Gas is so cheap!

"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti) 03/12/2020 at 16:01 • Filed to: None

2

44

California: hold my beer.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 16:07

2

How does that happen in isolation from the rest of the country? High taxes to discourage travel?

BaconSandwich is tasty. > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 16:07

0

I get that state taxes vary by state to state, but what's the deal with this case? Some gas station employee who doesn't want to be at work trying to make it worth his/her time to come in to work?

RPM esq. > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 16:10

2

I stopped for gas on the way to work today and gas had gone up (at that one station)...I suspect profiteering on anxious people keeping their tanks full.

RPM esq. > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:11

5

They haven’t raised taxes. I suspect profiteering by the station franchisee on the backs of anxious people keeping their tanks full.  

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/12/2020 at 16:12

1

You see those once in awhile in CA... some opportunism with locations— close to a highway or to a freeway off-ramp, where they snare the unwary who are just glad to find gas.

There’s one near here that I guarantee will be $4.99 a gallon through the coming recession, despite another Chevron less than a mile away (but off the freeway) that’s more than a buck cheaper at this very moment.

Those Gas Buddy Apps seem like a gimmick, but knowledge is power.  And savings.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:13

3

Oh, they hate cars here, oddly. But, yeah, this is more about opportunism in a location. He’s at least a buck over prevailing  rates right now.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RPM esq. 03/12/2020 at 16:16

1

The gas lines won’t shut down when there is so much surplus oil in circulation due to competition. I’m not sure why some people are so anxious about being prepared to flee cross country when the worst case scenario is probably just bring forced to stay home.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 16:18

1

And I can see at least two suckers there despite the exuberant prices. If he earns a half cent per gallon on average, then a free dollar per gallon on top but lower volume is still more profitable so I blame the suckers, not the proprietor.

3point8isgreat > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 16:18

2

I know there’s one station near the Orlando airport that has insane prices.  Like $7-9 a gallon.  Just because they’re the closest.  But if you drive 30 seconds further you get to a Wawa with normal $2.xx prices.  They almost got me once until I saw the price and freaked out right before I started filling.  I couldn’t believe I saw other people actually at the pumps.

gettingoldercarguy > RPM esq. 03/12/2020 at 16:21

0

I just filled up this week and it was around 3.09 a gallon. Can’t remember what I paid the last time I filled up  back in January.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > 3point8isgreat 03/12/2020 at 16:25

1

Yep!  It only takes a few of those.  Imagine the margins on a 20 gallon fill-up like that...

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:28

1

Yeah, that was the flaw in the whole “prepper” discussion the other day. The challenge in a lot of the country isn’t “how do I flee out to the country like a Hunger Games movie”.... it’s more like “how do I shelter in place if I can’t go anywhere for a month and we lose power or gas or water ?”

At least that’s what it comes down to here in SoCal with fires and earthquakes and mudslides likely to trap one in place.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:29

1

Over the years I’d resolved “never” to buy from the $5 a gallon guy— but I relented once when I had a really low tank and was nervous about making it to the cheap place.

The big worry I have is “does he sell enough volume not to have his tanks turn stale?”

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > 3point8isgreat 03/12/2020 at 16:30

0

You're better off probably paying the penalty at the rental agency than those prices. That's insane. 

BaconSandwich is tasty. > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 16:33

1

That makes sense. In the six hour drive between our place and my parent’s place, there’s a gas station that is like that. It’s on the corner of two secondary highways. If you drive 10 minutes over to the nearest town, gas is usually less expensive.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 16:34

0

My suburb of Atlanta is only vaguely defined by the railroad tracks, leaving escape possible in every direction other than south towards the airport. I’m not too worried about having to flee, though.

Textured Soy Protein > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 16:36

2

There’s an Exxon in a fancy corner of DC that’s always a good dollar higher than every other station in the vicinity . It’s so overpriced it’s even overpriced on Google Street View. I checked it out from different angles and you can see the price staying high over time with the little timestamps.

June 2011:

May 2014:

September 2019:

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/12/2020 at 16:37

0

I’m terribly curious about his business model. Real estate is nutty expensive here, so you’d think he would be motivated to do high volumes. But, like many things in Montecito (Oprah’s favorite bistro is just down the way and Rob Lowe lives up the street ) everything gets priced “like a boutique”. He might move only 10% of the gasoline, but make more money with less hassle, than the high-volume place two miles away?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:43

1

Yeah, we’re stuck between mountains and ocean here, with a single (101) highway being the sole way in and out of town. There’s two key bridges, were the Big Quake to take them out of service, that could really hose us.

It always sounded theoretical until that big mudslide closed the freeway two years ago. It was under about 8 feet of mud-and-rocks in places. Turns out that it’s actually done that about once a decade going back to the missionary era...

The freeway out of town is buried under the mud in this pic...

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Textured Soy Protein 03/12/2020 at 16:46

0

The other ones to avoid are just off the GW Parkway on 123, and the one at the intersection of Democracy Blvd & Old Georgetown Rd. I’m sure there are plenty more but those are the two I know of that are notoriously overpriced. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 16:55

1

The only disaster likely to happen around here would be flooding, and most of that is controlled by the enormous reservoirs disguised as lakes anyways. I don’t envy the California Oppos right now.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 16:58

1

Yeah, we’re coming up on the 100th Anniversary of the Quake That Leveled This Place Last Time... I think it’s best not to DWELL on that worst-case scenario (would drive you nuts) but always have a plan for what you’d do if it all turned bad..

But, we are way overdue for a monster quake. Toilet paper’s probably the least of our problems when it comes.

Textured Soy Protein > Snuze: Needs another Swede 03/12/2020 at 17:03

0

I live pretty close to that Exxon at Democracy & Old Georgetown . It’s pricey, but it’s not as ridiculous as the one at Connecticut & Nebraska in Chevy Chase, which is usually well over $4 for regular.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 17:21

1

In the past century buildings have become far far more earthquake resistan t fortunately. That is assuming people bothered to prepare for it, which is unlikely. Let’s hope a monster quake is at least polite enough to wait for the virus to calm down first.

RPM esq. > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 17:23

1

Obviously this is correct, but as every single prepper post on here demonstrates, both pro and con, there are a lot of nervous idiots out there. I don’t think anybody is worried about having to flee, I think they’re worried about infrastructure shutting down, which is about 1% less dumb than the bottled water hoarders.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 17:40

0

Why is regular more expensive than ‘plus’ or ‘supreme’?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > RPM esq. 03/12/2020 at 17:48

0

Unless you live in coastal CA where the organic matter from the fires in the hills washes into the water supply and they have to enter “boil orders”.  It’s going to get ugly here when the quake comes... and the quake will come.

Everybody uses “prepper” as an insult, but there’s no downside to thinking about contingencies. Having some water and canned foods on hand is never a terrible idea. And, no, I have no idea why they are focused on TP.

RPM esq. > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 17:57

0

I’m not talking about earthquake preparedness and wasn’t using “prepper” as an insult, just as an adjective. I have earthquake supplies myself. I’m talking about the people who reacted to the virus by hoarding bottled water and TP as if there would be no municipal water or freight trucking next week, and specifically theorizing that this gas station owner is jacking up prices in the hopes that the same people are keeping their gas tanks full for the same reasons (or lack thereof).

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Textured Soy Protein 03/12/2020 at 17:57

0

The closest gas station to the Orlando airport is exactly the same but $2 higher than everything else.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 18:06

0

Yeah, what I notice here is that the “worst case” scenario is probably a Black-Swan where the Santa Anas are raging (70 MPH hot desert winds down out of the mountains toward the ocean), with fires burning up above town. If the Big Quake were to hit during fire season? Oh, man, that would be bad. You always get structure fires after the quake, anyway, due to burst gas lines... but that combo during the summer high wind season?

It probably burns right to the coast and traps hundreds of thousands of people in pockets- like the fires in Ojai did last year.

you get little tastes of that here in SoCal, like all the people trapped in a (commonplace) traffic jam on the Cajon Summit... just as a flash fire burned down from the mountainside. Ugly. Ugly. And that’s just a taster of how bad it could get.

Welcome to California!

https://q13fox.com/2015/07/17/brush-fire-jumps-i-15-sets-cars-ablaze-at-el-cajon-pass-in-california-video/

ttyymmnn > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 18:07

1

$1.71 at my neighborhood market. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > RPM esq. 03/12/2020 at 18:16

0

I assure you, the $4.99 gas guy didn’t raise it because of the virus— he’s just one of the vulture gas stations (like the Mobil near me) that preys on people too clueless or desperate to check price. You see those once in awhile... and people do buy gas there.

I think “prepper” has entered the lexicon as sort of an insult toward these folks:

https://www.shtfblog.com/characteristics-of-the-prepper-survivor-lifestyle/

Anybody that keeps a vehicle in “ready to bug out” condition with supplies in the back? Yeah, probably a prepper. Even using the phrase “bug out”?  Probably prepper-tendencies.

OTOH, I’m pushing back on the idea that keeping some water, canned goods and staples in the garage is a nutty idea. Hell, here in Montecito, Land of the Rich and Famous, there were 300 (mostly uber rich) people that got trapped with no power, no gas, no water.. nothing.. . up in Toro Canyon, a very posh area. Literally For Days. These are all $10+ Million houses and wealthy people. Most eventually got helicoptered out DAYS later. (Jimmy Connors, for one). Having some canned soup and some clean water wouldn’t be a bad thing to have.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/oprah-ellen-celebrities-impacted-deadly-california-mudslides/story?id=52253936

RPM esq. > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 18:23

0

Why are you arguing with me, aside from disagreeing with my speculation about the gas station’s motives? I agreed that keeping emergency supplies is generally a good idea and said I don’t view “prepper” as an insult, necessarily, except perhaps for the real lunatic cases. Also, as it happens, I have close family friends in Montecito who were trapped by the mudslides for days. It was not fun worrying about them, and the circumstances of their eventual rescue were surprisingly harrowing.

Gerry197 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 18:32

1

Probably a location in isolation where they need to price it that high or no competition for many miles.

My local C ostco in San Diego is almost going under $3 a gallon. Right now at $3.05, which for my area is now pretty cheap.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 18:43

1

That’s thoroughly terrifying, thanks. I was going to say I would just like to admire the scenery without having to live there, but then I saw that these were tourists.

I did find it funny once when a friend from California came to Georgia and was intrigued by a torrential downpour. I’ve never been west myself.

Future Heap Owner > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 19:09

1

This is why I always come back over the OR-CA border with like a gallon or less left in my tank.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 19:17

1

It has its charms but I look over my shoulder a bit. It’s easy to conceive of scenarios where a million people are trapped by floods, fire, quake damage, mud, debris and fallen highways.

I hope I’m wrong, but I think the 8.0 that’s coming is really, really ugly. I think it’s terrible advice to tell people not to have a few supplies and water on hand. And, no, I have no idea why they are hoarding toilet paper.

DipodomysDeserti > RPM esq. 03/12/2020 at 21:02

0

California just increased their gas tax last  summer. One of the many reasons their gas is much more expensive.0

DipodomysDeserti > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 21:03

0

The station across the parking lot was $3.99. However, I was able to get it for 2.30 in Yuma, AZ, which is on the border with CA.

DipodomysDeserti > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/12/2020 at 21:06

1

I have a 26.5 gallon tank and a twenty year old v8 with 4wd. I bought just enough at the station across the lot for $3.99 to get me to Yuma, AZ, where gas was $2.30.

DipodomysDeserti > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 03/12/2020 at 21:06

0

No idea. Hoping people don’t notice and just press 87?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 22:46

1

Yeah, I’m back and forth a lot (kids in PHX and Tucson) so I use both 10 and 40 quite often. Save that big fill-up until you just get across the river. Pretty easy for me to save $30 on a fill in the Suburban if you time it right.

BTW, it’s quite a ways from the truck stops in Indio/Coachella to any cheap gas across the river.  Figure 150-160 miles.

RPM esq. > DipodomysDeserti 03/12/2020 at 23:52

0

I filled up in Oakland on Monday. It was like $3.79  for premium.

DipodomysDeserti > RPM esq. 03/13/2020 at 00:09

0

That’s a damn good price as  the average for regular in CA is $3.39. But Californios don’t even know they’ve raised gas taxes, so stations might as well charge whatever.