The Gas Issue In Today's Economy

[PoisonedAbsinthe]

This question is actually for an article I am writing, as silly as it may seem. But I am studying to be a journalist right now. And every answer will count and will be MUCH appreciated. All answers ARE anonymous, I will simply take the numbers, convert them into percentages, and make a pie chart. As I said as many answers as I can get are appreciated. Thanks for participating if you have!

[Edit] Quick remark here. This is only a hypothetical question. It is as if you have the money in hand to buy the hybrid. There is no need to say "I dont have the money so I will click no" Just click how you feel if you think "Hey I dont have the money but its a good idea So I will click yes" Please go ahead.

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

Considering what I drive right now? Yes.

[PyronIkari]

This question is incredibly skewed and bias'edly worded.

As a poll, it achieves nothing but exactly what the creator of the poll wants it to say.

EDIT: Typo'd "Poll" as "pole"... I just woke up.

[Avairrianna]

As a Petroleum Geologist even I would convert to a hybrid (even though the higher gas prices go the more my salary will go up once I graduate BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!)

[PoisonedAbsinthe]

Considering what I drive right now? Yes.

Hahahahaha I know right? My mother just got rid of a 22 MPG SWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTT 1993 Convertible Chrysler Lebaron (RARE COLOUR might I add.) For a 14 MPG AVG 1992 Gas eating Ford Bronco.

I will stick with my 23 MPG 1981 Classic, I have a BMW 320i.

[G.I.R]

Hybrid?  No.  Especially with the problems with of the early Honda Hybrids and their batteries / Loss of milage.  Plus I do a lot of Freeway driving and wouldn't get as much of an advantage.
I miss my 1988  Chevrolet Sprint (Suzuki Forsa) that got up to 52 miles per gallon.

[Junon]

For the foreseeable future, I wouldn't buy a hybrid. There are many factors as to why I wouldn't.

1. Design. Hybrids in general are pretty unattractive to me, although a step up from electric cars of the 90's. I care as much (sometimes more) about my car's appearance as I do it's performance and functions.

2. Political. I'm quite anti "ists", as in I deplore activists, environmentalists, all those groups of people that form something that ends in "ists". I'm not going to allow a bunch of yahoo's persuade me to be environmentally conscious because they think humanity is actually important enough to doom this world. The only thing doomed here is humanity's comfort and survival. The fact that a vocal minority is able to pull some political strings to make global *changes* I don't agree with, aggravates me. So I prefer to do the opposite (or just as I have always been doing) and put in my part into this collective environmental damage -- to say I in my old age, "I was there when we destroyed the world!"

3. Costs. My current car was under $16k (good job at haggling prices at dealerships), already it's quiet efficient in gas as it is, can get up to 650 miles on a full 13.2-gallon tank in the right conditions (such as long distance traveling, from here to L.A. and back some), going up to 49MPG. I know people who own hybrids who bought into the thought of cost savings because of gas, little did they know they'd actually be saving much less than they thought. On top of that, they paid a much higher price for their hybrid with a comparable non-hybrid car with superior performance and features costing thousands less. At our current rate of usage (comparing their car to mine), it would take them about 30 years in yearly gas savings to actually make up the cost difference of their $25k hybrid vs. my $16k speedy standard car. By then we will either be dead or have completely different cars with (perhaps) different fuel technologies.

I am not interested in long-term money saving in that manner. "But you can save $300 a year in gas!" I -- and my cash -- do not experience expenditures in yearly increments. If I could prepay everything in life first and know for a fact that it will always be accurate so I can enjoy my savings NOW, then a hybrid would make much more sense to me. But to wait several decades for the savings to really be noticeable, no thanks.

My car and I survived $4.75/gallon gas a few years back because of smart driving and good planning, and I was making significantly less back then. I'm sure I could easily survive $6/gallon gas if that ever hits. Beyond that will be a different story however.