Poll: do you use a web site to find the lowest fuel price? Are you "gas obsessive"?
 

Do you use a web site like MSN, Gasbuddy or equivalent to find the lowest fuel price before re-filling your tank?

I read an article today about comparison shopping for gasoline that used a term I hadn't seen before - "gas obsessive" - to refer to people who strategize & use various tools to get the lowest price they can.

Source: Getting more bang for your buck at the pump - The Globe and Mail

I'm lucky in my situation: Since I don't spend much money on fuel (don't commute, and bike locally as much as practical), I don't really pay attention to the price, or where/when I buy.

And for those of you who use price comparison sites, do you also contribute price reports to them?

Many years ago, when fuel was less than half the price it is now, I actually made a fuel price comparison site for the area I lived in. It was sponsored by the local Toyota dealer - in the early days before the Prius was even sold in North America.

As is the pattern, eventually people became used to new, higher prices, and participation dropped off. We ultimately let the site go and the domain expired. I think it was "gasgouge.com"

I don't go out of my way to buy fuel, as that wastes fuel.

If you can save 20 cents/gallon on gas by driving out of your way, and your car gets 40 mpg and your average fill is 10 gallons, you're only saving $2. That means that cheap gas station has to be within 10 miles of you to justify (at $4/gallon) your driving out of your way.

I think it's incredibly dumb to sit or stand in a line to give your money away - another reason I don't hunt for cheap gas.

I know which stations have the lowest rates on the routes that I periodically drive, and use only those stations to fill up.

Using a site would be helpful, as the information would be more immediate.

I don't go out of my way for cheap gas, since that burns extra gas and wastes my time, but I do keep an eye on prices so I can fill up at the cheapest one I'll be passing. Likewise, if I'm driving out to my friends' place, I'll fill up at the usually-cheapest station on the way, even if it's not on empty.

I contribute to gasbuddy daily. As a result, I always know the prices along my route.

When I fill, I will check and see if there's a better price on one of my alternate routes that's within a mile or two.

I like using the same station and pump near my house - even if I could find fuel cheaper (although they are pretty competitive with everyone around). The difference, a stated above, would have to be pretty substantial to create a net gain worth the time to travel to another station.

But the main reason is that the employees are very friendly to me, and I choose to support businesses with good customer service.

I agree with SentraSE-R and jamesqf. Its not worth my time to go out of the way to get cheaper gas. Most of the stations in my area don't vary by more than 5 cents anyways. Thats a whopping $.50 difference per tank for me, actually normally less than that.

I don't use such sites for "going out of my way". On occasion I use them when embarking on a long trip, to help decide where along the way to top off- which is where to arrive on fumes.