Off topic: $$$$ Diesel $$$$

V

Valkyrie

New member
Hi Brats,

Well, it happened here today - diesel hit $4.00 a gallon!

When I bought my Dodge 2500 with a Cummins diesel almost two years ago the price differential between gas and diesel was .20 and now it's .70. At the lower rate my great mileage negated the difference and last summer diesel was actually 20 cents cheaper than gas. Also, a year ago I was paying 2.29 @ gallon for a short time. Go figure.

I know it's one of those what-the-market-will-bear deals, but I keep thinking that unrefined gasoline should be cheaper than the refined stuff.

Beyond my own wallet, what is really scary is that the high price is passed along to everything that is shipped by truck, which is just about everything.

How are prices around the country?

PLEASE NOTE! This is just a personal rant about a fuel that is used in my truck to tow my BOAT and not intended to start any political commentary, so please do not take it as one! Just wanted to cover my six and keep this place peaceful.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi Nick,
Pat just told me she saw on the TV that somebody in CA was selling gas for $5/gal today. Ouch. We lived out there for 4 yrs, thought that the higher prices were due to the taxes, but that wasn't correct. We had a refinery about 30 miles away, sure wasn't transportation, either. I guess they just plain charged more.
Gas here in Eastern NC is $3.18 and diesel 50 cts higher if I remember right, yesterday.
I got to thinking earlier today, it probably costs us about $1 per mile now in the boat. I sure miss sailing, when motoring it was 5-6 kts, and 1/2 gal/hr diesel. Of course, just plain sailing only used enough fuel to get out of the creek and back in, less than half a gal.
 
Well, I can say that diesel in San Diego ranges from $3.69/gallon to $4.19/gallon today

Cheapest gas $3.35 at Costco, highest $3.93 at Chevron.

I shudder to think what the prices are at the marina fuel docks....

My personal gripe? Gas lines running from Los Angeles to Phoenix AZ pass through San Diego yet gas prices are always cheaper in Phoenix....

Don
 
It depends on the part of the country. Some places in the North West--Wyoming, Colorado, etc, we have found diesel for less than gas in the past, but looking at current prices, this does not seem to be true.

On 3/3/08 diesel was cheapest in the Mid Rocky region @ $3.57 The highest was $3.82 in New England, Calif was not far behind @ $3.73.

Looking at Pilot's web site--Diesel was $4.04 in New York. Gas was $3.299 at the same stations. Cheapest seemed to be in Wyoming and Oregon.

Please understand this is NOT politically motivated and is just reporting what I find:
Diesel raw costs: 62% refining: 15%, Marketing & distrib: 9% Taxes: 14%
Gasoline Raw: 68% refining: 8% Marketing & distrib: 11% Taxes: 13%

I agree, it seems like diesel should be a lower fraction and cost less to refine--wonder if the suflur removal or other requirements bring the costs up?
 
Here in deep south Texas (where we are close to the platforms on the Gulf), diesel is $3.69 and unleaded is $3.09. If the media would be so kind as to NOT talk about average fuel prices in the US, the price may stabilize... everytime they broadcast the national average, our local gas stations are at that price within a few hours. Go figure?

I'm sure there is no price fixing here... it's simply a coincidence that every station in the area goes up at the SAME TIME. I know someone will tell me this is because they price for the gas that will be coming in, not what's in their storage tanks. Interestingly enough, when the price per barrel drops, there is no rush to lower the prices. I am told that's because they have to sell it according to what they paid, not what the price of the replacement gas will be.

Huh?

DTB*

















* Dirty Thieving Bast... well, you know
 
I don't own a trailer and I pay to have my boat kept at the marina, so I guess I'm paying in other ways, but I drive one of these:

http://www.itiselectric.com/section.asp ... &gal=sedan

No diesel purchases for me and only gas for the boat.

Downsides?

Top speed of 25 mph, range of ~20 miles in the hilly area I live in, very flimsy because it has to be light, and young kids in fast cars are always giving me the single finger salute.

It's not for everyone, but it works for where I need to go and I don't ever look at gas prices at the local station.

What does it cost to charge it?

I don't know exactly, but I do know that since I purchased it I also changed a bunch of light bulbs in the house from incandescent to CFLs and my electric bill actually went down year over year! :lol:

What does it cost?

It's Canadian, so it keeps getting more expensive, but I believe it is in the 5000 U.S. gallons of $4/gallon diesel range. Not cheap!

I'm just sharing and not making a political point. Those of you in the Edmonds, WA area...if you see a red version of this car in the marina, you know I'm around.
 
I fueled my trawler at the Everett Marina (Everett, Washington) fuel dock and paid $3.235 for 140 gallons of marine diesel. Marine diesel in Washington doesn't have any road tax in the price.
 
I was watching c-span a couple of weeks back. I believe the fellow being interviewed was the CEO of Shell. If I understood him correctly the reason diesel fuel doesn't move in lock step with gasoline is because after refining a barrel of oil the demand for the "middle distillates" may be greater or less than the demand for the upper distillates - such as gasoline.

So if the demand for diesel, kerosene, Jet A, etc- yield from the middle of the barrel - is relatively greater than for gasoline - top of the barrel, their prices will move past that of gasoline.
This made sense to me looking back to the years when there seemed to be proportionately fewer diesel vehicles on the road and less business/commercial jet travel.
 
Keeping things in perspective...towing or not, mileage in my 97 F250 PSD is better by a factor of 1.5-1.6 over the same model with a big block gas engine. So, with regular around 3.50 here, diesel would have to hit 5.60 before it was more expensive to drive.

And even then, I'd have more power. And have over 200 miles greater range.

Unfortunately, the mileage advantage seems to be seriously reduced with the new model diesels...can't say I'd buy one if shopping today.
 
Mike,

Just as it is with gas engines, emission systems bring down the fuel mileage. The 08 Powerstrokes have much more emission equipment including a particulate filter in the exhaust pipes. A dealer told me his 08 customers were getting 13-14 mpg!

My stock 06 PSD gets 20-21 on the hiway and averages about 18. I'm with Bill, drive it and enjoy.
 
Da Nag":79hpk24b said:
Keeping things in perspective...towing or not, mileage in my 97 F250 PSD is better by a factor of 1.5-1.6 over the same model with a big block gas engine. So, with regular around 3.50 here, diesel would have to hit 5.60 before it was more expensive to drive.

And even then, I'd have more power. And have over 200 miles greater range.

Unfortunately, the mileage advantage seems to be seriously reduced with the new model diesels...can't say I'd buy one if shopping today.
Click to expand...


Bill, I'm sure you're right! My '01 Dodge Ram 2500 with the 488ci V-10 in it gets 10-11mpg whether it pulls anything or not! On the other hand, it'll pass anything on the road...(Except a gas station) As for more "power", I think my torque is about the same....
 
I just recently drove during a dealer trade a brand new Ford Powerstroke - this acheived with normal driving about 17-18 miles per gallon average. I drove with traffic, used the climate control, but was easy with the throttle. As an FYI, Ford recently dropped the standard 3.73 for 3.55's. Through extensive measures they concluded it changed non of the towing capabilities but increased fuel economy. With 3.55's you should expect to see very realistically close to the 20's for fuel. Diesel is still a great way to go for longevity issues. If you are a short term owner, buy gas - otherwise you will see about a 30% increase in economy when only paying about 10% higher fuel cost. Yes you will have to keep the vehicle for quite a while to re-coop the $7k charge for that engine. I'd be more than happy to share an excel sheet that shows compairisons with anyone just pm.
 
Making airline reservations earlier this afternoon - cheapest fare $319. :D Went offline for a few minutes, came back and the best I could do for the same flights (same site) was :shock: $422. Somebody must have squeeled to the airline that fuel went up! Marcia
 
A person needs to rationalize ( at least in his own mind.) Also it is a good pitch for the wife. Here is my reasoning:
Use this expensive fuel to get to a nice place, (like the Bahamas) shut the engine off. Get out a good bottle of wine, get out the fishing pole and bottom fish or take the dink out and troll. ( with a 2 horse ) spent at least one week in this spot. Go find another nice spot no more than 5 miles away. Go snorkeling and spear dinner. Go back to the boat, drink another glass of wine. Go to bed. At the end off that week, on a week end , go to Nippers and buy BBQ wild hog. (all you can eat) Go back to your boat and go to bed. Do this and never run the boat at more than about 6 or 8 knots. Force yourself to do this for at least 2 months so you get your moneys worth for paying the fuel to get there and the cruising permit.

Even a retarded cave man like me can afford to do this. I think I could rough it like that for about 6 months at a time and have it cost less than staying in a camp ground here in Florida. That is no Marinas and not to many meals out.

Now I should point out, that me other half is not quite so frugal minded as I am. :wink :cocktail :cocktail

Plan is to head out on the 20th of this month.
captd
 
Captd,

Those are some of the wisest and most profound words that I have heard in a long time! Well, at least since Bill noted last week that fuel is probably cheaper right now than it will be in the future.

Be sure to have some cracked conch and a cold one for me while enjoying a beautiful Bahamian sunset.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
2007 Ford F250 4x4 crew cab, 8' bed. We have 12,000 miles on it and are averaging 13.7 mpg combined city/hwy. Not quite what we expected, but are hoping it's just not "broken in" yet.
 
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