The best way to find out would be to compare their gas prices with those in nearby states where self-serve is the norm.
I personally prefer self-serve. I’m old enough to remember the days when full-serve was simply the way it was everywhere, rather than an option you paid extra for. You could sometimes wait quite awhile before the pump jockey got around to putting the nozzle in your gas tank.
I also had one of the genuinely crappy experiences of my life last summer in Italy due to a full-service gas station. My wife and I were sharing a rented car with my sister and her SO, which they’d rented. First day we drive it, we notice (fortunately just a few miles from where we were staying) that we were low on gas, so we swung into a gas station to refill it. Before I could even open the door to get out of the car, there was already a hose in my gas tank. They pumped, we paid and drove off, and a couple miles down the road, the car gasped to a complete stop.
I can’t remember whether they’d filled us up with diesel when we took regular, or vice versa, but the kind of fuel we took was right there on the ‘door’ to the gas cap. They evidently ignored it, and I had to hike three miles uphill to get back to the villa, and endure an absolutely hellish day the next day - far too long and miserable an experience to go into here - trying to get a replacement rental car. But with a hearty fuck-you to Tuscany, on any number of counts here.
I don’t know the proper way to quote someone else’s post,so…to quote RTFirefly “The best way to find out would be to compare their gas prices with those in nearby states where self-serve is the norm.” Self - serve regular unleaded in Central New York State is $1.479 per gallon. According to my in-laws in New Jersey it’s $1.32 down there.
New Jersey gasoline always seems to be cheaper than NY by about a dime or so per gallon, and has been that way for decades now.
We New Yorkers attribute it to lower NJ gas taxes, and because many refineries are in New Jersey (if those are the true reasons we really have no way of knowing).
NJ gas might seem even cheaper if NY continues to mandate a poorly thought out switch from MBTE gas additive to ethanol (since there really isn’t a drop of VEHICLE grade ethanol (there ARE other kinds) in NY State, and won’t be till well after the change-over deadline - meaning gas will soon increase up to 20 cents more per gallon than today)
No, the NJ people do not know how to fill a bike up. The first time I ever went through there they spilled gas all over my bike, then charged me for it! I stopped getting gas in NJ because of that, and now with a much bigger tank I can get through there no problem. I also went through Oregon before they let bikers fill up their own bikes and I still did it. However, I think in Rhode Island, one guy knew how to fill up a bike without spilling anything, but he didn’t know that I can get an extra half gallon in there easy and do all the time if I’m touring.
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I think they’re just in Kansas City and St. Louis. They may be in Columbia, too, but I never stop there for gas on my way to/from KC… I usually stop in either Kingdom City or Boonville, and the gas stations there are the good ol’ fashioned kind.
I’ve noticed that even with a brand-new Accord, I can’t get the little sleeve thingy to fit over my gas intake the way it’s supposed to - there’s a little gap at the top, which seems to defeat the purpose. Ah well. So long as I can get my 49¢ quart of soda at QT, I’m happy.
You’re not getting full service without paying extra for it, you just don’t have the option of pumping it yourself for less.
Legalizing self serve in a state that doesn’t have it shouldn’t be a big deal. No one is forced to pump their own gas, they don’t have to patronize any station that doesn’t offer full service.
The vapor recovery nozzles only exist around these parts in emmissions regulation areas - bascially all of the Portland / Vancouver metro area. And even then not at all stations. You get more than 20 or 30 miles out of the city and the pumps are all the plain basic, “no-Elephant-Trunk” type.
The thing I can’t stand here in the Great State of Oregon, however, is that the legally enforced “full” serve isn’t. Oh sure, they pump the gas. Other than that, at 99% of the stations, you check your own oil, wash you own windows, etc. And you usually do all of this while the “highly trained” high school kid attendant is standing there picking his or her nose and watching you. This, they call “mini-serve” here - and the price ain’t any different between that and “full” serve.
Luckily, we motorcyclists are now allowed to pump our own. We’re just not allowed to start the pump nor remove or replace the pump handle. The attendant has to hand the pump handle to us, we fill, then we hand the pump handle back to the attendant.
Of course, I magically get 300% smarter when I drive 5 miles and cross the Oregon / Washington border, for there I get to pump my own - in fact, I’d be hard pressed to FIND a full-serve island at a station in Washington - at least the stations I go to.
Check this one though - when I first moved here in 1994, the still sold LEADED gas. That’s as in old-fashioned, 1960’s style plain old “REGULAR” - with the big nozzle on the pump handle and everything. I was baffled when I first pulled up to a station in 1994 and asked for regular - the attendant (after admonishing me not to touch the pump…) said that my vehicle won’t take regular. I just looked at him funny as he said, “you want regular unleaded.” To me this was a given, I think the last time they sold leaded gas back east (Mass, NH, ME) where I grew up was the mid 70’s!
Well, I guess good ol’ NJ is one up on Oregon. Lots of times after the highly trained professional starts the gas pump he will ASK if you would like him to check the oil. It’s their way of trying to see if they can sell you some oil, too, of course, instead of your going to K-Mart and buying it cheaper. They will often wash your windshield (and sometimes the back window, too), just as an incentive for you to come back. Thinking about this, it’s probably due in part to the densely populated nature of the state. In anyone’s normal commute he is likely to pass a half dozen gas stations at least, so there is some competition for providing service.
BTW, last time I saw a comparison, NJ had LOWER gas prices than the adjacent states, even comparing our full-service with self-serve just across the river in PA.
It hardly matters. Our gas is cheaper than any surrounding state and somebody pumps it for us. Which means no gasoline smelling hands and no standing in the rain. On the down side, you have to watch to make sure they replace your gascap and don’t spill gas on your paint. But it beats pumping gas in 20 degree weather.
We used to have the option of self-serve back in the late 80s and early 90s, but they outlawed it. Good riddance, I say.
So the important point is how much gas costs relative to other states, rather than the absolute cost? So you would be happy with $10/gallon if neighboring states paid $12?
I prefer the market to work it out rather than have government dictate. If there is a market for full-service, the gas stations will provide it. Let the consumer choose. I suspect that the death of full-service in most other states indicates that the customer is not willing to pay more.
This is true, cross my heart. There was a gas station in Long Beach, CA that would allow you to pay AFTER you pumped. Plus they would pump for you at the self service price AND wash your windshield. It was a major brand.
You can touch me now cause I have been where most have not been.