What were gas prices when you first started driving?

When I got my first driver's license in 1994, gas was $1.15. If we adjust that for inflation, it would be $2.26 in 2022 dollars.

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cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

I got it for 75 cents one time at a gas station up in Oklahoma City, usually it was in the 80’s for gas for awhile when it got low. Bill Clinton was doing town hall meetings and one man got up and asked him why the price of gasoline was so high. He said he was paying about 1.30 a gallon. Clinton said that was a good question and he would look into it. The U.S. started dropping bombs on Iraq and the price of petroleum would fall. Seemed to be a pattern of it. They dropped so many bombs they would end up filling the shel with concrete and drop them on buildings there. I don’t know what the pretense was at the time for doing it but gas would go down every time it happened. Seemed like an act of war to me.

latinbutterfly · F

@cherokeepatti Oh , yeah, the Gulf War. I remember observing the reports on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings (RIP).

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@latinbutterfly This was way before the Gulf War….Clinton was dropping bombs on Iraq before that. Targeted areas. Every time the price of petroleum would drop

3Dogmatic · 46-50, M

I remember .79 for regular.

TrunkZ · 56-60, M

Not sure what they were when I started driving, but the lowest I recall seeing when I was a kid was 36 cents /gallon

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@TrunkZ when I first started high school gas averaged about 21-22 Cents a gallon at the gas stations near the high school. there were 3 at one intersection and they would have gas wars and it would go down to 17 or 18 cents a gallon sometimes. By the time i was a senior and had a car the price has skyrocketed to 59 cents a gallon…that sucked because wages remained the same.

TrunkZ · 56-60, M

@cherokeepatti I remember gas stations used to give free gifts like glassware when you'd fill up at the station

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@TrunkZ They would wash your windshield and rear window and if you wanted them to they’d check your tires and add air if they needed it and also check the oil for you. A lot of service while they were filling it up. Now what do we get? Nothing.

REMsleep · 41-45, F

I first started driving in 1999 gas was .96 cents per gallon in my neighborhood.
I distinctly remb putting in 5$ many times and getting about 1/4 tank.

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cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@REMsleep I had a little Geo Prism and usually filled it up for $10 and could drive for 3 weeks on a tank back then.

REMsleep · 41-45, F

@cherokeepatti Wow. I specifically remember that car because it has a very little known hatchback edition and it was the tiniest hatchback that I ever saw. Only saw 1 or 2 ever but I was mesmorized as a kid.

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@REMsleep Mine wasn’t a hatchback but it was much smaller than the later Geo Prism models. I got another one and it was good on gas mileage but it was bigger and not as good as the smaller one.

robb65 · 56-60, M

I honestly don't remember. I do remember when gas first hit $1 here because I was working at my aunts store pumping gas (14-15ish ?) and the pumps only went to 99.9 cents. That would have been early 80's. I got my first real job in 85 so I had been driving about 3 years by then. I can remember paying around $1.20 in 85 or early 86 so it must have been somewhere between $1 and $1.25 when I first got my license.

Poppies · 61-69, F

I think it was about 39 cents/gallon!

itsok · 31-35, F

I may have gotten my first hot wheels in 1994

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

I start driving in 1958, gas was $0.25, but the more expensive at some stations and there were occasional price wars and gas was a nder $0.20 per gallon.