Here is a tip for you: Do not fill up your gas tank in Needles, California. Needles borders Arizona near the southern tip of Nevada. It was a popular stop on old Route 66, which is now I-40. For west-bound motorists, Needles in the first stop in California. But take my advice: don't buy gas or diesel fuel there. It's a ripoff. I think it always has been.
Yesterday, I filled my motorhome's tank at an Arizona gas station just a mile east of the California border at Blythe. It costs $2.05 a gallon. Then I drove 100 miles north on lonely U.S. highway 95 to Needles. The same diesel fuel I had purchased early for $2.05 a gallon was now between $3.29 and $3.59. It was hard to believe.
Then, 100 miles or so north through mostly desert, I decided to top off my fuel tank tiny Daggett, a few miles east of Barstow: The price? $2.59 a gallon -- a dollar less than in Needles.
Needles has always been an unattractive town (it's honored many days of each summer as the hottest spot in the country), but it did have some great old motels in the Route 66 days. Now, most of the motels are gone or closed, and the main street looks anemic.
Just drive past the gas stations in this town unless you are running on fumes.
Needles' exhorbitant gas prices are common knowledge for I-40 travelers -- at least, after they pass through there once. Two other gas rip-off locations in California are Truckee and Bridgeport; plan ahead.
ReplyDeleteNeedles is also a rip off on tires. The people at the Shell Station convinced naive tjat I was in real bad need of new tires. Being stupid and a bit nervous I purchased 4 new ones and really got rip[ped off. Stay clear of that place
ReplyDeleteI began filling up at a Shell in Needles. I put in 8.00 and tin n he pump shut off. The attendant came out and changed the price (up .15/gal). I paid the 8.00 and left. BIG rip off town?
ReplyDeleteIf you go about 2-3 miles more on the road toward Bullhead City, you will see a dollar less difference in pricing. There is an Arco just past the bridge (Arizona Side of Colorado River) that is always less than Needles.
ReplyDeleteAnd we were ripped off in Needles last month trying to get our RV repaired. The manager of the RV place said he was "very familiar" with our brand of motor home. We they spent a day trying to fix a fuel problem that turned out to be a minor timing adjustment. They charged me 300 bucks for nothing. My regular guy drove out from Upland Ca 250 miles on a Sunday morning and made a simple timing adjustment and we were all fixed up. Not kidding about the sunday morning. Who says there are not heroes that are mechanics.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there are ANY rv manufacturers in the process of making a truly fuel efficient, aerodynamic, solar-equipped (read "green")Class C rv that's more suitable for full timing? (It would be interesting to take a survey to see how many of us are waiting for that type of unit!)
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