Thousands of old service stations owners across the U.S. are having a “Y2K” type problem as their outdated mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials lack the gears to go past $3.99 a gallon! According to Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute of Tulsa, as many as 8,500 of the nation's 170,000 service stations are equipped with old-style meters that need to be fixed – that’s approximately 17,000 individual pumps.

Adding to the problem is that many of these pumps can’t go beyond $99.99 for the total gas sale, meaning that many drivers have to fill their car up twice at the same pump. Since most of the old-school station owners just manage to make ends meet, replacing the existing pumps altogether with electronic ones that cost between $10,000 and $15,000 a piece is nearly out of the question. -Continued

Plus, even those that can afford it the huge demand has created a months-long waiting list for companies that either make or rebuild the mechanical gas pumps. As a short-term solution to the problem, some state regulators are allowing station owners to perform the so-called “half-pricing”, meaning that the pump displays the price for half a gallon of gas, then doubling the price shown on the meter.

Via: Yahoo News