Gasoline prices.

[A_Harman]

The current trend I have noticed in the last 6 months is that gas stations will price regular very cheaply, and then really charge big differentials for mid-grade and premium. But I really hit my limit this morning at a Mobil station close to work. Regular was $1.88, mid-grade was $2.66, and premium was $3.00. Gas prices used to be only 4-5% difference between grades, but 60% increase from regular to premium is ridiculous.

So what did I do? I filled up with a blend of 50% premium 93 with 50% regular 87, and effectively paid $2.44 for a mid-grade blend that was cheaper than the pump mid-grade. I won't say that it's 90 octane, but I will say that it's at least as good as the 89 priced at $2.66.

 

[supton]

Wow, I have not been paying attention to what 89/32octane is doing. Those are huge price splits!

 

[Bamaro]

Find a different gas station.

 

[donnyj08]

It's the same here. $1.73 for 87 then huge jumps for the other grades. About $0.40 per grade higher.

 

[Silverado12]

Yes, and my air cooled motorcycle requires premium or it will ping. Everything else can take regular though. I've found that if your car doesn't knock, you can go ahead and use regular. You'll just use a little more. My Challenger would run best on 89, but I could use 87 and get 2 mpg worse.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I did notice maybe a month or so ago that a Shell station that I visit occasionally and has no nearby competition was charging $.70/gallon more for premium than regular and even the latter was quite a bit more expensive than places I had driven by the day before...I drove 2-3 miles down the road and paid fifty cents less for premium at an Irving.
Strangely enough, I drove by that Shell over the weekend and its regular was suddenly a few cents cheaper than anything else I had seen recently. I have noticed several usually high priced stations bombing their prices in the last few weeks while others that are normally "bargains" haven't budged much...one right near a mall that is usually $.20 or more per gallon higher than the ones I visit was actually the cheapest I saw this weekend other than a falling down mega bargain place I would only visit if my car was sputtering on fumes as I drove by it.

 

[cwing6]

One reason I traded my Acura for a Toyota. Felt like I was getting robbed at the gas pump every time I filled up.

 

[pbm]

Yeah, I see this in New Jersey too.....$1.89 for regular and $2.69 for premium (I can't remember mid-grade).

This is the main reason that I cross cars off my buy list which require premium.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
The current trend I have noticed in the last 6 months is that gas stations will price regular very cheaply, and then really charge big differentials for mid-grade and premium.

Yup. I've noticed this in my area as well. It is really getting out of hand at some of the stations.

 

[cat843]

I asked the tanker truck driver filling up tanks at a Mobil and he said many stations now only have 2 tanks and that they mix onsite for mid range 89 octane.

Back in the days when we called it regular and "high test" there were only two grades.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Find a different gas station.


I'm still trying to figure out if I should be angry at this station, or if I just got a bargain. I was planning to buy mid-grade when I turned into the station, but was sticker-shocked by the 78 cents per gallon price jump from regular to mid-grade. So I took the extra time to run two transactions and saved $3.20 on the fillup.

But I wonder how many people see the low price for regular on the Neon sign, and don't bother to check what they're paying for the octane upgrades.

 

[Charlie1935]

Originally Posted By: cat843
I asked the tanker truck driver filling up tanks at a Mobil and he said many stations now only have 2 tanks and that they mix onsite for mid range 89 octane.

Back in the days when we called it regular and "high test" there were only two grades.




And two cents a gallon difference.

 

[arsing116]

Yes I noticed this also & I hate it. Shell seems to be the most consistently ridiculous offender. Usually its around a full dollar more for premium vs reg. which is crazy. The price jump from regular to mid-grade is usually 40-50 cents more. Other stations are 20-30 cents between grades which is more reasonable but not like how it used to be. Things seemed to get worse when they started offering that V-Power Nitro+ stuff smh.

 

[Charlie1935]

In this area not every town has E 85 available.
One town that does has it priced $0.60 a gallon above regular.
So you pay more to use more?
Like that anywhere else?

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
The current trend I have noticed in the last 6 months is that gas stations will price regular very cheaply, and then really charge big differentials for mid-grade and premium.

Yup. I've noticed this in my area as well. It is really getting out of hand at some of the stations.


Same here. Very wide spread...

 

[camrydriver111]

Those are some really big differences. I'm surprised you pay so much more for premium.

In Canada it's ~15 cents/litre difference between regular and premium regardless of what the regular price is.

Except for Shell, they charge more for "V-Power".

 

[dernp]

Costco in Ft Myers was $1.98 for reg this morning and $2.21 for prem.

 

[Garak]

That's ridiculous. The only time we used to see a bigger spread than normal was when they used to change prices on premium and regular on different dates. If they didn't get a shipment of premium, they wouldn't change the price. If they did, they changed it. Of course, they don't let a shipment date get in the way of a price change any longer.

 

[morepwr]

Around here it is usually a .010 increase per grade. But we are getting hosed down on prices anyway!

 

[53' Stude]

I got gas here in NOrth Carolina for $1.79