Clark's Big Book of Bargains (35 page)

* GASOLINE *

The price of gasoline is heading down, and it has nothing to do with world oil supplies or the OPEC oil cartel.

Discounters—led by supermarkets and warehouse clubs Costco and Sam’s Club—are gaining a larger foothold in the marketplace and they’re starting to put pressure on the major gas retailers. According to the
Wall Street Journal,
mass merchants and grocers such as Kroger already have 15 percent of the gasoline market in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They were No. 2 in that market and No. 3 in Houston with more than 14 percent of the market. Experts believe that by 2005, non-traditional gas vendors will have 15 percent of the market nationwide.

A market share of 15 percent is enough to put pricing pressure on other retailers, so even if you don’t buy gas at Costco or Wal-Mart, you’ll pay less. A chain of gas stations appropriately named Clark Retail Enterprises Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2002, blaming reduced profits due to price competition from Costco and Wal-Mart, according to a report in the
Chicago Tribune.
“The public will buy water for $2 or a Slim Jim for $1.69, but if the gasoline price is 4 cents more than at Wal-Mart, they take it personally,” company president and CEO Brandon K. Barnholt told the newspaper.

Another way to tell that non-traditional gasoline retailers are having an impact is by the lawsuits and legislative attention they’ve attracted. In Florida, a number of lawsuits were filed claiming these retailers were violating a state law that bans deep discounting of gasoline. Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club (which is owned by Wal-Mart), and Hess, an oil company, also faced lawsuits over gasoline discounting. The traditional oil companies and their dealers are trying to get laws passed in state legislature after state legislature outlawing discount gasoline. That’s all because non-traditional vendors are winning a larger share of the market.

You’ll save about 15 cents a gallon buying gas from a discounter versus a branded location and about five cents a gallon compared to a low-priced independent station. You can buy with even more confidence from a seller that guarantees its gas, as some discounters do, than a brand-name seller that won’t. I’ve never heard a complaint from someone who bought gas from a discounter and had a problem.

I once visited a “tanker farm” for a major gasoline brand, and I was astounded to see tanker trucks from many different companies filling up at the same place. I had always believed each gas had a special secret formula, but a relative who worked there told me that all the companies give each other gas. The oil companies dispute this, but there’s never been any independent verification that there are any significant differences in different brands of gas.

Another way to save money on gasoline is to buy regular gas, not the more expensive premium grades. Only 5 percent of all cars actually need premium gas, yet 20 percent of all gas sold is premium. So a lot of people are paying more for premium who don’t need to do so. Thanks to advertising, people believe that buying premium is better for their cars, but the truth is you could cause long-term damage to the engine by buying a higher grade than you need. Look in your owner’s manual to see what kind of gas your car requires.

The cost of buying more-expensive gas can add up. Premium costs 20 cents more a gallon. For a 15-gallon fill-up, that’s $3 more every time you fill up, as much as $300 a year.

• Tips on Gasoline •

• You’ll save about 5 to 15 cents a gallon buying gas from a discounter, and the gas is just as good as gas from a brand-name station.
  

• Don’t buy premium gas unless your owner’s manual says you need premium.
  

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A lot of people deserve thanks for helping this book become a reality. Foremost amongst them are my agent, Laurie Liss of Sterling Lord Literistic, and my editor, Mary Ellen O’Neill of Hyperion Books.
Clark’s Big Book of Bargains
would not exist without their efforts. Special thanks also goes to Christa DiBiase, executive producer of my radio show and chief researcher for this book, and to Nancy Meltzer, wife of my co-author, Mark Meltzer, whose ideas can be found in many of the chapters.

In the course of writing this, I often ran into areas where I needed expert help, and a lot of people gave generously of their time, ideas, and knowledge to help. They include the following:

Mary Abreu   Dr. J. Crystal Baxter   Joshua Bowden
    Brian Butler   Lisa Carlson   Kim Curley   Kimberly Drobes
    Karen Gerson Duncan   Dain Ferrero   Judith Greenberg
    Jerry Hennon   Dr. Thomas C. Jagor   Dr. Bob Kim   Mark Kenady
    Daniel Kolber   Jim Molis   Dr. Nicholas W. Petty
    Greg Turchetta

About the Author

In addition to hosting
The Clark Howard Show
,
Clark Howard
is a commentator on WSB-TV in Atlanta and a columnist with the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

ALSO BY
CLARK HOWARD + MARK MELTZER

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Copyright

Copyright © 2003 Clark Howard and Mark Meltzer

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ISBN: 0-7868-8778-8

EPub Edition © AUGUST 2010 ISBN: 978-1-401-39767-8

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