Sound Off on Current Diesel Price

TDI-WNC

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Location
Asheville, NC
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI 5-speed
Anyone live in a state where diesel is typically cheaper or the same price as regular unleaded? Here (NC) diesel is typically 30 - 50¢ more expensive. I have filled up in Tennessee a couple of times and diesel was 10¢ less than regular unleaded.


Why?
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
Anyone live in a state where diesel is typically cheaper or the same price as regular unleaded? Here (NC) diesel is typically 30 - 50¢ more expensive. I have filled up in Tennessee a couple of times and diesel was 10¢ less than regular unleaded.


Why?
Years ago diesel used to be usually less than regular gasoline. However with the no sulfer mandate it is now more expensive to refine.

But consider this: a car using diesel can go 50 miles on a gallon so at $3.50/gallon it costs 7 cents per mile. Meanwhile the same model car with a gasoline engine only goes 30 miles on a gallon so its $3.00/gallon price means it costs 10 cents per mile or about 43% more to cover the same distance!
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
When I started driving diesels the price difference between diesel and gasoline (regular, not unleaded...yes, it was that long ago), was usually a few pennies. But that was also at a time when fuel prices in general were very volatile. Since then it fluctuates, but is usually about the same price or a little less than unleaded premium, at least here in the northeast.

Honestly I don't care. The fuel efficiency of diesels more than makes up for any historical price disadvantage, as romad has pointed out. And I don't want to drive gasoline cars regardless.
 

Tom Servo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
TDI
2005 Gol TDI, blue and falling apart
Diesel is usually around mid-grade here, at least during parts of the year.

Right now it's a bit more, kind of between mid and premium. Seems like over the last 10 years or so, the spread between grades of gasoline has really widened. I remember when every single station was a uniform 10¢ difference between grades. So if the Raceway sold regular unleaded for $1.299, mid would be $1.399 and premium would be $1.499. Nowadays, 15¢ is the low end and some stations like Shell are 30 or even 49 cents per gallon different. Since they don't post the mid and premium prices on signs anymore, I feel sorry for the folks whose car run on those grades, because they are getting hammered.

The Shell nearest me today at 4 am:

RUG - $2.649
MID - $3.139
PRM - $3.629
Diesel - $2.899 / $2.959 (credit)

Go down the road a mile, and the Circle K is selling premium for $3.129 and diesel is $2.929. As you can see, this makes making a blanket statement comparing higher grade gas and diesel prices here kind of difficult.

Prior to Memorial Day diesel was anywhere from $2.799 to $2.999. Now it's $2.929 to $2.999. The high end is holding tight to the three buck ceiling, but the low end has shrunk.
 

flyingjay

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Location
Whistler, B.C.
TDI
2015 Jetta sedan with DSG
Here in the Vancouver, B.C. area, diesel is about 10 cents a liter cheaper, which works out to about 36 cents per US gallon cheaper. A few weeks ago, it was a much as 20 cents a liter cheaper.
 

listerone

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2018 BMW 540d
In summer diesel is usually between Regular and Mid Grade...in winter it's typically close to Premium.That's in Massachusetts where I buy most of my fuel.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
In NC and SC, diesel is typically in the 15-25 cents per gallon higher than regular and less than midgrade. I consider that the same vehicle with a gas engine will get about 30% lower mileage. With regular around $2, that means diesel would have to be higher than $2.60 to be more expensive to run.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2018
Location
Northern Indiana
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL
In Indiana, it's about the same price as mid grade gasoline. I did find out that the state tax on fuel is about 16 cents more per gallon on diesel than on gasoline. If the taxes were to be equal, diesel and regular unleaded gasoline would be about the same price everywhere.


Current averages


Regular Unleaded - $2.99/gallon
Diesel - $3.19/gallon
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Biking across Iowa this week, I noticed d2 ranging from about $3 to $3.20 per gallon.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Why is diesel so expensive in PA? I was driving through the other afternoon and Diesel at truck stops was in the $3.70 range. I filled in VA yesterday morning and paid $2.99.
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
Why is diesel so expensive in PA? I was driving through the other afternoon and Diesel at truck stops was in the $3.70 range. I filled in VA yesterday morning and paid $2.99.
Taxes, distance from refineries, greed (both commercial & governmental)
 

Vince760

New member
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Location
LA
TDI
14 JSW
Odd for us here but we have one gas station right off the highway from where I work.


Reg 3.79
Dsl 3.66
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Why is diesel so expensive in PA? I was driving through the other afternoon and Diesel at truck stops was in the $3.70 range. I filled in VA yesterday morning and paid $2.99.
The state tax on diesel is typically 15 to 30 cents/gallon. In Pennsylvania it is 51 cents/gallon. In Virginia it is 20.2 cents/gallon.
 

TDI-WNC

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Location
Asheville, NC
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI 5-speed
Why is diesel so expensive in PA? I was driving through the other afternoon and Diesel at truck stops was in the $3.70 range. I filled in VA yesterday morning and paid $2.99.
Truck stops are typically right off the interstate, gas and diesel will be more expensive there than they are a few miles from an interstate.



Truck stops along I40 are all around 3.19, five miles from and exit it's 2.82
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Trucking companies typically get fuel discounts of 20-50 cents/gallon or even a bit more from the posted prices.

In case you wondered why truck stop prices often seem so far out of whack.

The TZ Truck Stop at Exit 4 in Hudson, Wisconsin is currently charging $3.379 for diesel. All other stations in Hudson charge $3.19-3.24. But after the discounts, the truckers probably pay around $3.00-3.10.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Paid $2.67 in SC over lunch. Rug was $2.43.

Just got back from a trip to Iowa. Paid anywhere from $2.67 to $3.19. Indiana was the highest. Also made the mistake of not fueling one afternoon and fuel jumped 10 cents over night.
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
RUG just bounced from $2.42 to $2.70 overnight, then trickled back down to $2.49. Noticed this when a gas station that was getting renovated put up their new sign at $2.69. Got changed 2 days later to $2.45.

Now all the stations that were holding D2 @ $2.86 have jumped up to $2.99.

Jason
 

Tom Servo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
TDI
2005 Gol TDI, blue and falling apart
Filled up tonight in Foley, Alabama at the Circle K Exxon for $2.899, although it was actually less due to the $2.33 in Exxon Mobil Rewards I had inherited from the discontinued Plenti program.

Weird story about that, when Pleti went away, Winn-Dixie rolled out their own program and said "don't worry, your Plenti points will transfer to the new SE Grocers Reward when it rolls out." And they did, but then ExxonMobil created their own rewards program and they too credited me with the same amount of rewards that the old Plenti program had. So somehow I wound up with "double rewards". Granted, it was just a few dollars, but it was a few bucks more than I had before. :cool:

Gas prices have been falling steady this week here near the beach. I figure it's partly due to all the kids going back to school and everyone leaving vacationland. Diesel, meanwhile, is steady-to-up, so the spread has widened to the most I've seen in a while. Most stations are $2.959 or higher for D2 while regular is down to $2.559 on average.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
On September 15th the retailers will be able to sell "winter" blend gasoline in nearly all states, so refineries and terminals have an incentive to trim their inventories of "summer" blend. But they don't want to run out of the summer stuff either. So the next couple weeks could see prices jumping around, before a steady decline in gasoline prices begins after Labor Day.

Diesel? Demand is about to pick up, with a million more school buses on the road and the harvest season going full speed. So expect the spread between diesel and gasoline to widen from here.
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
Dropped a penny to $2.83/gal. Has been pretty stable all summer with only a "burp" in prices when a couple stations remodeled and fixed their signs.

Jason
 
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