How far will you drive to save money on gas?

[bjl584]

I live in western PA, so the Ohio and West Virginia borders are only about 15 to 20 minutes from me. Both states have lower gas prices than PA, and several people I know routinely make the trip to the neighboring states to save on gas. Usually they make a day of it and end up doing grocery shopping and pick up other items while they are there. But, I can't really justify doing it. Anything saved is pretty much negated in time and burning fuel to chase cheaper gas. The only way ot makes sense is if I take a bunch of cans with me, but I really don't want to store fuel.

[disneysteve]

I wouldn't travel 15-20 minutes to "save" on gas, though if I could get cheaper gas while I happen to be somewhere doing something else, that would be fine.

Generally, we have very good gas prices in our neighborhood. I keep track of the local stations and compare when we're outside of our immediate area and it's rarely more than a few cents cheaper if at all.

It is nice to see prices down again. It was $3.01 today so I'm sure under-$3 is available if I look around, and our local stations will probably break $3 in a day or two if prices continue to trend down.

[Drake3287]

Here in California I almost refuse to buy gas at the regular stations. Always plan my purchases at the Costco 10 miles away or the Safeway 10 miles away when I have enough gas rewards to make it worth while. Costco currently is $4.59 for regular, $4.99 for premium and $5.39 for diesel. The regular gas stations around here are .50 cents a gallon more. With a 30 gallon tank that's a $15. savings. I just feel lucky that I can afford it, for many people it's a true hardship with no end in sight. As a matter of fact, when California goes to it's summer blend of gas in a few months it'll be another 3 or 4 cents a gallon more.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I haven't driven much lately due to a broken shoulder but Drake's prices are spot on in California. I was going to guess about $4.89. ARCO has about the best prices after Sams/Costco but I heard the lines can be long. I've gotten out of lines when across the street cost .05 cents or .10 cents more and paid the higher price to avoid waiting.

[ua_guy]

In the car, I guess it depends. I don't shop for fuel prices every time I need to fill up. I tend to frequent a local station or two that consistently are on the lower-priced end but it's rare that they're the absolute cheapest. I'd have to drive to Costco in the car just to get the cheapest fuel and that's not worth it for me.

In the RV, we will absolutely plan our fuel stops around pricing, and also location. With a 100 gallon tank, that can really add up. We've also joined a program that issues fleet cards for RV drivers so we can fill up at truck stops and get a contracted rate similar to what large trucking companies are able to get for their trucks when they need fuel (TSD Logistics, if you own a diesel RV, look it up!). We try to plan our stops where we can get the steepest discount.

[disneysteve]

When convenient, I get gas at BJs but the two other stations on that same block have gotten into a pricing war with them. BJs was typically 7-10 cents lower but when we passed a couple of days ago, the other stations were both a penny cheaper than BJs. I’m sure the fact that the BJs station is relatively new has really cut into their business.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Nope. Unless you count I fill up only at costco. I also live about a 1 mile from costco, and I shop a lot there because of it. Sometimes I can go daily since it's the closest grocery store with safeway about a block more. So I just get gas about 1x a week and it's always the cheapest. That being said when driving on a road trip I tend to stop where it's convinent and look at gasbuddy if it's reasonable.

[srblanco7]

Our typical schedule is to visit BJs every other weekend for household items. Given how much less I'm commuting and travelling for work, I've generally been able to align my gas tank refills with our BJs visits. Noting that BJs is not "out of our way" and the gas is typically at least 15-30 cents per gallon less expensive, it's been an easy way to save a few bucks.

[rennigade]

Never go out of my way to get cheaper fuel. The time/mileage it takes to drive elsewhere eats up the cheaper cost. Even if it was cheaper 20 minutes one way isnt worth it. Time is too valuable.

[kork13]

I've done the math a couple times (cost to drive further vs. $$ savings), and I think it came to say that you have to save ~5¢/gal per mile out of the way that you drive for gas.

So with that, I generally won't go out of my way more than 2-3 miles for slightly cheaper gas, unless it's dramatically cheaper (>10-15¢ per gal).

That said, we live 40 miles away from the nearest Costco (in Boise), where gas is reliably 15-20¢ cheaper (or better) than anywhere else in our little town. Although we obviously won't make a trip that far just for gas, we do go up to the city every 1-2 weeks for appointments, shopping, entertainment, etc... and a stop at Costco for gas is always on the agenda.

[Singuy]

Oh man, this question is going to age the same as someone who asks if you ever gotten charged a fee for not rewinding the vcr tape before returning it to Blockbuster.

Once you guys experience what it feels like to never needing to go to a gas station again, you'll wonder why you put up with it for so long to begin with.

[disneysteve]

Oh man, this question is going to age the same as someone who asks if you ever gotten charged a fee for not rewinding the vcr tape before returning it to Blockbuster.

Once you guys experience what it feels like to never needing to go to a gas station again, you'll wonder why you put up with it for so long to begin with.

Realistically, how long do you think it will be until EVs represent a majority of cars actively on the road? I will be shocked if they crack 50% in under 25 years.

[rennigade]

Realistically, how long do you think it will be until EVs represent a majority of cars actively on the road? I will be shocked if they crack 50% in under 25 years.

Is there even enough cobalt on this planet to ever get to 50% EVs on the road? Maybe in 20 years we won't rely on cobalt for lithium batteries.

And for those who haven't looked into cobalt mining, skip it. You don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.

[ua_guy]

I guess it's a good thing that EV's have inspired all the people who never cared about mining, minerals, or energy impact to finally start. I wonder if the same concern should be applied to drilling ANWR or deregulating the oil industry so leaking pipelines can be built everywhere. Nah.

[Drake3287]

With California banning gas engines by 2035, experts have estimated that California would need 10 nuclear power plants to serve all the power needs. We currently only have one and it's already scheduled to be shut down due to age. Just to build one nuclear power plant takes 10 years once it's even been approved. I only hope I'm still around in 2035 to see how this plays out!