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Are us middle class Jeepers going to be (fuel) forcefully priced out of enjoying our Jeeps? [CLOSED DUE TO POLITICS]

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gato

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Are people doing the actual math or just reacting emotionally?

Most JL (and other "pleasure" vehicles) probably get driven less than 12K miles/year. At ˜18MPG fleet average that is like 666 gallons/year.

If the price of gas doubles from say $2.25/gal (good old days) to $4.50/gal (national average now) that is less than˜1,500/year in extra fuel costs.

How much is insurance, finance (or lost investment income on the money), depreciation on a $50K to $70K vehicle, tires, brakes, maintenance, etc? Probably 5 times as much.

Depreciation, for a new vehicle in normal markets, is typically by far the largest component of operating costs. Yet, no one talks about it.
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SlickRickMotoADV

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Are people doing the actual math or just reacting emotionally?

Most JL (and other "pleasure" vehicles) probably get driven less than 12K miles/year. At ˜18MPG fleet average that is like 666 gallons/year.

If the price of gas doubles from say $2.25/gal (good old days) to $4.50/gal (national average now) that is less than˜1,500/year in extra fuel costs.

How much is insurance, finance (or lost investment income on the money), depreciation on a $50K to $70K vehicle, tires, brakes, maintenance, etc? Probably 5 times as much.

Depreciation, for a new vehicle in normal markets, is typically by far the largest component of operating costs. Yet, no one talks about it.
Depreciation only matters if I'm going to sell it, which I won't. Lol.
 

aldo98229

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I believe the answer to your question is yes. Most of the pressure to switch to EVs comes from the rest of the world. Most other western countries are at a higher adoption rate than we are here. The farther we fall behind, the more painful it’s going to be to catch up. Even Saudi Arabia is getting into the EV manufacturing business, and since they largely control the price of oil you can be sure they will do what they need to to make the new venture work. Big oil was the big business for a long time, but it’s hay day is probably over. We have seen disruptions in industry over and over again like……smartphones…….some people were never going to get one. Remember? How about …….Kodak. Remember when they thought that selling digital cameras would hurt there film sales? How’d that work out? How about cassette tape killing 8 track, compact discs killing cassette, and digital killing compact disc. It happens all the time, and the worst thing people can do is dig their heels in and pretending it’s not happening.

I own a gas guzzling wrangler and love it, but I know I’ll have to let it go in the next couple years because depreciation of these kind of vehicles is eventually fall of a cliff and I don’t want to be that guy that’s holding onto a dream that gas will come back down to $10 a gallon.
I agree with all of it with the exception of Wranglers depreciating like a rock over “the next couple years.”

In any given year, only 10% of US households buy a new vehicle; even less right now due to the manufacturing constraints. And the used vehicle market is twice the size of new. So it is going to take America a long time to ditch all its ICE vehicles.

And, if I were to guess, some vehicle segments, like-city use vehicles and small cars, will see EV adoption happen faster than other segments, like trucks and 4x4s.
 

av8or

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I agree with all of it with the exception of Wranglers depreciating like a rock over “the next couple years.”

In any given year, only 10% of US households buy a new vehicle; even less right now due to the manufacturing constraints. And the used vehicle market is twice the size of new. It is going to take a long time for Americans to ditch their ICE vehicles.

And, if I were to guess, some vehicle segments, like city vehicles and small cars, will see EV adoption happen faster than other segments, like trucks and 4x4s.
You are probably right in your assessment. I’m sure the depreciation curve will start out slow, but it’ll get steep exponentially when it does. Just like the adoption curve.
Jeep Wrangler JL Are us middle class Jeepers going to be (fuel) forcefully priced out of enjoying our Jeeps? [CLOSED DUE TO POLITICS] 8A394402-CFDF-42FD-BFD1-19979E623B52
Jeep Wrangler JL Are us middle class Jeepers going to be (fuel) forcefully priced out of enjoying our Jeeps? [CLOSED DUE TO POLITICS] 8A394402-CFDF-42FD-BFD1-19979E623B52
 

Naylia

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In the "bay area" that's probably true. Up here a bit more north there's a handful of Native American owned stations that are FAR cheaper than anything else. Luckily one on the way to one of the OHVs we go camp at, as well as another on 101 on the way to "real Northern California" lol.

Costco is a good option too though.
I'm sure the Nation isn't charging the same tax as most states!
 

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gato

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Depreciation only matters if I'm going to sell it, which I won't. Lol.
When you die (hopefully a long, long time from now), if you took that $60K and invested, your heirs would have say $100K or $200K. Since you spend on the Jeep, your heirs may end up with something that is worth $10K.

So that will matter to the tune of $90K or $190K to them :)

Depreciation (and loss of invested gain) is a silent biatch devourer of $$$.
 

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My wife and I have made adjustments, but the Jeep and weekend adventures wasn't part of it.

1) Subscriptions (Disney+, Apple, Amazon Prime, Ect..): All cancelled. We watch little to no TV so even less leaves more time for family and experiences
2) Pool Service: I can do myself, so we axed that
3) Food: I cook. I shop the perimeter of the store and avoid the middle. Bonus here is we eat healthy. Very little processed foods. In comparison, produce, dairy, and meat is far cheaper and goes further than processed foods or the crap in all the isles
4) Sams Club Membership: Avoid the right and middle, buy select items in bulk
5) Eating Out: All but stopped. Not great for you, expensive, and I swear the quality of the food has dropped. Noticed last time at Canes that the chicken strips were about 1/2 the normal size


With all of that, we have shaved off hundreds of dollars. I do get 55 gallons of gas a month from my employer, so that offsets the costs. But I daily my Jeep and in no world does getting another "car" save a single nickel.
We've done similar except the pool service. Just can't bring myself to cancel that yet, lol.
 
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SlickRickMotoADV

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When you die (hopefully a long, long time from now), if you took that $60K and invested, your heirs would have say $100K or $200K. Since you spend on the Jeep, your heirs may end up with something that is worth $10K.

So that will matter to the tune of $90K or $190K to them :)

Depreciation (and loss of invested gain) is a silent biatch devourer of $$$.
I'm not having kids so that's not really a concern of mine at all. Gas prices impact my ability to drive this far more.

I know most owners have / plan to have kids though. So this might impact them more.
 

Hearhear

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Are we going to be forcefully priced out with fuel costs? That's a question to ask the oil companies. They seem to throttle back refinery operations when they don't like the government. If we had a live tracker of refinery operation activity and output, this would explain a lot of what price we see at the pumps. Wife of an Exxon exec needs to buy an island or an estate in France? Just cut refinery operations in Louisiana and increase profits. Mr. BP exec hates Biden? Cut the refinery output. Don't forget, these oil companies aren't controlled by the US government- they are controlled by insanely rich executives and middle eastern "royals". Wonder why we get screwed so much?
 

smokeythecat

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You don't think so? There's one party that is restricting the production of oil and gas. There's one party that is openly advocating for the elimination of fossil fuels.
So I respectfully disagree that the free market isn't effected by how people vote. I totally agree that there is a lot of disinformation floating around.
I’d be inclined to agree if there weren’t thousands of already granted drilling permits going unused. As I said, there is a lot of disinformation out there.
 

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Uncommon Sense

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Oil is a global commodity. The price is function of supply and demand. One political party is on record wanting higher gas prices to push a green agenda and thus has created the environment for higher prices by enacting polices that restrict supply here in the US.

Companies are not going to invest in production, new exploration, and other capital expenditures if they believe an administration is going to mess up their ROI. Biden killed Keystone on Day 1 of his Presidency. To think that these types of actions don't affect commodity prices is lunacy. Gas prices literally started rising on his first day in office. Most of the increase was well before "Putin's war or price hike."

It is what it is... people are getting what they voted for so really should be no complaints.
 

JLUandCJ-7

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A little perspective when calculating current gas prices:

We should all know by now, a dollar now does not equal a dollar then. That coupled with improvements in fuel mileage means we are still driving relatively cheap. Credit - MarketWatch.

I will take this with a grain of salt though, in that a new car cost $7K in 1980, which is $25K in current dollars, but at least they kill us about half as often now.

I haven't proven anything, but hey, here's a cool graph.

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Pig-Pen

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i have a 3.6 sport. went offroading in big bear last week. approximately 65 mile drive each way, plus tooling around up there. used 1.25 tanks. that's over $100 at $5.40 a gallon (costco) to go offroading for one day. so that wont be happening as often any more, not that ive been going much anyways.

the jeep is not my concern. my gt500 sits in the garage. 12mpg of 91 on a 15 gallon tank doesnt go very far. step on the gas and it goes down even more....

we've been discussing getting a 4xe. we have a pacifica hybrid that we drive 99% of the time. we have a level 2 charger and solar. we dont spend much on gas for it. maybe a tank a month at $90ish. im just leery about 4xe with the problems ive read about. id hate to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere with a bricked jeep. plus, my sport is paid for.... and the resale value has gone down a lot since a few months ago. going to wait to see what the 2023s look like and do more thinking on it.
 

DadJokes

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Futures expectations, lower production, buying more foreign oil (wtf), regulation…. Not friendly toward oil production and the average American.
 
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