so that means they'll have to be retrofitted again when gas goes above $4.99/gal?

weaksauce

"The pumps will have to be retrofitted with new meters that go up to $4.99"

So they plan on future-proofing for about 18 months?

Good to know this situation sucks for everyone I care about. The only people making out are OPEC and the oil companies.

"and also can't charge more than $99 for the total sale, preventing truck and SUV owners from filling their tanks up all the way"

Of course, stopping at $90 and then putting in your CC again and starting gain is too hard for most people to handle.

The small time station in my area has set their pumps to "you pay twice what the pump says"

@backbroken: 18 months!? Your estimates are more conservative than Bush's initial budget projection for the Iraq war. This crap's $4 now, and we haven't even touched peak season yet.

..."The oil companies get most of the money...." is patently untrue and even laughable. The economics of selling gas is very complicated, but that statement demonstrates a pretty wholesale lack of any understanding of the issue, and plays into the whiny culture of consume-and-complain that is at the root of the real problem. (Disclosure: I do work for an oil company, but no, I'm not a shill for them and am a frequent commenter on many topics here).

Maybe it's a sure sign that this is getting out of control. When delivery systems are incapable of charging the price, the price is getting too high.

Wouldn't it make more sense to fit them with meters that go to $9.99? That way, you're making the most use of the numerical places you have...

This was a problem many years ago when gas went above $1 a gallon, pumps couldn't deal with a price greater than $0.999 a gallon. For a long time, gas stations had to set the pumps to deliver gas at half price and then the total sale was doubled when you went in to pay. Which won't work now with pay-at-pump. Sigh, I thought they fixed this then.

That's pretty awful for these gas-station owners. When I was little my grandparents and mother owned a small gas station and repair shop so I sympathize. And yes, they don't make much money.

4.99, California will be over that soon. I would just make it accept your paycheck, and just make it easier for everyone.

@trk182:

Re-swiping your credit card would have nothing to do with anything in this situation since these pumps dont have card readers. These are the old-style pumps with the "analog" dials that physically turn (think odometers in cars before they went to digital, or, look at the picture in the post). Retrofitting these pumps to go over $99.99 would be a huge pain, as you cant just duct tape another 0-9 wheel in between the dollar sign and the existing 4 digits that make up the total price on the pump.

Already in 2005, many of those owners had to retrofit when the gas went above $2.999 a gallon.

The problem is that the gears in there that run are not meant to handle spinning so fast... meaning the higher the price of gas, the more chance that those gears can't keep up and breaking. (causing even more cost to the already cash-straped local gas station owner.)

I don't think it was mentioned in the linked article, but was reading elsewhere that is some small towns (where there is only 1 gas station for many many miles around), they are going to pricing at 1/2 gallon on the pump - then just doubling the price once you get to the register. (so if your total on the pump is $25 - you actually owe $50)

"the oil company gets most of the money" - HAHA, Classic.

The gas companies only make about 8 cents per gallon of gasoline, while the government makes (taxes) you somewhere around 80 cents per gallon, depending on where you live. Yeah a billion is a lot of money, but how much did Washington D.C. make off of it?

@winstonthorne: Remember back in '00 when Bush ran as the guy who could strong arm the oil companies into bringing the high cost of gas back down? What was it back then, $1.60 or something like that? Oh, those were heady times indeed.

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to 4.99. Look, right across the board, 4.99, 4.99, 4.99 and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most pumps go up to 3.99?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's more expensive? Is it any more expensive?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one dollar more, isn't it? It's not 3.99. You see, most blokes, you know, will be pumping at 3.99. You're on 3.99 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 3.99 on your credit card. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to 4.99.
Nigel Tufnel: 4.99. Exactly. One dollar.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make 3.99 the highest and make 3.99 be the top number?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to 4.99.

@spoco:

Report them. Seriously.

@humphrmi:

I think the only pumps you can pay at the pump at are digital anyway, so it would only work with the oldschool pumps, and you would have to go inside anyway to pay, even if the price wasnt halved

@wgrune:

oooooh well in that case why wait 20 yrs to update your pumps. I don't even go to a gas station if i can't pay at the pump unless the alternative is pushing my car.

@Jaysyn: Why? Did you even read the article?

@CRNewsom: Better still, make people learn hexadecimal. Three positions + 10ths gets you to $40.96 15/16ths in decimal (as F.FFF).

@Toof_75_75: Ya the government doesn't get any, and none of the rest of the money goes to the foreign oil countries who are building the massive sky scrapers. Nope. None of them.

@bobpence: i know your joking, but i doubt their current pumps have A-F.

@Ash78: How much higher can it go?

The answer is none. None more high.

IF you have to stop and re-swipe your card to fill your tank.. you probably should be looking for a new car to drive.

Pumps in Texas stop at $60 to $75 a purchase. Gotta wonder why they want to cover two debit card fees instead of one (which is required of me every time).

@Greeper: It's probably best not to admit you work for an oil company on a Consumerist thread on the subject of those companies screwing small businesses and individuals, and denying any bias after doing so will only throw more fuel on the fire.

So far I've heard that refineries and gas stations are getting hit, and I know from (painful) experience that consumers are feeling the squeeze. Government gas taxes are fixed (or relatively so), and you claim that the oil companies are not turning record profits (an assertion which flies in the face of everything we see and hear in the news), tell me - who's collecting Bladefist's paycheck?

I can't remember the last time I filled up at a station with pumps this old. I see them, and if I'm not on empty I'm driving to the next station. If the pumps are that old I don't trust the gas in the tanks (This probably has no basis in fact).

many rural stations have upgraded to electronic pumps, as it allows them to sell gas all night without employees. It has saved me from running out several times (Most stations leave the lights on, but I've filled up in near total darkness at some).

@backbroken: Dude, you're WAY too optimistic! I'm expecting to see prices like that by the end of summer.

@Greeper: Thank you! I'm getting so sick of society making the oil companies out to be the big bad wolf. We don't feel the way we do about other companies that provide a necessity for us that we do for oil companies. Why don't we get upset with the government (Fed and local) for the taxes levied on gasoline, for which, depending on the state, can be as much as $.50.
It costs just as much to buy a gallon of milk as it does a gallon of gasoline and you don't hear the masses wanting to crucify dairy farmers. Of course not, so buy more fuel efficient cars, make fewer errands,and use public transportation.

I understand that they probably figured that by the time gas went up to $4/gallon those pumps would no longer be in service but.... if they had a "dollar" number wheel, why couldn't it be the same as the other wheels and go up to 9?

@discounteggroll:

Yup, but because these pumps are mechanical and the gears wear faster the more options the pumps will need to be replaced anyway. It sucks but there are not too many options.

@winstonthorne: they are turning record profits because of the idiot speculators in washington who are driving the market price of Gas way up over the actual price. Also, when speculators underestimate the value of gas, like in the past, oil companies have taken record hits.

And the onlything a winfall tax is going to hurt is your 401ks.

@Boltonism:
That may be a limit on debit instead of credit, but part of it is a courtesy to the customer.

They start out with an authorization transaction, and many banks will place a hold on those funds even after the transaction has completed. There is also the problem of someone using debit whom doesn't have $100 in their account.

If you are using debit with a pin its typically only costing them $0.05 - $0.30. If you run it as credit add another 1.5-3.5% of the purchase total.

Anyone have a breakdown on where the money goes. I remember seeing something years ago that did that. FROM what I remember the majority of the money did go to oil companies. With the oil producing countries coming in second.

@hypochondriac: Not sure if this is a fact, but found this:

73% Crude Oil (was 46% a year ago...) 7% Refineries 8% Marketing 11% Taxes

@trk182: In small towns, this is usually the only type of pump you will see.

this is from 2007, more reputable source.

[www.walkonmypath.com]

@hypochondriac: If most of the money does go to the oil companies, than that pays for the expense to turn crude oil into gasoline. Who do you think pays for the refineries, transportation of gasoline, enviromental clean ups, etc? It can be expensive. Yet at the same time, they are in a business to make money. The oil companies aren't a charity. They work on the economic premise of basic supply and demand. We as a society demand and they supply.

maybe its 2006. Anywho it is by the DOE.

@beboptheflop: I don't want them to be a charity, but I'm sick of hearing about them turning record PROFITS (which have already factored for costs; otherwise they would say "revenues") while American families and small gas station owners suffer.

I don't care who started this insane climb in prices (and big oil profits) - speculators, agents of the oil companies, Osama Bin-freakin'-Laden - doesn't matter. The bottom line is that the oil companies are rolling in dough, and the middle and working class are getting rolled.

@beboptheflop: Thanks, But what I don't get is why do they get billions in tax credits? They are already earning billions in profits. The only environmental cleanup I remember is exon in Alaska. Even then they were accused of skimping on the cleanup.

@winstonthorne:

WHy would I deny working for an oil company? It's true. Just because I work for one doesn't mean I can't think critically about issues that affect me as a consumer. Oil companies are making lots of money because the price of crude is high and because there is demand for every gallon of crude. THe price of crude has little to do with US gasoline demand and much more to do with politics, speculation, the weak dollar, and huge demand for crude in CHina and developing countries.

Incidentally, when I started working here in 1996, our department did away with coffee because the price of oil was $12 a barrel, which was less than the cost of producing it. I dont remember consumers crying for oil companies then. Anyway, I don't really care either way; it's not like I benefit from company profits -- even oil comapnies' stocks are almost flat in spite of profits and oil prices.

My point is that it's long been understood that gas prices have zero impact on an integrated oil company's bottom line, which is why the industry is moving fast towards getting out of retail (Shell and Texaco, for example, already did that -- the brand is there but they don't own any stations). Stations make money on lottery and cigarettes, not gas. BUt the point is, oil companies don't get most of the money from the pump, and in many markets probably lose money on the gallon due to long term supply agreements and geographic reasons (it is expensive for Chevron to get gasoline to, say, Ohio, but it has to compete with Sheets, so it's prices -- dictated by the market) are lower than it's actual costs to supply its dealers. (Again, it's so complex we could go back and forth forever, but I just thought the statement was absurd and needed to be called out).

@Greeper: we're supposed to believe you drivel? Exxon made $77,245 PER MINUTE in 2007-that's more money generated per minute than 70 percent of Americans earned all year, according to the Census Bureau. I'm sure this number has only increased now as the price of gas has greatly increased as well.

Those poor poor Oil Companies... Maybe they need more tax breaks?

@winstonthorne: I see what you are saying, but we as a society can control how much of our income we spend on gasoline (thus not giving it to the oil companies) by buying more fuel efficient cars, carpooling, using public transportation, and running less errands. Ultimately the power is in our hands instead of being "victims".

@beboptheflop:

Here we go...You don't hear the masses calling for the heads of dairy farmers because:

1. we don't use 20 gallons of milk every week
2. we have reasonable alternatives to milk

,@Bladefist: Thanks but the breakdown I was looking divided the cost even more. It showed what the oil companies earned and what the oil countries earned. I betting this is false but I have friends who work in gulf countries according to them Saudi and other countries sell oil at about $40. The rest is the market doing what it does ,