# How do you choose a gas station?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 26, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634 "2014-09-26T13:46:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/61 "2014-09-27T20:20:14Z")
If the price is within, say, 20 cents of a good price, I just go with convenience. I drive a diesel that I fill like every two weeks, so the price of not driving around looking for the perfect gas station is maybe like $15 a year. Well worth it.
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### Author:  [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/62 "2014-09-27T21:26:58Z")
Can’t vote from my phone. I don’t have any criteria for choosing a gas station but I’d say location. I usually get it near work or home and pick the station that is most convenient with preference to any station with a good looking female also getting gas, of course. I thought that’s how everyone picked!
I never understood worrying about price with most vehicles. My Jeep has a 13 gallon tank so if it’s 10 cents more expensive (which it never is), that’s only $1.30 if I’m running on fumes. I think of things in terms of time. It’s not worth any of my time to worry about a dollar that I may or may not save.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/63 "2014-09-28T01:27:18Z")
I typically choose the next one when I see I’m low on gas.
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### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/64 "2014-09-28T02:54:02Z")
I shop for groceries once a week, and the have discount card good at their gas station.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/65 "2014-09-28T07:04:35Z")
> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> This.
> I fill my tank. No other business makes you pay before you know what you’re getting; Mickey D’s doesn’t make you give them $10 before requesting a Big Mac or a Filet of Fish. If you’re going to treat me like a criminal who you expect to gas-&-git then I won’t be back.
Where do you buy gas? I haven’t seen a gas station in at least 15 years that doesn’t require payment first.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/66 "2014-09-28T13:03:35Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#):
>
> My #1 requirement is that the station is part of the Top Tier Gasoline rating system. The gasoline meets a requirement for detergents and other additives to prevent combustion chamber and fuel injection deposits from forming. I’m willing to pay a penny or two more per gallon for better gasoline.
>
> [http://www.toptiergas.com/](http://www.toptiergas.com/)
>
> About the only time I use a gas station that is not rated Top Tier is when I’m low on fuel and there are not others.
This. Absolutely. For me that means Chevron, Shell, Union or Mobil.
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### Author:  [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/67 "2014-09-28T13:43:11Z")
I miss being able to pay at the pump. The closest petrol station to the house here is a Shell, so it’s convenient. I avoid supermarket filling stations as the fuel isn’t always as good.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/68 "2014-09-28T15:12:26Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#):
>
> Where do you buy gas? I haven’t seen a gas station in at least 15 years that doesn’t require payment first.
Yeah, i was wondering this too. I’ve seen a couple of places in small, rural towns where you can pump and then go inside and pay, but everywhere that’s not Mayberry wants some form of payment before they’ll turn on the pump.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/69 "2014-09-28T23:01:11Z")
I voted other because a local grocery chain gives “fuel points” based on your purchases. For every onehundred points you get 10cents per gallon off at certain stations. Also, when you fill out replies to the grocery’s customer surveys, you get fifty points. So I use the chain of stations that take those points.
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/70 "2014-09-28T23:28:35Z")
Almost automatic is no go to any station that charges more for credit cards. Just seeing the double pricing means I drive on most of the time (unless really needed) - totally regardless of the actual price, as once seeing that I never look at the price.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/71 "2014-09-29T02:06:08Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> Almost automatic is no go to any station that charges more for credit cards. Just seeing the double pricing means I drive on most of the time (unless really needed) - totally regardless of the actual price, as once seeing that I never look at the price.
A Valero station near me which I used to go to put in a car wash. They have four tiers of prices - car wash cash, car wash credit, no wash cash, no wash credit. I can’t figure out the prices even when I walk past the place. So I don’t even consider them - though the best I can tell they have gotten more expensive than other places.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/72 "2014-09-29T02:14:02Z")
“Whatever _diesel_ is closest…,” thus “whatever is closest…” plus “other.”
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/73 "2014-09-29T16:03:43Z")
Cheapest gas station that’s along a route that I regularly travel.
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### Author:  [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/74 "2014-09-29T19:26:39Z")
Price and location with a preference for those locations operated by my employer. Even though my employee discount does not apply to fuel I figure it’s good job security and we are typically priced on the low side of normal.
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### Author:  [@Tiktaalik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiktaalik)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/75 "2014-09-29T23:30:42Z")
Whichever one I pass by when my warning light comes on.
But there are two on my commute I won’t use for a somewhat weird reason. They don’t have those little things on the pump handle that automatically fill the tank while you walk away and clean your windshield or go in and buy some candy. I find it annoying to have to stand there and hold the pump. I don’t know why they don’t have them.
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### Author:  [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/76 "2014-09-29T23:58:38Z")
Main factors: on the right side of the street and cheap. If there’s a Phillips 66/Conoco, it’s a bonus.
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### Author:  [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/77 "2014-09-30T01:00:50Z")
About ‘top tier’ stations- I have been driving since '76 and have always only used the cheapest gas (or diesel, for 7 of those years) I could find.
Outside of the '66 VW bug that vapor locked in hot weather, I have never had any fuel-related problems.
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### Author:  [@barker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barker)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/78 "2014-09-30T02:14:34Z")
Need to be able to pay at the pump
Must be able to lock the nozzle on so you can clean your windows
Must have squeezes and fluid for window cleaning
Good coffee is a plus
If the price is reasonable, would like to make sure the windows are clean, the trash is emptied and I’m ready to go. This is from driving about 40,000 miles a year.
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### Author:  [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/79 "2014-09-30T15:56:37Z")
I live in Cook County where prices for fuel and cigarettes are high. But I live basically half a mile from Lake Cook Road - the dividing line between Lake County and Cook County. So I go to Lake County for gas and get my cigarettes there too. I save 30 + on a carton, and .40/gallon on gas. By driving a total of a mile and a half or so.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-choose-a-gas-station/699634/80 "2014-09-30T22:15:01Z")
Isn’t BP or Exxon, doesn’t charge more for credit card than for cash, good price, doesn’t require me to cross oncoming lanes of traffic.
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