Cars’ mpg bigger deal

With gasoline prices rising fast, customers at Hyundai of Everett have fuel efficiency on their minds a little more these days.

“It’s becoming more of an issue in whether a deal gets closed or not,” said Gary Micallef, the dealership’s owner.

Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Hyundai models tend to get better mileage than some other auto makes. The Hyundai Accent, for example, can achieve a mile-per-gallon level in the mid-30s on the highway, Micallef claimed.

A few other local dealerships, including those selling Ford and Honda models, also reported heightened awareness among customers about models’ fuel efficiency.

As of Monday, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded reached a record $2.25 in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area, according to AAA. That compares to an average with $1.63 a year ago.

The statewide average price was $2.23 a gallon, while the national average stood at $1.97, according to AAA’s daily survey.

While prices are continuing to rise, not everyone is letting that be the deciding factor when choosing a new vehicle.

There’s been no noticeable slump in Hummer sales at Doug’s Lynnwood Mazda Hummer in Edmonds.

Sales manager Shawn Donnelly said most customers don’t seem more concerned than usual about fuel mileage.

“They’re really not. It’s not made any difference whatsoever,” Donnelly said. “We’re still selling as many Hummers as we were.”

Of course, most buyers of the high-end Hummer may not be as concerned with the relatively trivial price of gas. The average diesel-powered Hummer can get 10 mpg to 15 mpg, while the average for the gas-engine models usually is in the single digits.

Doug’s is selling more of the new Mazda 3, a four-cylinder sedan that averages more than 20 mpg, but Donnelly said he’s not sure the vehicle’s efficiency has much to do with its popularity.

For motorists who are feeling fiscal pain every time they fill up their gas tanks, there’s no bright spot on the horizon yet.

“It’s not a pretty picture right now, and I don’t know when it’s going to end,” said Bill Bellman, executive director of the Washington Oil Marketers Association.

Along Marysville’s Fourth Street, where a number of nearby service stations have to compete, the highest price on Monday was $2.33 a gallon. The Arco station there was the cheapest, selling regular unleaded at $2.20.

The best deals found in Marysville were at Safeway, for shoppers using the supermarket’s loyalty card. At Mirastar, next to the Wal-Mart store on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, gas also was $2.22 for those using Wal-Mart’s card.

Nearly all the stations along Broadway in Everett had fuel priced between $2.20 and $2.30 a gallon. Farther out, most stations in the Lake Stevens area posted the price of regular unleaded at $2.34 a gallon Monday.

In Snohomish, Monroe and other outlying areas, motorists have reported $2.40 a gallon and higher at some stations.

If it helps, consider that anything around $2.30 a gallon would be considered a pretty good deal in San Francisco, where the average price is $2.35 a gallon. Farther south in California, gasoline is selling at $2.40 a gallon in Santa Barbara, according to AAA.

Those prices don’t seem destined to go down soon. Future contracts for crude oil reached $41.85 a barrel Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at $41.55, a record that was 17 cents more than Friday’s close.

Gasoline futures for June also reached a new high Monday, closing at $1.417 per gallon.

Bellman, whose organization represents Washington’s fuel wholesalers and distributors, said high costs for crude oil and increasing demand for gasoline aren’t solely to blame. He delivered that message to the state’s congressional delegation during a trip to Washington, D.C., last week.

“We’re having a real problem understanding why we do have a shortfall in the market right now,” Bellman said.

In the meantime, he said, $3 a gallon is looking more and more likely before the summer ends.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.