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.
I typically wait until the “Fuel Level Low” alarm comes on. At this point, the “Miles to Empty” feature on the dash will start counting down from fifty miles left to zero.* When this happens, the next time I’m at my computer, I go to the local gasbuddy.com site (orangecountygasprices.com for me), and see who’s got the lowest price. If it’s anything other than Costco, I first proceed to a bank and pull out enough cash to fill the tank. Then I go there.
As it happens, the current low price for the county is available right next door to my apartment complex.
*Since I’ve had the car, I’ve never run out of gas. However, I have exceeded the “Miles to Empty” estimate by several miles on at least one occasion.
OTOH, Mickey D’s also doesn’t let you saunter into the kitchen and start putting your own sandwich together and pay when you’ve filled your tray, either.
Ummm, They don’t, do they? I know the ones in MY neighborhood don’t.
I assume they wouldn’t have the policy if they hadn’t thought it necessary. I don’t blame you for being annoyed at having to go in and pay before you pump—I would be too, except for me it’s a moot point since I always use my card at the pump anymore. But I think your resentment is better directed at the actual criminals who make the policy necessary rather than at the gas station itself.
Generally, it’s the closest one to me when I realize I need to refuel, and the one on the same side of the street as me. I have a couple “go-to” gas stations that I visit when I’m on a particular stretch of road that I know well and see that I could probably use a fill-up soon, but I don’t go too crazy about price shopping, although I did vote for “price” as well. As for “pump before pay,” I honestly can’t remember the last time I did that, if ever.
As I recall, they don’t hand over your food before taking payment either. I think a better analogy for the honor system transaction model would be a sit-down restaurant.
On the right side of the road, so I don’t have to cross over traffic to get in and out.
I typically stop during my lunch hour and get gas, so I usually go to one of those lowest-price gas sites and see which of the ones within a reasonable distance is cheapest.
If I’m traveling a route I know, I usually know which gas stations have good bathrooms, aren’t super-crowded, etc…
If I’m going somewhere new, it’s usually the ones that look clean, well lit and corporate. Too many look pretty sketchy and dirty for me to want to stop at them.
The Shell station on the way home has a car wash. By the time I enter a Kroger discount card, my zip code, and tell them that I do not want a damn car wash or a damn receipt, I’ve spent more time being interrogated that I’ll spend pumping gas. I did notice that the Shell on Markham has taken out the TVs on the pump. I hate background TV, and I don’t want it blaring at me while I pump gas.
Mine is price, and when the light is on.
My car turns my gas light on as soon as it gets to an 8th tank, which still gets me a good week of driving (I don’t commute far).
But when I do need to fill up I drive about 10 or 15 min away to go into South Carolina where the price of gas is consistently 30 cents cheaper. I’m not one to cry over a cent or 3, but 30 cents? on an empty tank? That’s almost 5 bucks savings. Good ole South Carolina =)
We have a gas station about a quarter-mile from our house, and it also happens to be the cheapest one in our neighborhood and the surrounding area. Almost all of our fill-ups are done at this one station.
I usually try to arrange it so that i can get gas on my way home from the gym in the mornings, because this station, being cheaper than others nearby, gets very busy before and after work, and on the weekends.
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.
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.
For my Vespa GTS scooter, which requires premium gas, I make sure the pump has separate hoses for each grade of gasoline. The tank capacity is only 2.3 gallons, and I usually put between 1.8 and 2 gallons in, so I want a pump that’s giving me premium gas right out of the nozzle and not flushing the (almost certainly) regular grade in for the first gallon like you would get on a single-hose pump. I usually go to the Chevron close to my house. There’s a 76 station about a block closer, but I prefer making right hand turns and that usually means the Chevron. If I’m on my way home from work, though, I’ll use the 76.
I generally use one specific chain locally because they have the best balance of price, location, in-store amenities (clean restroom, clean store, good coffee,) and generally excellent employees (who are paid above minimum wage, and offered benefits.) The family that owns and operates the stores also donate a lot back to the community - from $.03 per gallon of fuel sold each Wednesday that’s donated to the local high school band, sports, and academic program; to a $10MM donation toward the much-needed expansion of the emergency department at the area’s only Level I trauma center.
I also get fuel rewards at my usual grocery store, so about once a month I’ll stop by a different station to cash in - usually to the tune of about $1.00 a gallon, up to 20 gallons. The owners of that station are very, very nice, but their store is kind of a hodgepodge, so I only buy gas there when it’s worth my while to drive the extra couple of blocks.
On the road, I go for well-lit, busy gas station/c-stores. Usually when I stop for fuel, I want to go potty, get a cup of coffee, etc. A busy station will usually have fresh coffee, and the bathrooms will at least be passable.
I don’t worry too much about whether a station has just had a tanker delivery - those usually happen several times a week at a decently busy store - but I always wait at least a few days before fueling up anywhere that I know has recently had new tanks installed. Water in my fuel is a bad thing!
Location. I usually fill up on the way to or from work and there’s a servo just down the road from the hospital where I work.
Price mostly. I drive a fair amount, much of it in a large cargo/work van that gets a measly 15 mpg.
The most convenient gas station to me is never the cheapest. There is a cluster of cheap gas stations a few miles away; we are talking sometimes a difference of 40 cents per gallon cheaper. Worth the detour if I’m filling my 25 gallon tank. Sometimes I’ll get gas at Kroger, if I’ve done enough grocery shopping there to make it worthwhile.
As to the issue of some stations charging more for debit or credit cards, I got some pretty informative answers when I asked about it in GQ.
The one I mostly go to now, I started going to when I realized they have a free air pump.
I chose other. I make an effort do get my gas when I’m near home so that I can get it from my mechanic. They always have the lowest prices, they’ll only full serve so I don’t have to get my lazy ass out of the car, I know them all, I trust them, and I like them. So, I go to them. Besides, I’d rather give my money to an independent station than to a chain.
If I need gas elsewhere I just pull in to the place closest to where I am when I realize I’m about to run out of gas. 
I pick my gas station by the quality of their burritos. Doesn’t everyone?
Price & location.
Currently, COSTCO has regular at $2.97 off of RT 3 in NJ.