badboy

Hello All. My visit to a gas station today inspired me to write this thread.

First of all, I live in Jersey so 90% of gas stations here are full service.

I am always paranoid about getting scratches from someone accidentally scraping the gas nozzle on my paint, so every time I fill up, I am always looking in my side view mirror to see what’s going on, and hoping that everything goes well. One of the most annoying thing is when I see the gas person, once he opens the cap, lets it go and hit the car. From my experience, 9 out of 10 times they do not know how to hang the cap to the gas door.

Well, a few weeks back, I was cleaning my car, and low and behold I see a straight scratch to the right of the gas door. and I look down and see a bunch of marks from the caps hitting the paint. Since I have a dark color, these things are very easy to find.

Because of this problem, I have decided to do fills on my own, even if it means the gas guy is standing right next to me. This has worked out well, so far no one has complained to me that I shouldn't be doing that.

The poll is to see what other are doing when they fill up. I know a lot of you guys live in areas where there is only self service, which is good in my opinion.

Xpditor

Full service stations are few and far between in Florida and across the south.

Maybe, a big brand station will have one island for full service at an inflated price but you never see anyone using them.

I hang the cap on the door.

I will leave this in 3G for a day or so, then it is headed for Cars & Bikes.

shawn744

Northern NJ, all full service.....luckily, i go to a good station.....no wait, clean, i know all the guys there (im there like everyday...[gasguzzlers])....they do a pretty good job to keep the car clean.....plus, i mean it's not like hes trying to put a sledgehammer in the gas pipe.....so....what could happen?

you could definitely fill yourself....i wouldn't (too lazy ), but....don't feel bad...(free country)

-peace

SouthernBoy

I wouldn't dream of letting some else put gas in my car. I'm much too anal for that. As for where I put my gas cap, it goes on the concrete next to the gas pump.. NOT hanging on the fill door or (God forbid) sitting on the trunk with the treaded side on the paint. It kills me to see people do that.. don't they know that gas and paint don't like each other.

Like Xpditor wrote, here in the South, you rarely see a full service station. Can you imagine pulling into one and some guy comes out from doing an oil change and begins to fill your tank as he leans on your car or worse.. rests his greasy, oily free hand on the trunk or C pillar as he pumps the gas. Man, I couldn't take that.

Oil Fighter

I think I've only seen 1 gas station that offers full service in the past 14+ years that I've lived in Texas, and no one was using the full service option.

I fill my own gas, and hang the cap properly.

Grayscale

I thought full service gas stations had gone the way of the dinosaur. There is maybe one that I know of in my town.

Why are there so many in Jersey, are people that lazy there? haha, j/k

Dvus555

Hello All. My visit to a gas station today inspired me to write this thread

First of all, I live in Jersey so 90% of gas stations here are full service.


NJ is 100% Full Service. It is against the law to pump your own gas. With that said, I think I only remember one time when somebody told me to get back in my car when I was pumping my own gas.

The nice part is, the cost is no more expensive than in most other states that I have traveled in. Right now, I can get full service Premium (93 Octane) for $2.05.

Full Service also is very nice in bad weather (rain/snow/windy cold).

ResearchFreak

Here in California, we don't have full service. At least not in the neighborhoods I fill up in. But since self serve gas costs about $2.50 per gal for premium, I'd choose self serve anyhow.
We tood a trip to Oregon a few years back and they had all Full Service stations. It was kinda weird just sitting in the car while someone else did the fill up.

NFLblitze1

bwahahaha i love living in new jersey :-)

thegabrielles

Full Service....whats that???
I worked at a gas station when I was 16 pumping gas, but have not seen ANY in a LONG time!!!!

Wait thats wrong, when I was in NJ a couple of months ago of course I got B!thched out for trying to pump my own gas...who knew???

A-TLvic882

Here in Chicagoland, we don't have full service.
I fill my own gas, and hang the cap properly.

cvajs

most of the places around me are full-serve, but i opt to pump the gas myself. the full-serve guys are always rushing around and i see them swing the nozzle while watching another pump, etc.

Ken7

O.K. so why is it I find it impossible to hang the cap up on the door. I've tried and tried and it just doesn't seem to fit. I've never had that problem with other cars.

avs007

Not only is pumping your own gas illegal in oregon, if they catch you pumping your own gas, it is a $500 fine for both the person pumping gas, but also the gas station, for allowing it to happen.

With that being said, they don't call this Full Serve in Oregon. They call it MiniServe, becaues all they do is pump gas... Where Full Serve they supposedly check your oil, wash your windows, etc... I havne't seen one of those in 15-20 years.

It's not all it's cracked up to be. Many of the stations require you to get out of your car, and pay inside the mini mart, so you can't just sit in your car. The crappiest part of all this, is that usually there is only one (or two if you're lucky) guys working at the station pumping gas, so you have to wait 10 sometimes as long as 30 minutes on a busy day, just to get someone to pump your gas. Then you got to wait another 10 minutes for them to come back and close everything up. And if you ask for a certain amount of gas, like say, 10 dollars, they may accidently give you a fill up, and demand you pay like 30 bucks or however much it cost to fill up, even though you only have a ten dollar bill on you, etc. Other stations are paranoid about having to pick up the tab, so they pump one car at a time, which causes you to have to wait 30 minutes to get gas, etc....

I live across the river in Washington State, and work in Oregon. I go out of my way to make sure I never have to get gas in Oregon.

But to answer the question: I properly hang the cap. However, from observation, the stations in Oregon are terrible in this regard. I've seen guys put the cap on the trunk, others on the pump, etc. I also know several people where the attendent lost the gas cap, or fogot to put it back on. I've also seen people drive off with the nozel still in the tank, and rip it clean off the pump when driving away. Supposedly because the attendent gave change back, but didn't close up yet. I've also seen stations where they are too lazy to unclick the nozel, so when they take the nozel out or put it in, they spill gas all over the side of your car.

A-TLvic882

it's sucks man

Pushing_Tin

I live on Oregon and we also have the moronic gas monkeys that HAVE to fill up your car. I also had the problem with them letting the gas cap hit the car, so I just cut mine off. Now when they unscrew it they have to place it on the pump. Problem solved.

As an added bonus they always looked shocked and irritated that they can't just let it drop. That's an added bonus too!

Ken1997TL

I hate these stupid nanny laws in this state.

SouthernBoy

Please understand how hard it is for me, a Virginian, to imagine a state where this kind of nonsense is allowed. Illegal to pump your own fuel? Next thing you know, Oregonians won't be allowed to change their oil for fear that someone might dump the used oil in a creek of sewer drain.

My youngest daughter lived in Oregon for 1 1/2 years between 1999 and 2001. She told me this, too.. along with some other things.

Here in Virginia, it's bad enough we have seat belt laws and child seat laws. Just what we need. More government telling us what's best for us.. that they know better. Good Lord, I thought that's why we kicked the British out over 200 years ago.

mobilezen

Mafia probably controls all the gas stations in NJ....they make more money having the attendants pump gas. haha.

rets

U R joking, right? The law in NJ makes self-service forbidden in order to "increase" the employment as others said above...

They scratched my paint in the 2nd week of my ownership due to that stupid guy didn't know how to hang the cap to the door properly.

avs007

Increased employment eh? In oregon, I think they said something like it's a public health concern to have people pumping their own gas. Government doesn't want us breathing the fumes... I guess those minimum wage attendents are dispensible I don't know where they find some of the attendents though, I've seen a handful actually smoke a cigarette while pumping gas

They tried putting it on the ballot many times, to bring back self-serve, but it never makes it past legislature

rets

You're right.

Tons of reasons to have Full Service by Law... the lawmakers could say it soundingly. Those "winged words" usually include the "employment", "safety", "health", "professional", "courtesy"...

Sorry, it's hard to list them all here...

jayhawk815

Be that as it may, I sure as hell hope this isn't a trend that will come to my area.

avs007

Oregon and NJ have been this way as long as I can remember. (At least 30 years?) I don't think anyone is in danger of following this trend...

Oregon and No Self Serve is about as entrenched as Oregon and No Sales Tax. I forget what the other state that doesn't have Sales tax is...

rets

Oregon!? No Self Service for gasoline, euthanasia, and no sales tax...

Ken1997TL

I'm going back to New Hampshire as soon as my budget and job allow

No Sales tax, no income tax, you can pump your own gas and you don't have to wear a seatbelt (though I always do).

GoBruins

Just great. I'm planning a road trip this New Year to Oregon for a couple of b-ball games. I guess I'll fill up before the Cali border and hope I only have to fill up once or twice there.

avs007

If you are going up to portland, you can drive up to Vancouver, WA, and pump the gas yourself... It's only 10 minutes north of portland. It's abouta nickel to a dime cheaper too. Oregon also lacks quality control laws, as WA has bi-annual inspections, and requires the station to display the sticker that shows when it was last inspected. I remember numrous times when I was in high school in oregon, and the amount dispensed displayed on the pump seemed fishy. Vancouver also does not require oxygenated gas in the winter months like the tri-county area in oregon...

Oh yeah... Go Trojans!

JetJock

Another reason not to live in states that have stupid laws. Do the lawmakers have so little to do that passing laws about pumping gas are all they can come up with? VOTE!!! It's our way to rid ourselves of morons.

SouthernBoy

To JetJock;

Amen on that. The best thing that government can do is get the hell out of the way.

jkayca

I don't own a TL (yet!) but for the most part I use self-service stations. Mainly because it's cheaper and because it's usually faster. Especially if you can pay at the pump. Mind you, when it's twenty below I can be convinced to go to a full-serve station. My maxima has a cap holder in the door like the TL but most gas service attendents don't know about it and put the cap on the roof.

SouthernBoy

Never let them put your gas cap on the roof or any other part of your car. Aside from the possibility they could scratch the paint with the cap, most of these idiots place the cap threaded side down on the paint. That's the side that is exposed to the fuel and your paint won't like that.

Crazy88

i thought self serve gas stations didnt exist, its amazing how lazy some areas of the country are

jayhawk815

While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, Oregon and New Jersey are required to by law.

Xpditor

.

ResearchFreak

Does Hawaii have that law too?

Bluegrass

I do it myself now, but I used to live in Oregon. The meat puppet filling my baby put regular in after I told the sh*thead premium. Argued with the manager after and got a free tank o' gas. That's as gutter as my TLS has ever been.

It's a stupid law and you also get conditioned to it after a while. I remember going across the river to Washington state once and sitting in my car like a moron waiting for someone to come pump my gas for me. I finally looked out and people were looking at my Oregon plate and smirking. That was so wrong...

jayhawk815

Aww, but funny nonetheless.

avs007

At least you just sat there... When we first moved to WA from OR, my wife actually honked at the poor schmuck in the minimart after waiting for a while

It's ok though... I've had an attendent yell at me, because out of habit, I was pumping my own gas one of the few times I needed to get gas while I was in Oregon...

TSX 'R' US

I thought full service gas stations don't exist

haven't seen one my entire life..so far. Plus I don't want someone else pumping gas into my baby...