Prices at the pump: You better shop around

Lowest prices in cities to north and south beat Petaluma's best by as much as eight cents per gallon

May 31, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Drivers took to the roads Memorial Day weekend -- some just to find the best gas prices. Because as gas prices continue to soar to their highest peaks ever, drivers are looking to save money any way they can.

And the North Bay's lowest prices, unfortunately, are not to be found in Petaluma.

The Argus-Courier conducted a phone and drive-by survey of a number of area gas stations Friday and Saturday to discover the area's lowest prices.

In Petaluma, the cheapest gas could be found at Valero at 5153 Redwood Highway, at $3.17 per gallon. Just down the road, the North Petaluma Gas Outlet at 4990 Petaluma Blvd. North was at $3.19, as was the Petaluma Pro Wash at 483 E. Washington St. The Union 76 on Old Redwood Highway charged $3.19 for cash-only purchases.

Close to that mark were Metron Super Gas at 910 Baywood Drive, and USA at 2601 Lakeville Highway, both at $3.21.

The best prices were found outside of Petaluma. Regionally, Costco, at 5901 Redwood Drive in Rohnert Park, was the cheapest price per gallon we found, with a members-only price of $3.06.

If you're in Rohnert Park and don't have a Costco membership, the best price was at the Chevron on 4990 Commerce Blvd., which was charging $3.19.

The lowest price we found in Sebastopol was Flyers, at 1080 Gravenstein Ave., at $3.24.

In Cotati, the Royal Coach Car Wash at 7360 Commerce Blvd. was charging $3.15.

At least two Marin County gas stations had prices lower than Petaluma's cheapest. The Shell at 401 Enfrente Road in Novato was charging $3.11. At the Shell at 834 Irwin St. in San Rafael, gas was $3.10 per gallon.

But the city with the lowest non-membership gas prices was Santa Rosa, which had several stations tied for cheapest gas in the area, at $3.09 per gallon. They included Rotten Robbie at 55 East Todd Road, Gas Mart at 3185 Santa Rosa Ave. and ARCO at 440 Hearn Ave. ARCO offered the same price for cash or debit cards only.

In our survey, a number of gas stations refused to give their prices over the phone, some forcefully.

"I don't have to tell you, man," said a man at one San Rafael gas station, actually known to have relatively good prices. "Why should I tell you?"

And from a man at a Novato gas station, we got this response: "Please come in and see for yourself, thank you, good bye." Click.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)

BEST PUMP PRICES

Sebastopol $3.24

Rohnert Park $3.19

Petaluma $3.17

Cotati $3.15

Novato $3.11

San Rafael $3.10

Santa Rosa $3.09

Source: Argus-Courier phone and drive-by survey of non-membership credit card prices, taken Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27

One good Web site for checking out gas prices is www.gasbuddy.com.