Does a gas pump hose really cost $3,700 to replace?: Roadshow

Q: Unfortunately, my wife was distracted by a few things recently when she was getting gas. She had driven a few feet away from the gas pump before she realized the hose was still connected to the car.

Long story short, the gas station claims we owe them $3,700 in damages. They won’t share the actual bill. I immediately filed a claim with my insurance. I had asked repeatedly to have the chance to pay out of pocket.

The hose appeared fixed within hours. According to everything I researched, including a recent article you wrote, it seems the costs should be way, way less than $3,700.

Do you have any advice?

Craig Michael

A: I would go back to the store manager and challenge the price, indicating that you researched it and that the $3,700 charge seems excessive. The Roadshow reader with a similar mishap, described in the Oct. 30, 2022 column you mentioned, was charged $117 for a pump hose replacement. A 2016 Roadshow column showed that the hose replacement price at one gas station at that point was $748. The station involved must have had that problem often, because they posted a sign showing the price of gas pump hose replacement.

Q: My Honda CRV isn’t super low, but bright lights on a large vehicle behind me, like from a truck or monster SUV, can be blinding in my rearview mirrors.

Here’s what I do to handle that situation: I just adjust my left mirror to send the light back to them. Quite often, they change lanes, pass me or drop back half a block. It works about 75% of the time to cut the glare. If they don’t react, at least I’m not being blinded.

Ellen Platt

A: Bright lights can definitely be a problem when they’re coming from a vehicle behind you, as well as when a vehicle with these lights is coming at you.

Q: Curtner was repaved between Communications Hill and Monterey Highway, but with the new striping, the right lane is separated from the other two lanes by a solid white line, while the other two lanes have the usual dashed line. Why did they do that?

Erik Browne, San Jose

A: You are seeing an unfinished bus-only lane here. The bus-only lane was part of San Jose’s quick-build safety improvement project on Curtner Avenue. The bus-only lane extends for a short segment between Monterey Road and Communications Hill Boulevard.

Work here is still in progress. The city will add red pavement in the bus lane at the intersection approaches and plastic bollards in the bike lane buffer. This work will hopefully be completed in the next few months.

Look for Gary Richards at facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.