Fuel Protest Starting

[teresa]

looks like the fuel protest is actually gonna start

see link

 

http://www.transaction-2007.com/

 

typical its the day ive arranged to go to east sussex ( can anyone put us up if we run out of fuel pmsl)

[gregers]

ive got a galaxy you can kip in :huh: :lol:

[teresa]

aww thanks your so kind lol

[whitty]

good for them !!! i hope they keep it up they have my 100% support

[mikeohope]

Well they certainly don't have my support.

 

They keep comparing the price in the UK to the price in Europe but they also keep forgetting one vital point. In europe you have to pay to use motorways (granted not Germany) in addition to your annual RFL and the fuel prices are not that much cheaper anyway. I'll check it next week when I am over there for a few days.

 

Simple solution, all those driving gas guzzlers who don't need one get another car. If you can't afford to run it don't drive it!! There is no god given right to drive you know. We all need to change our ways anyway

 

I am serioulsy thinking of ditching the Gal.

 

Reason?

 

Before we got it we really thought we needed it but on reflection I reckon it only gets used between 3-5% of its time for anything over and above what we could ship about in a Ford Focus or smaller. What we really need to do is change the way we use our vehicles. Whats the point of driving a 7 seater all year if you only need it when you go on holiday. I am not saying that fits everybody but I bet a lot of people would read that and think the same thing. I bet most of these MPV's spend the most of the week travelling round the country with one person in them. Is that rational use of a vehicle?

 

I'd be up for buying a car from an organisation that let me swop it twop or three times a year for a bigger vehicle when I needed it and saving a heap of money in fuel costs at the same time.

 

What do you reckon?

[adrianf.]

You say that most MPV traval around with one person inside. Yes thats true with me included but answer me this, why not.

So im driving down the road on my own in my TDI Alhambra when at the traffic lights another guy pulls up on his own in his TDI Passatt.

Out of the two im the one who gets frowned on but WHY.

Same engine (near as damm it) same emmisions (near as damm it) same size (apart from being a bit lower).

People think oooh thats a big car and its going to choke us all, quick find me a tree to hug.

Same with alot of 4x4s that use the same engine as the car version. Loads of BMW X5 3.0d around which people moan about but no one moans about a 530d car.

Dont get me wrong something has to change with the way we treat this planet but it aint all the fault of a MPV with one passenger.

 

Moan over (for now)

 

Adrian.

[mikeohope]

Yes your right, perceptions need to change, but does that guy really need a Passat, it could just be his choice, suppose he is a single guy with no family, couldn't he just only need a Fiesta? If that were the case his decision to drive a Passat would no doubt be a lifestyle choice.

 

I just think there are loads of people driving types and styles of cars that they don't need to. I had an X Trail for a while. Its economy and CO2 were better than many cars but I still got loads of stick so I do understand that.

 

I just think we need to ge things in perpesctive when we compain about fuel. I am not really sure that mile for mile (km for km) our costs are that much higher than the rest of europe. OH yes I know you could compare us to the USA, but what do they care about sustainability. They will only sign agreements that are non binding so whats the point of signing them?

 

Its digressing a lot I know but look at the financial problems the country now has because greedy people borrowed more than they could afford without doing their sums to consider what would happen if the interest rate changed. Its the same with running a car. You shouldn't buy it if you can't afford to run it. Simple economics. And we need to accept that. If you want to choose to run a car like the ones we drive and don't have the readies then may be we have to economise on something else. Its the old saying about having cake and eating it.

 

All I am saying is have a look at our lifestyles. Do we really need 2.8 ltr Auto Gals (or even 1.8di manuals). Some times you have to trim your cloth to suit.

 

Sorry, hard facts of life, it affects the Passat driver as much as the rest.

 

Mike.

[mumof4]

Hmm..what about the people who live in a rural area, with a crappy bus service that costs more to get where they want to go than it would in a car.

 

I think the greedy people as you call them are not the citizens, but the government who can throw so much money away.

 

Yes people borrow money, but in this day and age who doesnt? ( apart from myself as i cant get credit anyway)

 

For people like myself, who cant get credit there is the back street lenders, loan sharks if you will who prey on people who cant get credit anywhere else.

 

Yes some people own cars for lifestyle rather than what they need, but isnt that freedom of choice?

 

I no longer have my gal, and even if i did i wouldnt be able to afford to run her.

 

I have a car through i believe necessity... My youngest is asthmatic and there have been times where i have had to take her to an out of hours surgery, if i didnt have a car i wouldnt of been able to do this, i have a 6 yr old who may have ASD and im gradually loseing count of the times ive been called to the school, with a car i can be there in minutes, walking would take about 20 mins.And if i need to get there quick like i did the other day then 20 mins would have been far too long.

 

I dont think people are being greedy in borrowing money, it is the financial institutions that are greedy and lending people more than people can afford.Who borrows money thinking about the interest rates that may go up in a few months time?

 

Also people get into difficulties if circumstances change.

 

If the goverment actually had decent public transport that ran on time, that was cheaper than running a car then i expect more people would get rid of their cars, but by inflating costs to do with cars, and with a crappy public transport, then what choice do some people have?

 

It is not always a persons choice where they end up living, it certainly wasnt mine to end up where i am and needing a car to be able to get to my kids quick if they needed me.

 

what would hapopen if i had no car, and i was out shopping and my phone rings telling me that my daughter was having an asthma attack? i would not be able to get to her quickly via public transport, but with a car i can be.

[mikeohope]

Hello Maz,

 

OK I can be a bit confrontational and I'm not aiming at anyone in particular certainly not you. To me you seem to be a very just and valid case for being a Gal driver and its a shame that you had to give a car that was of so much use and need to you believe me I sympathise perhaps more than others having been closer to similar situations than most would know.

 

Its just that these days there are so many people who want everything without having the means to buy it and just don't consider what the ultimate implications of it all are. I also blame the banks because they really don't consider who they lend to either.

 

For instance;

 

People who want a foreign holiday to keep up with the neighbours and don't have the readies so they just put it on the Credit Card. Somehow they don't think that they have to pay it back.

 

People who want designer clothes but not the income to support it so it goes on the Credit Card.

 

People who want that tiny bit bigger house or car so they stretch the loan a bit further without thinking "what happens if the interest rate goes up?" Its just not sensible is it?

 

Why have we lost the ability to simply live within our means?

 

Same goes for Cars, yes I have a Gal, to be honest its a bit of luxury, I only have 3 kids and they could all get in a Ford Escort estate given the mileage we do. In fact most of the time it sits on the drive doing nothing as we found its as quick to walk most of the journeys it would otherwise do.

 

I drive 100 miles a day minimum with jsut me in the car, but doing it in a 7 seater would be overkill so I got a smaller car for me. Its still bigger than I need so I don't really complain about the cost of running it.

 

But I am beginning to review whether its sensible to have the cars we do and in the New Year I am make some drastic changes to fit my income better.

 

So of to the Bentley dealer I will go (not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

Thats all

 

 

Mike

[mumof4]

Some very good points there Mike, a lot of people do live beyond their means.

Everything i get i pay cash, if i dont have the money then tough basically.As i literally cannot aford to live beyond my means, this xmas has been damn tight.

 

Once you start living on credit, it can be damn hard to get out of that trap.

[mumof4]

But also consider, you buy an expensive car as at that time you could afford it, something happens and things start getting tight..thats when things can spirall out of control in regards to living on credit, you then apply for credit cards etcc and start living on them...i can see how it all spiralls out of control and in the end you get that deep into debt you just cant do anything apart from go under.

[mk2vr6]

yep, I'm gonna be downsizeing some time in the new year, the Galaxy will be going :D as soon as I can find either an R32 or a Dodge Nitro at the right price :D that should save me a few quid? :(

[gregers]

well yesterday my local sainsburys had sold out of diesel,tescos we were queuing down the road and asda had long queues also.

my neighbor filled his van up at asda the night before last went past in the morning and they had dropped the price :(

[teresa]

we never noticed any fuel selling out during our 520 mile journey still paid

[mikeohope]

The reason this protest never ot going was because everyone is out smoking up their credit cards doing their Xmas shopping.

 

That proves that fuel prices are not really everyones top priority as if it was they would be compromising our ability to buy for Xmas.

 

No filling stations around here showed any sign of trouble at all. I filled up on Friday in case their was a problem but wished I hadn't now.

[El Dingo]

Fuel price last week UK - 99.9p to 103.9p per litre.

 

Last week in Ireland unleaded was 25% cheaper, and there are very few tolls (M1 to Belfast is

[mikeohope]

France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland

 

all have tolls plus their rfl is high too