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janeeng
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Atleast we have one good thing going for us in NJ!!!!!!
N.J. pump rates among the lowest
Gasoline prices continue to soar, but the cost of a fill-up seems to make little difference to some in Central New Jersey.
As prices last week approached a record high, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said prices could spike even higher this summer. 'This administration,' he said, 'is extremely concerned.'
Guy Caruso, head of the department's Energy Information Administration, warned that average U.S. gas prices could set a record this month.
However, Kristen Abbey of Highland Park, who purchased a Subaru Outback because it has the feel of an SUV while using gasoline relatively efficiently, said Friday she recently returned from a road trip to Florida.
'Every place I went, gas prices were higher than New Jersey,' said Abbey, who was at the Pep Boys franchise on Route 1 on Friday to buy car parts. 'It was nice to be back home.'
Alfredo Perez of Edison said he recently purchased an Escalade, the largest vehicle in the Cadillac fleet.
The Escalade, the vehicle of choice for the fictional Tony Soprano, has a 26-gallon tank. With the price of regular averaging $1.602 in New Jersey Friday, it would cost $41.65 to fill.
But as high as those numbers may seem, Perez said it is steeper elsewhere. 'What price we pay is not bad, compared to what the rest of the world would pay,' said Perez.
Prices in Europe hover around $5 per gallon, due mainly to higher taxes. Motorists in Great Britain pay taxes equal to about 80 percent of the cost at the pump. The rest of Europe pays between 60 and 70 percent.
One reason gasoline in New Jersey is relatively inexpensive is because it has the fourth-lowest state gasoline tax in the nation, at 14.5 cents per gallon, compared to the national average of 20 cents.
According to the Energy Department, the nationwide average gasoline price Friday was $1.72 per gallon, three cents below the record high set last August. According to the American Automobile Association, the cost of a gallon of regular reached $2.269 in San Francisco.
Should Perez or Soprano fill up at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will cost them $58.99 to feed the Escalade's tank. At the base of the London Bridge, it would exceed $100.
Avi Golani of Highland Park, who drives an Audi A-6, said he purchased the car in 1999, due in part to its efficiency, and said he gets about 25 miles per gallon on the open road.
'I've heard the rumors of $2.50 and $3 (per gallon). Maybe my next car will be one of those hybrids,' he said of vehicles which are powered by a combination of gasoline engines and electric motors, and get up to 60 miles per gallon.
Golani also allowed that the nation might be in the mood to blame the Bush administration if gas prices reach the rumored high levels. 'It would have an impact on the election,' he said.
Karl Kindberg of Staten Island, on a shopping trip Friday in a Dodge Caravan, said the price of gasoline had nothing to do with his last purchase. At his home, he explained, is his new Mercury Mountaineer, an SUV which he estimates gets about 13 or 14 miles per gallon.
'I bought it because I wanted it,' said Kindberg.
Santiago Herrera of Avenel said his thinking was the opposite, when it came to buying a new car. In 2001, during another upward spike in gasoline prices, he purchased a 2001 Toyota Echo, the smallest vehicle in the Toyota fleet.
'The (gasoline) prices where I live are low. I've still been paying less than $1.50,' said Herrera.
For Roger Gipson of Highland Park, the cost of gasoline has not mattered much.
His car of choice is a 1985 Mazda RX7, which he and his father spent several years restoring. It has only 51,000 miles on the odometer, and he estimates he drives it about 40 miles per week.
'The last time I measured (gas mileage) it got 16.3 (miles per gallon). The price doesn't matter much,' he said.
According to www.newjerseygasprices.com, the lowest price recorded Friday was $1.49 at two stations in Old Bridge -- a Delta station on Route 516 and a Gulf station at Englishtown Road and Fourth Street.
The highest area price was $1.71 for a gallon of regular at an Exxon station at Easton Avenue and JFK Boulevard in Franklin. Even the highest price in the area was below the national average.
While the nation's highest average price was $1.75 last August, it had less of an effect on motorists' wallets than prices in 1980, during the hostage crisis in Iran. Adjusted for inflation, the price of a gallon of regular was $2.94, when measured in 2004 dollars
N.J. pump rates among the lowest
Gasoline prices continue to soar, but the cost of a fill-up seems to make little difference to some in Central New Jersey.
As prices last week approached a record high, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said prices could spike even higher this summer. 'This administration,' he said, 'is extremely concerned.'
Guy Caruso, head of the department's Energy Information Administration, warned that average U.S. gas prices could set a record this month.
However, Kristen Abbey of Highland Park, who purchased a Subaru Outback because it has the feel of an SUV while using gasoline relatively efficiently, said Friday she recently returned from a road trip to Florida.
'Every place I went, gas prices were higher than New Jersey,' said Abbey, who was at the Pep Boys franchise on Route 1 on Friday to buy car parts. 'It was nice to be back home.'
Alfredo Perez of Edison said he recently purchased an Escalade, the largest vehicle in the Cadillac fleet.
The Escalade, the vehicle of choice for the fictional Tony Soprano, has a 26-gallon tank. With the price of regular averaging $1.602 in New Jersey Friday, it would cost $41.65 to fill.
But as high as those numbers may seem, Perez said it is steeper elsewhere. 'What price we pay is not bad, compared to what the rest of the world would pay,' said Perez.
Prices in Europe hover around $5 per gallon, due mainly to higher taxes. Motorists in Great Britain pay taxes equal to about 80 percent of the cost at the pump. The rest of Europe pays between 60 and 70 percent.
One reason gasoline in New Jersey is relatively inexpensive is because it has the fourth-lowest state gasoline tax in the nation, at 14.5 cents per gallon, compared to the national average of 20 cents.
According to the Energy Department, the nationwide average gasoline price Friday was $1.72 per gallon, three cents below the record high set last August. According to the American Automobile Association, the cost of a gallon of regular reached $2.269 in San Francisco.
Should Perez or Soprano fill up at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will cost them $58.99 to feed the Escalade's tank. At the base of the London Bridge, it would exceed $100.
Avi Golani of Highland Park, who drives an Audi A-6, said he purchased the car in 1999, due in part to its efficiency, and said he gets about 25 miles per gallon on the open road.
'I've heard the rumors of $2.50 and $3 (per gallon). Maybe my next car will be one of those hybrids,' he said of vehicles which are powered by a combination of gasoline engines and electric motors, and get up to 60 miles per gallon.
Golani also allowed that the nation might be in the mood to blame the Bush administration if gas prices reach the rumored high levels. 'It would have an impact on the election,' he said.
Karl Kindberg of Staten Island, on a shopping trip Friday in a Dodge Caravan, said the price of gasoline had nothing to do with his last purchase. At his home, he explained, is his new Mercury Mountaineer, an SUV which he estimates gets about 13 or 14 miles per gallon.
'I bought it because I wanted it,' said Kindberg.
Santiago Herrera of Avenel said his thinking was the opposite, when it came to buying a new car. In 2001, during another upward spike in gasoline prices, he purchased a 2001 Toyota Echo, the smallest vehicle in the Toyota fleet.
'The (gasoline) prices where I live are low. I've still been paying less than $1.50,' said Herrera.
For Roger Gipson of Highland Park, the cost of gasoline has not mattered much.
His car of choice is a 1985 Mazda RX7, which he and his father spent several years restoring. It has only 51,000 miles on the odometer, and he estimates he drives it about 40 miles per week.
'The last time I measured (gas mileage) it got 16.3 (miles per gallon). The price doesn't matter much,' he said.
According to www.newjerseygasprices.com, the lowest price recorded Friday was $1.49 at two stations in Old Bridge -- a Delta station on Route 516 and a Gulf station at Englishtown Road and Fourth Street.
The highest area price was $1.71 for a gallon of regular at an Exxon station at Easton Avenue and JFK Boulevard in Franklin. Even the highest price in the area was below the national average.
While the nation's highest average price was $1.75 last August, it had less of an effect on motorists' wallets than prices in 1980, during the hostage crisis in Iran. Adjusted for inflation, the price of a gallon of regular was $2.94, when measured in 2004 dollars
