Gas price spread

[KneeGrinder]

Non Ethanol has a 70 to 80 cent per gallon spread here, but not e10. Couple of my cars take premium, and when I drive down to Coeur d alene, they have e10 premium and its only 20 or 30 cents more per gallon. There is no non ethanol 87/89 octane here, only 91. Up higher north where I live there is no e10 premium.

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by wdn
OP is already paying 51% more than me I pay $2.31/gallon for regular with some local places as low as $2.20.


CA is well known to have some of the highest gas prices in the nation. It basically requires boutique fuels for different areas so there's a limited supply and you can't just import the fuel from different areas of the country because it doesn't meet local EPA requirements.



Buy a classic that pre-dates emissions rules and run whatever exotic leaded race fuel blend you like the smell of. Rules only apply to new stuff. Go old school and do whatever you like

 

[quint]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
In Ohio, it's $0.60 more for premium (and $0.30 for mid-grade). I remember when it was a $0.10 increment and no, this was decades ago. This big jump seemed to have occured in the past ~10 years or less, if I'm not mistaken.

Here's one example:

Dang, we're neighbors! I work a block over from the Shell station at Union Centre @ I-75 (those nutballs are always 50 cents/gallon higher than anyone else around here).

 

[JHZR2]

I agree, the spread has grown, sometimes ridiculously so. I too recall the old 10c spread, but not in the last 10 years or so.

Not sure if Shell and BP caused this with their marketing of v-power and invigorate/ultimate as premium products. Then every cheap coffee shop gas distributor took liberties...

Wha t I kind of remember is that Amoco Ultimate back in the late 90s carried a bigger premium In price for their crystal clear super great gasoline. But I also seem to remember that this product was piped, stored and shipped separately, so potentially was a true premium product...

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by wdn
OP is already paying 51% more than me I pay $2.31/gallon for regular with some local places as low as $2.20.

The pic I took is at one of the cheaper stations.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by quint
Dang, we're neighbors! I work a block over from the Shell station at Union Centre @ I-75 (those nutballs are always 50 cents/gallon higher than anyone else around here).

Well, to maintain some level of privacy, that's down the road from me but I am in SW Ohio.

 

[doitmyself]

I seemed to notice that when gasoline prices skyrocketed years ago, the spread seemed to drop to around 10 cents, but when gas prices seem to dip low, the spread increases. Is this a correct observation? If so, why?

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by JHZR2
I agree, the spread has grown, sometimes ridiculously so. I too recall the old 10c spread, but not in the last 10 years or so.

At least in Ohio, I'm certain it's been within the past 10 years but then again, until I got my current car, I didn't care what the price of premium was. None of our cars needed it nor benefited from it. I guess I did buy it 1 gallon at a time for the lawnmower (hoping to avoid ethanol ??) but never gave the price a 2nd thought.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Yeah, the usual around here is $.30 to mid and then $.40 from mid to premium - all E10. Sometimes the E15-88 comes in $.20 less than the E10-87.

 

[Hall]

If a mod wants to spin this off into a new thread, feel free, but I'm curious what sort of gas price fluctuations others see in their area. I'm in SW Ohio but I believe it's typical across the state and actually has a term called "the Speedway effect". We routinely see prices go up 50 cents in a single jump. On Monday or Tuesday of this week, regular gas was $2.13/gallon (at Speedway* and the same price or within a few pennies at all stations I pass) in the morning and still that price at lunchtime when I had to run out for gas and an errand. When I left work, the same station (Speedway) was $2.59. The Shell across the street must be linked to Speedway's price 'cause they raise theirs right away. Thorntons down the street is slower to react but will within hours. The crazy one is there's a Murphy's (Walmart) next door to another Speedway still selling their fuel for $2.13. It's funny seeing the gas price signs alongside the road with such a difference ! This Murphy's, and I presume many around, will normally hold out for a day or two sometimes too ! Sometimes it works and Speedway drops their price in 10 cent or 20 cent increments. Other times, Murphy's gives in and matches the jump in price....

* Speedway is probably the most common stations around here, by the way.

 

[Rmay635703]

Around here Premium stays roughly the same price for months while regular and Kwik Trip 88 and e85 change more than the temperature .

This can make for massive price differences, that said it is extraordinarily rare for Premium to only be $0.70 a gallon more, $1-$1.50 is more common .
And usually if Premium is only 0.70 cents more it's because that station is overcharging for regular.

Funny thing is Premium gas prices around here don't vary much station to station but regular and 88 can vary $0.50/gallon from one station to the next. When gas prices are skyrocketing due to the latest made up crisis some stations are up to a buck cheaper for their rug.

When fuel is sky high everywhere else I can usually count on the Indian Casino to be a buck cheaper.

I use gas buddy and time my fuel ups for when I'm at a particular location so I don't get ripped off or make a special trip for fuel.


Kwik Trip 88 2 weeks ago was $2.14,
This week bought Woodmans RUG for $2.21 because everything else was sky high. $2.40+

 

[kschachn]

One of the reasons for the high price differential in your picture is because the premium is E0, that always sells for a much higher price. Here in southeastern Wisconsin where only E10 is sold the price differential for 93 octane premium at Kwik Trip is $0.70. Right now my local Kwik Trip has regular at $2.34, mid-grade at $2.64 and premium at $3.04. Wherever you took that picture is selling all the upper grades at a ridiculous price or it's an old picture. I've never seen such a spread anywhere here.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Around $0.60 spread between regular and premium around me currently.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by kschachn
The high price differential in your picture is because the premium is E0, that always sells for a much higher price. Here in southeastern Wisconsin where only E10 is sold the price differential for 93 octane premium at Kwik Trip is $0.70.


How much is your fuel per gallon though?
I highly doubt your Premium is under $3 a gallon.

I have gotten "cheap gas" for as little as $2.04 a gallon in the last 3 months,
Meaning by your math I should have paid $2.70 a gallon for e10 Premium (which hasn't happened in years)

I bet you are getting ripped off on RUG and your Premium fuel is probably following the same pricing behavior we have up here, the only difference being you pay more for regular making premium look like more of a deal.

What I miss are the stations that used to sell cheap 90 octane gas, sadly no stations carry it and it used to only be a dime more than regular at Utica fuel

Ah well

 

[kschachn]

I updated my post with current prices near my house. Here in the City of Milwaukee the price is $2.24/$2.54/$2.84 at the station near my office, fuel is cheaper in the city.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Rmay635703
When fuel is sky high everywhere else I can usually count on the Indian Casino to be a buck cheaper.

I presume that is because of taxes, or a lack of ?

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by kschachn
I've never seen such a spread anywhere here.


I see that price differential every time I'm traveling and stop at a Krist and they are usually the only gas station in those areas.
(Though Krist in downtown Wausau is exactly the same in its pricing)

In my home town gas is usually 10-20 cents a gallon more than if you drive 8 miles into Wausau and 15-30 cents a gallon more than if you drive the 16 miles to Brokaw
Premium is usually quite high at all the stations.

Also based on your prices I'm guessing I probably pay much less on average for RUG than you probably do, I considered $2.21 as "higher" than normal since 88 has Normally been available for $2.1X for about a year, since I go shopping on regular increments anyway I try to time my fuel ups at the cheaper stations.
I normally won't pay $2.30+ for gas unless I'm on a trip. Or screw up and need to fill in a horrible area like Weston.

Ah well

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by Rmay635703
When fuel is sky high everywhere else I can usually count on the Indian Casino to be a buck cheaper.

I presume that is because of taxes, or a lack of ?


Not sure, their prices seem to lag everyone else by a month or more, inversely their gas is expensive when everyone else is dropping prices, I just don't buy fuel there when they are high.

 

[kschachn]

Those prices are still whack. Gas Buddy shows the Shell station in Weston at $2.39 for regular and $3.19 for premium so I'd suggest you not go to whatever station is in your picture. When was that taken, I don't see a Krist in Weston for comparison.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by kschachn
Those prices are still whack. Gas Buddy shows the Shell station in Weston at $2.39 for regular and $3.19 for premium so I'd suggest you not go to whatever station is in your picture. When was that taken, I don't see a Krist in Weston for comparison.


$2.39 is too high, I paid $2.21 for Rug (which is too much)
and it should last me a couple weeks, hopefully by that point 88 is back down under $2.20/gallon rinse repeat
unless I can resist the urge to drive normally, my car could probably go a month if I would slow down, driving 25mph this happened.
Still impressive for a 21 year old car

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Rmay635703
In my home town gas is usually 10-20 cents a gallon more than if you drive 8 miles into Wausau and 15-30 cents a gallon more than if you drive the 16 miles to Brokaw
I keep using Speedway as my example and they have a station in our small town. There's (4) stations total in town and again, Speedway dictates the prices.... And because there's little competition (the other stations are followers vs competitors) and you have to go 10 miles (~20 minutes) for an area with a lot of stations clustered together, the Speedway in our town is almost always 30-40 cents higher than other areas.

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by Rmay635703
When fuel is sky high everywhere else I can usually count on the Indian Casino to be a buck cheaper.

I presume that is because of taxes, or a lack of ?

Originally Posted by Rmay635703
Not sure, their prices seem to lag everyone else by a month or more, inversely their gas is expensive when everyone else is dropping prices, I just don't buy fuel there when they are high.
Ahhh, if they're not consistently lower, it really can't be taxes. I thought maybe they're exempt from charging them.