I finally paid over $3 a gallon for gas

[krispos42]

I drove until I was on fumes, hoping the quarter hike in gas on Monday would drop down. No such luck. I managed to hold off on the $3.25, then the $3.19, but couldn't go any longer.

On the plus side, my car is getting relatively awesome gas milage. This tank: 25.1 miles per gallon, the highest I've ever seen. My car gets the best milage, it seems, on Holiday brand gasoline. I bought 16.5 gallons.

Not bad for a 1989 Olds Regency Ninety-Eight with 173,000 miles on it. Keep in mind this is a full-size front-wheel-drive domestic sedan. No overhead cams or 4-valves per cylinder technology here, either.

The single best thing you can do for your gas milage, DUers, is go to the auto parts store and buy a set of Bosch +4 Platnium spark plugs. They're about $6 each, but they are soooo worth it. Lifetime warranty, too. You'll make it back fairly quickly.

[Syrinx]

1. $3.03 per gallon in Tuscaloosa, Alabama yesterday

Highest price I've EVER seen here. And all that excess is oil company profits, not taxes to help pay for anything beneficial for the public. Iraq War, mission accomplished. That's what it was about.

[krispos42]

2. Yeah, they don't have enough refinery capacity boo hoo

I guess ExxonMobile just couldn't see fit to take some of the $40 billion they made IN PROFITS last year and, oh, I don't know, BUILD A NEW REFINERY OR TWO?!?!?!?!

Or maybe expand the existing ones? Huh? Huh? Not a bad idea?

[ClintonTyree]

4. Kuwait offered to build a new refinery....

in the U.S. GRATIS, for FREE, after Hurricane Katrina. Of course, our oil men run government refused, said it wasn't necessary. :eyes: With all of the refineries they closed years ago they've effectively controlled the amount of petro available on the market: ergo, the price as well. They knew quite well what they were doing but Congress just can't seem to find ANY evidence of price fixing or gouging. :eyes:

They're slowly but surely getting the American public used to paying $3.00 + per gallon of gas. Then the goal will be $4.00 and so on and so on. The frog in the boiling water scenario. The American public will complain and complain but nothing will ever be done about it. At least not with a bunch of oil men in the White House. Energy production should be nationalized but we'll never see that in my lifetime.

[aquart]

5. Anyone driving thru refinery country?

How many have been shut down for "repairs"?

[Nick at Noon]

10. With those $40 million in profit ...

Exxon can do one of three things. (1) Pay what they owe for the Valdez oil spill (2) Give their retiring CEO $400 million or (3) build new refineries that would bring down the cost of gas.

Guess which ones they are NOT going to do ?

Raymond comes first because it's not every CEO that can put his own shill in the White HOuse.

[oldgrowth]

3. 3.30 to 3.40 here in Oregon

[Monk06]

6. Takes me back to the good ol days. 1970 my first car was a 1952

Humber Hawk with flat head four cylinder. Gas
was $0.48 a gallon Canadian. I spent $1.00 per
week on gas. I used to wait until Friday to put
in my dollars worth.

The needle stayed on empty all week with me
daring the car to run out. It never did.

Those days are gone. Gotta love those '50s
Brit cars. Just the smell of a gas station
was enough to keep them happy.

[Eagle_Eye]

7. It looks like bush's war for oil is putting some real profit into petroleum company's pockets

I would swear I saw prices go from $2.92 to $3.04 in about five days. I bought gas at a station for $2.92 last Friday, and on Wednesday it was well passed $3.00.
I bet those folks over at Exxon and Halliburton can't sleep at night. The noise from all those cash registers ringing must be deafening.

[susu369]

8. 13¢ increase in one day

Wednesday $1.90 and Thursday $3.03.

What amazes me is the fact that most people appear to just accept the gouging.

:shrug:

[B Calm]

9. Those Bosch Platnium spark plugs are great! I had

problems with my old 1990 Buick work car starting in wet or cold weather. Had a friend tell me last year to put a set of those plugs in and see if that doesn't take care of the problem. That old car came to life and I haven't had a problem since.

[AndyA]

11. I have a 1989 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan.

Similar to your car, but has a high performance engine in it and front and rear bucket seats, console, and a few other things that make it different.

It gets pretty good gas mileage as well, if I keep my foot off the gas.

The quality of my car is excellent, and I would put it up against any foreign car. I bought mine new, specially ordered it, and it just now has around 90,000 miles on it.

I love it, and haven't found another car I like better in the years since. My Brother got my Dad's 1985 Ninety Eight, and put almost 300,000 miles on it before he traded it in. These cars are built very, very well.

[beyurslf]

12. 3.19 here

I have been holding out hoping it would drop, but it hasn't. I have to get gas today or I won't make it to the office.

[havocmom]

13. I paid $3.08 on April 25

Have to make another business trip in June and fear I won't be able to afford to get home.

[Roland99]

14. I will probably have to next week. I'm under 1/2 tank now but I've stretched it!!

I normally get about 220 miles on a 1/2 tank if I'm driving smartly but I stretched that to about 260 miles this time. But, even with a grocer $0.10 discount it looks like I'll finally pay over $3/gal for my 1st time ever.

[donheld]

15. "I was on fumes"

you came in on fumes and you left fuming I'd suspect. :hug:

[krispos42]

18. First time it cost me over $50 to fill up the car, too.

Hell, when I first started driving I would routinely fill up the tank on a 1987 Thunderbird for $20. It held 22 gallons; filling it up at the 1/8th mark it would take about 16 gallons. That gauge had a huge reserve on it.

[Zywiec]

16. Welcome to the club! n/t

[krispos42]

19. It's a club that I would rather not have joined. :-( n/t

[krispos42]

17. Holy cow, it shot up to $3.39 a gallon!!!!

In the 9 hours between me buying gas last night and me leaving to go get my kid from his mom's house!

Dammit dammit son-of-a-bitch!

[karlrschneider]

20. It went from 3.25 to 3.19?

Bosch are decent plugs, NGKs are better. And unless your old spark plugs are fouled (the engine would misfire) changing them will not affect gas mileage.

[AllegroRondo]

22. Funny thing about gas prices

you rarely see prices that end in 1, 2, or 3, and I dont think Ive EVER seen it end in a 0. I guess they are going for the psychological impact, it looks much cheaper to pay 3.19 than 3.22.

[karlrschneider]

23. 9 seems to be the most common. But it was 3.10 (point 9 of course) here for a few days

last week. Their pumps are old and don't have a way to set the first number above 2 so they set them at $1.599 and put a sign on top saying "Your cost will be TWICE the pump reading."

Argh.

[krispos42]

25. Yeah, it jumps up, then typcially creeps back down a couple of days later

Like they have to get the price-fixing coordinated, doncha know?

It is my uber-firm belief that the quad spark paths make more of the gasoline burn, and if you disagree I will be forced to give you an atomic wet Willie!

:rofl:

On a more serious note, I think the multiple spark paths help on older engines designs that don't have the advanced modern mixing and airflow designs that newer ones have. The 3800 series V-6 dates back to god-knows-when...

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Welcome to our horror

california that is

I expect to pay over four by the end of the summer

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. I drove up to Canyon Lake from San Antonio today. Price on the way up at the Exxon station

on hwy. 281/46 was $2.89. Was up there about an hour, the price jumped to $2.99. :banghead: All of the stations in Canyon Lake were above $3.00.