Ladies and gentlemen... I've had enough.

As of last week, my Kombi has been sold, and I won't be driving again... at least until i'm a self-made millionaire and i can afford the outrageous petrol prices I've been forced to pay for the last 4 years.

Living in the city, i don't need to drive much, however when it is necessary I've noticed just how much a beating my wallet takes after a visit to the bowser. Not anymore. Bugger it.

Sold the kombi to my brother last week (after he crashed it, he sort of had to). I won't be buying another car for a long time.sorry shell, but you won't be getting another dime out of me.

regards,
Fish

so you are still alive i thought that maybe the govt had caught up wih you and sen you somewhere nice with orange jump suits

The prices aren't that bad...try living over in the UK where a frind of mine has just moved to. We are still cheap as a comparison to there. The worst is yet to come.......

forgot that part... yes I'm still alive! Merry christmas to and a happy new year!

"sorry shell, but you won't be getting another dime out of me."

Given that you probably pay taxes ...... did you realise that 12% of the fuel used in Oz is used by the military? I reckon Shell still benefits......

hes not actually in the military, i am and a few others i was talking about ether they finally caught up with him about his habits or the work for the dole schemes

well fish if you dont want to support the petrochemical businesses, you`ll have to live in isolation like a caveman and a happy new year back to you

I dont know why you are complaining. A kombi isnt to bad on fuel. Try taking a ski boat out most weekends, 70 liters of premium a day lol.

fish man.. long time no hear..
so how ya gunna get to valla then? to party on huh?
hmmm valla comin soon - HOORAY!

We have three cars and have only bought $60 fuel in three weeks (two cars are still over 3/4 full). Walk more, use public transport, ride a bike, car pool, get a job closer to home, and most of all, don't whinge about the price, just don't buy it. I still am amazed at people who buy $30 fuel, and then go into a servo and buy another $30 of smokes, chocolates, softdrinks etc.

P.S. Not aimed at anyone in particular.

I don't care how much petrol cost it wont make me sell my cars. I love driving. Not looking forward to the day when we run out of it all together. I don't have bad vices so I can afford to pay for petrol

fuel in the uk has been over Au$2.50 for ages! i used to run a '96 1.9 diesel passat on home made diesel, it was used veg oil which i got from work and the local chippy etc, yip it was all free! 20+ litres cost me about 60p ($1.50) that was for new filter papers!!
when i arrived in Oz i was soooo impressed withn the fuel prices - i stayed!!

fuel in the UK has been over a pound a liter for a while now hasnt it ?

imagine driving a car like jeremy clarksons ford GT. 3 miles to the gallon. and 4+ pounds per gallon !!

I will still buy Caltex at Woolies...
or Shell.....

I just drive slower on the highway.... lol...

then i can still "Drive" My beetle around town....

Lee

meh, I'm with Rose, I'll never not drive because of prices. I have 3 cars of my own, one uses alot of fuel, the 2 beetles don't, I'm more concerned about rego and insurance costs.....but its my interest, love and hobby so I won't let it get to me....ever!

teacher, mother, secret lover....

weirdo

Back in the 50s
maybe early 60s
I remember a car that had a free wheel lever
so if You were going down hill
You would pull the lever and the engine would be disconnected from the drive wheels....

it may have been early SAABs which were two stroke too.

it sounds Very scarey to Me...

Lee

http://www.superbeetles.com/ 

yes/no

Rover was the most prominent with the freewheel, & Saab had it on their two-strokes for a valid reason, when you were at fairly high revs with foot off the throttle the petroil mixture gave very little lubrication, not a problem on later two-strokes where the oil was injected seperately at critical points & the amount subject to engine speed.
the freewheel was not that scarey - firsly 2 strokes had minimal engine braking anyway & as the freewheel operated the same as a bicycle , as in only when engine is being overridden by transmission or you stop peddling, it was little different to an Automatic in Drive in the highest ratio

Petrol aint getting cheaper and never will. I remember about 10+ years ago at a servo in Victoria when a group of us were headed to Sydney for the 40th anniversary of the Kombi. Petrol was about 86 cents per litre. I took a photo filling up at the servo in disgust at the rip off prices. It hit $1 per litre about 1-2 years later. Everyone was in uproar about it and got used to it. There will come a time when $2 is the norm per litre and eventually it will sound cheap. This is the way it is so we may as well get used to it cos it aint gonna change anytime soon. It was only 3 weeks ago when my notch cost me $40 to fill up the tank. It used to cost me $15 when I started driving it.
It is costing me on average $15 to fill up my Harley nowdays. (its only a 1200cc sportster with the smaller tank). At least I get about 200kms per tank (including severe thrashing and throttle abuse).
As the ACCC can't find any price fixing with the oil companies and a change of Govt. hasn't changed the situation with double taxes etc. Life will probaly go on, people will have a whinge about the price of petrol, nothing will change and the wheels of the world will go round again..........
- Adam

i agree with dvs its rego and insurance costs that are the real killer
up until a month or so ago i had 3 cars on the road luckily im now over 25 but even so at around $700 a year each it made fuel prices something not worth complaining about

i remember 6 years ago i drove from here to SA, at the time av fuel was about 94c and i remember driving thro wilcania and seeing $1.12 and thinking shit!

ive got my mainstream daily driver which gets av 6.8l/100 but i think its becoming obviuos turbo diesel is the way of the future
a mate has just spent $140k on a TD merc
gets average of 5.5l/100 but does 0-60 half sec slower than his VY SV8

perhaps he should have bought 2 more SS commodores instead of the merc and spent the change on fuel for the next 3 to 5 years.

Registering and insuring drivers would be a great idea. I need my 4.0 litres to go and stop when pulling a trailer. It would be good if I could afford to keep another more economical work chariot as well. On a green note I think all cars under 15-1600cc should be rego/tax free as well as bikes less than say 250cc.

I've always seen it as one of these "yes, no & maybe" things.

Getting rid of your car might be viable if you live in the centre of Sydney. Public transport is laid on.
Lee couldn't get rid of his, I couldn't get rid of mine, because public transport in our respective areas is dismal.

I have however stopped driving to work simply for the sake of convenience. I get home a little later on the train.

Prices, well.
I keep hearing a comparison to England's prices. We produce 80% of our own fuel, but our prices are (allegedly) dictated by Singapore.

The ACCC is a waste of air. It's either toothless or corrupt, there is no third alternative.

But having said that, my first job in 1977, was pumping fuel, when service stations actually served you.
The petrol was 25 cents per litre. My smokes were 70 cents a pack, beer was $6 a slab, a paddle pop was 5 cents, & my wage was $34 a week.

Now, my wage is decidedly more, beer is over $30, my smokes are $24, but fuel has only just hit $1.50.
So in the grand scheme of things, it's really not that bad.

Hi

I would rather cut off my legs than stop driving. With higher oil prices some of the oil feilds that were uneconomical to work will now be viable.

Diesels certainly get good economy, but when comparing extra purchase cost on the same model,
Golf 2.0 FSI Comfortline 5 Door 6 Speed Manual $29,990.00 economy 8 litre per 100
Golf 2.0 TDI Comfortline 5 Door 6 Speed Manual $32,490.00 economy 6.6 litre per 100

Every 100ks you save 1.4 litres over the petrol equivalent, then say you do 10,000 ks per year, 10,000/100 = 100, 100 x 1.4 = 140 so you save 140 litres driving a diesel, lets say diesel is 1.60 per litre, that's $224.00 you save and that's not taking into account variation in price between petrol and diesel. Not much of a saving for the $2,500 extra you spent to buy the car in the 1st place?

Diesels also need more frequent oil changes and you need a shower and a change of clothes every time you use a dirty stinking rotten deisel bowser.

I wont even fill my petrol car up anywhere near a diesel browser because the dirty stinking rotten diesel is usually spilt all over the ground.

Steve

yeh i don't like petrol prices either, these days its much cheaper for me to catch the train/bus to wherever I am going but sometimes I just need to take the fasty for a spin...
FISH!!!!! DUUUUUDE!! valla? i hope it doesn't rain this year

As Dr. Phil would say.
"Fish.....What were you thinkin????"

yeah c'mon fish.. get ya s#!t together man

I love my turbo diesel Jetta!

I guess thats because the company I work for pays for it and its running costs including the diesel that goes into it...

...and yes I have been mistaken for a milk truck coming up the road.