Quote Originally Posted by tgull View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
Gas prices are a bit complicated to understand, because there is so much variance within the US, which occurs for a variety of reasons:

- State taxes
- Local taxes
- State environmental requirements
- Remoteness (difficulty to receive supply)
- Opportunistic gouging

The federal government does indeed have some influence on the prices, but only the base prices, and only to a certain extent. Of course, foreign oil prices are what drive a lot of the prices up and down.

However, that's not to let states like California off the hook. They've got a terrible 1-2 punch of high state/local taxes AND crippling environmental regulations which cause higher production costs (which is then passed onto consumers).

A big problem is that California believes it can extract tons of extra money out of gas tax when prices are low, and then the state becomes addicted to the money and can't remove the tax when prices get high. So we end up with situations like right now.

You also shouldn't be too worried by shock pictures of super high prices, as these tend to be at certain outlier stations which set prices outrageously high because people will still pay it. This includes remote or semi-remote tourist destinations, wealthy neighborhoods where the clientele doesn't care that much, etc.

I recommend getting the GasBuddy app, and you can see prices in your area, and find the best stations to frequent.
I mean, not to sound above the commoner, but how fucking poor do you have to be to have an app on your phone to save a dime a gallon? By the time you drove across town you already wasted your profits. Not to mention your time, but if you are hunting for a dime a gallon discount you probably don't give a shit. Funny thing is you know these gas hunters go right into the convenience store and buy a hot dog or a pizza slice.
You don't have to go across town. You use it to get to know the good stations in your area, and then you just go to those regularly when you are nearby.

Also it's good to just quickly survey the stations when you need gas in an unfamiliar place. Obv you don't drive 5 miles down the road for a better gas price, but if they're all within a 0.5 mile radius, you can grab the one which is best.