Gas Tank Fill Location All Wrong

I personally wouldn't want service beyond just pumping the gas and washing
the windshield as I think an oil level and tire pressure check is just
inviting them to scam you. The reason being that the oil has to have time
to drain back down before a reading can be taken or it will seem to be low
and if filled back up will be overfilled and with some vehicles overfilled
oil can really cause an MPG loss as well as other issues. Also it invites
them to sell you a quart of oil. On the tire side the attendant doesn't
know if you have driven 5 blocks or 5 miles and if the tires are at
operating temp the pressure will read higher and lowering it back down will
cause them to be underinflated which once again will cause MPG loss and
excessive tire wear.

 

tom, how about learning where your Shift key is, fer crying out loud...

 

The "low oil" scam was common on the highways. Many years ago, it was far
less harmful because cars used more oil and chances are if it was overfilled
a bit the level would be back to normal in 500 miles. Two hundred on my '53
Mercury. The last four cars I've owned have not needed any added oil in all
the years I've owned them and I change at 7500 miles on my primary, 5000
miles on my secondary and they've gone over 150,000 miles on a couple of
them.

The other side though, was my daughter that managed to get 3 quarts low.
That was costly.

 

In your world maybe, but sure as hell not everywhere. It might pay for you
to get out some and realize that not every place is the same as where you
live.

 

Then realize this Paul - almost everything you've posted that reflects life
in Oregon, is pretty unique to Oregon. Leave town and head out to the world
around you and you'll quickly see why so many people are telling you that
things aren't the way you think, once you get beyond the boundaries of your
world.

 

In Virginia, service stations will not refuse service to someone because
they live in fear of getting slapped with a discrimination lawsuit
unless the person refused service happens to be white. They will flat
out tell you that if, say, you ask them to refuse service to customers
who pull in and leave their car stereos blasting the whole neighborhood.
And local law enforcement will concur and say that, because the way
the laws are written in VA, they disuade station owners from refusing
service for that very reason - that the station owner will in fact run a
great risk of getting sued on discrimination charges. Personally - I
think thy're both FOS - just avoiding conflict to make their days go
smoother. But it is a shame that our legal system has allowed this
oppression to prevail in the name of "equality".

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Self service isn't necessarily a scam. But the money to pay the pumpers
and their benefits and taxes has to come from *somewhere* - either out
of the owner's profits, or in his buying cheaper gas, or otherwise
cutting costs somewhere (non-compliance with certain regulations?).
Perhaps if you find out where the money comes from to pay the extra
unavoidable costs, you'd find that *THAT'S* where the real scam is. But
self-service in and of itself is certainly not a scam. Find out how and
why the non-self-service stations are able to charge less. You can't
just hand-wave those real costs away.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

IMO, as long as one station can pump gas for the same price as the self
serve across the street, touting self service as a money saver is a scam. I
don't know how, now do I care how they do it, stations did not lower the
self serve price, they raised the full serve price.

When you back out the tax differences, the typical NJ stations pumps the gas
for you at about the same price at the self serve in CT. Zone pricing makes
apples to apples comparison difficult though. Just as the Shell station in
my town is always12¢ less than the one 6 miles down the highway.

If you go back maybe 15 years, they tried to charge more for credit card
purchases instead of cash. What happened to that deal? Now that you can
pay at the pump they will take your cards at the same price. I've not
figured out the benefit of the seller to have you pay at the pump.
Convenient for the driver, but I'd have thought the sales of coffee and
candy bars at the counter would be hurt by the reduced traffic.

Some stations, like a couple of local ones here in CT offer both. They
inflate the full service by 30¢ a gallon to discourage people using it.
Even more pathetic is the person that pulls up to the full serve pump and
gets out and pumps it him or her self and pays the higher price. They don't
look at the pump price.

 

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

Good question.

The station I was buying all my fuel from mounted speakers to the pumps
blaring commercials at you while you pump your fuel. I now buy all my
fuel from the station down the street that does not blast me with that
crap. Fuel is same price, major brand.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Also - people are still going to go inside for their stupid tax (AKA:
lottery tickets).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

They're probably at truck stops. There are some. It was on car talk,
when someone pulled into a self-serve station. They believe truckers,
who have to maintain their own trucks, know more about filling up tanks
than people who don't drive for a living.

Please show me a link where it says it is illegal for me to pump my own gas.

The reason for not top posting is to make it easier for other people to
follow the thread. It's not about you, but respect for others.

Jeff

 

Gee, is that a comment or a question?

Do you think the lower prices on gasoline in New Jersey have something
to do with the lower gas taxes in New Jersey?

Personally, I would rather pump my own gas because I can make sure that
the tank is filled properly, the operator doesn't nick the paint just
above the filler door with the nozzle (there are few dings there from
the people in New Jersey), filler door is properly closed, and the tank
is not topped off, which tends to result in fuel going into vapor
recovery system or the air, not the engine as I prefer. And the service
is faster, too, when I do it.

I also check my own oil and the gas pressure in my tires. I will fix the
door latch, window and vehicle speed sensory myself. I also changed the
battery and headlamp myself.

Maybe you're too good to fill your own tank, but I am not. And that
comes from someone whose used his hands to repair computers, program
computers in HTML, C++, C#, Perl, PHP, Java, FORTRAN, Applesoft BASIC,
Apple Integer Basic and other computer languages, write on blackboards
to teach kids in school, disassemble and assemble engines and operate on
people.

Jeff

 

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=110510
Eight hours of training is required of gas station attendants, Dressler
said. Among their responsibilities are knowing which type of containers
cannot store gasoline, such as glass. "It's a dangerous product and they are
trained in the correct procedures," he said.
Eight hours of training is required of gas station attendants, Dressler
said. Among their responsibilities are knowing which type of containers
cannot store gasoline, such as glass. "It's a dangerous product and they are
trained in the correct procedures," he said.

http://ask.yahoo.com/20040715.html
The ban on self-service gas stations is a highly combustible issue and makes
for some heated debates. New Jersey passed the law making it illegal to pump
your own gas in 1949. At the time, legislators felt it was too dangerous to
have untrained people dispensing such a flammable liquid.

http://www.selfserviceworld.com/article_4603_210_.php

How about Long Island

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/n.../Reference/Times Topics/People/R/Rather, John

 

The actual law is that it is illegal for the owner or operator of a gas
station to let someone who is not a trained gas station attendant to
operate a gas pump. If they don't stop me, that's their problem and
their fine.

Jeff

 

Vancouver, WA is right across the river from Portland, OR in the same
metro area, and my uncle ran Drummond Oil in New York and New Jersey.
He didn't have self-service even in New York, just mini-serve and
sometimes a full-serve island, and still undercut the competition by
about a dime. Station managers in Vancouver that I've talked to have
mentioned that the only reason they offer self-service is because of
customer expectation, even though it costs them much more in insurance
and that cost has to be passed on.

Insurance. While many individuals may be able to handle hazmat
substances on their own, people as a whole tend to be pretty fucking
dumb.

 

Sure there is. It's required by OSHA on all gas pumps nationwide, and
I've yet to see one that's missing it unless someone's driven off with
the hose.

 

True, but usually the other fluids are complimentary at full service
islands, which is why you're paying more per gallon of gas...

 

I'd still chap his ass for providing minimum service at a full service
island, even get a manager involved if I had to. If I'm stopping at a
full service island, it's because I don't want to do *any* of that
myself that day.

 

I know there was a full service island at the Arco at Glenoaks(?) and
the northbound I-5 freeway onramp by the cemetary in San Fernando as
recently as the 1990s.

 

That's one thing we don't miss about retail self-service: Getting
stuck in line behind Jonny Cripple who takes five times longer than
mini-serve to pump and spill gasoline on the tarmac...