And you think gas prices are bad here in USA

[LeglizHemp]

I thought you guys might find this funny.
I was on vacation last week on the island of Borneholm, Denmark. After getting off the bus to do some sightseeing my girlfriend and I grabbed some water at the gas station. When we came out there was an H2 Hummer sitting there filling up its tank. It had Norweign plates on it. The price of gas there is 9.55 kroner per liter and the exchange rate is 6 kroner for one US dollar. So gas is about $6.00 a gallon. I was laughing so hard i forgot to get out my camera and take a picture.
I figure a fillup costs at least $240, maybe more. Don't know how big a tank an H2 has.

[nocturnalVX]

Looking up some exchange tables on the web, I came up with this info...

(We'll assume the H2 coasted in on fumes.) The Norweign H2 driver filled up a 121.13 liter tank @ 9.55 kroners per liter for a total of 1156.7915 kroners. $1 = 6.5 kroners, so thats $178 to fill up.

Fill the 32 gallon tank with $2.65 premium here for "only" $85. Yes we've got it good here in America!

Either way, I'm glad our VehiCROSS takes 87 octane, and that we've had good weather so I can ride my Ducati which (although it takes premium) gets much better milage!

[Maugan_VX]

if I lived in Europe, I wouldn't even own a car.

much less an H2.

[yal^]

I am even surprised someone had guts to buy H2 on Bornholm.
That island has almost no traffic. They have better bike trails than roads, and most of the people living there use bikes and buses as primary transportation.


Legliz, how did you like it? I visited Bornholm about 8 years ago and loved it so much I vowed to go back sometime soon. Hasn't happened yet...
They have wicked beaches and Baltic Sea is so warm on this side of the globe... mmm... good...

[thebear54]

WOW...an H2 on a Danish island.....go figure
Must have been the royal family visiting, they are the only ones with enough money to fill the tank and keep an SUV like that running over there. The road taxes alone would be enough to kill the average working person .
Yes that is one of the reasons everyone takes public transportation, bikes, motorcycles and the normal average sub-sub compact car in Europe. My family still lives in Holland and the only time they take their cars out is for family vacations and weekend trips.
John

[nater]

My neighbor has an H2. The transmission blew up in it; he was having trouble getting it fixed.

He lives in the same (model/ size) house I do; I was wondering how (or why) he affords an H2. After talking with his wife at a picnic, I found out they have four children in a 1600 sq ft three-bedroom house. They have 1 child and one baby in the master bedroom with them, and then one child in each of the other bedrooms. I kept asking why they don't finish the basement (for more bedrooms) or buy a bigger house. She was kind of vague in her answers, then she admitted that they only rent the house because they can't afford to buy.

My jaw hit the floor. They are living like rats in order to afford an H2? I couldn't believe it. She then mentioned that they were really tight on money since her husband lost his job. She then said her husband will be doing some security consulting soon. (To me, my first thought is this means he analyzes computer networks and gets paid $150 an hour to define a strategy and implement systems. Not quite!)

She then proceeded to explain that her father owned an Avacodo farm in California, and that her husband would be supplied with night vision goggles. (I guess avacados are frequently stolen). She tried to put a positive spin on it, and I realized what she was really telling me. I replied, "So, is he going to drive the H2 around the farm in the middle of the night in California while wearing night vision goggles?" (me trying not to smirk). "Yup! He's really excited about it. We're leaving in two days."

I'm thinking to myself that these people have completely lost their mind! The gas just to get the H2 to Cali and back from Denver has got to be scary, not to mention that the fuel required to run an H2 all night, every night, at California prices!

Their entire lifestyle, centered around their H2, is a zero-sum game, perhaps even a net loss! They are still paying rent on the house while they are gone all summer, by the way.

I did some more thinking, and I realized the only Suburban in the neighborhood is in the garage of a renter, and the other renter down the street just showed up with a new Expedition, the only one as well. I think these people are absolutely nuts! I think they expect me to be jealous of their fabulous lifestyle!

I now laugh at anyone I see driving a 3-ton beast. It seems to me they are all poor, and getting poorer, in order to afford the giant grocery getter. They always look so proud of themselves behind the wheel but I think they indeed can barely afford to fill the tank. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but the sheer number of the full size SUV's on the road means a substantial portion have got to be living paycheck to paycheck to feed the beast.

Will they ever wise up? Hard to say. Maybe at $6 a gallon, but only time will tell.

Nate