Feelings about the mighty Corolla

The more I sit and think about things, the more I am convincing myself
that I must make sure my family buys "American cars" from here on out.
Shortly after we bought the Corolla, I learned of Toyota's desire to
lobby AGAINST raising fuel economy standards so as to keep it's "halo
effect" of being a car company that has good mileage. That ticked me
off. That, and all these "American car companies" are not doing well.
I think we need to support them with our dollars.

People argue that Toyota and other Japanese and foreign car companies
have American headquarters and employ Americans, but hey, so do the
American car companies. And the foreign car companies probably have
foreign headquarters as well.

Some days I feel so embarrassed driving my Corolla that I just want to
stop by Carmax and trade it for a Chevy Cobalt or something. But the
way they mark up cars and such, I'd get one with more miles on it. But
if I was real about my feelings, that would not stop me.

I saw a used Cadillac on the side of the road, looking about as nice as
our father's, for $3,000. I'm pretty sure the Corolla is worth more
than that...

We might trade the Corolla for an American commuter car, and maybe just
buy a third car for Courtney to drive around town in the daytimes while
the kids are at school, and keep the minivan for weekends or times we
all go out as a family. That minivan gets about 17 miles per gallon if
we're lucky around town. And the dumb trip computer reports inflated
figures like 18.5 to make us feel better, but it LIES!!

We shall see. But currently it appears "team McKane" is on board with
the plan. I must work on Courtney to limit her feelings to American
cars. I think I'm going to be one of those NASCAR loving USA guys from
here on out...

Tank 173 - Cheapest Gas since February 2007!

So I refueled this morning and got 37.57 miles per gallon, which is okay
and all, but I paid $1.989 per gallon at the Wawa near Friendly's on
route 3. Then I looked back to see when was the last time I paid less
than two dollars a gallon, and it was last February 5, 2007, when I paid
$1.939 per gallon. It has been over two dollars for over 20 months.

And apparently there is a BP gas station near my house that offers an
additional discount per gallon when you spend over a certain amount on
groceries at our local Ukrop's grocery store. I heard that gas station
is less than two dollars a gallon as well, but I don't have one of those
credit-card-sized Ukrop's bonus cards to swipe. But my wife does, and
she will or I will go over there at some point to fill up the green
minivan.

This was my 33rd tank of gas this year. Last year, my 33rd tank was
refueled in September, so I am refilling less often this year. That's
nice.

Tank 172 - 31 October 2008

This is some treat-- I paid SIXTY TWO CENTS LESS PER GALLON this tank
than last!

Apparently, the BJ's near my place of work sells gas. So I went there
and waited in a line to fill up, which I haven't done in a very long
time. But gas there was $2.199 per gallon. Ten days ago I paid $2.819
per gallon.

Not too shabby.

I went 427.2 miles on 10.990 gallons, making for fuel economy of 38.87
miles per gallon.

It's been a while since I looked at my historical numbers, and I am
surprised to report that fuel economy for 2008 is lagging behind the
average fuel economy from 2007, 37.42 vs. 37.87. But I still have two
months to see if I can raise that average for 2008 up a bit. Last year,
I had four refills in November and December. I don't expect that'll be
enough to make much of a change for the rest of 2008, but we shall see.

Tank 171 - 21 October 2008

410.4 miles on 10.665 gallons = 38.48 miles per gallon.

This is pretty good, and my last five tanks have averaged 37.31 mpg.

It had been just 7 days since the last tank, which is quicker than
average. My average days between tanks had been slowly increasing due
to my carpooling, but I recently have been doing that less than I would
like, due to life getting in the way of coordinating driving times...

Since gas prices have eased up a bit, I think I am noticing more
aggressive drivers on the roads again. It's most likely just in my
head, but it seems that more people are back to driving with the lead
foot and cinderblock brakes.

I don't understand why some people just always want to speed up to
tailgate right behind the next car, or speed over to the red light. And
I laugh when I catch up at the light, or at the tail end of the same
traffic.

Tank 170 - 14 October 2008

Today I filled up my gas tank at the slowest gas pump on the planet. I
mean, if I didn't keep track of my mileage so retentively, I'd have
stopped and left with 1/4 tank full. I'd rather pay ten more cents a
gallon than stand there and. Wait. For. The. Pump. To. Move. Another.
Tenth. Of. A. gallon.

When it was all over, I had gone 397.8 miles on "10.400 gallons." I use
the term loosely this time because I figured it was filling up so slowly
that the first click plus a small extra squeeze would be enough. So my
fuel economy of 38.25 may be slightly inflated due to my impatience.

I have spent about $180 more on gas so far this year, or about $6.00
more per tank. This is a little misleading because I have also driven
about 1800 fewer miles over the same period as well, which translates
into about 4.5 tanks or about an additional $170.00 or so.

Still, worst case would be an additional $12.00 more per tank in 2008
for an equivalent number of gas tank fillups.

That's about $12.00 per week. With all the hullabaloo over gas prices
just killing the American family, if $12.00 a week is pushing people
into financial ruin, then maybe these American families ought to
reconsider their priorities.

Tank 169 - 2 October 2008

Another tank, another 36.50 miles per gallon. I refueled last October
3, and on that day last year it was my 34th tank of gas. This year on
the 2nd, it was my 29th tank of gas. I had driven about 1800 more miles
at this pint last year, yet spent almost $200.00 less on gas.

So to summarize, I have driven less this year and spent more on gas to
do it.

What a breakthrough discovery.