Apparently, old gas pumps with mechanical meters can’t display prices above $3.99 per gallon. One of the solutions being used is "half-pricing"–displaying the price per half-gallon, but that’s a bit confusing to consumers. Meanwhile, there are delays in getting the mechanical upgrade that will allow displaying $4+ prices, and some stations can’t afford the hundreds of dollars per pump it costs to upgrade.
Here’s a simple solution, which would require nothing more than some white-out and a permanent marker (or possibly some paint, depending on the colors used by the gas pump):
- Configure the pump as if gas cost 1/10 of what it does.
- On both the price per gallon and total price meters, cover the current decimal point with white-out.
- Make a new decimal point after the next digit to the right.
- Add a "0" at the end if necessary.
Voilà! You now have a pump capable of displaying prices up to $39.90 per gallon. If your total price meter only went to $99.99, it now goes up to $999.90.
The only downside is you’re now rounding to the nearest dime instead of the nearest penny on price (or nearest penny instead of 1/10 of a cent, if your pricing went that far.) But most of that difference probably cancels itself out on average.