The Price of Petrol
- MrTomServo
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Mon 11 Aug, 2003 14.15
- Location: California
In the US, it's because the federal road tax happens to end in 9/10 of a cent. They always round up at the till, so it's not as if you're saving that 1/10 of a cent for a rainy day.Whilst we're talking about it, why do they always sell petrol at "point something pence" like "82.9p". Why not just round it up? Seems a little trivial giving people a discount of 0.1p...
It's the economy, stupid.
God! Mobil! That's a name I've not heard for years, there used to be loads of them, but when BP took over in the late 1990's they changed them to BP, or in the case of a few of them they were either closed and changed into showrooms or simply knocked down. There's one in Warrington that was a Mobil, changed to BP, knocked down and rebuilt so it was newer and it also had a Safeway Compact, which probably won't last long.
Fascinating to see what price was paid for petrol 12 years ago. Apparently NI has the cheapest petrol in the UK at the moment (I'd doubt that mind you, but it makes a pleasant change if it is). A local independent garage charges 83.9 for unleaded, BP it's 82.9 though in a Tesco's just outside Belfast it's been 79.9 for weeks.
Fascinating to see what price was paid for petrol only a few years ago. I remember in the months following my passing my driving test in 2001, that I used to be able to by the then newly introduced ULS petrol for about 64.9 ppl. Just over 3 years later, and it's now in excess of 80ppl.
Fascinating to see what price was paid for petrol 12 years ago.
Incidentally, do any petrol station types know what happened last year? Petrol prices were increasing - they were just short of where they are now (most garages in plymouth were around 79.9) then, seemingly overnight, prices plummeted right back down to 73.9, from where they have steadily grown again. Why would that happen?
Drove past the Q8 on Milton Road, Cambridge every day last week, where unleaded started off at 82.9p/l, went up to 84.9p/l on Wednesday, before dropping to 83.9p/l on Thursday and was still there Sunday.
Tesco, about a mile away, stayed at 82.9p/l all week.
Tesco, about a mile away, stayed at 82.9p/l all week.
Wow. Just wow. Moaning about petrol which was a third cheaper than it is now. No doubt in another 10 years when we are on the brink of crashing through the £2 / litre barrier we will reminisce similarly.marksi wrote:Fascinating to see what price was paid for petrol 10 years ago.cwathen wrote:
Fascinating to see what price was paid for petrol 12 years ago.
What a bizarre reading experience!
I remember in our neck of the woods (NW London) we stubbornly stuck at around 99.9p a litre for over a year before finally breaking the barrier in late 2007, rising rapidly over the next 12 months...only to suddenly drop right back to 83.9 at the beginning of 2009, and it's gone up ever since.
Amazing to think that 85p in 2000 triggered the fuel crisis given where we are now!
I remember in our neck of the woods (NW London) we stubbornly stuck at around 99.9p a litre for over a year before finally breaking the barrier in late 2007, rising rapidly over the next 12 months...only to suddenly drop right back to 83.9 at the beginning of 2009, and it's gone up ever since.
Amazing to think that 85p in 2000 triggered the fuel crisis given where we are now!
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- Posts: 324
- Joined: Wed 14 Aug, 2013 14.53
Jesus. I'd kill for 85p a litre now, especially as I can only get 32-33 MPG out of my car, a 1.4l 08-reg Fiesta. I make a lot of short journeys (my drive to work is about 10 minutes.) Filled up last night, and my wallet was £55 lighter.