Americans crossing border to buy cheap, Mexican gasoline

Zuhaib said:
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.
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And that's why gas cost more up here in Bellingham than in Seattle.

I hate the futures market.
 
Viper007Bond said:
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.
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I thought the only way into Mexico from the US was on a Royal Caribbean boat?
 
I bet everyone in that queue get a thorough inspection - do they have to take their shoes off?

Its called capitalism and it goes both ways - jobs to Mexico, Gas to the States. BTW my job is now going to Vietnam, who'd have thought it even they are now capitalists.
 
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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....)
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If I lived in San Diego I might consider it from time to time. I see nothing morally wrong about it, especially if anyone doing it paid the road tax that they are otherwise getting around by not buying fuel in the US.

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.
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Considering the reputation of California gas, I'd wager that Mexican fuel is better quality. Mexico has plenty of BMW's, Merc's, Audi's, Alfa's, etc... those all require quality fuel.

Viper007Bond said:
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.
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It's not always like that. I've made more crossings into TJ than I can recollect in my life and even when it's that packed it's still surprisingly quick to get across.
 
NPR had this story this afternoon included a description of a women who was filling her ford super duty with it running and the AC on full blast
 
why the hell not? I did the same thing on holiday, fuelling up Austria because I needed MOAR fuel to get to Italy.

Why would it be rong or bad for anyone?
 
1. Because the quality of gas is worse in Mexico
2. Because you negate any savings with the gas you burn just driving and waiting in line in Mexico.
3. Because it's just stupid.

I think people make a way bigger deal out of gas prices than is actually the case. With most people's driving habits I doubt if the increase in gas makes more than a 50-100 dollar difference per month. That difference can be easily balanced out by saving in other areas of your budget. Or making adjustments in how you drive or how you commute to work. If you claim you can't do that then I say you just aren't trying, thus proving my point that gas prices are not as big a deal as we all make them out to be.
 
I think whoever does this should be ticketed, part of the high cost of gas here are the taxes, those taxes help pay to keep the roads that they are driving on from looking like... well the roads in Mexico. You are driving on the roads but you are finding a way to get around paying for it? Another "high cost" is the blend for summer, which helps reduce smog. It costs more but is required by law in the states that you would actually find people going to Mexico for gas (Living in the PacNW I am not going to spend a few gallons and many hours to get there) when I lived in Phoenix there was a set date that the switch happened. So if you're driving around in the summer in Arizona with gas bought in Mexico you are driving around a dirty gas that does not meet the requirements and IMO is no different than driving around without a cat.
 
Vector said:
1. Because the quality of gas is worse in Mexico
2. Because you negate any savings with the gas you burn just driving and waiting in line in Mexico.
3. Because it's just stupid.

I think people make a way bigger deal out of gas prices than is actually the case. With most people's driving habits I doubt if the increase in gas makes more than a 50-100 dollar difference per month. That difference can be easily balanced out by saving in other areas of your budget. Or making adjustments in how you drive or how you commute to work. If you claim you can't do that then I say you just aren't trying, thus proving my point that gas prices are not as big a deal as we all make them out to be.
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1. That's what you get, but if you have an older(ish) car, it won't make that much of a difference
2. It's mainly for people who live close to the border/pass by close to that area. It would be dumb indeed to drive over there only to fuel up
3. why?

You get roughly the same product for less $$$. What's stopping you if you live close to the border to drive an extra 5 miles and save some money?
 
I'm prepared to take a punt that it's worth the extra cost just so you don't have to sit in a big ass line, waiting to cross back over the boarder.
 
nist7 said:
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....)
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1. I would if I live close enough to the border. If the price difference is there for the long term, it might even be worth it to install a second fuel cell to make the trip worthwhile. Imagine just filling up once every other week, so only 2 trips through the border per month, I can definitely live with that.

2. I don't see anything wrong with it. Just like companies move their factories to other countries because of lower cost, why shouldn't the individual consumers do the same.
 
It's been a long time since I saw a proper border, thank God! But you americans are not setting you sights southernly enough. The price of petrol will fall untill they reach the bottom in Venezuela, 3,5p/L! And what a lovely ride down there. Would be a cheap petrolheads holiday.

Here in the civilised part of the world, we will keep paying dearly for our fuel, only saving a few pennies by passing those signs we refer to as borders. At least there is still money to be saved on the drinkable fuel!
{NO>SE>DK>DE>PL>?}< The chain of spirits!
 
get a tanker, take it down to venesuela, do it up so the gas tank connects to the storage thingy, and fill up at every gas station a little bit on the way down, slowly filling it up and by the the time you come back up, you'll have a full tanker of gasoline! Just label it 'burritos' and you should get through customs just fine.
 
I live in Finland and near the Russian border locals regularly go beyond the boarder to fill up with cheap Russian gas. Gas price is whatever the Americans are paying multiplied by two and then some. It's worth the hassle.
 
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