Gas Prices

[tutusue]

I thought this subject had been covered but I didn't find anything! So, here goes!

My car takes premium gas. Yesterday's fill up will be the last for under $4./gal. for awhile, I'm afraid. The price was $3.99.9 at Lex Brodies.

Brodie's has reconfigured their pricing and lane set-up on Queen St. IIRC, the choices are now "cash/self serve", "cash/mini serve" and "credit card/mini serve". It used to be either cash or credit and always mini-serve, all lanes. A couple of lanes are now assigned for each of those price points. After patronizing that gas station for 13 years I didn't even notice the overhead signs so ended up in the wrong lane which was discovered after my fill up! There was supposed to be an attendant at the entry driveway directing customers to the appropriate lane but attendant didn't bother to do that!

I think Costco's station is still the least expensive with Brodie's in 2nd place. Are there any other Oahu stations that are trying to stay under $4/gal.? At the risk of redundancy, my price reference is for premium. Come to think of it, has any station on Oahu hit $4. or more/gal. for regular unleaded?

When will this madness end?!

[kani-lehua]

Re: Gas Prices

according to: http://hawaiigasprices.com gas hasn't hit $4 or more/gal. for regular unleaded on o'ahu yet. i'm sure it will sooner than later. don't the prices go up even more during the summer?

[oceanpacific]

Re: Gas Prices

I've crashed through the $60.00 per fill-up barrier the last two visits to the pump. It's $3.999/gallon for premium.

Because my daughter forgot an item for her trip to Hilo on Friday, I had to make a second run to the airport to drop it off with her boss, who was taking a later flight. That probably burned up 1-1/2 gallons. C'est la vie .........

[Pomai]

Re: Gas Prices

My sister did the math on her SUV: At the current price, it costs her $15 in fuel for a round trip from Kapolei to Hawaii Kai and back.

That would be an interesting way to contribute to this thread. Do the calculation of your daily commute (no need say specifically from where to where) and tell us how much you're paying for your particular drive in total gas price.

I'm fortunate to live within close proximity to work, so it's not a big deal for me. Yet.

[matapule]

Re: Gas Prices

I thought Hawai'i was supposed to be expensive compared to other places. Regular in most stations in Southern California is OVER $4 per gallon. Costco is an exception. Still under $4 for regular with premium right at $4.

I understrand that premium in the San Francisco area is over $4.50.

I have written a letter to the local City Council asking to reduce speed limits on some of the intercity streets to 35 mph and under in order to make electric golf carts a legal alternative. We'll see if I get a response.

Ofa 'atu
Mui Houma

[Eric]

Re: Gas Prices

Do the calculation of your daily commute (no need say specifically from where to where) and tell us how much you're paying for your particular drive in total gas price.

I live as close to downtown as I can afford (5 miles from my house to my office), so my daily work commute is just 10 miles/day. My car is old and only gets 20 miles/gallon, so a day's commute burns half a gallon of gasoline. At $4.00/gallon, that comes out to $2.00/day.

On average, I typically put 5,000 miles/year on my car, so that comes to 5,000 ÷ 20 × 4.00 = $1,000/year in fuel cost.

But that's just the fuel cost. There's also the cost of buying the car in the first place, plus insurance and maintenance and repair. I haven't actually done the math but my guess is that my annual cost to own and run my car is at least $5,000 -- $3,000 in car payments, $1,000 in insurance, $1,000 in fuel, plus I don't know how much for maintenance and repairs.

[TuNnL]

Re: Gas Prices

I have written a letter to the local City Council asking to reduce speed limits on some of the intercity streets to 35 mph and under in order to make electric golf carts a legal alternative. We'll see if I get a response.

The response will likely be either laughter or anger, since the city has been (in their view) going out of their way to give incentives for street legal golf carts that GEM of Hawaii has been selling for the last eight years. I think if you drive one of these, HPD actually lets you park free, all day in any metered stall.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Gas Prices

Back in the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, people were freaking out when gasoline prices climbed to crazy heights, sometimes higher than $1.00/gallon! I remember that some gas pumps couldn't handle prices above 99 cents because they didn't have a dollars digit on the display. To keep the price in a manageable numerical range, some gas stations started pricing their gasoline by the liter instead.

[Composite 2992]

Re: Gas Prices

To save money on gas, use regular.

The only reason to use higher octane ratings is to prevent pre-ignition or "ping". Some of the causes of pre-ignition is high compression, in excess of 9:1 or 10:1, very advanced spark timing, high revs or heavy loads.

I use regular in my Ford Explorer and tow a boat weighing at least 3,000 pounds. Never had a pre-ignition problem and that's after driving over the hill to Haleiwa or Kaneohe.

There's a myth that premium gives better mileage. When I got my first car, a Honda Civic, I played around with the gas mix, spark timing and everything possible to squeeze every last mile out of a gallon. I got up to 39 MPG, and that was back in 1979.

I kept meticulous notes of what was done, what sort of gas was used, etc. Octane ratings never had a single measurable effect. Neither did brand of gas. Nor any of those additives that claim better mileage.

What made a difference was spark advance, adjusting fuel mix and conserative driving -- which had to be done carefully to avoid damaging the engine. Too far advance and the engine would "ping" on hills. Too lean a fuel mix and the temp could spike at high speed.

I still apply the conservative driving today, especially when driving the hybrid Honda.

[cynsaligia]

Re: Gas Prices

The response will likely be either laughter or anger, since the city has been (in their view) going out of their way to give incentives for street legal golf carts that GEM of Hawaii has been selling for the last eight years. I think if you drive one of these, HPD actually lets you park free, all day in any metered stall.

my friend's daughter owns a GEM. the one time she parked in a metered stall without paying, she got a ticket.

[Vanguard]

Re: Gas Prices

I thought Hawai'i was supposed to be expensive compared to other places. Regular in most stations in Southern California is OVER $4 per gallon. Costco is an exception. Still under $4 for regular with premium right at $4.

I understrand that premium in the San Francisco area is over $4.50.

Regular is over $4 in New York right now. Now I have one more reason to want to move.

[SusieMisajon]

Re: Gas Prices

Wimps!

Ours works out to over ten dollars a gallon.

[Lei K]

Re: Gas Prices

Regular was at $4.09 where I live in Southern California last time I was at the pump, may be more today.

[joshuatree]

Re: Gas Prices

Out of curiosity, what are people's thresholds here? Meaning, at what price point where you will simply say, forget it, I ain't driving and will walk, bus, etc?

[tutusue]

Re: Gas Prices

[...]
That would be an interesting way to contribute to this thread. Do the calculation of your daily commute (no need say specifically from where to where) and tell us how much you're paying for your particular drive in total gas price.[...]

My Makaha to Waikiki commute now costs approx. $16./rt.

[...]
But that's just the fuel cost. There's also the cost of buying the car in the first place, plus insurance and maintenance and repair. I haven't actually done the math but my guess is that my annual cost to own and run my car is at least $5,000 -- $3,000 in car payments, $1,000 in insurance, $1,000 in fuel, plus I don't know how much for maintenance and repairs.

I did the car math, thanks to Quicken, for 2007. Expenses came out to $325./mo. I don't have a car payment. Gas was $90. of that $325.

Out of curiosity, what are people's thresholds here? Meaning, at what price point where you will simply say, forget it, I ain't driving and will walk, bus, etc?

I don't have a threshhold in mind. Instead, I'll tally up all my car expenses for 2008 as I did for 2007. Then I'll put together some possible figures for around town bus and cab usage. There are 2 car rental companies in my town building and I'll talk to them to see if I can strike a somewhat good deal when I need a car, like for time I spend in Makaha. Still, it's hard to put a price on convenience. While Makaha used to be my primary residence, the commute is just too expensive now. Town is now my primary residence because of the convenience. I'll probably put on only about 4000 miles this year.