Boycott Big Oil?

I didn’t think you knew. I thought you might be speaking from your tailpipe. I guess I was right.

Please, foward to me any Branded gas station that claims not to be selling their “brand” of gasoline. I’ll forward the info to the appropriate corporate office. This is not behavior that is allowed. Doubt this??? Call all the big oil companies corporate offices, ask for the legal staff, you’ll very quickly be asked to give the location so that they can take appropriate action.

Can’t you remain civil? I’m not your legal secretary.

PositiveChange; do you live in an area of the US with excessive snowfall, poor roads, and no municpal snow removal? If not, you do not really need AWD or 4WD. These vehicles consume much more fuel than an equivalent 2 wheel drive car; a Corolla had more inside room than a RAV4 and averages over 30 mpg in normal driving.

I do appreciate all the energy-saving investments and lifestyle changes you have made; my family did likewise and has reduced its energy demand by 42% and green house gasses by 45% since 1990, the Kyoto/Al Gore reference year.

I think he is typing on his computer in a room with padded walls.

I know you aren’t my legal secretary. You referred to the law as if you knew it. You opened that door. Now I am asking you to demonstrate your understanding of that law and you can’t. How is that uncivil?

Really, if you want civil behavior, you should practice it yourself and lay off the name calling. You called us unpatriotic because we disagree with you. You appear to be holding me to a higher standard than you apply to yourself.

I live in the far NE. Bad roads in winter yes, and this winter was the worst I’ve seen in 20 years of driving. I wish I had the choice between 2WD and 4WD on my terms, like the old jeep cherokees did. Anyone know if this is being offered in any of the new TDI vehicles in the US?

Positivechange, if your RAV4 is really getting 40% less fuel economy and your driving habits are conservative as you claim this means the vehicle is running poorly and the Check Engine Light MUST be illuminated. Is it?
If it appears to be running fine with no CEL illuminated then you need to go back and figure the fuel mileage correctly, and this assumes your driving habits do not consist of a multitude of 2 mile hops.

I remember the Chinese drug exec that NYBo mentioned. Taught him a lesson in life, huh?
While oil company execs are being arrested and punished for price gouging I also suggest that the police should hit up the Mom and Pop stores in small towns or on isolated stretches of highway where they charge double what Wal Mart charges for a bottle of aspirin.

fueleconomy.gov Look under new mileage estimates, looks like most companies ratings were a bit positive and revised downward.

You are correct, it all started with the PRIUS as I remember. Toyota was singled out as the worst of the bunch. Not sure why. My father gets consistenly almost 40 on his Corolla which led me down the path of the RAV4.

The term speculation has a bad connotation. Agree that $85-$90/barrel would be a price the whole industry could live with and justify frontier and very difficult reserve development.

Unfortunately, the fear of steadily rising oil demand and almost no growth in supply ANYWHERE, as well as a sagging US dollar has made even pension plans and other institutional investors put their money in oil, copper, lead, gold, uranium and other resources which will be needed by a rapidly industrializing third world.

The lack of access to oil reserves held by foreign state oil companies has been mentioned several times on this forum. There are not enough places avalable to drill. Even US additions to reserves in Alaska and Offshor will not be enough to affect the world price!

The morning paper quoted the president of a Russian oil company forecastsing $250 oil, which, he said would cause a world-wide recession, and bring down the price. He did not say to what level.

In the final analysis, the US government has no control over the price of oil; it could forbid all US investors who do not actually use oil, from putting money in, but that would take emergency dictatorial powers. That would still not prevent foreign investors from “speculating” on foreign oil, and thus drive up the world price.

Many years ago the US bought Alaska (Seward’s Folly) from Russia for $57 million, I believe. A HIGHLY SPECULATIVE PURCHASE!!

I know what slander is so I’m not as far gone as you might be. Good luck big talker.

When did I call you unpatriotic? Must have been an interpretation error. Sorry if you thought that, not my statement and not my intent.

At current oil prices all the US off-limit areas are economic to drill! Even the Arctic Ocean. The most promising deposits are very deep in the Gulf of Mexico, and I expect drilling there to start serioiusly soon.

All the East and West Coast offshore, Gulf Mexico, Arctic Ocean, and Alaska Wilerness will produce more oil, but not enough to make the US self-sufficient, unless everyone starts driving small cars and hybrids. That changeover will take at least 10 years.

There are unconventioanl sources such as shale oil which need lots of water to extract. I expect those to be developed eventually.

That’s because they changed the rating system to more accurately reflect real-life driving patterns.

No CEL illumination. I have instead a 3.5 liter 268hp gas hog that was grossly mislabeled. It’s gone back to the dealer 4 times. Always the same story, nothing wrong. Granted it is fast if need be, but the mileage is in the gutter regardless of how conservative I drive. I didn’t realize the V6 was a bigger engine than even the V6 in the Forerunner and Highlander was. I just test drove the 4 and V6 six, looked at the projections and they were only 1 mpg different. It was my mistake. Had I realized I had just purchased a 3.5 liter 268hp V6, well, I wouldn’t have believed the stickers on estimated mileage. Anyway this is off topic. I’m looking forward to driving a TDI vehicle, which by the way, Toyota offers 2 TDI choices in the RAV4 in England, but none in the US. Wonder why???

If you knew what slander was, you would know that slander is spoken. In print, defamatory statements are considered libel.

Here you go again talking out your tailpipe.

Come on. It the emissions standards requiring the changeover to ultralow sulfur diesel. You knew that!

BTW, TDI is a Volkswagen thing, isn’t it?

If you must have AWD, the perfect car for you is the Suzuki SX4, a 4 wheel drive compact SUV with a 4 cylinder engine and fabulous gas mileage. It has a selection of AWD, 2 WD or automatic AWD to come on when things get slippery. And it costs at least $6000 less than that overpowered RAV4 you bought.

Although the TDI will be available in the US next year (it’s already on sale in Canada which has similar emission standards), it will cost considerably more than the SX4, and it does not have AWD, which you say you need.

I took a degree in business administration and several courses in advertising and sales promotion. We always learned that buyers had difficulty deciding between NEEDS and WANTS, depending on their egos, self esteem, financial resources, and security.

The Suzuki SX4 is probably the vehicle you really need, and will enjoy driving in all kinds of weather. And save a bundle over your V6 RAV4.

Yeah TDI is VW. Toyota turbo diesels have the D-4D moniker. As in, the Toyota 2.2L D-4D 140 (or 180) engine in the RAV4.

Please, foward to me any Branded gas station that claims not to be selling their “brand” of gasoline. I’ll forward the info to the appropriate corporate office.

Exxon/Mobil, BP, Shell, Texaco, Hess and Sunoco…That I know of. My nephew works at a gas distribution center in a small town in NY. There is only ONE center for a 50+ mile radius. So ALL of the gas companies get their gas from this one center. I’ve been there watching the finish off a Exxon/Mobil truck and a Hess truck pulled right in behind him.