I've been going through several threads relating to gas but is anyone using sites like Gasbuddy, GPW or Mapquest for help when buying gas? I just logged off of Gasbuddy after reporting the premium gas price at a gas station that I went to earlier today. So far it hasn't helped me all that much but I guess it depends on how much people in the are participate in jotting down prices and posting it on the site. This was a Sunoco station (I rather Shell gas now) that has 93 @ $3.95 a gallon but this station has always been consistent and usually 10 cents cheaper then the other gas stations in the area.

 

At least in my area gasbuddy.com its pretty accurate. Its helped a bunch for me.

 

I'm gonna have to check out gasbuddy.com. Although in sunny and hot Calif it seems like Arco always has the lowest prices.

 

Despite my rants against Shell, looking around the MSN Auto site for gas prices (by zip code) proved helpful yesterday. A Shell station had the lowest price by as much as .10 per gallon, beating out some of my usual low-price haunts.

The only drawback to this MSN site is that it lists prices for NEARBY stations in your zip code. If you live near a zip code boundary, you have to check several.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/GasStations.aspx?m=1&l=1

You'll need this too: Enter your zip code of interest and select "zip hybrid" to locate zip codes near you or along your route.

http://www.usnaviguide.com/zip.htm

 

this works great, thanks.

I had been checking houstongasprices.com but its based only on customers reports which can be spotty at best.

 

I like to save money as much as the next person but a 10 cent savings means something like $1.50 savings. That's ok, but unless that station is right along my route I'm not going to divert my journey to save that kind of money.

 

Of course, but that's why I check along my route for pricing. OTOH I won't purchase from some old ratty station that probably has rusted or split tanks, but prefer newer, high-volume retailers.

. . . and the savings can be pretty significant. Right now in my zip code alone unleaded regular ranges from $3.589 to $3.799 - meaning a savings of $3.15 on 15 gallons within 7 blocks. It may not be much - a bit less than a gallon for free - but looked at another way, it's a dinner or a movie every three months . . . all for driving a couple blocks out of the way.

 

Are you getting decent gas, though, or cheap cut-rate stuff, with no detergents, that will leave carbon deposits on the spark plugs and gum up the injectors? I'm sure you've read the many posts I have made on this subject.

 

I usually won't consider any but top tier brands (Chevron, Conoco, Phillips, and Texaco in my area). Within these brands, there is plenty of variation in price, with Texaco often being the cheapest of these.

Figures. The Texas Company has a long and well deserved reputation in the oilfield for being - uh - frugal. As a friend in Aberdeen - a Scot who calls on the major oil companies in the UK - once pointed out Texaco's Aberdeen office to me with the big "Star-T" logo emblazoned on the building said, "Aye, an' th' big "T" stan's fer 'TIGHT'!" When a Scot thinks you're cheap, you'd better take it to heart.