Fill up for $5? You can in Utah

Mike Gaffa, a Continental Airlines reservation clerk, bought a used Ford F-150 pickup for $10,500. The vehicle came with a bonus: A previous owner had added three extra tanks that fill the bed of his pickup.

"I don't even keep track of gasoline prices anymore," Gaffa boasted. "You'd be hard-pressed to find another vehicle that can go 600 miles on a fill-up."

• Video: $4 a gallon for gas?

And when he runs out of natural gas, Gaffa can switch over to a regular gasoline tank for a total range of more than 850 miles.

Automaker can't keep up with demand

Utah has caught the attention of Honda, which can't make CNG-equipped Civic GXs fast enough at its Ohio plant. For now, Honda makes the compacts available for sale to individuals only in California and New York, but the company says Utah could be next on their list.

Aside from fleet sales, no other automaker offers a CNG-powered car in the United States.

Most Utah buyers must turn to the used-car market. They are tracking down vehicles on the Internet, some made earlier by the Detroit automakers. Some dealers are hauling used CNG vehicles to Utah by the truckload.

"The demand in Utah is huge," Kolodziej said. "It's sucking all the used vehicles from around the country."

This article was reported and written by Paul Foy for The Associated Press.

Published May 8, 2008

READ MORE: GAS - HYBRID - MILEAGE - CAR SHOPPING

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