Gas Prices Just Jumped Overnight… Is It Time To Sell Your Truck?

Gas prices just jumped again — and drivers are feeling it.

In this episode of the Mic Manifestation Podcast, listener Carlos writes in asking why gas prices suddenly jumped 40 cents overnight and whether it’s time to trade in his Chevy Silverado V8 truck for something more fuel efficient.

Ben shares his own story about commuting to Downtown Los Angeles, driving a Ford F-150, and eventually trading it in for a Honda Accord to save money on gas.

We break down:

• Why gas prices suddenly increase
• How global conflicts (like tensions involving Iran) impact fuel costs
• Whether politics actually controls gas prices
• If switching to a smaller car or electric vehicle makes sense
• And the real financial cost of driving a truck every day

Is it time to rethink what we drive?

Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Have you ever pulled up to the gas station, looked at the price, and thought, wait, wasn't it cheaper yesterday? Now imagine driving a V8 truck, filling up every couple of days, and overnight the price jumps 40 cents. That's exactly what one listener is dealing with right now. So the real question becomes Is it time to give up that truck you love so much? Just to afford your commute? Let's talk about it, baby. Thanks for tuning in. Mike Manifestations in the building, baby. Thanks for tuning in, guys. So, what's going on, everybody? Once again, my name is Ben. This is the Mike Manifestations podcast. This is a place where we talk about real life situations that people are dealing with every day. Relationships, finances, life decisions, and everything in between. If you're new here, like I said, my name is Ben. I appreciate I appreciate you guys taking the time to tune in today, today's episode. Before we get started, I just want to say thank you to everyone supporting the podcast. Because as of today, we are now at 557 subscribers. Damn, that's crazy, huh? And honestly, it's an it's an amazing growth, man. I've been blessed. We're officially on the road to a thousand subscribers and beyond. So if you enjoy the conversation we're having here, make sure you guys hit that like, hit that subscribe button, and share the podcast with someone who might enjoy these discussions. Now we're now before we jump into today's mic drop confessions. I want to show some love to our sponsor supporting the podcast today. Uh some of you might like it, some of you, you know. Uh, but today's sponsor is uh Print Vortex. Uh they're in the process of changing their name, I believe, to uh Kane3D. Uh this episode is supported by Print Vortex. It's uh Print Vortex is a small startup 3D business creating custom items, trinkets, collectibles, and unique designs. Um if you ever wanted something custom printed, whether it's a desk piece, collectible, gift idea, or just something creative, uh, print vote print vortex can help you bring that idea to life. Uh, check out their Etsy page, uh, print vortex. The link will be in the description below. Uh, just a couple things. So for all you uh baseball fans, they got these uh New York Yankees. You can either use them as a um like a desktop, pencil, organizer, or anything like that. Has a slot here at the top, uh, but uh they're also for uh for your bath and body works. Here's the Lakers uh Bath and Body Soap just slides right in there. Um and then for any of you Disney fans, they got some Disney ones, Mini, Mickey, uh, and then the new one, they're the Peeps, Peeps collection. Tony's on the beat with the West Coast, all the Easter, Easter fans coming up, Easter coming up for all the Easter fans that celebrate and so forth. Um, yeah, so just check out the link in the description, guys. And one thing we love doing here on Mike Manifestations podcast is supporting these small businesses. Uh so if you have a small business and you'd like to sponsor the show, uh send it in. Uh we'll look at you know, featuring your business here on the podcast as well. Um, completely free, obviously. You know, we're out we're out to try to help everybody else, you know. Uh so with that, let's get into today's mic drop confessions, guys. So today's mic drop confession. This is the part of the show where listeners send in the real questions and the real situations they're dealing with in real life. No judgment, guys. You know, we don't judge anybody, we just try to help out everybody as much as we can. Just real conversations here. Uh, but today's message comes from Carlos. Excuse me. So with this, um Carlos's message writes in and he says, Um, the way we work. He says, Hey Ben, I've been wondering why gas prices keep going up. I was like, man, I'm wondering that too. I drive a Chevy Silverado and I have to put gas every other day or every third day because it's a V8 and it burns a lot of gas. Hey, you knew what you were getting into, bro. Nah, I'm just paying. Uh, just in the last couple of days, gas jumped about 40 cents. Man, I saw that too. I don't know if any of you guys saw it, but yeah. He saw now. I'm wondering if it's time to trade my truck in for something smaller for my commute to work. You know, hey, sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do, bro. You know, uh Carlos. I think a lot of people listening right now can relate to this, especially anyone driving a truck. You know, trucks are great vehicles, don't get me wrong, they're powerful, they're dependable, they're useful for hauling things. A lot of people simply love driving them. But the reality is they burn through gas faster than smaller cars, economical cars, and when gas prices spike, suddenly, truck owners definitely feel it first. You know, um, but why are these gas prices going up, man? I mean, there's a lot of different factors that come into play. You know, gas prices move for a lot of different reasons. Some of the biggest factors include global oil supply, refinery production, seasonal demand, transportation costs, international conflicts, and government policies. You know, oil was traded on a go on a global market, which means even if which means events happening anywhere in the world can affect what the what we pay at the pump. You know, recently recent recently tensions involving Iran in the Middle East caused oil makers to quick to react quickly. You know, according to Gas Buddy, gas prices were $2.94 per gallon. But after tensions involved involving US and Israeli military action related to Iran, prices jumped to about $3.61 per gallon. Man, that's crazy. That's about a 23% increase in a short period of time. You know, so when global conflict happens in regions tied to oil production, which US is one of the biggest oil production states, uh, the market reacts almost immediately. And unfortunately, drivers feel it. You know, but yeah, politics and gas prices, man. Uh, gas prices also become a major political talking point. You know, uh, President Donald Trump criticized former President Joe Biden over gas prices during Biden's presidency as well. You know, at one point, Biden's term gas prices reached around five dollars per gallon in some places. But by the time Biden left office, the national average had dropped to about three dollars and nine cents per gallon. So the reality is this uh presidents influence energy policy, but no president directly controls gas prices. Uh prices are driven mostly by global oil markets, supply, demand, and geopolitical events. You know, so with that, I want to say this, Carlos. Uh, you know, I can actually relate to your situation. Um back in the day, I used to drive a uh Ford F-150. Uh I mean, awesome truck, I loved it, you know, great truck, but I was commuting to downtown LA every single day. And if you ever driven into LA during rush hour, you already know, baby. Right? Uh, you know, it can get expensive, you know, between gas, traffic, the miles I was putting on the truck, I realized I was spending a lot of money just getting to work. You know, and if you're spending all that money to just to get to work, when that paycheck comes and it doesn't take it to the you know, balance out, then you know, there's an issue somewhere or something, you know. Eventually I had to make the decision to trade my truck in, and I ended up getting a Honda Accord, you know. And honestly, you know, it made a huge difference. You know, better gas mileage, obviously, less money spent every week, you know, instead of every other day or every third day of putting gas, I was putting gas maybe once a week. You know, less money spent every week. And sometimes I even use the metro lines to get into downtown LA, which save even more money, and avoided all you know, all that sitting in traffic sometimes. You know, so you know, it's all it's all up to you, you know what you want to do. Um, and then there's that other option: should you buy an electric vehicle? You know. Now a lot of people today are asking, you know, should I just switch to an electrical vehicle? Electric vehicle, electric vehicles can cost less to operate because charging electricity is often cheaper than gasoline. They always have fewer maintenance costs as well. Whatever it is, you know, you got no oil changes, obviously. Man, oil changes are expensive now, right? Back in the day, they used to be what, like 29 bucks, you know, 30 bucks. I mean, obviously, if you do it yourself, you know, you're just buying the oil and doing it yourself. But if you're taking it to Jiffy Lube or one of these other oil places, you know, you're paying $69.99, if not more. You know, and depending if it's regular oil or synthetic, you know, a lot of different crazy stuff, man. You know, fewer moving mechanical parts on electric vehicles, but electric cars aren't perfect for everyone, as well. You know, you gotta have charging access, you know, purchase price, and then driving needs all and driving, you know, your driving needs, they all play a role in that decision as well. You know, someone that's driving to downtown LA or someone that's just you know, just commuting in the area, you know, but truck versus commuter car, so Carlos, the real question becomes this, bro. Do you need the truck? Or you're just trying to look all fancy, bro? Or do you just love the truck, you know? You know, if you're towing things, you know, hauling equipment or using the truck for work, keeping it, you know, might make sense. But if it's mostly being used to commute long distance every day, for you to look nice and in that big ass truck, you know, switching to a more fuel efficient car could save you a lot of money over time. I'm sorry, it can save you a lot of money over time, you know, so it comes down to that, bro. You know, uh sometimes the real question isn't just why are gas prices going up. You mean the real question sometimes is gonna be is the vehicle I'm driving still the right one for the life I'm living today? You know, a lot of a lot of that comes into play with everyday scenarios, you know. Sometimes you you know, you're used to a sports car, it was only a two-seater, but now you got a family, so that sports car isn't gonna fit your whole family in it now, you know. But I'm curious, what's everyone listening think? You know, uh has have gas prices made you reconsider the vehicle you drive? I'm already name make you drive less? Would you trade in your truck for something smaller and more fuel efficient? Or are you sticking with that truck no matter what, bro? Till the wheels fall off, homie. Let me know in the comments, guys, what you guys are doing. What you guys are drive, what you guys are you know, what works best for you guys. I know for me, man. I don't know if you get any of you know, but I did sell my my um Nissan Maxima a couple months back. Um I just wasn't using it enough. You know. I mean I had I had my company vehicle, so I was using that Monday through Friday. And if we did anything on the weekends, it was either in my car or in my wife's car. So, you know, I wasn't man, I wasn't putting hardly any miles on it. I wasn't having to put gas for a month, two months, you know, in. So, yeah. So with that, you know, it's like I said it it all depends on your situation and and you know your lifestyle and so forth. So, with that, guys, and again, I want to thank you everyone for supporting the Mike Manifestations podcast. We are now at 557 subscribers, and we're pushing towards a thousand subscribers and beyond that, too. So, if you enjoy the conversations we're having here, guys, like I said, make sure you guys hit that like, hit that subscribe button. Doesn't cost a thing, guys. Share it with someone who might relate to today's topic. And if you and if you're and if I if you want your situation featured on the podcast, send in your mic drop confession. We'll talk about it. We don't sugarcoat it. No um no discrimination, we don't put you down. You know, if you want to be anonymous, you can send it in and say, Hey, can you not mention my name? Use a different name. So this is Carlos. Carlos been in mind. I mean, it's not a big deal, but any other ones like relationships and so forth, you know, if you want to be anonymous with those, definitely let me know. Uh, in that mic drop confession email. Let me know that you want to be anonymous and we'll go ahead and get it taken care of for you. But uh, but yeah, but before we wrap up today's episode, guys, I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who continues to support the mic manifestations podcast. This show is built on real people, real experiences, and real conversations. Every message, every comment, and every mic drop confession helps keep these discussions going. You know, so if something we're talking about today connected with you, take a moment to like the episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with someone who might need to hear the conversation or or just someone that wants to be like, oh shoot, you know, let me send my situation in to them and they they can talk about it. And if you got something on your mind, a situation, a question, or something you're going through, send in your mic drop confession. This podcast exists because of you guys. And before we go, remember this guys take care of yourself, keep the conversation real, keep becoming a better version of yourself, and remember always, guys, stay human. We'll catch you guys on the next one, baby. We out. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Have a good one.

unknown 18:21

It's all its own.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown 18:24

I'm already losing and feeling all right.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

So grab a girl and take it to the dance flow. Tony's on the beat with the West Coast. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Have a good one.