There is one surefire way to avoid paying higher gasoline prices: Don’t fill up.
That’s what some Texans appear to be doing amid the latest run-up at the pump, according to AAA Texas. But they’re paying a different price.
The motor club says roadside service calls for gasoline rose 4.9 percent in the first three months of 2011, compared with the first quarter of 2010. AAA Texas says it is currently delivering gas to about 1,650 stranded members each month.
While the service is free for members, AAA cautions that running on a low tank also could cause sediment to clog the fuel pump pickup and the electrical fuel pump inside the tank to overheat, leading to costly repairs.
“Higher gas prices may be contributing to more people running out of gas because they are trying to stretch each tank further than normal,” said Steve Mazor, manager of the AAA Automotive Research Center. “However, as painful as trips to the gas station may be getting, letting your car regularly run on an almost-empty can cause even more wallet damage with expensive repairs.”
- Not letting your car’s fuel gauge drop below a quarter of a tank,
- Not pumping the gas pedal when trying to start a vehicle that’s run out of fuel
- Adopting a gentler driving style to conserve fuel
Notice anything missing? Here’s a hint:
They assailed George Bush when gas prices went up during his administration. He countered that by lifting the offshore drilling ban. Someone reinstated that ban and the prices went back up. Now, we’re paying for Brazil to drill and Colombia to refine the oil.
Answer: No criticism of the Obama administration policies.
Why is it so hard to understand???? Drill here, drill now!
Here’s an idea: Top off your tank once, and keep it topped off. That way if you run short on gas money for a couple of days you still have gas in your tank and can make it until you can top it back off.
That seems counter intuitive to me. If the price of gas continues to climb, then it costs less overall per gallon in the long run to fill up more frequently.
lobo: Here’s a hint for you. There is no shortage of oil, and there is no shortage of refined product. This is a product of oil speculators driving the price up based on uncertainty in the Middle East. Perhaps, we should regulate speculation on essential commodities, but no wait a minute, that would be socialism wouldn’t it? Welcome to free market enterprise.
when can we break out the hanging ropes ?
As someone who had to pay more than 1,200 to fix a problem caused when I ran a car with an empty tank (SLIME in the fuel injectors!), I can tell you that it’s not worth it to run on fumes…
It would take retarded TX people to say drill baby drill, not know that TX off shore drilling could not produce enough oil to change the price of gas by 1/8 a percent, and you would be the same people screaming bloody murder and asking the government to do something about oil wells leaking in the gulf. No wonder other countries thing we are a country full of morons. LOL
If you complain about gas, then you can’t afford a car.
>>”Why is it so hard to understand???? Drill here, drill now!”>>
Really? You have no clue what’s going on in the world right now do you?
It’s getting close to hurricane season anyway. I never let my car get below 3/4 during that time of year.
Brian,
From an solely economic perspective you are correct. When prices are rising over the course of a year, a person should fill up immediately and try to keep the tank reasonably full.
However, the gas tank also has weight. A full 15 gallon fuel tank weights about 120 lbs, adding about 3% onto the gross vehicle weight of a sedan. This added weight decreases fuel economy.
This is the oldest scam People are cashing in on that free AAA service. What I want to know is when is AAA going to start paying their service providers a fair fee? Pretty soon the wrecker companies will stop delivering for $12!
I see Aaron Tippin posted with the familiar “drill here, drill now!” horse bleep.
Too bad that would not drive the price of gas down at all. We simply do not have enough supply domestically. As another poster stated, this is being driven by unregulated greed on Wall Street.
Every time the Dems try and reign the speculators in, it’s met with the familiar chants of socialism, big government, communism, Muslim, etc….
Perhaps, we should regulate speculation on essential commodities, but no wait a minute, that would be socialism wouldn’t it? Welcome to free market enterprise.
It would take retarded TX people to say drill baby drill, not know that TX off shore drilling could not produce enough
>>”Why is it so hard to understand???? Drill here, drill now!”>>
Really? You have no clue what’s going on in the world right now do you?
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With all due respect, do you liberals have brain damage?
Are you nuts? What the hell are you talking about?
Every time the Dems try and reign the speculators in, it’s met with the familiar chants of socialism, big government, communism, Muslim, etc….
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Oh great more brain damage. Or just good ol’ lies, what dems do best.
You cannot name ONE TIME the dems have tried to reign in ANYTHING or ANYONE and they especially have not reigned in oil speculators
Sorry MrRegressive, but this falls Obama and Bernacke. They monetized part of our debt to the tune of 22%, so any commodity traded in US$ had an automatic 22% price increase. Since your so smart, what is a 22% mark-up on $85?
Answer: $103.70.
The Saudis announced an oil glutted market, gasoline reserves went up, price of oil went down, yet everyday the price of gas goes up and up and then some….WHY???????? We the American people are getting ripped-off by the government and their wall street friends….They will will not stop until the entire country collapses…..
Wait till they run out of food with our federal government printing money and buying their own bonds.. YUM YUMM your debt rating goes to crappola when you do this – it is called monetizing the debt. You can google that phrase and see what it means. Look at the Wiemar Republic – HAHAHA AMERIKA IN THE MAKING!!!!!
This has the same effect as raising taxes. When taxes are raised, people go out of their way to avoid paying and companies move overseas.