Article from today's Detroit News, mostly tips on saving gas. The end of the article looks at whether gas is cheaper in Mexico or Canada. (We're about $2.50-2.70 per gallon, and higher in some parts of the country with "boutique" blends)

(The journalist really should have used C$ for Canadian dollars, it's a little hard to tell when he is talking Canadian vs US dollars)

http://www.detnews.com/2005/commuting/0508/16/A02-281754.htm
<<Across the borders


Finally, is it cheaper to gas up in Mexico and Canada than in the U.S.?

Not really.

Both countries are on the metric system, in which one U.S. gallon equals about 3.78 liters.

With the current exchange rate (and it changes daily), the cost of gasoline in Mexico in U.S. currency is about $2.17 per gallon for regular. With a 20 gallon tank (75.7 liters), the cost of a fill-up would be about $43, but don't forget that you also have a border crossing toll of $2.15 each way.

In Ontario, gas is averaging about $1 per liter, which is $3.78 per gallon in Canadian currency. To fill a 20 gallon tank would cost almost $76 Canadian. With the current exchange rate -- where $1 American equals $1.16 Canadian -- that fill-up would cost about $65 American. Plus, you have to figure in the tolls, which are $2.50 American each way.

>>

"Both countries are on the metric system"

They talk as though its a different time zone! :-D

I like it when people mix "country" with "state" though - it sort of leaves out the most important bit of what a country is.

It's 'people'.

<<"Both countries are on the metric system"

They talk as though its a different time zone! :-D
>>

If you are near the border, border crossing is easy and cheap. The toll for me to cross to Ontario is only $5 for the round trip, and they're in the SAME time zone, unlike crazy Indiana, which doesn't use daylight time in the summer. Certainly, Canada doesn't feel very "foreign" at all, Mexico moreso.

While I've gone to Windsor for dinner, I suspect you wouldn't go to France for dinner and come straight back. :) But some Americans certainly need to be reminded of the measurement differences.

It's definitely the people that matter, not the government. Canada doesn't feel foreign at all, unless you go to Quebec. Mexico will feel foreign, unless you have lived your whole life in downtown Los Angeles, in which case the rest of the US will feel foreign and Mexico won't.

"Slough" springs to mind

;-)

Having crossed the US/Mexico border on foot, I don't think I would be tempted to nip across in the car to fill up

It is like stepping into a different world when you cross that border - and nothing to do with the system of measurement used.

Although they *are* metric and thus inferior!

[Huge wink]

(get ready for Danny....)

<<Having crossed the US/Mexico border on foot, I don't think I would be tempted to nip across in the car to fill up>>

You certainly wouldn't just for gas. People do for shopping, dinner, entertainment. But you are right, there is a HUGE contrast between the US and Mexico. I've only been there for business, and if I lived near the southern border, I'm not sure I'd go there much for personal reasons.

Also, the US/Mexico border crossing is busier, slower, etc. I've only done it at El Paso/Juarez, everywhere else, it has been at an airport. But what a zoo!

Re: Gas in US/Canada/Mexico August 17 2005, 1:14 PM



JS
Also, the US/Mexico border crossing is busier, slower, etc. I've only done it at El Paso/Juarez, everywhere else, it has been at an airport. But what a zoo!

metre
You surprise me, nice people, interesting and rich culture, beautiful scenery and when I was there very cheap and safe.

Its amazing where google can lead you....

<<metre
You surprise me, nice people, interesting and rich culture, beautiful scenery and when I was there very cheap and safe.
>>

We had also had plants more in the interior, in Chihuahua, Monterrey, etc. I would agree with you in some of those zones. The border zone is generally nasty, drugs, crime, tourist traps, dirt, etc. Neuevo Laredo is particularly worth avoiding at the moment.

But the "zoo" comment was directed specifically at the border crossing, huge crowds, lines, slow, seemingly disorganized, in a way I've never encountered at airport immigration and customs, on either side.

I have to say I agree with you there John!

I crossed at El Paso/Juarez as well - the officials gave us the wrong forms to fill out, and we ended up accidentally applying for a 300-day visa instead of just paying 50c or whatever it was to just walk around Juarez for a day. The whole fiasco took about 3hrs to sort out.

I've been to Mexico on another occasion and it is a fantastic country, but stay away from those border areas.

Well, here is an editorial advocating that since prices are so high, we should switch to buying/selling gas by the liter.

While we should use liters for gas as part of an overall metrication plan, the reason given is really quite a stupid reason for conversion.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY3NDg0NTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA==
<<
Educational opportunity
Wednesday, August 17, 2005


A LOT of reactions attend the rise in gasoline prices as they approach $3 per gallon: anger, resignation, a perverse sense of relief.

We blame somebody and ask why politicians don't do something about the continued increase in crude oil prices. We rail against our reliance on petroleum and our oil profligacy.

We adopt a fatalistic attitude: We have no other choice but to accept the conditions; if we have a job, we've probably got to drive. Then we say bitterly it could be worse: Analysts have said gasoline prices should be higher if we want to feel what we felt some 30 years ago during the oil embargo, when gasoline prices galloped toward 50 cents per gallon.

However, we should stop dwelling on the negative and concentrate on the positive. We should look at the rising prices as an educational opportunity. It could be a way for us to learn what the world has been asking us to learn for more than a generation: the metric system.

Think what would happen if service stations adopted the European system of pricing and went metric. That gallon of premium at $2.559 would suddenly become 68.5 cents per liter.

Suddenly, all those banks of signs with the various grades of gasoline would stop looking like values on a parabolic curve going to infinity and start appearing more earthly, like candy prices on a vending machine.

Oh, sure, we'd still feel the pain driving away after paying $30, $40 and $50 for fill-ups. But wouldn't the drive up to the pumps be much sweeter? And we'd learn something to boot.>>

"Think what would happen if service stations adopted the European system of pricing and went metric. "


European system? It should read the international system. The litre is used everywhere but in the US.

Perhaps more serious is the fact he converted wrong.

<<Think what would happen if service stations adopted the European system of pricing and went metric. That gallon of premium at $2.559 would suddenly become 68.5 cents per liter.
>>

The correct answer is 67.6 cents per liter.

Put your calculator away John! ;-)

Why - Does he embarrass you because are you incapable of driving one?

Eh?

Now that *is* "dark" !

In British English, do you say that you "drive" calculators?

No!

We "use" calculators to perform the arithmetic form of mathematics.

Mathematics is a plural which shortens to Maths.

P.S. Being Welsh I object to it being called British English as true British is a celtic language. It's English English.

(I'm not too peeved though ;-) )