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View Poll Results: Do You Use Gas Finder Apps/Software Regularly?
Yes, I use gas finder apps/software more often than not. 26 17.81%
No, I don’t use gas finder apps/software often if at all. 120 82.19%
Voters: 146. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-01-2018, 06:56 AM   #21
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I use GasBuddy when I travel on road trips or watch for a Flying J, Pilot, or Costco. It can range .25 - .40 cheaper per gallon than brand name stations. We do one or two 5k mile road trips a year, so it can save $50 to $100 per trip. Not a deal breaker on the trip budget, but the frugal mindset looks for reasonable savings. It's usually on the way, so we don't go out of the way for the savings.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:01 AM   #22
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PS your thread title is very different from your poll title. Be sure to tell us now if you only want gas app comments per your poll title.
That’s why I attempted to explain in the OP. I can’t think of any better way to comparison shop for gas than using a gas finder. How else would you do it effectively, certainly not driving to many different stations every time you refuel? And I addressed folks who just look at stations within sight of each other, that’s not an effective comparison.

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So I wondered how common it is to comparison shop for auto gas/diesel? I guess using apps or other software may be the best determinant?
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:09 AM   #23
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Gas prices are often $0.20/gal from high to low where we live, sometimes more or less. That works out to savings of about $3.50 with each fill up, or about $125-$150 per year. We don’t go completely out of our way, but tend the plan on buying gas along with other trips or errands, we almost always consolidate trips. Worth it to us. YMMV
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:15 AM   #24
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Generally I get gas at the grocery store where I get fuel points. My "comparison shopping" mainly consists of making sure I've maximized the points for the month and coordinating with DW as to which vehicle is closer to empty. Since my truck has a larger tank, I'll usually take the full reward and she'll take the $0.03 discount that doesn't require points.

But I use Gas Buddy to find out which of their local stores has the lowest price. It can vary by a dime per gallon, which doesn't make sense to me in this moderately-sized city.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:21 AM   #25
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I don’t comparison shop for gas in the U.S. as it is cheap enough to not make a big difference either way on my budget (gas represents only about 2% of my budget). But in a few months, when I will be living in France, I will probably be more mindful of gas prices as they are 4x higher and gas will represent up to 7% of my budget.

But, except for large ticket items , I rarely compare prices when shopping. If I am happy with the price, I pay it, even if it is not the absolute lowest.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:25 AM   #26
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But, except for large ticket items , I rarely compare prices when shopping. If I am happy with the price, I pay it, even if it is not the absolute lowest.
Me too. However even for larger purchases, I seldom compare prices between brands. I've found that quality usually (not always) cost more. However "regular" gas, is pretty much the same (minus additives, which doesn't seem to matter much, IMO)
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:25 AM   #27
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We do not use gas price apps. We already know all the gas stations in the area and know which ones tend to have the lower prices. The difference is generally less than 5-10 cents anyway, so we would only save 1 to 2 dollars at most on a tank of gas. That's not worth the trouble.

We usually get gas at Safeway or Chevron. They're the most convenient depending on which direction we're heading and we get 10 cents per gallon discount for every 100 dollars groceries we buy (which we do easily every shopping trip).

There's really only one other station nearby with a significantly lower price, but access is kind of a hassle. Once you pull into the lot, getting back out is tricky because of the traffic flow in the area. Saving a dollar is not worth that hassle and potential for an auto accident.

When we're traveling most of our trips are doable on a single tank of gas. So we just fill up before we leave home. Otherwise we just pull over when the gas gets low or our bladders get full.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:32 AM   #28
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I buy gas once every 3-4 weeks so if I am paying an extra dollar per fill-up for the 12-17 fill-ups every year I don't care. My regular gas station is close by, convenient if I am on my way home or out, and is the one my regular mechanic owns, so we know each other. Being a known, regular customer, he lets me use his air pump for free and pump my gas first before paying cash (not his policy for cash customers). These little conveniences are well worth the extra dollar I might pay for each fill-up.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:32 AM   #29
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No, I don't but if I lived in larger city I would most likely use the app. Where I live there is only a few places to fill gas so not worth the bother. If I travel which isn't much I would use it more.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:35 AM   #30
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After 35 years traveling for work, I know where the cheaper gasoline is. We have a 5 cent differential in prices just crossing the river downtown.

When I travel long distances, I pay attention to fuel prices. And when I return, I know where to stop. Gas Buddy works too.
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Old 10-01-2018, 07:50 AM   #31
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Price differences among gas stations do not vary much where we spend most of our time, so third party apps aren't helpful. The low & high price retailers are always the same, we take advantage of low when possible. The potential saving is usually limited to 10-15 cents per gallon, so I'll buy if nearby but not go out of my way.

Gas Buddy has not been particularly helpful. The reported prices are not always valid and often confuse cash vs credit card prices. I think gas stations are learning how to use it to attract drivers. It does help trying to find fuel when the area is shut down because of hurricane. As more people discover that use, it becomes less useful for all.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:00 AM   #32
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Not enough choices in the poll. I use gas buddy about 1/3 of the time. Mostly when I am not close to home to avoid the overpriced stations vs. trying to find the lowest price around. Someone mentioned gas apps don't work for premium but Gas Buddy in my area does list prices for premium. I hope I never own a daily driver that requires premium. I sure don't worry about saving a few cents/gal especially since I don't use much gas. My big savings is using the Penfed cashback card and grocery store discount points at Shell.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:03 AM   #33
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I've done the Kroger thing... 4X fuel points on gift card purchases, plus I get the 5% "grocery" cash-back when using our AMEX Blue Cash card. I buy $250 in Amazon gift cards, get $1/gal off, plus I can use all 35 gallons if my Suburban is empty plus my 5-gallon gas can. It's good savings but a bit of a hassle. And the 4X thing only happens a few times per year usually around the holidays.

When traveling we use Google Maps and Android Auto for navigation. When we're running low on gas, I just say, "OK Google, I need gas." It immediately displays all upcoming gas stations with the price per gallon and distance to each. Very useful.

I used Gas Buddy when I was commuting. Back then, I filled up the Suburban every 4 work days, so it was worth it. Now that we are both retired, we don't consume enough gas to bother. I fill up about once a month, if that. Locally, we have one or two stations that we frequent, mainly because they are convenient (easy in/out), clean, well lit, pumps are fast, and usually good prices.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:09 AM   #34
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That’s why I attempted to explain in the OP. I can’t think of any better way to comparison shop for gas than using a gas finder. How else would you do it effectively, certainly not driving to many different stations every time you refuel? And I addressed folks who just look at stations within sight of each other, that’s not an effective comparison.
True but your poll is exclusively about using apps and software and we know you can be quite touchy about people not staying on your topic so just want to clarify.

Re comparison shopping: Our talk radio names locations with low gas prices when they do traffic. Most people’s trips are within a few miles of home so if they cared they would notice the prices when they drive by. Most interstates have stations at the exits but people other than RV and truck drivers where a few cents make a difference (as REWahoo mentions above) probably don’t use an app to plan their fill ups. Your mileage may vary
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:10 AM   #35
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We tend to use the same station that we know has diesel at a good price. When we travelled for work, we knew where the cheap stations were on the route. But we drive so seldom now, it is not worth it. Just call it our Blow That Dough moment.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:21 AM   #36
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No, but we go to Costco and they tend to be cheapest around here. But a different Costco might have better price.
But I notice for large item, and I’m brand conscious, if I want to buy anything, I just surf that brand website, add an item but not purchase it yet, and within days I get an add to buy at that shop for 30% discount.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:26 AM   #37
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Close to our house is a gas station that is always cheaper so we use that. We only fill up every 2-4 weeks. I didn’t even know there were gas apps. When traveling we get off the freeway and look at the signs. BW, Chick-fil any one)
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Old 10-01-2018, 02:05 PM   #38
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I do use a gas app on trips but locally, we almost invariably fill up at Fry's Food and save $1.00/gallon using fuel points. We play the fuel points game religiously by getting bonus points for prescriptions, surveys and via digital coupons. We also buy gift cards for places we frequent and get bonus gas points that way too. In a typical month we will have 2000 to 3000 fuel points available for use between both cars.
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Old 10-01-2018, 02:40 PM   #39
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Gasbuddy app is one of the guys that has been selling people’s location data. https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/07/locat...vacy-ios-apps/

We usually go to Costco and do some checking by internet site if we a traveling away from home.

Where my Dad lives Kroger usually has one of the better prices anyway, and you get another 10c off a gallon if you buy enough groceries.
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Old 10-01-2018, 05:12 PM   #40
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We don't actively seek out the cheapest price but normally just note what the prices have been trending as and then fill/top up if it's under what we've been seeing.

We only have one car and even then we generally don't put a lot of miles on it. Really best case, I suspect we could save maybe $100/yr. Realistically, we'd probably save about $30/yr if we were more actively searching for the cheapest price.
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