I have offices in two locations:  Plymouth and Ann Arbor.  I have found that
gas is always at least 5 to 10 cents cheaper in Plymouth than A Squared.  For
example, this week, Gas at Total in Plymouth was $123 at Total (for premium)
at Ford and Canton Center road and $133 at the Total on Plymouth Road and
Huron Parkway.  I filled up at a Shell on Ann Arbor Road and 275 for $1.24
this afternoon and it is 10 cents more here in town.  This really ticks me
off because I live here and generally, it is more convenient to fill up here
in Ann Arbor.  There is no reason for the price differential and I am
frustrated by it.

22 responses total.

Could there be significantly higher operating costs in A^2 such as rent,
taxes, etc which would cause an owner to charge more (to get the equivalent
margin)?  

BTW, someone told me recently that the wholesale price of gas is $0.57. 
Anyone know if that is right?

Different places in Ann Arbor have different prices.  Dave works on
the west side of A2 but wouldn't get gas there unless in a real
emergency because we've found cheaper places on the SE side.  The 
Shell stations on Maple Road are likely to be 20 cents or so more 
than the Shell station at U.S. 12 & 23 (that's considered Ypsilanti, 
come to think of it) or the one in Milan, where the price doesn't 
change very often so it's sometimes a bargain.  We usually try to 
fill up at Speedway-or-Total-or-Meijer's on Carpenter Road, price 
currently fluctuating between $1 and $1.10.

I don't tend to notice gas prices, since for the amount of gas I buy I
wouldn't end up saving nearly enough to justify the trouble of going out of
my way to find a cheaper gas station.  But I did notice somewhere in late
August that the amount I had just been charged to fill my tank seemed
incredibly low, and then I noticed that this gas station was only charging
something like 85 cents per gallon.  I was all over the state that week, so
I don't remember where it was.

I have found that the Shell's in Ypsilanti are consistently less expensive
then the ones in Ann Arbor.  The least expensive Shell has been the one on
Eisenhower and State (also throw in a free carwash when you fill up.)  Up here
in the NE corner of A^2, Amoco has been the most expensive.  But 20 miles East
of here in Plymouth, its been a full 10 cents less. I have a difficult time
believing operating costs are so much more expensive in the NE and (according
to Grace) in the NW side of town.  Another question I have is whether the gas
is as good quality at Total or the other less well known brands.

Wherever you are, Meijer gas is cheaper than its neighbor stations.

This response has been erased.

Regular unleaded was $1.39/gal in Trout Lake MI, today.

Wow!! That beats Ann Arbor.  I think I am going to start to ask gas station
owners why their gas is priced higher than others (when it is).  Probably wont
get much of a satisfactory answer, but I'll give it a shot.  If they tell me
its overhead, Ill ask what they pay per square foot for rent.

They could fairly tell you that its what the traffic will bear (there
is no other gas station in Trout Lake MI). 

Where is Trout Lake, MI?

On MI 123, about half way from St.Ignace to Paradise. There are two
stations, about a mile apart. Neither posts their prices. The next
nearest stations are ca. 15 miles in either direction. 

Here are the range of gas prices I have just seen in a trip out West and back:
Highest = Lathrop Wells, Nevada - we paid (had to) $1.899/gal)
Lowest  = Joplin, Missouri - Non-leaded was going for $0.899/gal)       

Most of the gas out West is "Oxygenated" fuel and it has a distinctly
different smell (much worse) than our gasoline.

That's due to either alcohol or MTBE. Did the pump say which they used?

Mean Time Before Empty?

Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (2-methoxy-2-methyl-propane).

Rane, I am quite certain it was MTBE - it did not smell like alcohol and it
reminded me of MIBK used as a "tailing" solvent in lacquers only nastier.

Just return from NYC where premium gas at Mobil was $1.45.  I just paid $1.18
at a Mobil in Canton.  

In Dearborn it is currently at $0.949 to $0.969.  It is $1.019 at Baker Rd
near Dexter.
(That's for 97 octane)

  I am paying (don't turn green) 1.069 a gallon at the Citgo on Jackson and
Dexter for Super Unleaded. It was 1.039, but still it's dirt cheap for good
gas. Every cent I save on gas goes right back into my pocket.

Last weekend, I payed something like $1.15 per gallon somewhere along I-90
In Wisconson between Madison and the Illinois border, and then $.99 per gallon
somewhere along I-94 about halfway between the Michigan-Indiana border and
Ann Arbor.  Does Wisconson have much higher gas taxes than Michigan, or was
I overcharged?

This response has been erased.

I just paid $.929 in Dearborn at the Citgo at the corner of Van Born and
Pelham.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss