Finally, gas prices in Chicagoland have been steady for a while now. Steady at around $3.65, which is not ideal of course, but a lot better than the $4.00 it was last summer! I feel old when I say I remember gas being $0.85, but then again minimum wage was around $4 too. I still remember filling up my gas tank of my 1994 Hyundai Accent and I went in and paid $10 to fill up my gas tank automatically thinking that is what it costs and I had to go back in to get my change since it cost less than that!
When I bought my first car here in a suburb of Chicago, my dad went with me to negotiate. He was a pretty good negotiator but one charge that popped up was a Car Shipping charge which I forgot the technical name. It was close to $1000 and explained to me as a charge for the dealership to ship the car from the previous location. I was shocked! Why was I being charged for shipping a car that I didn’t even know I was buying! There was so many crazy add-ons that you really need to check your bill. I know I am rambling, but I am also being nostalgic about past prices. The whole economic ups and downs are just something I don’t get and probably never will!
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Mike says
I can remember when gas cost $0.17/gallon. Gas stations used to have ‘gas wars’ to get customers – prices during gas wars went below $0.10/gallon
‘Shipping charges’ are an average cost of shipping a domestic car to its destination – i.e.; they take the amount it costs to ship a car to Detroit, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Anchorage, Arizona, etc and average them. “Shipping charges” are the same whether you buy a car that had to be shipped to Anchorage or across the street from the factory.
“Shipping charge” is, usually, one of the first things I write off when buying a new car. I won’t pay it. If they can’t afford to ship the car, then they shouldn’t be in the car business. It is absurd for me to pay the same shipping charge as someone who lives in Anchorage… LOL
Cher says
I completely agree that they should cover the shipping charge all the time!
Paula @ Frosted Fingers says
I remember when $10 would fill up a car. Now it’s 5 times that! Crazy!!!