Worried About Gas Prices?

This is what I drive. It's a '99 Saab 9-3 turbo. This is not actually my car--mine's a 2-door hatchback--but it's the same midnight blue, same tan leather, same sunroof/moonroof, same wheels. It doesn't get really great gas mileage (18c/26h), most likely because of the turbo. My '88 900S without turbo had a 16-valve 4 cylinder engine that got around 23c/31h. But the '88 really didn't have much in the way of torque in the lower gears, meaning that pickup was a bit lacking when peeling out onto a highway from an entrance ramp, and I had to feed it mid-grade instead of regular like my current car takes.

I had the '88 for 10 years and traded it in for my current one, taking delivery in Nov. 1998, meaning I've had my current car for 7.5 years. I just hit 17,100 miles on it last weekend. A 17 gallon tank of gas lasts me a month. I drive it 5 miles a day round trip to/from the train station, and occasionally run errands in it on weekends, carefully planning my route, so as not to waste time criss-crossing my tracks back and forth across town. Once or twice a year it might make a road trip no farther than 500 miles round trip, but usually more like 300 round trip. I've had to have the dashboard computer/LCD replaced, but even after 7.5 years of ultra low mileage, I still haven't rusted through a muffler or a tailpipe, so maintenance has been inexpensive on this car.

No doubt some clerk at my insurance company keying my annual estimated mileage into their database thinks I'm missing a zero when I conservatively overestimate it at 2500. Actually, unless it's over 12,000 a year, I don't think they really care. But I also have to jot down the current odometer reading on the questionnaire every year, which backs up my estimate.

So let's just say that gas isn't really a major line item among my expenses. NJ has the advantage of being near refineries and doesn't have crazy CA emissions rules or the force fed ethanol-mix that some Midwest states require, so we tend to be insulated from the highs that some states see. However, we never see the lowest prices either, so when gas was 95 cents a gallon when I was in CO one summer, I was still paying $1.10 at home. We pay about average, perhaps slightly less, if I tank up at the Getty instead of an Exxon or a Shell. The Getty is 10 cents a gallon cheaper than anywhere else around, so why not? It may only save $1.70/tank over the bigger players, but that'll get me a Boston Creme donut and a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts, coffee and a toasted/buttered bagel at a deli, or a week's worth of NY Post newspapers.

See why I'm not really that bothered about gas prices? Since I really don't drive anywhere, it's a bit irrelevant. My brother drives a honking big Tahoe, but he drives about as much as I do. Besides, he's in the OKC area, which generally has lower than average gas prices, so it's not really hitting him in the wallet, either.