Ahhh, no time to post today as I’m loading up boxes and putting them in the back of my 16′ rental truck. CRAZY! Next time I blog, it will be from Seattle! Woohoo!!! Just to keep things interesting, I want to see who can guesstimate how much gas will cost me for the trip. Are you up for the challenge? Here are a few facts to get you started….
1) 16′ rental truck from Budget Truck.
2) Chuck Norris can do a hand stand….with his feet.
3) Truck will be 80ish% full.
4) I had a mole that looked like a third nipple.
5) The truck takes regular unleaded gas.
6) I will be driving roughly 1,302 miles.
7) The truck has a 35 gallon tank
I like the color blue
9) I will be towing my 2 door coupe behind the truck.
10) Website says truck gets between 6-10 mpg.
Alright, those should be enough facts for you to make a reasonable prediction as to what my total gas bill will be. My guess is $762.60.
I’d like to pretend that I’ll give the closest commenter a sweet prize like an iPad 2, but let’s be honest, if I could get my hands on an iPad 2 I’d keep it for myself 
So the winner, instead, will have to enjoy a virtual iPad…
So reader, how much do you think I’ll be spending?
{ 26 comments }
Some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations put my guess at around 670, so to be evil, I’ll say $666.
We say $700
Did the truck have a full tank of gas when you picked it up? Do you have to fill it up before you turn it back in?
My guess is $757.33.
I’m going with the Price is Right strategy…
$1.00
My guess is $2.00.
i am guessing high as you are towing a car roughly 4-5 thousand extra pounds and gas is expensive on the west coast i bet its over $900 for fuel alone with about 5 mpg and $3.50 per gallon
$529.00
I’m guessing $842.57. Hope that packing goes well for you! And driving too! those 16′ trucks take some getting used to.
My guess is $882.00 if returned with full tank gas.
$840. Don’t forget to fill’er up before you return it! Unless you were dumb and pre paid the gas into the price of rental.
$827.48
And I’m visiting Seattle this weekend – gas in the city is 3.79/gallon for regular unleaded
Imperial measurements boggle my mind… can’t think!
I hope you don’t return the truck with any more gas then it started with.
Their are two major variables in this equation: The fuel economy of the truck (which has a number of other variables that influence that) and the cost of a gallon of gas.
Looking at the cost of a gallon of gas:
According to AAA (updated on 3/4/11) the average cost of a gallon of regular gas in the following states is:
CA: $3.845
OR: $3.545
WA: $3.543
A 35 gallon fuel tank will require you to fill up between every 200 and 300 miles. That will translate into either 5 or 6 fill ups along the way. Although each fill up is a discrete event, and gas is generally more expensive immediately off the highway, but as a first order approximation you can just do a simple weighted average of the miles traveled in each state by the cost of gas in that state. That would give an estimated average cost of a gallon of gas at about $2.729.
Since the majority of the driving will be done on the highway (where fuel mileage is a bit better because of the minimal need to accelerate from a complete stop every few blocks) and the face that you shouldn’t be facing any major headwinds would help to boost your fuel mileage. Even towing your car, which may add a fair amount of weight to the load, because of the cross-section of the truck and the limited acceleration needed on the highway, won’t be a major drag on your overall fuel economy. So I will assume a fuel economy of 7.5 miles per gallon.
Thus I have your total costs as: $647.35
I should note that it is your fuel mileage and not the gas price that will really impact how much you spend.
At 10 mpg and $3.729/gal: $485.52
At 6 mpg and $3.729/gal: $809.19
At 6 mpg and $4.000/gal: $868.00
So if you really want to try and save some money, slow down to about 60 and accelerate slowly.
$714.50
Count your lucky stars you’re not hauling your worldly possession in Southern Ontario were gas is $1.23/LT… almost $5/gal!!
I think someone guessed the gas bill already, if not who cares! You better check out your mole with a dermatologist! If you never noticed before, it may be a problem. Have a safe trip.
$800 – I feel like people always under budget gas.
Aww, San Diego will miss you! Drive safe & don’t pick up any hitchhikers. Unless they’re stick figures, then you probably should.
1100$
My calculator said 1171, 80 But i’m guessing 1100.
I predict you will have to fill up 4 times en route and one top off upon returning the truck. $648.
I’m betting $1,545! I hope I win that virtual IPad!!!
Lol, I always wanted to move to Seattle (or Portland) when I graduated from college! Congratulations, I’ll live vicariously through your blogging and adventures in your new city
Good luck on your trip. I’m guessing $685!
$850
Can this expense be a deduction on your tax return next year?
If it is not reimbursed, absolutely. And you don’t have to itemize to take this deduction. Save all receipts, and use Form 3903.