-- Winter 2005 Edition --

Checking out the Price of Gas A Fair Lawn News volunteer visited every gas station in Fair Lawn, this Fall.  He counted twelve gas stations (plus two more right across the Fair Lawn line).  He found a big price difference between them. If your family uses as much gasoline as the average American (1,200 gallons per year) switching from the most expensive to the least expensive Fair Lawn gas station would save you about $144 per year. Below are the prices of regular gas at all the stations (rounded off to the nearest penny):  Gas Station Price Per Gallon Location A-1 Gas $1.86 Harristown Rd & Maple Ave. next to Route 208.   Delta $1.87 Maple Ave & Cedar Ave. (between River Road and the bowling alley).  Gasland $1.87 Saddle River Road (near Glen Rock border) Delta $1.88 Broadway (south side) and 27 Street. STS Gas $1.90 Saddle River Road & Morlot Avenue BP $1.94 Wagaraw Road & Lincoln Ave. Gulf    $1.94 Morlot Avenue & Plaza Road Gulf     $1.96 Fair Lawn Avenue & Pollitt Drive Sunoco    $1.96 Broadway (north side) and Hartley Place. (across from Hyway Theater)   Exxon          $1.96 Plaza Road & Fair Lawn Avenue Sunoco  $1.96 Route 4 East (near intersection of Route 208) just east of Good Times restaurant Citgo     $1.98 South side of Broadway between 17 Street & train tracks (In Elmwood Park)   Mobil $1.98 Route 208 South Sunoco $2.00 Wagaraw Road & Lincoln Ave (In Hawthorne) According to government sources, the gasoline sold at name brand stations (Sunoco, Mobil, etc) is equivalent to the gasoline sold at independent stations (A-1, Delta, Gasland and STS Gas).  The independent stations buy oil from whichever major oil company is selling for the lowest price on a particular day.   According to the owner of local auto mechanic shop "the two factors that affect price are the cost the dealer pays for it and the amount they sell.  The independent gas stations around here can charge less, because they pay less for their gasoline and because they sell thousands of gallons a day.  The name of the gasoline doesn’t matter as long as the octane is same."  (Note:  all regular gasoline found in this survey were 87 octane). The independent stations usually have lower prices because they do not have multi-million dollar advertising campaigns to convince you to buy their product.  Having so many gas stations in Fair Lawn also helps keep the price in check.  Most oil companies and gasoline stations try to keep their prices at a constant price difference with respect to one or more competitors. Three Fair Lawn News tips if you want to save money on gas: #1:  Take the bus or train (See www.njtransit.com).  #2:  Find out if you can use regular gas instead of premium gas (check your owner's manual). #3:  Check your tires, avoid sudden accelerations and decelerations, and don't top off the tank.