Gas prices

[blksn8k]

I swear the news media in my area is in cahoots with the gas stations. On Monday morning the local radio stations reported that the price of gas was less than the national average. Presto...by that afternoon the price went from $3.49 to $3.69/gal. It happens every time the news media makes any kind of report on gas prices, good or bad. It's as if the gas station owners are using the news to justify raising their prices. The sad part is that consumers have gotten so used to it that no one complains anymore and we just let them get away with it. :angry:

 

[Les]

The gas prices in Central Florida vary as much as 25 cents per gallon.

 

[Richard L]

Log onto GasBuddy.com and you will see the gas prices and trends in your area. Then you buy gas at the places who have the cheapest gas prices. Tell all your friends and spread the word, and the gas stations that are jacking up their prices will start to see a loss of business.



Here in the Waco, Tx area, the lowest priced stations are getting the bulk of the gas sales. Occasionally, we have some stations that sell gas at prices that are 20-30 cents higher than other stations, but they rarely last very long when they discover that nobody wants to buy gas at those prices when they can drive down the street a few blocks and get gas much cheaper.



Those who have the highest prices are only getting customers who are just passing through and need gas, some people who have to stop for gas because they are on fumes, or a small handful of loyal (brain-dead) customers who live near the station, and go there only for the convenience.







...Rich

 

[Mark K 2]

I found that the big convenience store chain here, Kwik Trip, actually sends out a heads up reminder to wireless subscribers that gas prices are going up about 12 hours before they actually go up. It's a perk for being a subscriber.

 

[EddieS'04]

Richard, what ever happened to the gas wars. When we were young.....:banghead:

:bwahaha:



Even 105 octane was pennies compared to our hourly pay.....

 

[Robert Thomas]

I remember gas hovering for a long time at around .25 then about .09 for a couple of days. And they pumped it for you, checked the oil and tire pressure then cleaned the windows. Mac hamburgers were around .18 if I remember correctly.



Yesterday is gone forever. I'm just glad for tomorrow regardless of the price of gas. :driving:

 

[Oldtimer]

One thing you have to remember when looking for cheap gas is will you spend more on driving to and from the cheap station than you are going to save on the price per gallons in fill up.



Jim

 

[EddieS'04]

Jim you got that right.......

Sometimes there are no deals. You either pay the difference in shipping cost. For online orders. Or pay local taxes and the price of gas, to go get the sale item. Catch 22.....



But those like George Soros'. Give you a discount on your progressive insurance. Only to add it to his riches gained. When when he changed his jewish name. Then worked with the SS and ripped off his own people in WW2. Of course he might share his wealth thru redistrubution, as the Marxeist he is.



Man what a rant. Sorry.:bwahaha:...:soap::back2topic:

 

[blksn8k]

Richard, I do subscribe to gasbuddy.com and receive email notices when prices are about to go up. But in this case the price changed so quickly that even they didn't have time to react. Besides, I was at work when the prices changed and I can no longer access websites like gasbuddy.com at work or even my own email accounts thanks to our company being hacked recently by the Chinese. I will admit though that when the price hike happened the first thing I did when I got home was check gasbuddy for local prices. I was able to find a local station within a couple of miles that had not yet changed their price on Monday evening. Before the end of business on Monday their prices were the same as everyone else's. They just didn't react as quickly as the others and their pumps were busier than usual that evening.

What really burns me about all this is that the gas station owners are not just passing on their higher costs to the consumer. The gas they were selling on Monday afternoon for the most part is the same gas that was in their tanks on Monday morning. They use any excuse they can find to justify raising their prices and it takes weeks for the price to come down a few cents but they will raise the price twenty to twenty-five cents per gallon in one day.

If the news media reported that some Arab sheik farted the price would probably go up $2/gal.

 

[Richard L]

blksn8k,

I don't get any advanced warnings from GasBuddy...I just look on their website each day and I know what stations that usually have the cheapest gas, and those who often have the highest priced gas.



The stations I go to are typically the stations that have the 3 lowest prices in the area. Some stations are about 8-10 miles away, so I don't just drive there for gas....I consolidate my trips to the the grocery stores, Home Depot, Doctor Appointments, or to the Gym. The good part is that the stations with the cheapest gas prices are near places where I need to go anyway, so I just plan my trips for gas to when I am going that way anyway. I may have only used 1/4 of a tank, but I will stop by the cheap gas station and top-up the tank anyway since I am in the area.



I am retired, so I have more time to analyze gas prices and plan my trips and routes to be able to stop and fill up with the cheapest gas in the area, something that working people may not be about to do as easily. However, If you find a little time to monitor the gas prices on GasBuddy, you can probably find gas stations that regularly have cheaper gas along your route to and from work.



I have also noticed that more affluent areas usually have the higher gas prices...I officially live in Waco, TX but I live in an area on the far suburban fringes of the city where there the farms and ranches are, so that's why I have to drive into town to buy groceries, or get the cheaper gas..:grin:



...Rich

 

[Mark Stadnicki]

I use my sync system to locate gas if I'm in an unfamiliar place. I won't go out of my way trying find a cheap gas station just to save a few pennies. It does suck putting close to $70 in my ST every 3 days to go to work. Soon as I pay it off, I'm getting a Festiva and retiring the ST to truck duties only.

 

[Jackson Ellis]

I also use Gasbuddy, which I don't think has the ability to give a warning of higher gas prices since they are reported by users when we see them. There are Android and Apple apps for free to use them on the go.



I've wondered though, how does the Sirius Travel link gas prices system get it's prices? I can't find a way to report them.

 

[Andy Chase]

I have about 15 gas stations between my house and work that are convenient to fill up so I look at those stations for the cheaper gas instead of driving places that aren't on my way.



The other thing is the Super America chain (Speedway may do it as well) accept all competitors coupons and double coupons on Tuesdays. They'll even double the speedy rewards/SA rewards in house coupons so you can get up to $1.00/per gallon for 25 gallons. Plus they've been giving an additional 3 cents off per gallon w/ the rewards card.

 

[Roger Batts]

WalMart and Murphy USA announced that they were bringing back the .10-.15/gallon discount. Ten cents off with gift card, fifteen with a WalMart branded credit card. I think they said it is going to be that way into July.

 

[Richard L]

Roger,

If you have a Sam's Club membership and there is a Sam's Club near you, they will beat Wal-Mart prices even after their gift card discount.



Also, Exxon/Mobil also offers a 15 cent per gallon discount if you have their Credit Card and use the Speed-Pass. The trick with that is you pay full price at the pump, and then 3 months later you will be sent a check for your full discount amount. Also, they usually limit the discount to 100 gallons of gas, and not all Exxon-Mobil stations have pumps that except the Speed-Pass...But,there are many gas stations here that are selling gas at 3-5 cents cheaper than Exxon/Mobil even with the discount. I even complained once to Exxon/Mobil when one station listed with the lowest prices for Exxon/Mobil but their Speed-Pass was not functioning??? 2 days after I complained the got their pumps fixed...but they jacked up the price of gas..:angry:



....Rich

 

[blksn8k]

Here is a copy and paste of the text from one of the recent emails I received from gasbuddy.com: :haveabeer:





[Broken External Image]:



To ensure that you continue to receive email from AkronGasPrices.com, please add [email protected] to your Address Book.

If you are seeing information for the wrong site, please update your member preferences.



Price Hike Warning for March 18, 2013



Watch out! Gas prices could be jumping in Akron! Warn your friends.

Pre-Hike Average

3.69

Projected Average

3.89 +/- 0.10





These stations in your area usually react slowly, check their prices:

Station Area Address

Sam's Club

Cuyahoga Falls 1189 Buchholzer Blvd

BP

Stow 3349 Kent Rd

Circle K

Cuyahoga Falls 2386 Bailey Rd

Marathon

Streetsboro 9425 OH-14

Sunoco

Canton 3519 Cleveland Ave NW







Warning Buddies, we suspect gasoline prices may be rising to 3.89 +/- 0.10 over the next 36.5 hours. We calculate the odds of this increase occurring to be 82%.



Thanks,



The Gasbuddy Team

Find cheap gas near you!

 

[blksn8k]

If you go to any gasbuddy.com website such as wacogasprices.com, scroll down to the bottom of the page and under the "Community" category pick "Preferences". If you are not already registered on the site you will need to pick the "Sign Up" option at the top of the page and fill in the required data. Once you have created a login ID and password you can then access the "Preferences" page. Once there pick the "Email" tab, set your preferences, save them and you should begin receiving price hike notices. :supercool:

 

[Jackson Ellis]

Thanks for starting this thread blksn8k. I just checked my preferences and turned on email alerts. I didn't know they were there. I've been bitten by the 20 cents per gallon rate hike a couple times.



I live near a large lake, so although my local prices are great, the stations nearest my house are usually at the bottom of the list for my zip. I can often save 15 or 20 cents per gallon by waiting until I have to drive near the interstate to fill up; just 5 miles down the road. 3 or 4 bucks per fill-up doesn't sound like a lot, but it irks me that they're gouging.

 

[blksn8k]

You are welcome.



StadEMS3, Ford hasn't sold the Mazda designed and Kia built Festiva in years. They do, however, have a similar size model called the Fiesta which probably has some left-over Mazda DNA but is built by Ford. :grin:

 

[Richard L]

blksn8k,

Thanks for the tip about getting early warnings from GasBuddy about projected gas price hikes.

I never knew that existed, but then I already get way to much junk email as it is.



Here in the Waco area, gas stations don't all raise or lower their prices at the same time....You can also see a pattern in that when the prices go up they often go up on Thursdays, sometime after 10:00am. When the prices go down, it is usually on Monday mornings. I guess that is to jack up the prices over the weekend...:angry:



But since not all stations around here raise their prices at the same time, you can usually spot when the gas stations who are always the earliest to raise prices as a red flag that other gas stations will soon be raising their prices within the next few days.



Speaking of GasBuddy, I don't like that the list a maximum of 15 of the lowest price stations, and 15 of the highest priced stations? The problems is that you don't see all the stations with the lowest prices that are nearby. Who cares to see the highest priced stations unless you are dumb enough to want to buy gas there? It would be more practical to show stations that are selling gas at the cheapest prices, and those with the highest prices will fall at the far end of the list.



The GasBuddy mobile app works the right way. It just shows a list of gas stations from the lowest to the highest prices and you can sort it based on distance from your location if your device has GPS.



...Rich