the police told msnbc that thieves are getting bolder.

* Using an empty gas can and a siphon, thieves were able to suck 30 gallons of diesel from a bus in a Bethesda, Md., parking lot.

* In Beaver Dam, Wis., “they’re just going to cars at night and siphoning gas out of them,” said Stephanie Lehmann, who said several cars in her neighborhood had been hit.

* Police in Evansville, Ind., said thieves drained all of the fuel this month from seven trucks belonging to a local office of JBM Inc., a metal fabrication chain. They put the loss at $700.

Continue reading "Gasoline theft on the rise" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Still wondering whether you to go road trippin' this weekend? The Sun has an excellent fuel cost calculator to help you gauge how much you'll spend on fuel if you load up the kids for a weekend getaway. (Updated: AAA also has a fuel cost calculator that automatically plugs in estimated distances and fuel costs --- more of a ballpark figure.)

Of course, this doesn't include tolls, lower gas mileage due to AC/idling in traffic, and any number of other contingencies ... like if you add a detour to see Tulsa's Giant Oil Man to your itinerary.

Then again, you could always get someone else to drive ...  

Continue reading "How expensive is your road trip?" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Remember, the free Car Care Clinics organized by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council and the Maryland Department of the Environment are coming up next week and through the month of June.

Check out this list of dates to get a free inspection by Precision Tune Auto Care. 

For more tips on easing your commute's impact on the environment and your wallet, go to www.cleancommute.org. 

Posted by Liz Kay at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

With gas prices running about $3.80 a gallon for regular unleaded, we knew sooner or later that smart businesses would start offering gas deals to coax consumers into choosing them over a competitor. Most of these deals can be found in hotel deals that are trying to lure you away from home.

Check out Expedia which is offering a $50 gas card to travelers who book a stay at a participating hotel for 3 or more nights. You have to book book by May 23, 2008, 11:59 PM Pacific, and complete travel by September 30, 2008.

BedandBreakfast.com has a list of "tanks a lot" deals from b&bs, some of which are offering as much as $50 gas cards for booking a stay. I can't find a Web site for it, but I've seen several news reports that Rehoboth Beach innkeepers are also offering free gas deals.

Benchmark Painting in Kensington, Md., is offering a $50 gas card for any job up to $500 or a $75 gas card for any job over $500. Offer expires Dec. 31, 2008.

Continue reading "Gas deals" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

As promised earlier, here's the list of free car care clinics, organized near you by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, the Maryland Department of the Environment and Precision Tune Auto Care.

The dates below list Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll and Harford county locations. They're working to schedule two more clinics --- one in Baltimore City, as well as Howard County, said Russ Urlich of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. 

The really good news: "after June 1, motorists may go into any Precision Tune location and request the free Clean Cars for Clean Air check-up," Urlich wrote in an e-mail.

He explains that the clinics are "comprehensive yet non-invasive" --- no more probing than checking with a dipstick.

The first one, held in Halethorpe last month, was rained out, so they hope to see plenty of you out there, he said.

For more info, including other "clean commuting tips", check out www.cleancommute.org.

Continue reading "More free car care clinics" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)