THE Gas Station Thread (merged)

[vision-master]

There were long lines at the Costco gas station yesterday. Not the lines that extended for blocks during the early 70's, but tens lines with six to seven cars in each. Traffic was backed up on street. People were honking their horns at each other.

The lines resulted from $3.69 a gallon for regular unleaded and not some oil embargo. However, the doomer side of me thinks we're just seeing the beginning of hoarding.

Filled up the Suburban for just $99. Got to get rid of that thing.

Just the weekend fillup, that's all.

[Tyler_JC]

There were long lines at the Costco gas station yesterday. Not the lines that extended for blocks during the early 70's, but tens lines with six to seven cars in each. Traffic was backed up on street. People were honking their horns at each other.

The lines resulted from $3.69 a gallon for regular unleaded and not some oil embargo. However, the doomer side of me thinks we're just seeing the beginning of hoarding.

Filled up the Suburban for just $99. Got to get rid of that thing.

You STILL have a Suburban?

Sell that thing immediately! Are you crazy?

[roccman]

A useful observation for the gasoline shortage thread. I will copy it there. If fuel price inflation hits the public consciousness enough that they keep their tanks topped up through summer, that could have an effect on inventories.

The run to commodities seems to be spinning off some hoarding mentality here and there. I hope it doesn't get out of hand.

Well...7 billion people acting like I have in the past would definetly be considered out of hand.

And I really don't consider myself very much different than J6P...other than I read.

[mos6507]

Once you start using terms like "more than his fair share" it's a slippery slope. It's tragedy of the commons territory. In a case of overshoot, all consumption can be put under the microscope to derive how much of the earth's resources is a fair share and how much is too much.

[BigTex]

The 24 hour credit card based gas station of today didn't exist back in the 1970s.

It's hard for me to imagine there being a line to fill up in the middle of the night.

Maybe the crowds people are reporting have more of a psychological component--i.e., we are noticing things more because we are concerned about them.

The gas station by my house if busy a lot of the time, but I can drive down there at 11:00 at night and it's usually just me. Same at 5:00am, and at 2:30pm.

[cube]

...
Filled up the Suburban for just $99. Got to get rid of that thing.

If you have used car you want to buy / sell you can put it here
http://www.autotrader.com

I just checked the going rate for a used Chevy suburban 4x4 K1500 model. If your SUV is in:
1) good condition
2) not too old....3 years
3) low miles.....less than 50,000 miles
You're looking at least a 50% drop in resale value-->ouch! $25,000 maybe?

Not surprisingly with gasoline at these prices they've got Japanese "4 bangers" listed there that are 12 years old and the owner still wants 50% resale value.

[Duende]

Tanada wrote:

In the Carter gasoline crisis many people decided to keep their car tanks full, which resulted in a lot of gas stations running out of fuel. The USA as a whole had trhe same amount of gasoline, but it was distributed very differently. And once the stations ran out the first time everyone decided to keep their tanks full so the problem persisted for a few months.

Is it true that gas shortages occur because the cost of gas is kept artificially low, and the producers stop shipping it?

And, is the current cost of gas accurate relative to the cost of oil currently... or is it being kept artificially low?

The point being, why would there be a shortage if supply and demand were able to "work their magic"?

[pstarr]

...
Filled up the Suburban for just $99. Got to get rid of that thing.

If you have used car you want to buy / sell you can put it here
http://www.autotrader.com

I just checked the going rate for a used Chevy suburban 4x4 K1500 model. If your SUV is in:
1) good condition
2) not too old....3 years
3) low miles.....less than 50,000 miles
You're looking at least a 50% drop in resale value-->ouch! $25,000 maybe?

Not surprisingly with gasoline at these prices they've got Japanese "4 bangers" listed there that are 12 years old and the owner still wants 50% resale value.

But you can't sleep a family of 6 in those ricegrinders. When home heating fuel skyrockets those SUV's will look mighty attractive as first homes.

[vision-master]

...
Filled up the Suburban for just $99. Got to get rid of that thing.

If you have used car you want to buy / sell you can put it here
http://www.autotrader.com

I just checked the going rate for a used Chevy suburban 4x4 K1500 model. If your SUV is in:
1) good condition
2) not too old....3 years
3) low miles.....less than 50,000 miles
You're looking at least a 50% drop in resale value-->ouch! $25,000 maybe?

Not surprisingly with gasoline at these prices they've got Japanese "4 bangers" listed there that are 12 years old and the owner still wants 50% resale value.

But you can't sleep a family of 6 in those ricegrinders. When home heating fuel skyrockets those SUV's will look mighty attractive as first homes.

[Cashmere]

Anybody still think it was a coincidence that Exxon announced it was selling its remaining share of directly owned stations?

Hmmm?

[HappyFace]

If these closures were a direct consequence of shortages I'd be scared. However they seem to be a function of price, debt, etc. In that case the owners just need to raise their prices.

[Dreamtwister]

Plenty of filling stations have already gone under. Last year, 3,184 of the nation's 164,292 gasoline stations closed their doors and went out of business

That's a 1.9% drop in 1 year. That's kind of a lot, and it can only accelerate as prices go higher.

[whatpeak]

Limited supplies of diesel reach Tijuana stations

It was cheaper to buy it south of the border, so we used up all their supplies.

[bratticus]

Gas Stations Hit Skids (link) Higher Costs Close Nearly 3,000 in a Year
By ANA CAMPOY, July 7, 2008; Page B12

Sherman, Texas - [...skip...] ...the profit margin on gasoline sales has plunged. In the week that ended June 30, the difference between what retailers paid for gasoline and what they got from selling it was about 15 cents a gallon on average, down from 21 cents a gallon around this time last year, according to national data compiled by Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express, a firm that provides payment-processing services.

[idiom]

So much for price gouging.

[Novus]

Many more gas stations will go under very soon. There are still stations selling for $3.99. That is either at or below cost right now. After that the situation will switch over to black market gas.

[jlw61]

Which is why I make sure to walk the three blocks to my neighborhood convenience store/gas station and purchase something other than gasoline. I want them to stay right where they are at and I'm willing to pay a premium on some of my needs to make sure of it. I also encourage my neighbors to do the same whenever the conversation turns that way.

To hop in the car to save a dollar on a six pack is crazy.

[some_guy282]

So much for price gouging.

All this proves is these particular stations just weren't price gouging hard enough.

[jdmartin]

Which is why I make sure to walk the three blocks to my neighborhood convenience store/gas station and purchase something other than gasoline. I want them to stay right where they are at and I'm willing to pay a premium on some of my needs to make sure of it. I also encourage my neighbors to do the same whenever the conversation turns that way.

To hop in the car to save a dollar on a six pack is crazy.

Too bad more people don't think like this - they'd rather drive to Wallyworld to save a buck on stuff and watch their local businesses collapse. I try to shop locally as well to the extent possible. I buy all my guitar stuff from the local store even though it's sometimes a couple of dollars more than the mail order guys. I don't want the guy closing up and then I'll have to get everything from the mail order people.