METRO DETROIT (WXYZ) — There will be more than 2 million Michiganders driving to their Fourth of July destinations, according to the American Automobile Association, despite gas prices being higher this year than it was last year.
The good news is prices are down compared to Memorial Day. However, drivers tell me they are still not happy with what they are paying at the pump.
Watch Ali Hoxie's report below
“You can’t even.. that’s just.. unbelievable. You can’t afford it," said John Burnley from Bingham Farms.
Keeping up with the cost of living is taking a toll on metro Detroiters, who are still paying more at the pump compared to a year ago.
Multiple drivers tell me they're skipping any out-of-town drives for the Fourth of July.
“We definitely need to see a change, it’s breaking the bank. You know, single father, divorces, it’s a lot," said Jacob Gromer from Taylor.
"Are you going anywhere for the Fourth of July?" I asked him.
“Probably not, because of the gas prices," he replied.
I asked Evan Garrison, a Royal Oak resident, if the gas prices are deterring him from going out of town for the Fourth of July.
“I would say a little bit yeah, at least further than an hour, two hours," he replied.
The good news is there has been a slight decrease in prices, according to Patrick De Haan, who is the Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.
"Gas prices that had been close to five dollars a gallon earlier this spring and into early summer have now tapered off," De Haan told me.
Gas prices jumped at the end of April because of refining issues. De Haan said those issues have since been resolved, but he says that Hurricane Season or even severe weather in the Midwest could send prices back up.
“If there is — and there do tend to be occasionally — if there are refining issues, sometimes associated with severe weather, we’ve seen a little bit of that as well in the last few weeks — any refining outage could be amplified by the fact that demand is higher," De Haan said.
De Haan said drivers will slowly start to see gas prices fall, now that the U.S. and Iran negotiated a peace deal. That deal included the reopening of the strait of Hormuz. That being said, seeing prices dropping off will take time.
“So we are not going to see prices plummet right before the Fourth of July then, with the Strait of Hormuz reopening?” I asked Patrick.
“I wouldn’t say plummet, you know we have seen more and more stations falling below the four dollar mark, that’s probably what most people will start to see more of," he replied.
De Haan said if everything goes perfectly in negotiations — which so far, it hasn't — we may see prices closer to $3/gallon later this year. But he said drivers won't see pre-war prices until early 2027.
“The prices are already down, it’s already down than what is was before," said Gloria Amasiatu from Southfield. “Yeah, and eventually the war stop.”
If you are heading out of town through Indiana, it might be best to wait and fill up in that state; the gas tax is suspended there until July 7th.
