gasoline prices

[AGDee]

Heard a story on the news about a fuel tanker driver who sold off gallons and gallons of gas from his tanker to people for $2 a gallon til the gas stations he was selling to caught on that they weren't getting as many gallons as they were paying for...

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

No kidding... there have been a ton of people waking up to find their cars with a strange stick protruding from the bottoms of their cars --- turns out it is just another way thieves are making off with gas.... and those repairs are several hundred dollars if not in the thousands.

I have come out to my car SEVERAL times to find my tank door open. It used to happen all the time at home and, now that I live on my own, it's still happening, but not as much.

And I see why: $3.69 to $3.86 IN ONE DAY.

[icelandelf]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

I have come out to my car SEVERAL times to find my tank door open. It used to happen all the time at home and, now that I live on my own, it's still happening, but not as much.

And I see why: $3.69 to $3.86 IN ONE DAY.

Ironically, I was wondering this morning if I should get a locking gas cap.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by icelandelf

Ironically, I was wondering this morning if I should get a locking gas cap.

I was thinking the same thing... it won't stop all types of theft, but it may help the most basic. You can get them at Auto Zone or any other car parts place for about $12.

[ree-Xi]

For those "experts" out there - why would gas prices jump 25 cents in three weeks' time? Or 10 cents in a day? Is there any logical reason for this??? What exactly is happening "today" that is doing this?

[texas*princess]

So far gas is holding steady at around $3.90/reg. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't hit 4 yet.

[GooniePDT49]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

So far gas is holding steady at around $3.90/reg. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't hit 4 yet.

just went up again in Central CT. Tuesday it was $4.17 today its $4.30

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

So far gas is holding steady at around $3.90/reg. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't hit 4 yet.

it went up to ~$4.00 for a couple of days here then went back to $3.85 almost everywhere for regular.

I wonder why

[jon1856]

Seems as if we, the driving and buying public, may have hit our tipping point based on this story((In part due to economy as well gas prices?):
U.S. consumers’ reluctance to buy new vehicles--especially low-mpg vehicles such as light trucks, SUVs and larger cars--accelerated in May.

Truck sales plunged and major automakers posted sharp sales declines for the month. But small cars achieved record volumes at several brands and the sales winners in May were either fuel-efficiency specialists--Suzuki, Volkswagen and Smart--or were car-heavy brands such as Honda, Nissan and Hyundai.

Total sales declined 10.7 percent to 1.40 million vehicles. For the year to date, sales declined 8.4 percent to 6.22 million vehicles.
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...8/newsletter01

FYI: AutoWeek is the consumers/mass market sister to Automotive News.
Automotive News is to the car industry as Variety is to Hollywood.

[texas*princess]

^^ GM is doing some major layoffs at their truck/SUV plants and shutting down 4 plants all-together. GM has also announced they will be discontinuing the Hummer (which in my mind it's about time... there's nothing about those vehicles that make any kind of sense anyway... I can see military needing huge vehicles like that, but they are pointless for regular people)

[Scandia]

Here it is hovering around 3.81-3.87. Has not hit 4.00 yet for regular thank goodness.

I know someone who bought a Ford Mustang about a month or two ago. Otherwise, haven't seen much in car sales recently.

[jon1856]

Bad news for anyone thinking of buying a hybrid any time soon:
Battery shortage hurts hybrid sales

With gasoline at $4 a gallon, the market is screaming for more hybrids. But sales of hybrids dropped significantly in May.

Battery shortages are crimping supplies of the Ford Escape Hybrid and Toyota Prius, two of the top-selling hybrids.

Prius sales dropped 37.5 percent in May to 15,011 compared with May 2007. Combined sales of the Escape Hybrid and its stablemate, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, dropped 26.0 percent to 2,378 last month.

General Motors' big SUV hybrids are not selling well because of their high prices and limited fuel savings.............................
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...8/newsletter01

[aephi alum]

$4.799/gal for premium at one of the more expensive stations in town.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

So far gas is holding steady at around $3.90/reg. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't hit 4 yet.

It's stayed around $3.90/$3.91 for regular up until this morning... now we're at $3.96

I knew it would happen, but I guess I really hoped it wouldn't... we are inching closer to $4 for the "cheap" stuff

[jon1856]

This is an interesting story from LA Times:
Soaring costs are squeezing gas station owners too

[COLOR=#333333! important]Dealers say fuel and other expenses are rising so rapidly that they can't keep up.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#999999! important]By Elizabeth Douglass and Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
June 10, 2008 [/COLOR]
Andre van der Valk hasn't been paid in six months.

He has a job, though, as owner of four service stations in Southern California. He hasn't taken a salary this year so he can pour all his money into buying fuel for his stations.
Despite the jaw-dropping prices at the pump -- they jumped 19 cents a gallon in California to $4.43 in the last week and averaged more than $4 a gallon nationwide for the first time, the Energy Department said Monday -- service station owners aren't making the killing that motorists assume.

That's because credit card fees, the price of tanker-loads of fuel and other costs are rising so rapidly that station owners haven't been able to keep pace despite the record prices they're charging.

"People see $4 gas, and they think these retailers are making a fortune," said Ben Brockwell, a director at Oil Price Information Service, which tracks fuel prices. "The reality is these guys are being stressed to the limit."...............................
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,2585887.story