Rehoboth Beach DE Down $.06 and $.14 respectively in 4 days. Heading home after a short stay in OCMD (Ocean City MD)
Just filled up the Elantra at 4.199/gal for regular. There is a station closer to home at 3.959, but it's Marathon and I'd rather pay extra and use Shell. I hadn't added gas to the car since March 5, so it's not denting the Visa card too bad to fill 'er up.
Hi All: Catching up with the recent launch of fuel prices but that top should be in as I type. Hopefully? A quick trip out to Chicago and back looked like this. The Nashville Sam's is up over $0.70 from a month prior and over $1.20 from the beginning of the year. 03-10-2026 - Nashville TN - Sam's Club - $2.939 3-12-2026 - Pleasant Prairie, WI - Costco - $2.999 3-15-2026 - Pleasant Prairie, WI - Costco - $3.099 03-16-2026 - Nashville TN - Sam's Club - $3.939 Wayne
Hi All: Another quick trip up to the IL/WI border and than back toward California for a good taste of a lot of the nations fuel prices into the heart of the US/Israel - Iran war. While on the way to the IL/WI border, boy, Indiana and Illinois are moving up quickly so a short fill top off in one of the lowest prices in KY on that day was the order of the day. 04/03/2026 - Hanson, KY - Love's - $3.499 And here was a curve ball. It was Easter Sunday and Costco was closed nationwide. The Costco in Kenosha, WI was showing $3.399 too. Driving over to the Sam's Club in the same city had the store open but not the fuel pumps so I paid up hard on this refuel. I did not top off however as there was lower prices in MO coming up the following day. 04/05/2026 - Kenosha, WI - America Gas - $3.599 04/06/2026 - Sarcoxie, MO - Love's - $2.999 The lowest price along the route from the Panhandle of Texas heading west was in Amarillo so a hard top off here and getting ready to pay a lot more going forward. 04/06/2026 - Amarillo, TX - Sam's Club - $2.959 <-- This station was at $1.919 on Dec. 18, 2025. 04/07/2026 - Albuquerque, NM - Costco - $3.549 <-- This station was at $2.179 on Dec. 19, 2025. 04/07/2026 - Gallup, NM - Walmart - $3.659 <-- Topping off on short fills as I am heading to much higher prices ahead. 04/07/2026 - Mojave Valley, AZ - Thalypo - $4.049 <-- $2.879 in early September of last year. Needles, Ca stations were in the high $6s. And boom, welcome to California! 04/08/2026 - Tustin, CA - Costco - $5.399 Wayne
Hi All: And now it is time to pay up... The good thing, there is always a Roadie near all of these stations that pays for about 1/3 of total price of the refuel so an extra 15 to 30-minutes to pay $15 to $20 of a $40 - $48 fill never hurts. 04-12-2026 - San Diego, CA - Costco - $5.299 I had to head out to Palm Springs and the Costco out there had fallen $0.50/gallon from just 3 days prior. Under $5 in California? I topped off here for sure! 04-15-2026 - Palm Desert, CA - Costco - $4.969 And yesterday morning, a quick Roadie there and one back costing about an hour paid $40 of the $48 fill. Lucky again. I did not topoff here as I am expecting fuel prices to fall quickly over the coming days. At least I hope so? 04-18-2026 - Vista, CA - Costco - $5.399 Wayne
In my area, it jumped 30 cents on Monday from 4.199 to 4.499 at most stations. It seems like they all charge the same price. Nobody wants to be 3 cents a gallon more. I still have time before I have to fill up.
Hi All: This is going to be fun - or horror, as the late April fuel purchases showed how high things were moving against everyone. Costco and their 5% back on $5 plus fuel - $0.25/gallon discount plus, is a real hot deal so that is where I have been refueling while in southern California. 04-20-2026 - San Diego, CA - Costco - $5.299 04-22-2026 - Alhambra, CA - Costco - $5.299 04-24-2026 - Carlsbad, CA - Costco - $5.459 04-26-2026 - Vista, CA - Costco - $5.459 04-28-2026 - Vista, CA - Costco - $5.799 Yes, same station just two days later. Ouch! 04-30-2026 - Norwalk, CA - Costco - $5.459 Notice how LA and OC have lower prices than San Diego county? Whenever I head south into the OC or LA, you bet I am refueling before coming back. Wayne
Hi All: And now we are getting seriously high fuel prices in Southern CA between the beginning of May to the middle... 05-03-2026 - Fountain Valley, CA - Costco - $5.659 05-05-2026 - Tustin, CA - Costco - $5.699 This was my first post $50 fill in the history of my 21 Prius Prime! Ouch!!! 05-09-2026 - Carlsbad, CA - Costco - $5.989 This scary refuel was not a top off as I was hoping to refuel in OC or LA the following day. That worked out. 05-10-2026 - Fountain Valley, CA - Costco - $5.599 05-13-2026 - San Diego, CA - Costco - $5.699 I have less an eighth of a tank as the car sits in the garage and tomorrow will be a refuel. The Costco in Vista is charging $5.799 right now whereas one down near San Diego is at $5.599. North OC or south LA is a little less at $5.539 as I type this up. Wayne
Hi All: I had an early morning call out to San Diego to Pomona and back. Costco's open at 05:30 AM around these parts so I had to add $10.00 worth of fuel - cash price, at a local non-Top Tier station on the way out so I had enough for the trek and a refuel in the OC. 05-21-2026 - Oceanside, CA - G&M - $5.799 (cash price) 05-21-2026 - Tustin, CA - Costco - $5.699 My local Costco is running $5.899 as it has been running at the past 4 days. Maybe we have seen the top. Or not? PS: The day before, the following happened. Wayne
Hi Edwin: She made it to 400k. For how long is a big question however? There is nothing wrong but I am expecting it to start on fire at any time with any push of the button! My son's 2013 Prius Plug-in with just under 200k miles appears to have lost the head gasket last week which would more than likely spell its demise. 13 years of solid use and minimal cost was a win but anytime there is a prospect of losing a vehicle due to a repair that costs far more than the vehicle is worth, it is not a great outcome. Even with the 21 Prius Prime achieving in the high 70s and low 80s over whole tanks and running out in the mid-700 to low 800-mile range here in Southern CA, I have now been hit with my second $50 plus fill. Those hurt! I can just imagine the average driver with a 25-mpg vehicle and 15 + gallon tanks getting hit with $75 plus fills once a week or less! 05-25-2026 - Oceanside, CA - Mohsen - $5.589 With current month futures just below $90 and spot running between $89 and $93/bbl, I suspect we may have seen the top despite US Inventories below 5-year averages. The US inventory breakdown over the last week looks like this: Commercial Crude Stocks: 445.0 million barrels (down 7.9 million barrels) Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): 374.2 million barrels (record weekly draw of 9.9 million barrels) Total Crude Stocks: 819.2 million barrels (combined commercial + SPR) Gasoline Stocks: Decreased by 1.5 million barrels Refinery Utilization: Operating at 91.6% of operable Wayne
Hi All: Finally a decent break in prices in the Golden State. Still high but for California, definitely a decline from what the states citizenry has been paying since early March... I had to run out to Pomona, CA and while heading out, I looked for the lowest price Costco and was surprised to see the one in Fullerton listed at under $5.20 per. I arrived at 09:45 PM and they close at 10:00 PM. The line was similar to the day time lines. Meaning 10 to 15-minute waits to get to a pump vs a more normal pulling up to a pump directly at that time of night. With just under an 8th of a tank and 746 miles out, topping off for $44 was a welcome reprieve vs the two $50 plus fills earlier this month. 05-28-2026 - Fullerton, CA - Costco - $5.179 Wayne
