Lowest Gas Prices in Texas - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

Shannon · 04-09-2006, 07:12 AM

This is a website I may have shared at some point, but I thought I'd resurrect it since summer travel season is approaching, and with it increasing gas prices (generally speaking):

For San Antonio:
http://www.sanantoniogasprices.com/

For Austin:
http://www.austingasprices.com/

Other Texas cities:
http://gasbuddy.com/gb_region.aspx?region=TX

CyberCelt · 04-09-2006, 10:52 PM

Here are few other resources:

Alternative Fuels Data Center - fueling stations for the following alternative fuels: compressed natural gas (CNG), 85% ethanol (E85), liquefied petroleum gas/propane (LPG), biodiesel (BD), electric, hydrogen, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Stations are located throughout the United States.
Biodiesel - finding biodiesel is getting easier and the rewards are many. Many Americans have started manufacturing biodiesel at home.
Gas Watch - As they say: Power to the People at the Pump
Gas Price Watch - tracks gasoline prices at local stations from reports provided by consumers

Shannon · 04-10-2006, 10:35 AM

Here's another useful resource related to this topic (fuel economy). I'm reposting this from the hybrid ford escape forums I originally posted it on:

Quote:

I finally took some time to more thoroughly explore the U.S. Dept. of Energy/U.S. EPA's website dedicated to fuel economy --
www.fueleconomy.gov
-- and I must say it's one of the best U.S. government websites I've used.

Within 10 minutes of poking around, I had a page of data comparing our 2001 Ford F-150 4x4 pickup, our 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid (Front-Wheel Drive) and our 1992 Toyota Corolla, across various categories, including: miles per gallon (MPG), safety, cost to drive 25 miles, fuel required to drive 25 miles (1.67 gal in the F-150 to the Escape Hybrid's .76 gal; the F-150 was no surprise, but the Corolla is illustrative of advances in technology in that it's the lightest vehicle in the comparison, by far, yet uses .86 gal to go the same distance -- more than the Escape, even though the Corolla's gasoline engine is actually smaller than the Ford Escape Hybrid's gas engine.)

I wish the website would let you directly link to a side-by-side comparison once you've created it, but you can print it out.

Check it out -- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm
(for compare side-by-side) or wander the other options to lookup the best and worst MPG vehicles and get other data.

Using the aforementioned website, you can compare any vehicle, old or new, from 2006 back to 1985!

Rabbi · 04-13-2006, 02:50 AM

Hey Shannon, New Member here, Whats up?

Anyways, can you tell us your thoughts on driving a hybrid? Give us the good and the bad.

Shannon · 04-13-2006, 11:36 AM

Welcome to Wild Texas, Rabbi!

I love our Ford Escape Hybrid. You can read more in these various entries on my personal website. You can start with Why I Bought a Hybrid.

PROS:

Terrific gas mileage, for an SUV! Want even better gas mileage? Look at the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Toyota Prius or the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
There are a lot of hybrid vehicles available, or soon-to-be (2007-2008) available. This includes trucks, larger SUVs and even "power hybrids" used not to increase fuel economy so much as to increase horsepower (see Lexus).
A new, less stressful way of driving which actually anyone can do in any vehicle and results in miles per gallon savings.
My hybrid has terrific acceleration, in case you're wondering. For some reason, even I was ready to deal with slightly less power. Not in the least. The hybrid "sips gas" when needed, and if you need to floor the accelerator, you do so and the vehicle responds with the power one would expect from a V6 Ford Escape. I know, because we drove a V6 non-hybrid Escape for 10 days in D.C. last year on vacation.
Federal Income Tax Credit applies for all new hybrid purchases, until each manufacturer sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles. Toyota will hit that perhaps as early as this September. Tax credit for our 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid, purchased March 6, 2006, is $2,600.
Terrific manufacturer's warranty, just like you expect from any other vehicle. (8 year, 100,000 mile warranty on all hybrid components from Ford.) And the rest of my vehicle is nearly identical to the non-hybrid Ford Escape (see photos), so in the event of an accident or whatnot, repair parts are in routine supply. All parts can be ordered, of course. [Any problems with my vehicle, now over 1 month old and with over 1,900 miles? None, zip, nada. Love our Ford, love that it's a hybrid and love having the extra space and height of an SUV after 14 years in a small sedan.
10% off insurance for hybrid owners -- if you live in a state served by Traveler's Insurance. (Texas is not, yet, such a state.) However, the insurance premiums on our new 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid are nearly identical to those on our 1992 Toyota Corolla -- very low. Varies of course by your age, driving record, vehicle, insurance coverage limits/deductible, and state.

CON(S):
You will pay a higher purchase price to buy a hybrid, just like other options in a vehicle that also increase price (4x4 vs. front-wheel drive; automatic vs. manual, V8 vs. V6, etc.) For that price, though, hybrid buyers get superb gas mileage/better fuel economy; a fun, high tech vehicle that's fun to drive (there's something embarassingly fun about knowing when parked in bumper to bumper traffic that my hybrid is not polluting or burning any gas, unless it temporarily turns on the gasoline engine to recharge the hybrid's battery.); there are of course other reasons, but these are the simplest.
Aggressive drivers abound, and some seem to get especially rude when they come upon a hybrid (even if the hybrid is in the slow lane, travelling at or even slightly above the posted speed limit). So, I'm back to blending in, having removed a simple, fun window sticker I'd been sporting since day 1 that seemed to invite jerks.
If you aren't in the market for a new car yet, hybrids are still relatively new enough (first available in the U.S. in 2000 -- the Honda Insight) that they're harder to find as used vehicles, and you don't get the Federal Income Tax Credit if you buy one used. So they're not an option for people who aren't ready to buy a new car anytime soon. This will change are more hybrid owners trade in their vehicles for new models.

There's more, but I think I cover most everything I've encountered or thought about thus far in my various GeekHabitat linked postings above.

Shannon · 04-13-2006, 04:56 PM

Relevant to this discussion is the fact that for the past 14 years I've driven a 1992 Toyota Corolla, which we still own and love (so reliable and with great "pep"/acceleration.)

A huge reason I chose the Ford Escape Hybrid is I really wanted a larger vehicle -- easier to haul camping gear and some additional perceived safety from being higher/seeing further ahead in traffic -- but I didn't want to sacrifice the fuel economy I've been enjoying for those 14 years.

I didn't obsess about my fuel economy in the Corolla -- I didn't have to, it was just consistently good and inexpensive to fuel-up (an adjustment I have now that I drive the Escape, with a gas tank that's 3 gallons larger than the Corolla's, and hence costs more to fuel-up when empty.)

From Justin, my husband, who's now using our 1992 Toyota Corolla as his commuter vehicle (instead of the Ford F-150 4x4, which we both love but is obviously less fuel efficient.)

Quote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Moore, Justin W.
Date: Apr 13, 2006 3:03 PM
Subject: Latest Corolla mileage
To: Shannon

Just ran the numbers after filling up the tank at Exxon this morning.

Drum Roll…

27.67 miles per gallon!

Whipee!

Not bad for a 14 year old vehicle, indeed. She's long been paid off, and I can only pray my Ford Escape Hybrid has such a long and successful life. If I have any fears at all, they have more to do with Ford in general than hybrid technology. My Toyota experience has just been stellar. I'm just giving Ford a chance, given that Justin (F-150 Supercrew 4x4), his brother (F-150 Reg. Cab) and father (F-150 Extended Cab) as well as my brother ('05 Mustang) and father ('05 Mustang GT) are having good experiences with their various Fords.

Still, the hybrid sedans out now? 27.67 mpg is a fraction of what they can do. There will always be something more fuel efficient than the next guy on the roadways. No one's single-handedly saving oil, the environment or the air. But if you're already looking for a new car, and have any geeky tendencies, check out a hybrid -- they're pretty amazing technologically. I always hoped we'd have flying cars by "2010"... well, I guess we'll have to settle for hybrids, eh? :cool:

Rabbi · 04-15-2006, 01:09 AM

Thanks Shannon. Hybrid cars have only just started to blip my radar. It is good to have a first hand account.

Alchemist2000 · 04-15-2006, 04:56 AM

I did not realize that there would soon be so many different types of hybirds available until visiting the Dallas Auto Show last week. I don't think it is out yet, but Lexus had one of their hybrid GS's on display. This entire genre of luxury cars that "saves gas and hauls a**" (as one of the links in Shannon's post describes them) was new to me. Apparently the GS hybird will do 0-60 in six seconds and still have gas mileage in the high 20's. It opened my eyes to the fact that hybirds will soon be available in all shapes and sizes. It is not what I am looking for in a car, but if it were not so expensive I think my husband would be seriously considering it.

Shannon · 04-15-2006, 12:16 PM

Prices of hybrids in general should trend downward over time, just as the price of high end computer systems has done so. I remember when I was growing up, a "high end" computer system cost at least $5,000. That remained true for some time, but with the proliferation of home computers and efficiency gains in production, prices declined sharply. A "state of the art" computer can now be had for half the originally accepted $5,000 price tag, or less (I upgraded in January '06 and got mine for under $2,000, but I didn't need to purchase a new monitor.)

Also, while I haven't seen it corroborated anywhere, some think that the purchase price of hybrids will trend downward once the Federal Income Tax Credits for hybrids are phased out. The logic goes that the car manufacturers and dealers view the federal tax credit as a sort of built-in discount, so there's less incentive to adjust costs more in line with non-hybrid vehicles (which have their own host of purchasing incentives, like Ford's downpayment matching -- applies to everything but their hybrid models, etc.)

P.S. The Lexus hybrid, Lexus Rx400h, is already available. As mentioned, it's one of the "performance hybrids" not one of the "fuel economy hybrids"... but it does get better fuel economy than anything else in its class of vehicle.

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