AAA CAR DOCTOR JOHN PAUL 08/16/2005

August Chat Cars chat: Gas prices

JohnPaul (Moderator)
11:52AM The Car Doctor is in. Trying to save money on gas don't fall for those fuel savers, most will just waste your money and may even reduce your vehicle fuel economy

boom
11:56AM is gas ever going to go back down?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
11:57AM boom, We may see some relief in the fall as the driving season winds down. In the short term it doesn't look like it.

boom
12:02PM Is regular gas going to break the 3 dollar barrier soon?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:03PM boom, I think $3.00 may be the magic number that people may find too hard to accept. At this point I don't see it. What I will say is we may see $3.00 before we see $2.00

Ami
12:04PM Does the quality of gasoline really differ depending on which gas stations you go to? I mean the non-branded ones.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:06PM Ami, To some extent gas is gas, there can be some difference in additive. In fact there is a new standard coming out called "top Tier" that signifies fuel that is rated by vehicle manufacturers as the best. I haven't seen it yet. My rule is if the car performs well in no-name and it cheaper use it.

Andrew
12:06PM Is octane linear? Our cars require 91 octane, I fill at half way point every so often with 89 octane (mid-grade) where the remainder in the tank is 92 or 93 octane thinking it yields 91 octane. Is this sound logic?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:10PM Andrew, sort of. this is the Sunoco type method, mix the octanes out of two tanks. The problem is you can't really do it that well and could be off a gallon or two.

Sam
12:23PM Hi JohnPaul, I paid $2.62 yesterday for gas. It's really beginning to hurt. I can't believe that a low supply is making prices go up. Until recently, it seems no one was really cutting back that much. Do you think this is just price gouging?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:25PM Sam, At the local level I don't think so. The supply wold wide it tight to the point there is more used than produced. It is a close number but close and that is what make the price crazy. That and add threats of refinery fires, shut downs and expanded demand from China and India

Sam
12:25PM Also, which saves more gas, driving with the air conditioner off and the windows down, or the windows up and the air conditioner on?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:26PM Sam at highway speed windows up A/C on, the best milage is windows up A/C off. Around town it doesn't make much difference

George
12:31PM Hi JP, do you think prices will go down after Labor Day? Will prices go back up come winter heating season?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:34PM George, historically that is the way it happens. Since the same crude that make gas makes heating oil. The problem could be if there is a prediction of a nasty winter, then we may see both high gas and oil prices

JC
12:34PM I dont think the price of gas will ever really fall. This is a question of supply and demand. Since demand is ALWAYS high in our society, prices will soar even higher as supply is becoming less.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:34PM JC some people think that the high gas prices are a sign of our economic strength

fenella
12:35PM Do you think the rising prices are encouraging more people to seek lower-mileage vehicles? It seems like I'm seeing a lot of minivans with "For Sale" signs.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:35PM fenella, last month GM and Ford had record braking sales of SUV's and trucks--go figure

RB
12:41PM What's your take on the US govt. quietly allowing higher gas prices in order for the Oil gods to reinvest the money into the market, thus allowing the 30yr. rates to stay low, thus continue to drive the housing market?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:41PM RB too deep a question for me but I'll take any comments

JC
12:41PM economic strength? More on track, do you think Hybrids are worth the money for the fuel economy?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:44PM JC, Hybrids are tough to justify price wise if all you want is good fuel milage. If you want milage and clean air hybrids are a good mix. My take on a hybrid Escape for example is you may need to keep it for 6 years before it pay for itself. The exception may be a Prius if you compare it more to the interior space of a Camry which rather than a smaller Corolla

BMWdude
12:44PM My 2003 BMW 330xi owners manual says I should get 91 octane. Does it really matter? Can I go down a grade? 2 grades? Is it more important to be consistent? Could I use the middle grade, and then every now and then "treat" the car to the good stuff?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:48PM BMWdude, check you fuel economy, it has been my experience that whenever I drop down of octane the engine loses a little power and fuel economy. Electronically the BMW computer can adjust for knock. Recently I road test both the new 06 325 and the Z4 both got better milage with premium

JC
12:48PM If you give me your BMW, I will always buy it the 91 octane.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:49PM BMWdude looks like we have a car connection

BMWdude
12:49PM its yours.

BMWdude
12:52PM Will it hurt the engine or cause long-term problems or risk anything to use the regular octane?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:53PM BMWdude I just looked up the fuel in alldata.com and BMW requires not recommends 91 octane. That what I would use.

JC
12:53PM I'm fascinated and borderline obsessed by the idea of cars of the future. Why don't we have hydrogen powered cars now? Are they unfeasible due to technology, or are gas companies blocking advances in hydrogen? Are they unsafe? Where are my hydrogen powered cars?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:56PM JC at this point it takes more energy to make hydrogen than you get out of it. Once we start to see more commercial use then I think the price will come down. There are reformers on the market that make hydrogen out of gas but that is not really efficient. I have driven a hydrogen car (van) and it was great, but where oh where do you fill up.

fenella
12:56PM JohnPaul, have you seen the Smart cars being imported from Europe by ZAP? They're tiny -- about enough room for two people and a couple of bags of groceries --and I think they would make excellent city cars with low gas mileage.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
12:58PM fenella, I like small and somewhat weird cars and think they are great. The problem is DCX doesn't want to import them isn't wild about ZAp doing it and is ( DCX) losing money on every one.

JohnPaul (Moderator)
01:02PM That is about all for now, if anyone has additional comments or questions email me @jpaul@aaasne.com and tune in to the Car Doctor program on Saturday morning from 9-11 on WJDA am1300 and WESX am1230.

Ronnie
01:02PM Has there been any sign that higher gas prices are causing more people to sell their SUVs or trucks?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
01:03PM Ronnie, not much at all, GM and Ford had their best month last month and the big sellers were suv's and trucks

Andrew
01:03PM Any explanation why premium fuel is always $0.20 more, even when I paid $1.32 for it, regular was typically $1.12?

JohnPaul (Moderator)
01:04PM Andrew, this is a retail situation. Typically at the wholesale level there is about .10 between the two. More profit???