23 January 2007

Petrol prices

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times is having a whinge about the cost of petrol in Canberra compared to Sydney.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t petrol here always been more expensive than in Sydney? Something to do with having to ship the fuel by rail from the refinery and over the great divide?

Personally I’m stoked to see it down to $1.05.

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VYBerlinaV8_now with_added_grunt10:58 am 24 Jan 07

The Chev 5.7litre engine used in these Holdens prefers the higher octane fuels. Mine certainly runs much better on the good stuff.

I (now) own a chauffuered hire car, which happens to be a 5.7 ltr V8 Holden Statesman (although it is badged as a Chevy cos I refuse to admit I have sunken to driving a Holden….), and I have noticed massive discrepancies in price from one side of Canberra to the other, let alone Sydney/Melbourne/Broken Hill prices. Tuggeranong ALWAYS drops its prices at least 12 hours before City/Belco does, and the Airport Caltex usually about 4 days after that (consistently higher there than anywhere else). That said, average northside price at 04:30 this morning was Belco 106.9, Tuggers 104.9 (before discounts).

Brand loyalty is important to me if only for the reason that if I get bad fuel (read: major loss of income), I have a fair idea where it came from. Tend to stick to Caltex Kaleen & Braddon (same owners, same truck refuels both stations)and only use 98 octane premium.

Canberra doesn’t seem to have a working class community to help keep prices low. Everyone is happy to pay more. We don’t demand bargains, we just pay whatever.

From recollection, everytime there’s an inquiry into Canberra fuel prices the outcomes seems to be that the cost is higher in Canberra because of the reduced competition (low number of outlets) and the transport cost.

If I could figure out how to download a picture from my phone I’d post a pic I took of a servo in Port Headland before Chrissy – the fuel cost was the same as in Canberra but they dont have problems with competition (there are four servos in Port Headland) and transport cost would be lower given that they’re only 19hrs by road from Perth…

threeze, i just avoid charnwood.
Melba quite often has fairly low prices too

Bonfire, just add a dash of whale oil – that’ll fire it up pronto.

its hard to get the stanley steamer going now that briquettes arent made in victoria anymore. the briquettes from qld are of an inferior grade coal.

takes much longer to get a decent head of steam up.

VYBerlinaV8_now with_added_grunt1:52 pm 23 Jan 07

I never use shell because on more than one occasion I’ve had bad fuel from them. The fuel they sell probably comes from the same refinery that services my local Woolies, but hey, it’s my choice.

That said, I only use premium 98 in the Berlina.

i avoid the Shell at Charnwood because i went through a couple of fuel pumps and thought a change was in order, only use the Mobils in Fyshwick, Melba and Holt and haven’t replaced a fuel pump in years.

o being I obviously

i don’t use the 4c a litre off, because it equates to all of about 2.50 with my tank
and ya know, for that money, I really couldn’t care.

O go to wooolies because its the only damn servo in Gunghalin

Ok then, brand loyalty is not prevalent. Some people probably only also go to Shell because the sponsor (sponsored?) the Ferrari F1 team, and to Caltex because they sponsor a Stone Brothers car in the v8 supercars series.

No, there is no brand loyalty

I tend to go to Woolworths, because I like the green branding.

ha, no, not an arts degree. At the minute though it seems most graduates go out to get jobs answering phones, so we’ll see what happens anyway.

Brand loyalty also occurs when positive feelings are associated with a brand. I can tell you when most customers come in to get petrol, it doesn’t matter who the vendor is, they hate paying for petrol, to the extent that you have people abusing you (because I am personally responsible for prices) and threatening you with physical violence. Throw in a few Today Tonight/ACA stories about the evils of woolworths,makes for a pleasant working environment. Having said that, some customers are lovely, and are consistently nice to the operators.

Basically, Answer: No, there is no brand loyalty.

When I had a suzuki swift that had a 5000 dollar rebuild – I would only buy premium – and even then – only from BP in Woden (is that the one on the corner) – seemed that it ran the best on this and went the furthest (maybe it was psychosomatic – but BP woden was better than other BP’s).

Now I got an EB falcon that was given to me – it runs on anything that I give it – the cheaper the better. So I guess your passion in your quest for petrol quality is dictated by how much you have vested in your vehicle.

Dont get me wrong – I care about my car still – and maintain it accordingly – just dont wrap it in cotton wool like my old swift.

Shell only for me.

Question, is their brand loyalty with petrol? I don’t personally care where I get petrol

Hawked is obviously meant to be Hawke.

sim_m_o Bob Hawked had a BA and looked at what he achieved!

I work at a woolies servo while I finish up uni

If you’re doing an Arts degree, you’ll probably be working there after as well.

I work at a woolies servo while I finish up uni, and we had it at 105.9. Diesel just dropped 2 cents yesterday also.

Go to the city on a Friday or Saturday night, its not just the beer and pizza that’s cheap!

Vic Bitterman11:11 am 23 Jan 07

On my travels this morning I noticed that most servo’s in the south are 105.5 – that’s Mobil Erindale, Caltex Calwell, Caltex Hume, Caltex Queanbeyan (near the cemetary). Shell in Tuggers is 105.9.

These prices are before you apply a discount voucher.

beers are cheaper in Canberra Smokey4. Ditch the doughnuts and get your self a six pack.

This is the 10% Canbeerra surcharge ie everything costs more in Canbeerra than Melbourne or Sydney. This includes meals, even coffee at Donut King in Qbn, petrol, accomodation, taxis and everything else. Overheads, wages are higher so we all get to pay.

blingblingbears10:54 am 23 Jan 07

hmm all servos mentioned above out of my way so your cheap petrol is safe and sound simto 🙂

personally i dont use the dockets as i find woolies and coles petrol make my car run like crapiola… they are watered down too much!

both servos at kippax are 109.9
of course the woolies will take 4c/lt off..
but i tend to go to the mobil anyways

In the past week i haven’t seen petrol below $1.03 with a voucher anywhere in sydney.

Well, the Shell at Curtin is at 104.9c a litre before docket. Or it was this morning.

He says, realising that he hasn’t refilled yet, and blingbling’s going to nick all my lovely cheap petrol…

Nope – Im sure woolies in Gunghalin is 105 without a doket.

The CT should stop bitching – 105 is still 24 cents less a litre than 129 – thats a saving of about $10 to $15 per tank.

Some people whine for the sake of hearing their own voices methinks

i havent seen prices like that in donkeys years

With 4 cpl discount, i’m assuming.

blingblingbears10:11 am 23 Jan 07

down to $1.05… WHERE???

i havent seen prices like that in donkeys years

At Hume Woolworths last weekend it was 100.9 with the 4 cpl discount, so a 10c per litre docket got it for 94.9 cpl.

I think they ran out of petrol, as when I went in only one bowser was operating, and all the others had ‘out of order’ signs on them.

VYBerlinaV8_now with_added_grunt10:09 am 23 Jan 07

Petrol is usually a bit more expensive here, for several reasons. My local servo (a Woolies) had fuel for 101.9 this morning, with a 4cpl voucher. This should drop to just below a dollar per litre over the next week or so (but expect a slight bump leading into the long weekend).

We should be thankful that Australia still has reasonably cheap fuel by world standards.

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