1. Cars home
  2. Fuel & economy

Ask an expert

Back to Fuel and economy

Forum Fuel and economy Why don't all services stations display the price of 95 or 98 octane fuel like they do 91 and diesel on their big boards?

pennyt
By pennyt | AA Member | 2 Posts | 15 September 2014 at 1:39pm

My VW Golf uses 95 octane. I'm sure there are plenty of other drivers who use 95/98 who will also feel frustrated by the fact that service stations only display the 91 and diesel prices on their display boards. I have to drive up to the pump to find out the price, and generally I have to lift the 95 nozzle thing to get this info. It makes it really difficult to get the best priced fuel! I'd like this to become mandatory...

grhmfalc
By grhmfalc | AA Member | 16 Posts | 15 September 2014 at 5:53pm

I am also frustrated by the lack of display of 95 and 98 octane fuel prices . My Mondeo prefers 95 octane or above .

What I find, is that this hides what is sometimes a 9 to 13 cents difference in the price between 91 and 95 octane . Users of 95 octane always get a raw deal in the market where there is no competition or price war . In fact the price difference between 91 and 95 octane is increasing to subsidise 91 octane users .

markstockdale
By markstockdale | AA Expert | 101 Posts | 16 September 2014 at 3:35pm

The AA also thinks it should be mandatory to display the price of all fuels on their price boards. We have lobbied fuel companies, and the government who have declined to mandate it. It's a good idea, but unorthodox - no other retailer is required to display their prices in this way. Currently, it is only a legal requirement to display prices for all fuels at the pump.

As a general rule, 95 octane costs 8-9c more that 91 (excluding discounts), and 98 another 8c more than that. Caltex, Challenge and Z only sell 91 and 95, whereas BP, Gull and Mobil sell 98 instead of 95 in the main centres (although Mobil sells 95 in the South Island).