How are people affording premium gas?

[ice445]

I'm still buying premium. One thing I noticed is that the spread between premium and regular has actually decreased with this insanity. For a long time now ever since covid tanked demand, at least here oil companies were using premium as a buffer of sorts. I was paying $4.10-$4.20 all last summer already, so now I'm only paying a dollar more which is $16 extra for a full tank compared to last year. Of course it's going to keep going up, but unless I started driving more I'll keep suffering.

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[Stage_3]

Luckily my Mustang is not my daily driver. Even with the daily, it still gets expensive as I run the 89 octane for the Hemi.
The plus side is that my workplace is very close to home. Only 7.5 miles one way. My next daily driver "may" be a 93 octane vehicle. (After the recession and the chip shortage bull crap passes. )

 

[MD18EcoStang]

I drive a hybrid to work and my Mustang spends most days in the garage…

Same here. I drive the Mustang to work once a week and on weekends. Premium is currently 75¢ more here, but whatever. I have a 2.3, but it still gulps it down pretty good. I fill my Fusion Hybrid every 600 to even 700 miles (in warmer weather) with no more than 13 gallons of 87 octane. I still feel the hit, but I also get a sense of relief pulling away from the pump in my hybrid. When I look at the return on investment, I realize it's times like these when the returns are highest.

 

[bloomerfan]

Around here premium is 40 cents more per gallon than regular. With your average 20 gallon tank, thats $8 more per tank. The average person gets gas what, once a week? So that's $32 a month.
That's not going to break the bank for most people.

I agree!! People complain about paying for premium but pay $2 buck for bottled water or $8 bucks for Starbucks coffee

 

[Bdubbs]

Luckily my cars that use premium are strictly leisure driving cars. So if I don't drive them as much, so be it. I'll be draining out the 91 that's in my 03 cobra and putting E85 in. Might be driving that car more often than the others.

 

[MadMikeKs]

Just have a job that helps afford these luxuries. Drive the Shelby as much as possible, but only live 4 miles away from work. Gas is a necessary evil, so if it gets too high, I will cut back on something less important. You can buy Starbucks K-cups at an less than $1 ea compared to actually going there and spending $6+ for the same thing. Spend smart and you will do fine.

 

[rxryanm]

Even people with like old ass entry level bmws and benzes they may have bought the car for cheap used, but those cars still require premium gas! How are people affording it when its insanely expensive now?

They probably aren't - just dropping 87 in it.

Me? What do you think I built this emergency fund up for? High gas prices!

 

[4sdvenom]

Skip to the end for the short answer! Read through for the reason why.

My wife and I are lucky! She is a telecommunications IT Engineer and has worked from home for almost 11 years now. I'm a Union Pipe fitter and run work for Current Mechanical so a company vehicle and a gas card for me. Her 2015 Mustang is a V6 but I still only put premium in it just because she bought it brand new and has put very few miles on it and it's her baby lol. My '03 Cobra has spent most of its life on jack stands so it's been VERY good on gas since I bought it brand new lol. It's getting put on an E85 only diet once the new engine is done. Having a company vehicle and gas card for as many years as I have you get to a point where you just don't look at the dollar amount very often when filling (although it hit $121 to fill it the other day) At the moment I am driving 55 miles one way to work in the morning. Usually more than that on the way home with stops to pick things up. That's right around 120+ miles a day average when its all added up. I get about 2 1/2 days per tank so filling twice a week. I hate to think what my company pays in fuel only per week! They have around 35-40 company vehicles out there!
I realize this won't work for everyone but I've just gotten to the point thatI don't even pay attention to what it costs to fill up our personal vehicles. I may glance at it and of course bump the lever until Iround out the dollar amount to an even dollar butI I just don't worry about the cost anymore! Like I said that won't work for everyone, and only does for us because our careers have made us fortunate enough to not have to.
May have gotten off track a bit lol.

Short answer: I just ignore the cost when filling up our personal vehicles.

Thanks
Ken

 

[DonnieO]

I'm with Ken. I just pay the price and forget about it.

 

[WildHorse]

How are people affording it when its insanely expensive now?

I take out the debit card & pay. That's how.

 

[m3incorp]

I find the original question to be interesting. I think people pay for premium the very same way people pay for regular gas. Does it cost more, of course, and that regular cost more than before also; but name something that hasn't increased in price over the past couple of years. Housing prices are crazy but they are still selling, car prices went up but they are still selling and it goes on and on.

 

[Hack]

How do I afford premium? I have my monthly fixed expenses set up to be significantly lower than my paycheck. The difference between paying $3 a gallon vs. $6 really isn't that much. Certainly less than $200 a month. I think I'm paying about an extra $100 per month or so.

It does annoy me a little paying for 93 to fill up the GR86. I always used 87 in the Mustang, but it's currently on jack stands torn apart for some modifications.

 

[shogun32]

Even people with like old ass entry level bmws and benzes they may have bought the car for cheap used, but those cars still require premium gas! How are people affording it when its insanely expensive now?

Gas isn't remotely expensive in USA, even in the People's Republic. It's expensive when it goes over 15. I grew up in Japan and gas was 4.50 a gallon back in 1980

 

[GoGoGadget]

If you check up on economic news gas prices have reached the point where demand is declining (selling less gas nationally) as people restrict their driving. It's pretty hairy that all octanes are over $5 per gal now in the Midwest. Me, I pay more for diesel but my Passat gets 35 mpg around town.

Jeez, dieselgate did a number on the VW diesel mpg. Our ‘05 Jetta TDI got over 50mpg. Just bought a RAV4 Hybrid that gets 40+mpg on 87, which is what I put in my GT, so how I buy Premium? I don’t.

 

[sk47]

Jeez, dieselgate did a number on the VW diesel mpg. Our ‘05 Jetta TDI got over 50mpg. Just bought a RAV4 Hybrid that gets 40+mpg on 87, which is what I put in my GT, so how I buy Premium? I don’t.

Hello; There will be a point to this story eventually. Decades there was a story about a government agency building a roadside park near a river. The small sort with picknick areas, Grills, restrooms and other such facilities. Some two or three millions spent. At the same time another government agency was busy building a dam down stream of the picknick area. Yes, you got it. Soon after the picknick area was finished so was the dam and the new picknick area was flooded.

Back in 1974 I bought a used 1972 Porsche 914 with the 1.7 liter engine. It was very light and would get over 40mpg if cruising. ( I drove it during the oil embargo). In 1986 I bought a used Honda Civic HF. It also was very light and also got over 40 MPG. Both had a form of fuel injection which helped. Being very light weight also helped a lot. Point being over the years the government has required all sorts of things to be added to every vehicle made. This adds weight for one thing and some of these items use more power.

While the 72 914 would not be suitable for many folks, the 85 Honda would fit in with a lot of us. It had AC for one thing. I watch TV cars shows and have magazine subscriptions. The average fuel economy for many new cars is much worse than for vehicles of many years ago.

Side note- I talk to people with newer cars who tell me they get really good MPG's. Sometimes it does not make sense. I suspect they are looking at the computer projections built into some vehicles. Example was a friend with a Jeep Grand Cherokee some years ago. He would tell me he is getting over 20MPG. Sure enough when cruising on the highway the readout would show over 20 MPG. Thing is it would drop to single digits chugging up a grade or zoom up to maybe 40+ MPG when coasting down hill. I do not think that tells the overall average.
The way i check my MPG is to fill up and write down the mileage. I then fill up every time I get gas and write down the mileage. If possible I use the same gas pump each time. I keep track for 500 or more miles and do the math. That gets all sorts of city, highway and idling.

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