What do prices at the pump have to do with prices at the used car lot? They actually tend to mimic each other. Higher gas prices tend to cause drivers to want to spend less out of pocket on their automobiles. That means rising demand, as well as rising prices, for used cars—fuel-efficient used cars especially. Used car prices spiked last summer as gas prices soared, and then spiked again earlier this year as the national average neared $4 a gallon. Now that gas prices are retreating, relief is also in sight for consumers in the market for used cars.
A week ago, a federal agency announced its latest forecast for gas prices, which are expected to remain stable through the summer, averaging under $3.80 nationwide. While the overall average may indeed stay fairly flat, prices in individual states could fluctuate dramatically. That’s just what’s happened in the past week, with prices in one state [...]
Let’s not jinx it or anything, but gas prices have suddenly declined more than two weeks in a row, to the point that drivers were actually paying more for gasoline a year ago than we are right now.
Is all that classic macho car chatter about V8s, horsepower, and “muscle” disappearing? Now, amid $4 gas and government requirements for cars with better mileage, car manufacturers are pumping their own tires regarding how small—and fuel-efficient—their vehicles’ engines are. That goes even for the supposedly most macho automobiles of all, SUVs and pickup trucks.
It’s been a wacky year thus far for gas prices. The cost per gallon usually retreats in the slow-demand month of February, but this year, prices rose. Not because of a sudden increase in demand, mind you, but for a host of other reasons that brought about assumptions that the national average would easily top [...]
Don’t rev your engines in celebration just yet. But even though Memorial Day is several weeks off, and even though gas prices tend to rise through the onset of summer, some experts are saying that prices at the pump have already soared as high as they will, at least through the near future.
Well, this doesn’t exactly bode well for the future of hybrids, now does it? Last year, when just 2.2% of all cars sold were hybrids, even the people who had previously decided to buy hybrids weren’t likely to purchase hybrids.
In the past week alone, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Chicago and the surrounding areas has soared by a startling 18¢, reaching all-time highs of $4.67 within the city and $4.51 in the suburbs.
Plenty of drivers are worked up about the cost of gasoline. In a recent survey, 85% of Americans said that the government should take “immediate actions” to rein in fuel prices. But while there’s no denying people are agitated and eager to find someone to blame for prices at the pump rising 18% since December, [...]
With each passing month, and with the average gallon of gas rising 1¢ more each day, consumers are turning more and more to fuel-efficient cars. The average new car sold in February got 23.2 mpg, up from 22.9 mpg in January and 21.4 mpg in February 2011. While drivers are increasingly opting for cars with [...]
There are now four states where the average gallon of regular has passed the $4 mark, and five other states and Washington, D.C., are expected to be averaging $4 per gallon very soon, possibly this week.
