Filling the car.

[curiouswombat]

I just filled the petrol tank of the Octavia at the local garage. It cost £60. It would have taken more, but I stopped at £60.

For my American friends - this is what you would call a compact family car - and it cost me about $120 to fill it with gas.

I think I need a lie-down....

Comments

[sammywol.livejournal.com]

Sing it sister! Our car is teeny but it takes fifty euros worth of petrol to nearly fill its teeny tiny tank.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We are paying about £1.24 per litre at the moment. The Octavia does about 8 - 9 miles to the litre.

[manoah.livejournal.com]

Holy Crap!

I noticed when I was out and about yesterday that some of our gas stations are at $3.99 a gallon now. We haven't been under the $4.00 mark for ages. It won't last though.

*is grumpy with you*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

S2C has just worked out for me that I was paying $9.30 per American gallon...

The good news is that, for my everyday commute to work, shopping, going to take my Mum shopping etc, this should last me 3 - 4 weeks.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Ouch! That puts my $45 into perspective, for sure.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

According to my husband, this is about $9.30 per US gallon, and works out at about 30cents a mile...

[rincaro.livejournal.com]

Ugh. That sucks. My budget is feeling the pain lately with gas & food prices!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It should last me for about 3 - 4 weeks - so about $120 -$150 per month. Scary!

[jerusha]

Holy freaking cow. I'll remember that the next time I want to complain about gas prices.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

S2C just calculate that this is about $9.30 per US gallon!

[ballena.livejournal.com]

Nightmare.

My Micra used to last for about 3 weeks on £25 of petrol. The MINI seems to be hungry for about £20 a week for the same trips! Eeeek... that's what happens when you go from a 1 litre engine to a 1.6!!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Hmm - the Octavia is a 1.6 too - but heavier. We get about 38 -39 mpg according to the on-board computer.

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

Oh I do sympathize. It costs around that to fill our small truck that is needed for work. We have to fill it about every 4 to 5 days because of the heavy use. This gas gouging is killing us and making certain people quite wealthy. They say "supply and demand" but that is a blatent lie. {{{{hugs}}}} This stress is taking a toll on many people.

Kathleen

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The good news is that it will last me 3 weeks or more. The cost of fuel is quite scary.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

eeep! I'll officially stop whining about $4.29/gallon now-- that's crazy!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

S2C tells me that I am paying more than twice what you are - it is about $9.30 per uS gallon!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

And I feel especially bad for you since our gas actually went down, we paid $3.85 a gallon this morning which is a big improvement from the $4.09 we've been paying.

"pats you on back"

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Some of the big UK supermarkets are reducing prices slightly - but we won't benfit from that.

We have the double whammy that the boats bringing the fuel here have higher and higher running costs as the cost of fuel goes up, and so this pushes our prices up further again...

[opalescence.livejournal.com]

Here in NJ we have some of the lowest prices because of the oil refineries. But it still takes $60.00 to fill my tank. I have a mid-size sedan.

I feel for you. That's just awful.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The good news is that it should last me at least 3 weeks of ordinary use.

Well maybe not exactly 'good' news!

[hobbituk.livejournal.com]

Many years ago when hobbitmum and dad changed their car, hobbitmum innocently mentioned to hobbitdad that she thought the new car had a bigger petrol tank. He asked her why, and she replied that it used to take £10 to fill it up and now it took £15. She wasn't impressed by his hysterical laughter as he spluttered that the tank wasn't bigger - petrol was more expensive.

Today, I have the same size car. It costs me £35 to fill it up. Using hobbitmum's philosophy, the tank must be so big there should be no room for passengers...

It's a small car. My brother (thanks to government legislation regarding child seats) has a people carrier to seat all five of his family. It runs on diesel. Last time I asked him, it was about £75 to fill it right up. Lord knows what it is now.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I think when we first got the Octavia it cost about £35 to fill it.

The car I use for work is a diesel - currently it is costing over £1.30 per litre here!

[wisemack.livejournal.com]

*pats you* That's scary.

Gas here is the highest in the state of Mississippi, but it's down from a high of $4.06 a few days ago. Now it's ONLY $3.89/gallon. And I thought that was dreadful until I saw your post. (((hugs)))

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is scary, isn't it? S2C reckons it is about $9.30 per US gallon!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Mine was nearly £50. Problem is new car is sporty and rips away from lights just lovely when you put your foot down...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Now you should be listening to all the advice to drive smoothly and conserve petrol... :~P

[makd.livejournal.com]

Hah! Whether you use Imperial Gallons or American Gallons, the amount to fill is the same expense.

I own a Volvo station wagon. It costs me $60 to fill the tank, and I've been complaining.....Clearly, I've been spoiled.

Most of my neighbors look at my Volvo and laugh. That's because they all have SUV's of various brands, and it costs them about the same - if not more - to fill their vehicle's tanks.

[kicks Volvo, GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Hyondai's collective asses for not switching to solar-powered vehicles.]

[makd.livejournal.com]

Hah! Whether you use Imperial Gallons or American Gallons, the amount to fill is the same expense.

[kicks self for muddled articulation.]

I meant, regardless of the size of the measurement (imperial gallon, american gallon, litre) the amount of gasoline to fill a particular vehicle's tank is the same. [kicks self again.]

[married-n-mich.livejournal.com]

*Lies down with you*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Moves over - passes you a cushion.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

I went through the expense receipts for each of our employees yesterday. Each electrician has his own work van. The vans used about $1,200 each. Ouch.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is scary, isn't it?

[averageshmoe.livejournal.com]

I have a question. My sister maintains that one of the reasons for higher fuel cost in Europe is that most of it is taxes which are applied to such things as Universal Health Care. Is this the case?

One of the great benefits to my job is it's health care which covers essentially everything. Not due to the generosity of my employers but to the fact that I belong to the strongest union in the United States.

pgavigan

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Quite a bit of it is taxes - but not to pay for the NHS - we mainly pay for that with our National Insurance contributions.

The idea of health care cover being dependant on whether or not we are in work, and whether or not we belong to a strong union, shocks most of us - if the fuel tax was all going to pay for health care most people would consider it money well spent, but as it just goes into general taxes we are less happy about it!

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I've said all along that we Americans really have nothing to complain about. And yet, one hears complaining from us constantly.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

As my mother says - 'it's being so cheerful that keeps us going'.

Although her personal creed is to be 'goll as gaccan' - and the higher the petrol prices the more gaccan we hear!

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. We all do.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is probably still slightly less than using the bus - but only slightly.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Ouch.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a bit of an ouch, isn't it. I think your car is a similar size - and you'll at least be able to smile when colleagues with SUVs and People Carriers are blanching at the pumps.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

We have around £1.20 a litre, so slightly less than you - but it still is quite a shock to fill up isn't it. Mind you my little smart car only needs £26 to fill up and lasts about 6 weeks (or 240 miles)! *pets it*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I thought of you last week - where D-d is on her Shell Step placing have smart cars for their sales staff, with company logos on them - and once a month they take them all out and parade in convoy through Douglas because they catch everyone's eye!

[debris4spike]

Oh I heard yesterday that our fuel is coming down at supermarkets - haven't checked, but hope you get similar deals available ... it is scary!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

None of the supermarkets sell petrol over here - it would cost too much to bring it in, and so they wouldn't be able to sell it at the same prices as on the mainland. :~(

[emmymau.livejournal.com]

You drive a Skoda? Too cool!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is one of these (http://www.tuningmag.net/gallery/index.php?gallery_action=show&gallery=news%2Fskoda_octavia_rs&gallery_cat=&img=nova_octavia_rs_001.jpg&gallery_order=&gallery_offset=&verbose=&vote=on&list=1&gallery_orderby=&idm=4) except that ours is dark red.