Greg, When I'm paying attention I notice some of the same thing your talking about with LA prices vs San Diego etc. or everywhere compared to LA. However, I purposely don't pay attention as my 91 CalypsoRed 850i with chips and Dinana lower rear gears only gets about 8 to 11 MPG according to my OBC and since I don't want to feel depressed about anything concerning my experience with the car I purposely don't watch how much it costs nor figure mileage nor count how often I fill up. I feel much better as a result keeping my attention only on the driving experience. :-) Kurt