Donate Car to Charity California, Donate Car for Tax Credit, Donate Cars in MA, Donate Your Car Sacramento, How to Donate A Car in California, Donate Your Car for Kids, Donate a Car in Maryland, Donating a Car in Maryland, Donate Cars Illinois, Donate Old Cars to Charity, Met Auto, Car Donate Lower gas prices could be coming CLARKONOMICS: Gas prices in the lowest-priced markets in the United States could dip below the $3 mark this summer thanks to a variety of world factors both political and practical. Speaking politically, you have France’s election of a new socialist president; the disruption in the Greek elections; and continuing political uncertainty and economic calamity in Europe. All of which lead to a greater likelihood of deeper recessions across Europe, thereby reducing demand for oil and gas. Not to mention that China’s economy is slowing down too! Then from the domestic angle, you have Americans buying more fuel efficient vehicles and driving less. So today we are sitting with the greatest stockpile of oil in the U.S. in 22 years. Wow! Plus, add in to the mix that things seem to have quieted down some with Iran in terms of our going to war with them over their nuclear ambitions, so that is an additional factor loosening up the oil supplies and going a long way to deal with the psychological side of the equation. PREDICTION: How low can gas prices go? Nobody knows. It is a fool’s errand to try to predict…but I’ll be really foolish and say that we will see a better than 50/50 chance that this summer, prices will start at $2.XX per gallon in our lowest-cost markets. Maybe it will only be $2.999, but I believe we’ll see up to a dollar a gallon drop from where we’ve been recently. Fuel-efficient vehicles with the best and worst payback The high price of gas is making a lot of people consider fuel-efficient vehicles. But which ones are worth your money? A new analysis from TrueCar.com analysis shows that my car, the Nissan Leaf, takes 8+ years to make back its cost vs. the Nissan Versa. So I’m looking pretty silly right now! Of course, I didn’t buy the Leaf (or the first hybrid ever sold in America, the original Honda Insight, back in 2000) for return on investment. Instead, I bought these cars as a symbol to get us to think about ways to get independent of foreign oil. If you think the payback on the Nissan Leaf is bad, the Chevy Volt takes 27 years for payback vs. the gas engine equivalent of the Chevy Cruze, according to TrueCar.com! Which vehicles offer payback almost immediately? The third generation Prius, the Lincoln MKZ hybrid and the VW Jetta TDI. In other news, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that fuel-efficient traditional gas engine vehicles are in ample supply. So being able to get one somewhere in the mid to upper teens or low 20s is very possible as a lot of dealerships sit on a 70-day supply of vehicles. In the auto business, a 55-day supply is considered ideal. That’s the theoretical number of cars that if manufacturers didn’t make another, dealers could sell what they have on the lot for 55 straight days. Fifty-five days represents a healthy inventory cycle. When you get up to a 60, 65 or 70-day supply, you’ll find that dealers will be willing to wheel and deal on vehicles that get 30 to 40 miles per gallon on the highway.
#Iklan
