Well as I drove up and down Hwy 78 in Snellville GA , I could not help but shake my head at all the $3-$4/gallon of gas that just yesterday morning, was under $2.50/gallon.

Walmart is the only one who had the guts NOT to raise their price.

The tanker truck guy was filling Walmarts' tanks when I was getting more diesel, and he said there is fuel at the terminals, but since demand was so high yesterday from the panic buying, the stations that ran out work on an allocation system.

So some stations will not get fuel until they allocation number comes up.

Ha Ha shame on us

Maybe this will wake the country up to go for greater efficiency like the oil shortage did in the 70's. Only time will tell.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

I wish it would, but I think we'll need more than $3/gal for it to happen.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I take some solace in the fact that it will cost the owner of an Expedition $hitbox $27.41 to move it 100 miles down the road.

$.27 per mile, just for fuel.

ow. That's like my Chevy Pickup truck. But now that I have my MB back on the road, it's back to diesel I'm cautiously optimistic that my trans rebuild will pay off in the long run. Good idea about driving a little slower - I can do that.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

The speed issue is especially important for the large $hitboxes and vans. My van has to move a ton of air out of the way. Every 5 mph reduction in speed probably gives it 10% better fuel economy. You can't achieve these gains with the M/B, unless your starting point is about 90 mph.

I can, however, document a 5% benefit from slowing the SDL from 70 mph to 65 mph.

You got the trans. all done?? Where's the report??

Well, I'd like to do up a big thing with a lot of pictures and all. But I really am no good at editing the pictures. It's something I need learn. What program to use to crop pictures and add text and arrows to it, etc. Maybe my daughter can figure it out and teach me! Perhaps, I'll think of a good thread title, start with a 1 page writeup and add the pictures later. But summary - It shifts as nice as any MB I've ever driven. It took too long, but I really farted around and had fun doing it. Finding proper info was the hardest part. I made the tools I needed except for a 30mm, 12 point socket (which I should have had anyway)

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Good job. Boy would it be valuable for everyone to be able to rebuild their own automatic!! What's the total parts cost?

If you ever get the writeup done, it really should go somewhere on the web that can do the photos justice. The limit is too small here. Maybe Diesel Giant could host it for you and the photos can be full size.

What YOU said.
A lot of these people financed those gas-sucking beasts. I take solace in the fact that they have to pay for something they can't drive. Good! Now perhaps the road will be safer for the rest of us.

Repo man can't take it though if it ain't got no fuel- wait; that's what flatbeds are for. And what will the bank do when they get it back? Sell it? Will there be somebody dumb enough to buy it? Yes! Probably the same moron who thinks the high price of petroleum is temporary.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

You smashed the nail right on the head there!

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

Well, I guess I'll just have to ride my motorcycle, too bad.

Over here in Kansas City, this morning just about all the gas stations were selling regular unleaded for $2.89. I just came back from my office now and they've since all changed their signs to $2.99. Diesel, luckily, stands between $2.60 and $2.80. I'm so happy to get back to diesel being cheaper than regular unleaded after having it the other way round for several months since October last year. I'm sure it won't last though, but for now, it is nice to see.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

Last Wednesday Houston Chronicle had a feature on a brand spanking new Jeep SUV called Commander, V8, 5000 pounds, 3 rows of seats and a little over $40K. I get a feeling that everyone in this country is aware of ga$ prices and where its going, with a possible exception of Detroit executives, these overpaid exec's are effectively in coma.

Vahe
240D 77/350K

Dang, and the 6.9's brakes are getting fixed so I can drive it again...so much for the trip to Yosemite. I guess 2000 miles a year isn't much even for that beast.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Explanation behind the development of such a gas guzzler in these days of $3+ a gallon is because there exists a significant number of people who need a vehicle that large and would hate to be seen in a minivan. Such people have wallets large enough to at least accomodate the gas prices. They're typically in the higher income levels as those vehicles are expensive to begin with. Furthermore, modest sales numbers are the targets making it even more possible to meet the targets set for sales. Also, the Commander, for instance, is really a stretched Cherokee so development costs were kept at a minimum.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

Don't hold your breath!

Everything is going to increase in price, give the nice people at WALMART a chance!