N Judah Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 That's funny. Just get liability insurance, and don't worry about anything else. Or else move to a state that isn't in bed with the insurance industry and don't get anything at all (if you're a good enough driver). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 That's funny. Just get liability insurance, and don't worry about anything else. Or else move to a state that isn't in bed with the insurance industry and don't get anything at all (if you're a good enough driver).What State might that be? I'm thinking none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Sad but true.No, seriously, I am sure there are a few. I will just have to find them.Edit: New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Should have seen those coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 So you're saying things such as high strength steel, numerous airbags, ABS, traction control, and stability control don't make cars safer?Making cars safer doesn't really work. Humans seek an acceptable level of risk. The safer they feel in a car, the more risk they take. To make driving really safe, we should replace airbags with sticks of dynamite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Sad but true.No, seriously, I am sure there are a few. I will just have to find them.Edit: New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Should have seen those coming.And Wisconsin has the highest number of adults who admit in surveys to driving while drunk.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24262192/This is an interesting case of self-reporting. Do people really drink and drive that much more, or are they more honest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Insurance Requirements by StateAlabamaBodily injury and property damage liability20/40/10Alaska Bodily injury and property damage liability50/100/25Arizona Bodily injury and property damage liability15/30/10Arkansas Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/25California Bodily injury and property damage liability15/30/5Colorado Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/15Connecticut Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist20/40/10Delaware Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection15/30/10Washington DC Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist25/50/10Florida Property damage liability, personal injury protection10/20/10Georgia Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/25Hawaii Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection20/40/10Idaho Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/15Illinois Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist20/40/15Indiana Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/10Iowa Bodily injury and property damage liability20/40/15Kansas Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection25/50/10Kentucky Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection25/50/10Louisiana Bodily injury and property damage liability10/20/10Maine Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist50/100/25Maryland Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist20/40/15Massachusetts Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist20/40/5Michigan Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection20/40/10Minnesota Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist30/60/10Mississippi Bodily injury and property damage liability10/20/5Missouri Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist25/50/10Montana Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/10Nebraska Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist25/50/25Nevada Bodily injury and property damage liability15/30/10New Hampshire Proof of financial responsibility, medical payments, uninsured motorist25/50/25New Jersey Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist15/30/5New Mexico Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/10New York Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist, personal injury protection25/50/10North Carolina Bodily injury and property damage liability30/60/25North Dakota Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist25/50/25Ohio Bodily injury and property damage liability12.5/25/7.5Oklahoma Bodily injury and property damage liability10/20/10Oregon Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist25/50/10Pennsylvania Bodily injury and property damage liability, medical payments15/30/5Rhode Island Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/25South Carolina Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist15/30/10South Dakota Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist25/50/25Tennessee Proof of financial responsibility25/50/10Texas Bodily injury and property damage liability20/40/15Utah Bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist25/50/15Vermont Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist25/50/10Virginia Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist25/50/20Washington Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/10West Virginia Bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist20/40/10Wisconsin Proof of financial responsibility, uninsured motorist25/50/10Wyoming Bodily injury and property damage liability25/50/20Might rethink that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Rethink what? If you are driving an old car to save money, just find a state that doesn't have an exorbitant fine for not having insurance and then live there, and don't get in a wreck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 This is an interesting case of self-reporting. Do people really drink and drive that much more, or are they more honest?Probably just a different threshold of what they consider "drunk driving." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 One of jm1fd's missions is to warn others about how unsafe older cars are. He preached the same message to me several months ago when HAIF was having a discussion about cars and I mentioned that I was still driving a 1988 VW Fox. Guess s/he feels the need to warn all of us uninformed folks of the danger we are courting when driving our small, older model cars. Based on the responses so far, several unrepentant HAIFers simply aren't heeding her/his warning.Heed it or not, I don't care. You'll be the one walking around with a steering column in your left nostril 'cause you didn't have airbags, not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 jm1fd,I think what red and the others are basically saying is that regardless of what you drive and how you drive it and what safety features you have; when you get into an accident, there is no guarantee that you're going to come out of it without a scratch. That was the point of the articles I had posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I think what red and the others are basically saying is that regardless of what you drive and how you drive it and what safety features you have; when you get into an accident, there is no guarantee that you're going to come out of it without a scratch.Of course...there are no guarantees in life. It just seems quite foolish not to spend a thousand or two more dollars to get a vehicle which is substantially safer than what was being built in the mid 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Of course...there are no guarantees in life. It just seems quite foolish not to spend a thousand or two more dollars to get a vehicle which is substantially safer than what was being built in the mid 80s.SO? You get people that spend thousands of dollars to make their cars "tricked out" which is likely to get them ripped off. People make their own choices, some of it (and them are) stupid. I agree with you overall, but thats the power of free will. My only wishis for people to have a little foresight when they make their choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millennica Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Heed it or not, I don't care. You'll be the one walking around with a steering column in your left nostril 'cause you didn't have airbags, not me. As others have said, I'm not worried, so I'll thank you to keep your warnings to yourself. Not only are your warnings hyperbolic, they are exceedingly tiresome. Although you say you don't care, you not seem capable of stopping yourself from giving unwanted advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 As others have said, I'm not worried, so I'll thank you to keep your warnings to yourself. Not only are your warnings hyperbolic, they are exceedingly tiresome. Although you say you don't care, you not seem capable of stopping yourself from giving unwanted advice. I will continue to raise the point, when appropriate, that older vehicles are less safe than more modern vehicles. Tiresome though my two instances of raising this point may be to you, it is a point which bears repeating since not everyone will stop to consider that there are safer cars available for not much more money.I suspect you're just mad because I'm interfering with your attempts to prop up the resale value of worn out trash heaps, seeing as how you own one. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 OK, just filled up the tank. Time to do the math and see what good this all did.Previous fill up: 22.36 gallons 380.8 miles 17.03 mpg Current fill up: 15.23 gallons 299.1 miles 19.63 mpg Difference: 2.6 mpg (15.3% increase) That's pretty damned impressive! Like I said earlier, all I have done to get this increase was to change my oil, replace my air filter, air up my tires, and attempt to limit my freeway speed to 62 mph. Obviously, I tried to eliminate jackrabbit starts and stops as well, but not as drastically as you might think. The only other noticeable change is that I turn off the AC when the cab is cool, and only run the fan until it starts to get uncomfortable, then run the AC again. I haven't had the guts to run up and down I-45 at 55mph yet (this is Houston after all), but since 45 is 60 mph in Harris County (65 mph in Montgomery), I may try it in the Harris part. A little refinement in my technique should get me over 20 mpg with little effort. Mind you, I am driving a 2003 Toyota Tundra 4WD with the 8 cylinder engine. EPA estimates on this truck are 14 mpg city and 17 mpg highway, so I would say 19.63 mpg in this rig aint too shabby. 19.6 mpg in a V8 Tundra is very impressive! I once got 20.0 in my 2000 Tundra, but it was a V6 it was over a long rural trip (never thought I would EVER see the trip meter pass 400 miles). I've been focused more on my driving habits recently to see what mileage gains I can achieve. I now drive a 2003 Toyota Camry V6, which the EPA says should be getting 18 City / 26 Highway (21 combined). I usually get 25/26 mpg as I have a good mix of city/freeway driving. I now drive 60 mph on US 290 (when that's possible) and try to anticipate slowdowns/stops so that I can conserve momentum and not have to accelerate as much to get back up to speed. My last tank? 30.5 mpg!! 17% above a normal tank and what EPA says I should be getting. If I can keep that up, it would amount to $25/mo in gasoline savings at the current prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 This website allows you to create an account, input fuels purchased, miles driven (odometer readings), and even find cheap(er) gas.I used it several years back and will start doing so again. Takes all the calculations out of doing it manually if interested:http://houstongasprices.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 This website allows you to create an account, input fuels purchased, miles driven (odometer readings), and even find cheap(er) gas.I used it several years back and will start doing so again. Takes all the calculations out of doing it manually if interested:http://houstongasprices.com/Like TheNiche, I'm rather into spreadsheets. You better believe I have one for this. Yes, I am a dork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Prices seemed to level off, and slightly back down a bit.Maybe a break before the next 50 cent increase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 This website allows you to create an account, input fuels purchased, miles driven (odometer readings), and even find cheap(er) gas.I used it several years back and will start doing so again. Takes all the calculations out of doing it manually if interested:http://houstongasprices.com/If you have start tracking fuel costs... to this level... something is seriously awry. Even if gas prices jump from 3.60 to 4.10... .50 cents... I pay a whopping $5 more per fill up, or $10 to $15 more a month on gas. Is your budget that tight? Gas prices would have to double to over $8/gallon - then I'd start complaining... but then again, I'd still be paying 10% less per fill up vs. my dad's Chevy pickup - at today's prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 If you have start tracking fuel costs... to this level... something is seriously awry. Even if gas prices jump from 3.60 to 4.10... .50 cents... I pay a whopping $5 more per fill up, or $10 to $15 more a month on gas. Is your budget that tight? Gas prices would have to double to over $8/gallon - then I'd start complaining... but then again, I'd still be paying 10% less per fill up vs. my dad's Chevy pickup - at today's prices!I don't "search" for cheap gas other than knowing where the cheapest stations (generally) on my commute are located and stopping there rather than other stations.I focus my "cheapness" on trying to be efficient and just use less gasoline, period. If everyone reduced their gasoline usage by 10%, this thread may not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidegate Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I don't "search" for cheap gas other than knowing where the cheapest stations (generally) on my commute are located and stopping there rather than other stations.I focus my "cheapness" on trying to be efficient and just use less gasoline, period. If everyone reduced their gasoline usage by 10%, this thread may not exist.I was listening to NPR yesterday and they were interviewing people in Chicago who said that the price of gas, and what a candidate said they could do to lower it, would influence their vote. You're electing the single most influential figure on the face of the earth and you'll vote for them because you can't get out of your SUV lease. These are truly troubling times for this nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I'm the guy cruisin at 55-60 mph in the slow lane the past few months. I don't know how people continue to drive 75+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 If you have start tracking fuel costs... to this level... something is seriously awry. Even if gas prices jump from 3.60 to 4.10... .50 cents... I pay a whopping $5 more per fill up, or $10 to $15 more a month on gas. Is your budget that tight? Gas prices would have to double to over $8/gallon - then I'd start complaining... but then again, I'd still be paying 10% less per fill up vs. my dad's Chevy pickup - at today's prices!If you have not noticed gas prices have doubled, really tripled in 5 years.It happened, does not mean that it has to happen in a month, but 50 cent increase in 6 weeks is pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 If you have start tracking fuel costs... to this level... something is seriously awry. Even if gas prices jump from 3.60 to 4.10... .50 cents... I pay a whopping $5 more per fill up, or $10 to $15 more a month on gas. Is your budget that tight? Gas prices would have to double to over $8/gallon - then I'd start complaining... but then again, I'd still be paying 10% less per fill up vs. my dad's Chevy pickup - at today's prices!Whatever. I think these days wherever and however you can save money is cool. As I have mentioned before, I am not the ubber rich like (apparently) lots of other people on this board. I do watch how I spend and lately, I have had to make choices (expounded on before so I do not need to reiterate).If I can save 10 cents here or there per gallon, without a major inconvenience, I will do.Sorry if that irks you.If you have not noticed gas prices have doubled, really tripled in 5 years.It happened, does not mean that it has to happen in a month, but 50 cent increase in 6 weeks is pretty close.Last week I filled up at $3.39 per gallon at Sam's club on Richey. That is about the cheapest. Now I noticed this week that Flying J still has $3.39, but every other station in the area is around $3.45.Gas has generally risen 10 cents per gallon each week for the past several week. That is a big hit to my wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I'm the guy cruisin at 55-60 mph in the slow lane the past few months. I don't know how people continue to drive 75+It's all about gearing and drag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 It's all about gearing and drag.I think it's all really about a fuel-efficient, 4-cylinder engine. Or even three-cylinder:http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2006-0...-car-usat_x.htm (old article, but timely for our discussions).I haven't changed my driving habits one bit. Still driving the hell out of my 4-cycl economy car, getting great mileage. Also, no need to worry about door dings, washing it, theft, changing the oil (it uses just enough oil so that 1 quart in, 1 quart out/consumed on about ~5K schedule - and I am still coming out ahead, even burning oil.) I can drive slow, fast... still about the same mileage. No need to drive like grandma on the freeway. Full speed ahead (for me)...There are plenty of other places in your budget you could cut, to get that meager $25 to $50 savings per month... plus, you wouldn't have to "worry" so much with all that entering of data, tracking, line charts, and pie graphs in Excel. Gas prices jumped from $3.50 to $3.65! The world is going to end. That doesn't mean we shouldn't look for better long term solutions... we should... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidegate Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 It's all about gearing and drag.With the near dominance of automatic vehicles in the US market the use of gears to help control a vehicle's momentum is a quaint memory. I once read that the best, and most efficient, drivers are the ones who use their brakes the least. There's a lot of truth in it - looking ahead to see if traffic patterns warrant taking your foot off the gas, the vehicle loses momentum, and there's less wear on the brakes to bring it to a stop if required . Time and again I'm overtaken by people coming up to a red light who then have to jam on the brakes to stop. Never made a great deal of sense to me, and even less so now. More often than not there's a cell phone jammed to their ear..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 With the near dominance of automatic vehicles in the US market the use of gears to help control a vehicle's momentum is a quaint memory.Huh? Automatic transmissions still have gears. My point was that 75+ MPH doesn't mean a car is getting bad mileage. It's where the throttle has to be to maintain that speed, and that's determined by gearing and drag. My car is as fuel efficient doing 70 in 5th as it is doing 45 in 4th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidegate Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Huh? Automatic transmissions still have gears. My point was that 75+ MPH doesn't mean a car is getting bad mileage. It's where the throttle has to be to maintain that speed, and that's determined by gearing and drag. My car is as fuel efficient doing 70 in 5th as it is doing 45 in 4th.Understood, I wasn't taking issue with you. In any case, regardless of driving habits, automatic transmissions are inherently less fuel efficient than manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Understood, I wasn't taking issue with you. In any case, regardless of driving habits, automatic transmissions are inherently less fuel efficient than manuals.And less fun. I won't buy them.Good point about avoiding braking. When I see a red light coming up I start coasting in hopes that I won't have to brake. Many times a car behind me will become impatient, tailgate, then pass me, only to stop at the light. I often roll past them just as the light turns green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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