Why Do Drivers Buy Gas at Higher Priced Stations?

xzins

[xzins]

It always puzzles me to see people pull into a station that is a few cents higher in price than one immediately across the road that is lower in price. It just doesn't make sense if everything else is equal.

All the boycotts and government intervention in the world won't have near the effect on gas prices of drivers simply choosing the lowest priced gas available when they fill up their tanks.

There will ALWAYS be an economics minded station owner who will keep his prices 1 penny less than his competition. That's the guy you need to buy from.

Then the others will be forced to lower, and then that guy will lower again, and then they'll be forced to lower, etc., etc., and a purely market driven cycle will result.

But you have to do your part. Be a smart consumer. Buy the lowest priced, equal quality gasoline that's available to you.

[DancesWithTrout]

They should change the official state seal of Indiana to the Village Pantry sign!!

[jpl]

I'm driving a car where the owner's manual recommends "regular" gas. It says their engine is specifically designed to perform best on regular. It says there's no benefit at all to the premium grades. I wonder how many are putting the higher priced stuff in their tanks who've never read that section in their owner's manual?

Sadly, a lot of people, despite the fact that the world's foremost engine experts like Pat Goss repeat over and over and over again to use the octane level specified in the owner's manual. As though the government and automobile manufacturers have never done those kinds of tests before.

[xzins]

Bud, and Sam, and FAT TIRE

What in the world is FAT TIRE!!?? Sounds like it really kicks.

[xzins]

Shucks I thought it was for all the folks driving British made cars with blind passengers in the left seat. (sort of like a left-handed monkey wrench if you think about it.)

[discostu]

You haven't had an Fat Tire?1 Oh you poor soul. It's hands down my favorite beer. It's an amber ale brewed by the New Belgium Brewing Company (grabbed one of last night's out of the trash can, I don't have this stuff memorized, I'm not THAT crazy). All the New Belgium stuff looks the same, the bottles are brown semi-long knecks with a band half-way down the kneck with the company name engraved on it, their lids are red and yellow and their labels (and boxes) are mostly red and blue. They make a number of different beers, all very good, Fat Tire is, I believe, their first (usually the easiest to get, most bars have it now) and has an old fashioned bike on the label. A very good all purpose beer. Too bad it's quarter to 10 in the morning.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Excellent point. Just because something is cheaper doesn't mean that it is doing "good business" to buy from them. I'm a mom, and I "shop" at the gas stations around here where:

a) we have plastic - that's how we keep track of our expenses for IRS records - important consideration when you're self-employed - it's a heckuva lot easier to keep 12 monthly statements in a file, than keep track of all those irritatingly small cash receipts.

b) they have a food mart, where I can buy slushies for the kids after school (this is a big deal in our family :-), they have the newspaper on the stand I like to read, and they have nice people who work there. I'm with the person who won't shop at certain places because either the counter-help is rude or can't speak English well enough to be understood without a translator!!!!!!!

[xzins]

You think they have them in the midwest...vicinity of Ohio?

[CheneyChick]

Why? CONVENIENCE. I don't even look at the price, but I should mention that my company pays for the gas.......

[angcat]

because i'm lazy and i don't want to pump my own gas...................

[discostu]

Doesn't look like they're that far east yet. Getting close, they're in Missouri (NBB is based in Colorado). Sometimes I forget what a big country this is, not everything is available everywhere. Turns out these guys don't do the standard model, it's only brewed in one place. I know Sam Adams rents space (they own a couple of small breweries to), there was a big stink about how many of the microbrews really weren't microbrews a few years, but nobody cared because the beer is better.

[society-by-contract]

Economists call this phenomonon rational ignorance.

[Lockbox]

Why Do Drivers Buy Gas at Higher Priced Stations?

Because we can..............

[xzins]

Because we can..............

to get to the other side

[Hagrid]

Tests in NYC in the 1980s showed that most premium or super premium gas was actually regular. If you buy premium gas, you should be more concerned about honesty than price. Stations that are friendlier and cleaner and part of brands you trust might be more likely to be honest and give you what you paid for,

A second reason is that search costs outweigh the benefits of searching.

[mamelukesabre]

All gas is not the same. Some burn cleaner than others. If you have fuel injectors, the cheaper fuels can foul them quicker.

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BS

[society-by-contract]

Of course the best brew is homebrew. Here in Richmond we are lucky to have a fine microbrewery called Legend.

[Doomonyou]

I pay a few cents a gallon more than I could, but I buy ALL my gas at Union 76 for the simple reason that in CA, or at least Sonoma County, they are the only dealer that does NOT have MTBE in thier gas.

[rebdov]

Since their gas is typically 5-10% higher than other brands, what exactly are you saving?

[Texas Mom]

Sir - Plastic credit

You hit the nail on the head.