Gas prices going down a bit BUT ARE THEY STILL RIPPING YOU OFF?

zmatrix

Senior member
Mar 1, 2001
948
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With only a quarter tank of gas left on a late Sunday afternoon in sunny So Cal, I decided to get gas at my local 76 station two blocks from my house. I swiped my ATM card and hit the Super Unleaded, locked the trigger on the nozzle and let it fill away.

Bored, I stared at the meter running and eventually my eyes settled on the large button labeled with premium leaded. I then notice something strange...it said 88.5 octane. What the hell is 88.5 octane, I asked myself. Wait a minute I thought! Isn't it supposed to be 89!?!? Then I looked at the Super Unleaded - it was labeled 91 octance!?!?. These labels looked like they were replaced recently

Ok, from what I learned, the reason for the different octanes was the process in which they derive gasoline from petroleum. The higher the octane, the more expensive the process, and thus the higher cost of gas. Now, I know I always get 92 octane gas but now I am paying for 91 octane gas at last week's price of a 92 super unleaded!

What the heck are they trying to do? They claim to have lowered prices but by how? By sacrificing the quality of gas? Now this is only one gas station that I have been to, but it seems that this switch might be going on already with all the 76 stations and I am sure, other stations will follow suit.

Of course there is nothing I can do but grrrrr....I feel cheated.

Anyone else see this happening at their local stations?
 

goodoptics

Platinum Member
Aug 18, 2000
2,652
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WTF? 88.5 and 91 octane ratings? never heard of that before.

I don't think my local 76 station carry gas in those octane ratings.
 

atom

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
4,722
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LOL what do expect from a business that charges 9/10th's of a cent on a product?
 

zmatrix

Senior member
Mar 1, 2001
948
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Where is it common for 91 octane? Never seen that until this afternoon. Always been 92 octane. And yes, there is 88.5 octane. I will see if I can get a pic of it.
 

zmatrix

Senior member
Mar 1, 2001
948
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Well it's $2.03 for 91, $1.95 for the 88.5, and $1.85 for the 87 here in Los Angeles.
 

XMan

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
12,513
50
91
$1.75 for 85 octane, here.

You read that right.

It runs fine, though, due to the elevation.
 

Lucky

Lifer
Nov 26, 2000
13,126
3
0
91 is common in PA, at least around me.

its 1.45 here in pittsburgh for 87-89, 1.55 for 89-91, and 1.65 for 91-93.
 

Helpless

Banned
Jul 26, 2000
2,285
0
0
Gas prices are so low because GW is selling us out to his oil friends.


Wow, incredible insight, sir...thanks for the update on the economics of gas prices.