6 ms·

NJ has laws mandating full-service stations because safety or jobs or some other long forgotten bullshit reason

by meddlepal 6y ago

chrisseaton 6y ago
...I'm going to guess that you have to tip them as well?
- xxpor 6y ago
  No. Most of the US was full service until the 80s. NJ and Oregon just never made the change.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    It wasn't a law, just an option.
- ghaff 6y ago
  There was never regular tipping in this case in the US as far as I can recall. It really went out during the gas crisis in the 70s. Before that, it was the norm to have full-service which also included washing your windshield and offering to check your oil (which needed to be done more frequently early-on). You were also often paying cash although oil company cards were definitely getting more common at that point. (But as something of an aside, I recall getting turned down for a gas card in the early 80s because I didn't have a credit history but was able to get an AMEX or something along those lines which helped me establish credit.)
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > which needed to be done more frequently early-on Americans seem to love checking and replacing their oil. They have whole retail chains devoted to it, when everyone I know in Europe gets it replaced once a year at their annual dealer service, with no checking in between.
    - meddlepal 6y ago
      Americans drive more than Europeans. Oil checking is based on mileage.
      - morsch 6y ago
        On a whim I dedided to double-check, you're right at least for residents of the USA and Germany (~21500km vs ~13600km average). https://www.kba.de/DE/Statistik/Kraftverkehr/VerkehrKilometer/vk_inlaenderfahrleistung/vk_inlaenderfahrleistung_inhalt.html https://www.kba.de/DE/Statistik/Kraftverkehr/VerkehrKilomete... https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
        ghaff 6y ago
        Which is pretty consistent with the context of the comment in general. I'm guessing Germany has a relatively high amount of driving relative to Europe on average and that's within the range where the average driver in Germany is probably fine with a once-per-year oil change. Whereas, in the US, they should be getting one more frequently.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      The context of my comment was that cars used to pretty regularly leak oil to some degree so oil could get low on long drives. As the sibling comment said, oil changes are (mostly) distance based although, arguably, various commercial interests suggest oil changes more frequently than they are needed. But, if you drive 15,000 miles a year (as is common in the US), you probably want to change your oil more than once a year in any case.
    - philwelch 6y ago
      > They have whole retail chains devoted to it, when everyone I know in Europe gets it replaced once a year at their annual dealer service, with no checking in between. Those retail chains will actually do the full periodic servicing that a dealer would. We just refer to that service generically as an “oil change”. And we get that service based on mileage rather than annually. Also, all Europeans go back to the dealership for periodic maintenance? There are no independent shops that do this? Nobody does it themselves? So if you have a BMW you have to take it to the BMW dealer in particular? Sounds like lock-in to me.
- Falling3 6y ago
  No, I've lived in each state and tipping was never expected (or practiced as far as I'm aware).
- sampo 6y ago
  > I'm going to guess that you have to tip them as well? Regular tipping of gas station attendants is not really a part of New Jersey culture. But people tend to give tips before the holidays, and sometimes during especially bad weather.
lisper 6y ago
It's the same in Oregon.

NJ has laws mandating full-service stations because safety or jobs or some other long forgotten bullshit reason

chrisseaton 6y ago

...I'm going to guess that you have to tip them as well?

xxpor 6y ago
No. Most of the US was full service until the 80s. NJ and Oregon just never made the change.
- CamperBob2 6y ago
  It wasn't a law, just an option.
ghaff 6y ago
There was never regular tipping in this case in the US as far as I can recall. It really went out during the gas crisis in the 70s. Before that, it was the norm to have full-service which also included washing your windshield and offering to check your oil (which needed to be done more frequently early-on). You were also often paying cash although oil company cards were definitely getting more common at that point. (But as something of an aside, I recall getting turned down for a gas card in the early 80s because I didn't have a credit history but was able to get an AMEX or something along those lines which helped me establish credit.)
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > which needed to be done more frequently early-on Americans seem to love checking and replacing their oil. They have whole retail chains devoted to it, when everyone I know in Europe gets it replaced once a year at their annual dealer service, with no checking in between.
  - meddlepal 6y ago
    Americans drive more than Europeans. Oil checking is based on mileage.
    - morsch 6y ago
      On a whim I dedided to double-check, you're right at least for residents of the USA and Germany (~21500km vs ~13600km average). https://www.kba.de/DE/Statistik/Kraftverkehr/VerkehrKilometer/vk_inlaenderfahrleistung/vk_inlaenderfahrleistung_inhalt.html https://www.kba.de/DE/Statistik/Kraftverkehr/VerkehrKilomete... https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
      - ghaff 6y ago
        Which is pretty consistent with the context of the comment in general. I'm guessing Germany has a relatively high amount of driving relative to Europe on average and that's within the range where the average driver in Germany is probably fine with a once-per-year oil change. Whereas, in the US, they should be getting one more frequently.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    The context of my comment was that cars used to pretty regularly leak oil to some degree so oil could get low on long drives. As the sibling comment said, oil changes are (mostly) distance based although, arguably, various commercial interests suggest oil changes more frequently than they are needed. But, if you drive 15,000 miles a year (as is common in the US), you probably want to change your oil more than once a year in any case.
  - philwelch 6y ago
    > They have whole retail chains devoted to it, when everyone I know in Europe gets it replaced once a year at their annual dealer service, with no checking in between. Those retail chains will actually do the full periodic servicing that a dealer would. We just refer to that service generically as an “oil change”. And we get that service based on mileage rather than annually. Also, all Europeans go back to the dealership for periodic maintenance? There are no independent shops that do this? Nobody does it themselves? So if you have a BMW you have to take it to the BMW dealer in particular? Sounds like lock-in to me.
Falling3 6y ago
No, I've lived in each state and tipping was never expected (or practiced as far as I'm aware).
sampo 6y ago
> I'm going to guess that you have to tip them as well? Regular tipping of gas station attendants is not really a part of New Jersey culture. But people tend to give tips before the holidays, and sometimes during especially bad weather.

lisper 6y ago

It's the same in Oregon.