Dan's Papers -January 9, 2009

While the Treasury Department continues on its course, meting out enormous sums of money to automakers and car loan lenders, the terminally ill industry has already been getting a super-sized bail out from another development: cheap gas.

With prices now as low as $1.49 a gallon (not on the East End, of course), the $25,000 Prius, with it's gas mileage of about 50 mpg, isn't as compelling as, say, a used Jeep Cherokee for $12K that gets 17 mpg. Cheap gas could mean a renewed interested in lower-priced, gas-guzzling SUVs. After all, when a full tank hovers around just $35, filling up becomes much less dramatic.

How much of an impact low gas prices will actually have on stimulating auto sales remains to be seen - after all, not many people are thinking about buying a car these days. Not to mention, no one knows how long gas prices will stay around $2.00/gallon. But what it surely is doing, in two-car households, is motivating people to choose luxury over economy.

My driveway is home to a silver Grand Cherokee and a black Subaru Outback wagon. The former gets about 15 to the gallon, the latter, around 25. Last summer, when a gallon of gas in the Hamptons neared the $5.00 mark, I would insist that the person who had to drive more used the Subaru. Mind you, it's not that my partner and I couldn't afford the higher priced spread. It was a political statement, a semi-boycott of the gluttonous oil industry. But filling the tank a few weeks ago, I realized the cost was half of what I paid during the summer. For some reason, the oil companies had become less greedy.

Quickly, I found myself going that extra mile. I'd take a drive just for the hell of it. Go look at the bay, then the ocean. I didn't plan out errands by town anymore as I had in the summer. There was less traffic and driving became pleasant. Yes, I was an American enjoying my automobile.

I doubt I was alone. I'm sure most people are driving more now, which could ultimately stimulate car sales: Increased usage means more wear and tear means, perhaps, the need for a new car sooner.

The combination of cheap gas and a renewed enjoyment of driving eventually influenced our decision on which car to take on our 1,000-mile holiday trip to Pittsburgh. Originally, we had planned to take the Subaru. It's a little smaller and less comfortable, but with 30% better mileage, it made sense. On a 1,000 mile trip, with a gallon of gas averaging $4.50, filling up the Subaru wouldn't cost more than $180. But the Jeep would set us back around $300. Not to mention, we'd have to stop more often to fill the Jeep, and considering we were traveling with a five-year-old boy and five-month-old golden retriever puppy, we didn't need additional complication.

Then came lower gas prices. Calculating at $2.00/gallon, the difference was a few Happy Meals and Starbuck's stops at best, so we took the Jeep.

Off we went, delighted at the well-below $2.00 price in New Jersey, giddy when we saw that $1.49 sign in Pennsylvania. We had filled up about 100 miles sooner, but I had to pump in a few gallons of that cheap gas, just for the thrill of it. We zipped through the mountains on the PA Turnpike, singing the yodeling song from The Sound of Music (the soundtrack to the trip) as goats and cows grazed on the hillsides. Just outside of Harrisburg we found ourselves lagging behind a black Subaru Outback that was going the speed limit, so we scooted around it. The driver looked like an ex-nun, adding to The Sound of Music theme. She started to flash us frantically. Strange. We had passed in a civilized manner, didn't cut her off. Even if we had, Subaru drivers aren't the vindictive type.

About 10 minutes later, we heard a loud pop! and rumbling drone. "We have a flat! Pull over," I yelled at my partner. The Jeep maneuvered well to the shoulder, and thankfully there was little traffic. We called emergency road service, and just 30 minutes later, a 20-something guy with a thick chain necklace, tattoos and a Harley Davidson t-shirt pulled up in a flatbed. In 15 minutes we were back on track to New Hope for the night.

The next day, we returned to East Hampton and the Subaru, moping in the driveway. The following morning, I got in, ready to take a trip to Sag Harbor. The engine didn't turn over. My imminently dependable Subaru had a dead battery that needed to be replaced. Good thing we didn't take it on the trip, I thought. We would've been stuck in Jersey, looking for a place to buy a battery on Christmas morning.

Then I thought of the black Subaru on the turnpike. Was it a message from the car gods that the Subaru would've prevailed where the Jeep failed? And now the Subaru was acting out becuase it didn't get to drive through the mountains dotted with cows and goats, cross the bridges over mighty rivers, nor dive into tunnels gouged into mountains. We were fair-weather friends to our Subaru, betraying it when conditions improved. And now it was payback - instant carma.