[alexfoo]

Decisions about fuel purchases are often irrational, much like many food purchases or generic medicines.

I know someone who avoids their local petrol station that is 10p/litre cheaper than most others nearby (within a mile or so) as they think the cheaper fuel must be lower quality. There are weird status things going on with purchases like this.

Only the other day my father refused to buy some branded paracetamol because it was ~5 times more expensive than the local pharmacy brand that was out of stock. (£2.25 vs £0.49 for 16 500mg tablets.) I'd usually agree with him but he was out of paracetamol and has been advised by his doctor to take 2x500mg a day and there was no viable nearby alternative.

A digression but for that generation (those born in 1940s/50s) that grew up with rationing I think it is hardwired into their brain to try and minimise the cost of so many things, but with lots of random exceptions. Later on that day he ordered an extra drink but decided he was too full once it had arrived so he left it. So he was worried about spending an extra £1.76 on paracetamol but not about spending £7 on a pint he didn't drink.

Many people decide what petrol station to use based on simply how close it is, what kind of shop is attached to it (and the bits of British snobbery around that), whether it also sells whatever else they want (bread, milk, beer, etc), or even whether it is easy to drive in and out of.

[aucisson_masque]

In France we had such api available for decades, many apps are using it and there are a lot of people using them.

I don't know if your experience is from British people but it looks like they just didn't have the mean to effectively compare fuel prices.

Once they do, there is a significant part of the British drivers that will most likely be using it.

[Nursie]

This is exactly it.

We have a system here in Western Australia and people use it a lot: fuelwatch.wa.gov.au

I think it's exactly that, the UK has never had this so people there either choose by brand or just convenience. But since moving to WA I've found that it's really easy to have a quick look when I notice I need to fill up, then I can head to the cheapest station nearby, and the difference can be in the range of 10-15%, occasionally 20%.

In a country where fuel is as expensive as it is in the UK, people are going to use that.

[Glawen]

Yes but the real feature that makes it viable, is that petrol station in France can change price only once a day. I forgot how it works in the UK, but in Germany they change wildly depending on the hour in the day. For example they show low price in the morning, so that workers who are late for work notice it and fill on the way back, only to find a price 10-20cents higher at 17h.

[theglenn88_]

On the topic of fuel, it's funny when people only put in £10 worth of fuel a time.

You spend more in by fuel driving there more often. As well as wasting your own time.

[comprev]

Operating on such a tight budget is more common than you might think and they could have been hit with a surprise bill that's pushed them into debt.

[alexfoo]

I put in £3 worth of fuel the other day but that's because it was a rental car that I had to return with the same fuel level as at pickup and I'd only done ~30 miles with lots of stop/start. (I would have used a Zipcar/Zipvan but they've all gone now.) I would have tried to put in less but UK fuel pumps usually mandate a minimum of 2 litres which is not far off £3 at current prices.

[sandworm101]

Having seen what happens with bad gas from shoddy stations, i too will bypass many in favor of the big names. I know someone who got water instead of gas when a tiny mom-and-pop gas station let thier tank run so low it started pumping decades of groundwater from the bottom of a rarely-serviced tank.

Just google "gas station pumped water" to see all the local news articles about this sort of thing.

https://www.koco.com/article/drivers-oklahoma-furious-after-...

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/gas-station-pumps-ga-water/

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/lake-county/mentor-w...

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/nevada-gas-station-pumps-golden...

[bcraven]

None of these are local news articles, in fact they are all from a different continent.

A local article that I did find was from a BP petrol station in Liverpool, so I'm not sure this can be isolated to 'mom-and-pop' outfits (something we don't really have over here anyway).

https://www.petrolprices.com/news/garage-sells-petrol-dilute...

[esquivalience]

Since paracetamol interacts with alcohol,there may be more rationality than first thought!

[alexfoo]

Not really, he was advised to take it daily by his doctor and his doctor knows his drinking habits.

UK advice is to avoid drinking more than 14 units (think a shot, a small beer or a small glass of wine = 1 unit) whilst taking paracetamol.

https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/paracetamol-for-adults/common-q...

[2Gkashmiri]

In India, we have generic medicine paracetamol for 20 bucks while branded one is like 5-10 times that.

Sadly many people feel that because they are sick, they need to spend as much money as possible because that would give them best shot at getting healthly.

I once asked a guy "why don't you buy that cheap medicine. Its the same and will save you money" but they were like "naa. Its cheap. What would be inside it. I need to pay top money for best medicine"

[jbjbjbjb]

I think you’re overstating the effect. The most volume is sold at supermarkets which have the best location for throughout but they also have the cheapest prices.

[thegrim000]

>> I know someone who avoids their local petrol station that is 10p/litre cheaper than most others nearby (within a mile or so) as they think the cheaper fuel must be lower quality

- "Top Tier gas contains higher detergent levels to prevent engine carbon"

- "Major brands use specific additives that enhance performance, while "no-name" or discount stations might only meet the minimum EPA-required detergent levels"

- "The condition of a station's underground storage tanks affects quality"

- "For the best engine performance and longevity, choosing Top Tier-certified gasoline is generally recommended."

[ace32229]

These things are not true in the UK - all fuel is held to the same high standard, though premium variants are available too.

[lofaszvanitt]

How do you know the fuel is the same quality. Did you actually make a hydrocarbon profile?

[alexfoo]

You don't. And, for similar reasoning you don't know the more expensive fuel is "better" quality.

More importantly you know that pretty much any fuel being sold in a mainstream place in the UK is going to meet the minimum national standards which are perfectly fine for the vast majority of cars on the road.

Anyone that has a car that requires E5 rather than E10, or higher octane fuel may need to buy the associated "premium" fuels, but these are just not necessary for the vast majority of cars on the road. But we're not talking about the premium fuels here, we're talking about two garages selling pretty much the same thing for quite different prices and preying on some people's FUD.