Published: June 13, 2008 08:42 pm         

As the Fourth of July nears, look for gas prices to soar

I can’t imagine writing about anything else this week other than the price of gasoline.

The average price in the nation has hit $4 a gallon.

There for a couple days I thought we might have some relief when a local convenience store in Keyser dropped the price to $3.79, but alas the next day it was back to $3.99.

Prices throughout the region have been significantly different. For the most part, gas in West Virginia and Pennsylvania has been the highest, with Maryland somewhat less and Virginia significantly less.

I can only attribute the difference to the states’ individual gas taxes.

But other increases in recent years have me stymied.

For example, about four years ago when the price of gas was hovering around $2.59 a gallon and there were dire predictions that it would soon go to $3, we had a summer when prices stayed relatively stable. Then came the run up to Labor Day weekend. The tickers at the pumps went up, up and up.

By the weekend there were dealers all across the Eastern Seaboard selling gas at $3 plus a gallon.

Immediately after the holiday, the price dropped again to about $2.79. Not exactly where it had been before but still significantly lower.

Since then, nearly every holiday has seen an increase with a decrease within a few days after, though not usually to the point where it was prior to the holiday.

Oh, I know you are sitting there saying the law of supply and demand kicks in and so the price goes up. I don’t think it’s fair but then I’m old enough to know that life isn’t fair.

My budget planning calls for me to buy a new car in another two years. I’ll definitely be looking at gas savers.

I saw a Web site recently that listed the new Smartcar as being the best on gas at around 45 mpg.

I noticed them in Europe several years ago and was more impressed that their size allowed the driver to park it in some pretty tight places than that it was good on gas. I kind of assumed that it was, however, since gas prices in Europe at the time were already up to $5 a gallon. The prices are much higher there now.

Consumer Reports for July targets gas-saving cars as well as articles featuring gas scams to avoid and other ways to stretch fuel dollars.

The magazine listed recommended cars with the lowest price per miles per gallon.

It’s a different way of comparison.

We all want a car that gets the best gas mileage but if you have to pay too much for the car to begin with, where’s the savings.

In order of price per miles per gallon, Consumer Reports lists Honda Fit Sport (manual) first at a cost of $15,765, an overall mpg of 34 equaling $464 as the price per mpg.

The Honda Fit (base) follows in second place.

Third is the Toyota Prius (at a base cost of $23,780, at 44 mpg for $540 per mpg.

Also among the top 10 are the Mazda 3 (manual), the Toyota Prius (touring), Nissan Versa, Honda Civic (hybrid), Honda Civic EX (manual), Hyundai Elantra GLS and the Scion tC (base).

The Scion only gets 26 mpg at a cost of $17,115 for $658 per mpg.

That’s about where my 2001 PT Cruisers rank in the grand scheme of auto shopping.

But when it comes to used cars, there are a lot of other things to consider as well, including durability.

Consumer Reports also offers the results the best in fuel economy of affordable and reliable used vehicles.

Topping that list under $10,000 is the Honda Insight (manual) at 51 mpg, followed by the 2001-02 Toyota Prius at 41 mpg, then the 2000-05 Toyota Echo (manual) at 38 mpg.

In the $10,000 to $20,000 range, the 2004-06 Toyota Prius leads the list followed closely by the Honda Civic (hybrid) for the years 2003-07, the 2007 Honda Fit Sport (manual) then the 2007 Toyota Yaris. The mpg for the top five of the two lists ranges from 33 to 41.

The cost of driving is only one of many issues consumers need to look at when buying a car.

And the cost of driving also impacts other parts of our lives.

The cost of food has increased because of the increase in the cost of fuel. But I find myself buying more groceries at that higher cost because the market where I shop offers points for discounts per gallon on gasoline.

Paying 40 cents per gallon less to fill up my PT or our GMC pickup makes us feel like we are winning but we aren’t because I’m probably paying the difference for groceries.

Contact Mona Ridder at mridder@times-news.com.