Americans crossing border to buy cheap, Mexican gasoline

nist7

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NBC news reporter Bob Hansen ventured south to Tijuana to find out just how much money could be saved to fill up a gas tank.

The price difference between the two countries was hard to ignore. Hansen found that while California drivers are paying nearly $4 a gallon for regular gas, in Tijuana it's $2.75 at Pemex gas stations.

The difference in diesel prices was even more significant, Hansen said. The average in California is $4.71. But in Mexico, truckers are filling up for $2.10 a gallon.

"Well, it's $100 to fill this up in Point Loma where I live and it's about $70 bucks to fill it up here," said one driver. "If you come late at night, when there's no line -- where you may have to wait only 20 minutes -- then it's worth it."

But even locals admit when it comes to sitting in traffic for two hours, the trip may not be worth your time.

What about the quality of the Mexican fuel?

Hansen spoke with a variety of San Diego mechanics who have shops by the border and they said they haven't seen any unique problems from cars that get their gas from Mexico.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/16258751/detail.html (via jalopnik)

For those of you who do live near the USA-Mexico border, I am jealous. :p

So here are two discussion questions:

1 - Would you cross the border to get really, really cheap gas in Mexico?

2 - Do you think it's "right" for Americans to do this? (Imagine if this situation were reversed. What if USA had cheap gas, and a bunch of Mexicans flooded into SoCal just to buy cheap gas? I bet not many Americans would be happy about that....)
 
1. Depends on how close I was, but if the price was that much lower, then yes.

2. I don't see a problem. Also, Mexicans are flooding into SoCal anyways, so I don't think we would notice a difference.
 
Hang on, why is petrol so much cheaper in Mexico? Is it not a commodity priced in Dollars - so all things being equal is should be near parity, unless the US has higher tax?

Is someone making money out of you chaps?
 
Crazyjeeper said:
2. I don't see a problem. Also, Mexicans are flooding into SoCal anyways, so I don't think we would notice a difference.

Good point. :lol:

Hang on, why is petrol so much cheaper in Mexico? Is it not a commodity priced in Dollars - so all things being equal is should be near parity, unless the US has higher tax?

US probably has higher taxes and whatnot.

Also, I remember seeing a news clip where they mentioned that the Mexican government has actually installed a price ceiling on their gasoline market....
 
Forget that. Pemex's REAL octane rating is between 83-85, which is why it is so cheap.

Think of it this way: my car is required to use 91 octane minimum. If I short shift it at 2200 rpms, I can get anywhere from 26-30 mpg. Now, if I use 87 octane, my car will run, but I will get probably 18-20 mpg.

Is that really worth the savings?
 
^ Not to mention having your engine fouling up and potentially needing more repairs. Plus there's the hassle of going through customs.
 
^ Oh and then there's the problem of going through Mexico.

I mean it can't be to great if they all want to come here. :lol:
 
US probably has higher taxes and whatnot.

Also, I remember seeing a news clip where they mentioned that the Mexican government has actually installed a price ceiling on their gasoline market....

Well tax is not that much, i was talking to a friend last night and the straight price of oil per gallon assuming $135 per barrel Oil cost, comes out to $3.21 a gallon.
As for the price of gas in Mexico, it is subsidized by the Government. My understanding tho is the prices near the border are suppose to be higher to discourage people form coming across and getting gas. Also the Goverment in Mexico has been talking about reforming that, so, the cheap gas in Mexico might soon be over.

As for the act of doing it.. Humm, i know people in Canada who live near the boarder will make gas runs from time to time in the US to get cheap gas. When i was in Surrey, BC that is what we did, but i am a US Citizen so bleh =P.
 
it's amazing what ppl will do for petrol.

tisk.

Drive 2 hours to a neighbouring country just to fill up?? sounds silly and desperate to me.

To those ppl that care so much about petrol price and willing to drive to a a different country just to find cheap fuel, get a hybrid or use the public transport.
 
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i live about 10 minutes from the mexican border, and i wouldnt go to mexico to get gas. imo its not worth it, you have to drive all the way to the bridge, wait in line, get your gas, wait in line again, then drive all the way back home. and by that time guess what? its time to fill up again
 
In Europe people used to do that. Some countries like Luxembourg still have lower prices, althought the difference is not as big as it used to be. I know people from france, not far from Luxembourg, who sometimes filled up in Luxembourg to fill up if they were close to the border. But driving for hours and waiting in line for it, all the time wasting the fuel you want to buy cheaper? sounds pretty silly and stupid.
 
Ha! Us Canadians are crossing the border to get cheaper gas the US! (it's $5.30 a gallon here)
 
Ha! Us Canadians are crossing the border to get cheaper gas the US! (it's $5.30 a gallon here)
So do Mexicans head south to Guatemala for cheap gas? :lol:
 
Mh, well i dont live in America, but i just want to write sth in reference to part II of your question:

I regularly fuel up my car in France or Luxemburg...
Especially Luxemburg is by far the cheapest country in western europe at a price of about 7.61 US $ per Gallon. Here in Germany it's 9.08 US $ per Gallon.

So who the hell should not use any given possibility to "exploit" that? I dont see any particular difference here between our countries in the matter itself...
Does "patriotism" really go that far that you support the government in milking you? Well maybe when we had such low prizes like u guys in the US i would see it differently but with 78% tax on fuel here just everybody in the border regions take that possibility.

It's "free market economy" why shouldn't that principle be valid for fuel? It's like u can choose to go to Walmart or a delicatess-store (with the difference that u even get the same quality).
Government should do more to attract it's people... they'd gain alot by that... see that the walmart or Aldi guys are some of the richest in the world.. although they have relatively low prices...

So why do you even consider anybody could object to that? Both sides gain from it... everybody is happy where is the problem?

@MadCow809

You're right... of course there is a limit where it's not worth going somewhere just to safe a few bucks... and there are many people that do not consider that. But when it's just a detour of 5-10 miles it's still economically when u fuel up from ~0 to maximum.
 
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^ Wow, that was a terrible rant.

And it has nothing to do with "patriotism". It's called a matter of convenience: I've never crossed the Mexican border but if the media is any indication, it's a quagmire of clogged traffic and 100-degree weather, waiting for customs to make sure that you're not smuggling illegal immigrants in your rectum or anything. Then you gotta find a decent gas station, hope it's unleaded and they take American dollars (probably not valid worries, but still), then drive back to the border and do it all over again, just to save a few dollars. Seems pretty pointless to me, especially considering the gas you need to make the trip in the first place.

In the end, is it worth it to drive farther for cheaper gas, period?
 
^ Wow, that was a terrible rant.

And it has nothing to do with "patriotism". It's called a matter of convenience: I've never crossed the Mexican border but if the media is any indication, it's a quagmire of clogged traffic and 100-degree weather, waiting for customs to make sure that you're not smuggling illegal immigrants in your rectum or anything. Then you gotta find a decent gas station, hope it's unleaded and they take American dollars (probably not valid worries, but still), then drive back to the border and do it all over again, just to save a few dollars. Seems pretty pointless to me, especially considering the gas you need to make the trip in the first place.

In the end, is it worth it to drive farther for cheaper gas, period?

Ah... a terrible rant i see :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

2 - Do you think it's "right" for Americans to do this? (Imagine if this situation were reversed. What if USA had cheap gas, and a bunch of Mexicans flooded into SoCal just to buy cheap gas? I bet not many Americans would be happy about that....)

What does this particular part have to do with that rant you wrote yourself? I was explicitly referring to that.
 
So who the hell should not use any given possibility to "exploit" that? I dont see any particular difference here between our countries in the matter itself...
Does "patriotism" really go that far that you support the government in milking you? Well maybe when we had such low prizes like u guys in the US i would see it differently but with 78% tax on fuel here just everybody in the border regions take that possibility.

Have you seen photos of the US/Mexican border crossings? I doubt the borders you cross are anything close...

I could only manage to find this small image, but the lines extend far, far out of frame:

http://img143.imageshack.**/img143/4979/hyperborderfeaturesmallch7.jpg

It's a couple hour wait from what I hear.
 
Terrible as in I'm a grammar Nazi, and that post made me feel like the Wehrmacht.

Either way, I see what you mean, and I've got no problem with the hypothetical situation of Mexicans coming to America for cheap gas. It strengthens the economy and provides financial stability to the gas station owners, along with businesses in the area. What's wrong with more money flooding into our crappy recession economy?

Wouldn't be good for the environment, however, idling at the border crossing like in Viper's picture. Then again, who here's keeping track?
 
Forget that. Pemex's REAL octane rating is between 83-85, which is why it is so cheap.

Think of it this way: my car is required to use 91 octane minimum. If I short shift it at 2200 rpms, I can get anywhere from 26-30 mpg. Now, if I use 87 octane, my car will run, but I will get probably 18-20 mpg.

Is that really worth the savings?

Just another example of short-sightedness and 'you get what you paid for'

oh well, until those pplz car engines keep working, then the 'perceived' value is real value i guess.

I can't see this as being a real bargain to anyone who lives any farther than San diego.

Even for ppl who live in Los Angeles, it is at least a 2 hour drive, probably consuming half a gas tank for most cars, so you consume a full tank of gas just to make a trip to buy cheaper gas, thats probably substandard quality/octane anyway. I doubt most of those ppl are stocking a garageful of jerry cans either.

but i forget, we live in a country that waved goodbye to common sense a couple generations ago. Let the idiots continue to make their 'bargain' mexican gas runs.

Reminds me of the Fifth gear segment where Jonny Smith had to drive to poland just to find cheap diesel fuel, and it wasn't even all that cheap.
 
I've seen that boarder in some movies... Personally I've never seen any "border" to be honest... it's just a road sign here with no controls or anything.
But see above... i was just refering to the 2nd part of nist7's question.

I'm totally aware that i can not really be worth doing that procedure... since the price difference isn't that extreme... i just can not imagine why it should not be "right" to do that with the "reasons" nist7 pointed out.
 
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