Has Premium gas ever been cheaper?

  • Thread starter Carl 1 Lucky Texan
  • Start date
C

Carl 1 Lucky Texan

as a percentage over regular that is!

found this;

*****despite rising gas prices, midgrade and premium fuel remain about
10 and 20 cents extra per gallon, respectively. One unexpected finding:
Despite the hike remaining constant all these years, more drivers may
now be ditching pricier fuel for the regular stuff.

It’s a bit counterintuitive. Proportionally, premium gas costs 6% more
than regular today. In 1995 it cost 17% more, according to EPA
historical data. As prices rise, it would make sense for the extra cost
of premium fuel to seem comparatively smaller. *****

from; http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...igher-gas.html


Carl
 
as a percentage over regular that is!

found this;

*****despite rising gas prices, midgrade and premium fuel remain about
10 and 20 cents extra per gallon, respectively. One unexpected finding:
Despite the hike remaining constant all these years, more drivers may
now be ditching pricier fuel for the regular stuff.

It’s a bit counterintuitive. Proportionally, premium gas costs 6% more
than regular today. In 1995 it cost 17% more, according to EPA
historical data. As prices rise, it would make sense for the extra cost
of premium fuel to seem comparatively smaller. *****

from;http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...igher-gas.html

Carl

In the capital of NY State, on July 8th,
top premium is $5.00,
regular $4.25,
E85 $3.10 .

Relative to regular, that's
top premium +17.6%, and
E85 -27%.

In miles/dollar, that's
top premium: 5.0,
regular: 5.9,
E85: 6.8

Uncle Ben
 
Uncle said:
In the capital of NY State, on July 8th,
top premium is $5.00,
regular $4.25,
E85 $3.10 .

Relative to regular, that's
top premium +17.6%, and
E85 -27%.

In miles/dollar, that's
top premium: 5.0,
regular: 5.9,
E85: 6.8

Uncle Ben


Certainly dealing with averages is tricky since there is such wide
pricing variability. But, before i found that one blurb i posted, I had
looked around at google image search pics of 'gas station signs' and
noticed that it did seem the 5%-8% or so differential around here was
less than some historical prices. That is, if reg. is $1.00, mid $1.08
and premium $1.16 - that's 16% more for high octane. BUT if the numbers
are $4.00 reg, $4.15 mid and $4.30 premium - it's only 7.5% more to
run premium. Of course, if your car's manual doesn't recommend premium,
it's of no benefit, but both of my cars call for it.

Carl
 
Certainly dealing with averages is tricky since there is such wide
pricing variability. But, before i found that one blurb i posted, I had
looked around at google image search pics of 'gas station signs' and
noticed that it did seem the 5%-8% or so differential around here was
less than some historical prices. That is, if reg. is $1.00, mid $1.08
and premium $1.16 - that's 16% more for high octane. BUT if the numbers
are $4.00 reg,  $4.15 mid  and  $4.30 premium - it's only 7.5% moreto
run premium. Of course, if your car's manual doesn't recommend premium,
it's of no benefit, but both of my cars call for it.

Carl

It's occurred to me too that the relative price difference between
regular (87) and premium (93) is smaller than at any time I can
recall. Both my Subarus (04 WRX and 06 OB 3.0) call for 91 (OB may be
90, but that's insignificant). 91 and other mid-grades are typically
the worst alternative (cost-wise, since they're usually priced only a
couple of cents less than. I think that's the money-maker for a lot
of stations (who are really being squeezed now between high wholesale
costs and driver's who think the stations are raking in profits as
prices rise). People see a requirement in the manual for 91 and buy
91. I usually use 93 for 2 of every 3 fillups and 87 on the 3rd, but
depends on the amount left in the tank. I try to keep the overall mix
in the tank in the range of 90-92 octane at the best overall price.
Hardest part is convincing the wife to use premium at all (the 6 is
hers) since she can't tell the difference.

On a related issue, why are we still using (and it seems to be
throughout the US) a decimal in gas prices? Nothing else is sold at
retail this way, but every gas price is xxx.9 per gallon. Why can't
this be simplified and rounded to the nearest penny? How did we get
stuck with this ridiculous "tradition".
 
I was told years ago when I worked at a gas station that the .9/gallon was a
tax levied at some step in the refining/distribution process. I've never
been able to verify that. Presumably it must be a federal tax of some sort
since this happens across all 50 states. In another sense, it seems to be
the same sort of advertising tactic as making a big deal out of a $1.99
price instead of $2.00 for the same item...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Jack said:
I was told years ago when I worked at a gas station that the .9/gallon was a
tax levied at some step in the refining/distribution process. I've never
been able to verify that. Presumably it must be a federal tax of some sort
since this happens across all 50 states. In another sense, it seems to be
the same sort of advertising tactic as making a big deal out of a $1.99
price instead of $2.00 for the same item...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The taxation of gasoline has a very complex history. I THINK the .9 is a
holdover from an early taxing scheme.


Carl
 
No. It has NOTHING to do with taxation. It has to do with bulk
pricing. hen you buy , say 100 liters (or 100 gallons) of fuel and the
price is 1.29 per "unit" the fillup costs $129.
In order for them to raise the price of a "unit", the smallest
increment would amount to a full dollar for your 100 "units".
Using the decimal pricing, the price can be raised or lowered in
increments of TEN CENTS per hundred units instead of a dollar.

It is not a big deal perhaps, when buying in gallons, but when buying
liters it really makes a lot of sense.

It made a lot of sense with gallons too, when gasoline was $0.25 per
gallon. Imagine if the smallest price change that could be registered
was 4%!!!!.
 
clare said:
No. It has NOTHING to do with taxation. It has to do with bulk
pricing. hen you buy , say 100 liters (or 100 gallons) of fuel and the
price is 1.29 per "unit" the fillup costs $129.
In order for them to raise the price of a "unit", the smallest
increment would amount to a full dollar for your 100 "units".
Using the decimal pricing, the price can be raised or lowered in
increments of TEN CENTS per hundred units instead of a dollar.

It is not a big deal perhaps, when buying in gallons, but when buying
liters it really makes a lot of sense.

It made a lot of sense with gallons too, when gasoline was $0.25 per
gallon. Imagine if the smallest price change that could be registered
was 4%!!!!.

It seems unlikely the bulk pricing would ALWAYS lead to a retail
fraction of 9/10 .
There seems to be a lot of folklore, multiple reasons behind the
initiation and continuation of the practice. Plus, some efforts to do
away with the fractional pricing. (it is, after all, impossible to
purchase a single gallon at the advertised price due to rounding)
http://www.users.uswest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html
http://www.garamchai.com/askadesi/ask12.htm

Carl
 
clare said:
No. It has NOTHING to do with taxation. It has to do with bulk
pricing. hen you buy , say 100 liters (or 100 gallons) of fuel and the
price is 1.29 per "unit" the fillup costs $129.
In order for them to raise the price of a "unit", the smallest
increment would amount to a full dollar for your 100 "units".
Using the decimal pricing, the price can be raised or lowered in
increments of TEN CENTS per hundred units instead of a dollar.

It is not a big deal perhaps, when buying in gallons, but when buying
liters it really makes a lot of sense.

It made a lot of sense with gallons too, when gasoline was $0.25 per
gallon. Imagine if the smallest price change that could be registered
was 4%!!!!.

It seems unlikely the bulk pricing would ALWAYS lead to a retail
fraction of 9/10 .
There seems to be a lot of folklore, multiple reasons behind the
initiation and continuation of the practice. Plus, some efforts to do
away with the fractional pricing. (it is, after all, impossible to
purchase a single gallon at the advertised price due to rounding)
http://www.users.uswest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html
http://www.garamchai.com/askadesi/ask12.htm

also;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing

Carl
 
It seems unlikely the bulk pricing would ALWAYS lead to a retail
fraction of 9/10 .
There seems to be a lot of folklore, multiple reasons behind the
initiation and continuation of the practice. Plus, some efforts to do
away with the fractional pricing. (it is, after all, impossible to
purchase a single gallon at the advertised price due to rounding)
http://www.users.uswest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html
http://www.garamchai.com/askadesi/ask12.htm

Carl
Well, up here the .9 cent is not common. Prices change by the tenth
per liter - 134.3, 134.5, 135.2, 149.6 etc.
 
Uncle said:
In the capital of NY State, on July 8th,
top premium is $5.00,
regular $4.25,
E85 $3.10 .

Relative to regular, that's
top premium +17.6%, and
E85 -27%.

In miles/dollar, that's
top premium: 5.0,
regular: 5.9,
E85: 6.8

Uncle Ben

What's E85? I assume it's 85 octane, but the lowest grade we get here is
87 octane. Is E85 new?

Yousuf Khan
 
What's E85? I assume it's 85 octane, but the lowest grade we get here is
87 octane. Is E85 new?

Yousuf Khan
E85 is 15% gasoline and 85% moonshine (Ethanol)
 
Carl said:
It seems unlikely the bulk pricing would ALWAYS lead to a retail
fraction of 9/10 .
There seems to be a lot of folklore, multiple reasons behind the
initiation and continuation of the practice. Plus, some efforts to do
away with the fractional pricing. (it is, after all, impossible to
purchase a single gallon at the advertised price due to rounding)
http://www.users.uswest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html
http://www.garamchai.com/askadesi/ask12.htm


Here in Canada, we don't always see 0.9 as the end digit. I've seen
pretty much all of the numbers as the last digit. We do things in litres
here though. Prices are ranging from $1.30/L to $1.50/L for regular in
various parts of the country. That works out to $4.92/gallon to
$5.62/gallon for your Americans! And of course the Canadian dollar is
pretty much the same value as an American dollar these days. So you guys
got a long way to go before you're even at our price levels.
 

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