Fuel prices are on track to break records this summer, with some experts predicting the price of 91 Octane will climb to $3.50 by Christmas.
It comes almost three months after the Government's 25-cent fuel tax subsidy ended.
Everywhere you look, petrol prices are going up, up, up.
"We've seen a sudden spike in prices since fuel excise duty discount was stopped," AA motoring affairs principal policy advisor Terry Collins said.
"That added 29 cents to a litre of fuel, but there's been about another 34 cents added just by Crude Oil going up by about a third [in price]."
Brent Crude rose to US$95 a barrel overnight - its highest level this year.
And it's those rising oil prices, a weak New Zealand dollar and the closure of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery that's putting pressure on prices here - which is set to continue.
"When you see $95 for a barrel, that's for October contracts, so we're yet to see those prices flow through," Collins said.
He told Newshub the "so called" national average for 91 Octane is currently sitting around $3.10.
"I think by Christmas we will see it closer to $3.50 than we'll see it to $3.00," Collins said.
That would well and truly surpass records.
If it's any consolation, New Zealand is not the only country experiencing price hikes.
"Motorists are set to be slugged again at the bowser (petrol pump)," Australia's 7News reported recently.
"Motorists are being warned of a potential surge in fuel prices," said another news report from the UK.
However, one Auckland University of Technology professor said most New Zealanders have little choice but to keep paying for it.
"We've got to the point where there's not the option of taking public transport, there's not the option for a lot of people to take active transport," said macromarketing Professor Ben Wooliscroft.
That's because we've designed our cities to be too car-centric.
"We've got individuals who are trapped in automobility, the automatic assumption of getting in a car as soon as they want to go somewhere," Prof Wooliscroft told Newshub.
And it's not good news either if you thought you'd swap the roadie out for a flight this summer.
"The price of aviation fuel has gone up 30 percent in the last couple of months, so our flying, as well as our driving, is going to become more expensive," Collins said.
With Christmas approaching, the dream gift could be an electric vehicle, but they're not exactly cheap either.
