Study Shows Drivers Are Spending More Than They Should On Gas

Old habits die hard and they can also be costly. On Tuesday, GasBuddy released its 2019 Pump Habits Study. Patrick DeHaan is the Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy and he says the survey revealed that motorists are spending more money at the pumps than they should be.

“A lot of Americans still like to run low on gas,” DeHaan said. “What that does is it kind of puts you in a little bit of a panic when you finally realize you need gas. You tend to pull in to the first station instead of finding the cheapest station. Another factor is that a lot of us may go to a store that is convenient or on the way to work, instead of finding the lower price.”

DeHaan says 46 percent of drivers are missing out on savings by not belonging to any gas station loyalty or membership programs.

“Some of them may be five or ten cents a gallon off,” DeHaan said. “There are a lot of ways not to have to pay retail prices and by not signing up for such programs, can cost motorists $50 a year. All of these really add up and basically can cost motorists several hundred dollars every year on money they shouldn’t have needed to spend on gas.”

According to DeHaan, drivers are missing out on a potential savings of $375 per year. These results are based on 7,300 responses from a GasBuddy survey that was issued on January 25, 2019.