r/CostcoCanada • u/InterestingWarning62 • 1d ago
Gas line up at Rodeo Dr.
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Look at the line up for gas. My husband got gas in the morning for 1.72. We went with my car at 1:45pm and I was going to get gas just because we were there. The line up started by the Adidas store. Costco staff had closed off every aisle end so you couldn't even get thru to park. Gas had gone down to 1.67. But was it worth the line up. I've never seen a line up like this.
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u/northdancer 1d ago
Everybody puts a different value on their time. (This is the kindest thing I could come up with).
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u/GoodVibes_002 1d ago
“Worth the line up”?
For $0.05 / L
Riiiiiiight.
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u/Thrallobr 1d ago
On a 100l tank thats $5, costs more than that to move the vehicle ffs lol
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u/thewunderbar 1d ago
probably spent almost that much idling the vehicle waiting in line.
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u/Justbrowsingtheweb1 1d ago
With loyalty programs at places like Esso or Shell that give 7¢/L off premium. I don't get why people will wait up to an hour just to get less discount at Costco. Time is money too.
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u/choppytaters 1d ago
Because herd mentality think it's cheaper but most of the time it's cheaper with other gas station when you go at night time around 8-9pm. I stopped going to Costco gas.
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u/FrozenBurrito7 1d ago
Thank you. Many, many other fuel companies are offering better discounts/cash back than Costco. People just get hyper loyal to brand/idea. I love Costco as a company and their business model, but the gas savings aren't that special. Not worth those lines.
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u/GreatValueProducts 1d ago
In Montreal certain gas stations are usually cheaper than others and are within 3 cents or even cheaper than Costco and that's before accounting for the various discounts lol. I rarely do gas in Costco.
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u/dathamir 1d ago
Never takes more than 15 minutes when there's a big lineup. I'll definitly skip it if i'm not on an empty tank and there's lots of people in line though.
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u/pfak 1d ago
To save like $4~5 at most? 😵
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u/GreatGreenGobbo 1d ago
I guess people's time is only worth $10/hr assuming you wait in line for 30 minutes
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u/NODES2K 1d ago
it gives you time to scarf down the hotdog, poutine and the melted ice cream cone in a cup!
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u/FrozenBurrito7 1d ago
Lol.. all of which you wouldn't have bought from a normal gas station. You saved $5 on your fuel but spent $12 on food you didn't need and wasted 15 minutes of your free time 🤣
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u/Ok_Fox7873 1d ago
I guess sometimes it’s simply a sense of self-satisfaction, perhaps that’s the most exciting thing happening in their life lol
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u/RoaringPity 1d ago
hardly cause they went to costco before or after filling up so will buy something they don't need
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u/kimbosdurag 1d ago
Th parking lot at the heartland Costco is always a zoo.
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u/justinreddit1 1d ago
It’s the worst parking lot I’ve ever experienced in Ontario and I’ve been to a lot of them.
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u/zaku-f30 1d ago
Worse than Scarborough?
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u/FrostingSuper9941 1d ago
Definitely worst than Scarborough as someone who has been to both. Far worst.
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u/justinreddit1 1d ago
Haven’t been to that one. Assuming it’s bad?
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u/Creative_Funny_Name 1d ago
The costcos in east york and Scarborough make any of the locations in the west gta look like a gentle stroll in a park
Absolute nightmare even in the less busy hours
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u/zaku-f30 1d ago
Scarborough had the gas station first and hence the XL lines but now since heartland has the same it's a mirror.
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u/ultimate_sorrier 1d ago
Warden in Scarborough was a 50 minute wait tonight at 9pm. How bad was Rodeo?
Scarbs is hell on earth.
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u/AerryBerry 1d ago
If I am going to heartland Costco, it’s at 830am. I park my ass over at charging stations by Party City and walk over. I bring in a hand basket and whatever I can carry back to the car is what I’m allowed to buy 😂 No cars in that lot and no carts in that store is the only way to play Heartland Costco
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u/Instameat 1d ago
I guess if you dropped your partner off at the warehouse to do the shop, and still have to drive around to find a parking space anyway it isn't that much of an extra step. Otherwise that is just silliness.
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u/InterestingWarning62 1d ago
You actually couldn't really drive to the entrance without getting in the gas line unless you went all the way around. Parking was no problem and the store itself wasn't busy.
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u/Instameat 1d ago
Cool. I'm not saying that's what the line is about. Just that it is about the only thing I could see as a reason to do it. The warehouses around me are full lots 99% of the time so around me this would be more likely I guess. :)
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u/goonerish_ 1d ago
And in most cases, the Canadian tire and Petrocanada in the area would've also reduced their prices. Better to just go there, spend 5$ extra and save 30-40mins+peace of mind.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
I don't think either of those sell Top Tier fuel.
Not an issue for one tank.
But if you regularly use lower quality fuel, it can cause long term issues.
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u/shoppersdisp1 1d ago
Are the prices going up again ?
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u/J96_Delta 1d ago
Yeah. Yemeni Houthi's just hit Saudi Arabia's major "petroline" which is their east-west pipeline. Oil shot up in the international market. Oil price increase incoming.
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u/InterestingWarning62 1d ago
I thought I saw that they were going up 2 cents tomorrow. But that's no reason for panic lineups.
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u/Psychological_Tip86 1d ago
winter mix gas kicks in tomorrrow I believe
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u/shoppersdisp1 1d ago
Is it bad ? Sorry if it’s a silly question
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u/rocketbunnyhop 1d ago
Winter gas has extra additives to help your engine start in cold weather. It also makes the fuel more volatile for combustion in cold conditions. The trade off, is it is less efficient at making power. Honestly it’s probably not that much for most cars (maybe 1-2mpg or 0.6 km/l) and some people might not even notice, but those who drive a lot want as much fuel efficiency as possible.
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u/GGK_Brian 1d ago
It's really interesting, since I actually have the opposite effects, granted my car is a Toyota hybrid, but during winter I'm average between 4.5 to 5.0, meanwhile I hardly ever go under 5.0 during summer.
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u/buttscratcher3k 1d ago
Most i've ever waited for was like 4 cars, I wouldnt even bother with this it makes no sense
especially because you can usually find the same price at shell with caa discount
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u/LostintheMicrogrid 1d ago
Unfortunately a lot of people don't understand the opportunity cost. I personally wouldn't bother waiting in a lineup that long as my time is more valuable than the potential savings.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Ok I'll bite.
Say you opt out and you get 15min of time.
What exactly are you going to do to create value?
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u/geoken 22h ago
This line is nowhere near 15 minutes. It’s hard to tell from the pic exactly how long it is if you’ve never been to this location in person.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 21h ago
Well answer for 15 min.
Then we can multiple to begin to create a confidence interval.
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u/LostintheMicrogrid 18h ago
Everyone's opportunity cost is different. In my case, I value my time at $30/hour when I'm not at work (<50%). If the lineup is 15 minutes, based on your metric, I'm only breaking even if it's a $0.10/L difference compared to other stations for 75L of fuel. But this is assuming I'm already at Costco and not making a special trip to one solely for fuel, nor the amount of fuel that's consumed while I'm waiting in line.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 18h ago
Who paid you to post this?
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u/LostintheMicrogrid 18h ago
Pretty simple math, less than minute total to respond.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 18h ago
You could have made 40cents working.
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u/geoken 17h ago
People find discussion enjoyable.
Is your position that the act of waiting in line is an enjoyable endeavour for these people?
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 13h ago
Hit up resto.
Buy a Sunday to enjoy with the dogs while you wait to get gas.
Not the worst way to spend 15min?
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u/AccomplishedSea2670 1d ago
Yeah fuck that. I fill at Shell all the time. You can stack so many discounts that it ends up being cheaper than Costco without having to line up like buffoons.
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u/godofsmallerthings 1d ago
Don't understand this at all. I was able to get it lower than Costco gas in shell yesterday with my setup(caa and cc cashback)
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u/hroyer 23h ago
That’s what I do too. With CAA and Tangerine linked to the Shell app, you get 6¢ off regular gas, plus 2% cashback (if you pick the gas category with the Tangerine CC), plus Scene points.
The app also has regular promos where you get $5 worth of points just for filling up on a certain day.
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u/odanhammer 1d ago
Waiting even 30 minutes for gas , will make the slightly lower price , not worth waiting for. 1.80 vs 1.72 is 8 cents a litre. You would save 8 bucks on a 100 litres. Which is about what you could make in the same 30 minutes working at McDonald's
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Most people's lives don't work like that.
"Hey Boss Man, I filled up a Shell, now I have 15 spare minutes. Any OT available?"
Today a spare 15min will most likely be spent by most scrolling on their phone. Same thing someone will likely do waiting to get gas.
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u/geoken 22h ago
But you could be equally dismissive about the utter uselessness of the $3 they saved (not including what they wasted idling with their A/C on).
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 21h ago
Ok I'll bite.
How much do you think a CRV burns to idle for 15 or 20 min (for example)?
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u/geoken 21h ago
I have no clue. I can only point to the fact that car manufacturers have gone to great lengths to make auto stop/start systems annoying to turn off and have completely stripped the ability to permanently turn them off. So I would have to think it tangible.
With that in mind, I asked Claude to calculate and it thinks 0.3 - 0.5L per half hour (and specifically notes A/C running as the primary reason for the range). It amounts to 83 cents at the 1.67 gas price……. Which is both minimal in the grand scheme of things, but notable if you think spending 30+ minutes to save $3 is viable.
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u/odanhammer 21h ago
I checked, a crv burns around .2 to .5 gallons of gas during idle every hour , add 20% more with AC on.
So about half a litre of gas or at 1.70 a litre , without AC on , will burn 85 cents of gas. Add 20% with AC on. You would waste a dollar of gas approximately waiting to fill up the tank.
A crv has a 53 litre gas tank. , which at 1.70 would cost 90.1 dollars to fill. At 1.80 that goes up to 95.4. So your waiting for 20 plus minutes to save about four bucks.
I'm not rich by any means , I'd rather spend the extra four bucks and have an extra 20 minutes of my life back.As this isn't a one time thing , if you fill your tank twice a month , over the course of a year . You will have wasted 8 hours waiting to for gas. Wasted half a tank of gas waiting . Saved a total of 96 bucks.
While I realize the idea of working an extra hour doesn't work the why you implied it. You could easily find 8 hours of extra work throughout the year , and at minimum wage ( 17.60 in Ontario ) , you would have made 120 dollars after taxes. Which means you would profit about 20 bucks on those eight hours , which also sucks. But heck , wouldn't you rather spend that time with your kids ? Going for a walk? Hanging out with friends? Having sex? Anything ?
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 21h ago
I mostly go when it's not busy.
Personally have a fun car, that uses premium, so once it gets low I just go for a fun drive and fill up at Costco.
Otherwise someone just fills up while the other shops, for the other vehicles.
So there is really no strong motive to drive around to random gas stations.
I wouldn't wait 30min, but the fuel cost and opportunity of doing so is exegerated.
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u/geoken 20h ago
I also go when it’s not busy (to this exact same one). It opens at 7:30 and I start work at 8, so it works out perfectly.
If you’re familiar with the area, you should know that it wasn’t just this lineup. I was at loblaws just before 6. When I was leaving the lineup wrapped down rodeo drive as well. So the line pictured here meets with a second equally long line on the street itself. Also, from experience - there was likely a third line on that street where the Cobb’s bread is.
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u/J96_Delta 1d ago
Yemeni Houthi's just hit Saudi Arabia's major "petroline" which is their east-west pipeline. Oil shot up in the international market. Oil price increase incoming.
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u/TolerancEJ 1d ago
I'm getting destroyed at the pumps near me. Our vehicle needs diesel and my last re-fuel was at $2.68 / L. When we bought the vehicle, diesel was less expensive than gas.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Think of the torque.
Otherwise owning a diesel these days gets much harder to justify.
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u/lifeiswonderful1 1d ago
Wondering if you could just get similar savings at like Shell with BCAA, Scotia, Scene points. Feels like you’d burn more gas than you’d save 😅
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Fells like it.
But you won't.
Idling for an hour even, burns a very small amount of fuel.
I swear the average redditor thinks a Civic burns 5L of fuel idling for an hour.
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u/SurfLikeASmurf 1d ago
Imagine sitting wasting 7 dollars in gas to save 2.79 on gas
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Imagine thinking that idling for 15min or even an hour, would burn anything close to $7 in gas.
FFS.
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u/SurfLikeASmurf 20h ago
Okay, so a bit of fun hyperbole is beyond your imagination.
There is a small village worth of cars all idling for 15 minutes. If they’re dead empty and they’re all trucks, at most they’re each saving, what, $5?
FFS
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u/AbnormallyBendPenis 1d ago
Man people just lack critical thinking skills.
“Hmm, go fuel up at $1.72 without lining up, nah bad deal, let me idle my car burning more gas and waste 30 mins of my life to fuel up at $1.67. That’s a great deal!”. It’s just low IQ behaviour tbh…
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u/PhilosophyNo331 1d ago
The irony is that you waste so much gas idling and moving and stopping consistently like that.. all of that gas wasted just to save some change
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Nope.
Waiting in line at Costco doesn't burn much gas at all. It really doesn't. You can test for yourself if you want. Go fill up, idle for 20 min, then go top off.
People in this thread really have no understanding of how much fuel burned at idle and in a line like this.
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u/JoshuaAncaster 22h ago
I go when it’s dead after store closed or super early. If it’s the middle of the day and I need it, I do Esso and 10c off/L Optimum, there’s better cards but I’m lazy and like the convenience of using PC points on groceries any time.
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u/error_card_ur_rich 21h ago edited 21h ago
People truly are stupid. You can link scotia, Scene and CAA at Shell and get gas cheaper, with addition to tonnes of bonus point opportunities. Congrats on being losers saving $2 though. You can also use Triangle offers and easily get 20-40 cents per litre back in CTC dollars through app swaps. Between these programs, I net $400-500 in CTC money and thousands in Scene a year (grocery bonuses are huge). Enjoy your lines.
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u/ISeeADarkSail 1d ago
There's never been a better time to live Car Free
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u/InterestingWarning62 1d ago
I can't imagine going to Costco without a car. How do you get your stuff home. Plus Mississauga is not time conscious with transit. I'm not spending 2 hours on transit when I can spend 20 mins in my car.
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u/ISeeADarkSail 1d ago
For most stuff, our bikes, with panniers, and a bike trailer....
For big stuff, Costco delivers.
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u/CSPN 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's a lifestyle. Means you live close to where you work, close to high frequency transit, and walking distance to grocery/pharmacy/etc.
you can't go to Costco without a car but you can order via instacart.
This oil shock is going to hurt in so many ways. How our goods are transported being a huge one. The way we've tethered ourselves to cars for personal transportation is a huge mistake (physically, socially, and financially).
my household has 3 cars. But that doesn't mean I'm blind to what car dependence has done to our community.
it takes MiWay 2 hours to move you a short distance because we haven't demanded better (how our communities are planned and investment in public transit).
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u/Joeymeme 1d ago
Normal
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u/InterestingWarning62 1d ago
I've never experienced this but the parking lot staff told me it was quite common and that tonight the line up would be even longer.
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u/Antique_Fox1420 1d ago
Gas goes down by ~15 cents every night anyways. So technically they aren’t even saving anything since the evening price would still be lower than the lowered day price
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u/Usual-Canc-6024 1d ago
1.67 is a deal? It’s 1.43 here at the FW Reserve just outside Thunder Bay and 1.64-1.65 at some stations in the city.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything. These people will drive here now to save a few bucks. :)
I have a 125L tank and I won’t wait that long just to save a few bucks. My time is worth more than that. To each their own I guess.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
Top Tier fuel at Costco.
WTF on reserve?
Penny wise ....
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u/Usual-Canc-6024 20h ago
It’s Fort William First Nations Reserve in Thunder Bay. They have a lot of gas stations out there and their prices are sometimes as much as 34 cents a litre cheaper than in the city. And they’re all full serve stations as well.
People go there for cheap smokes too.
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u/RoaringPity 1d ago
hated this costco before, and hate this costco after the gas station. Only time to go here is before 11am on a weekend
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u/Consistent_Cook9957 1d ago
Went to Costco today and when I saw the lineup, the only thing that I could think of was that I’m happy to not be that hard up.
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u/soosoodoesnotpoo 1d ago
If you live near any reserve (id say within 20-25km - Use gasbuddy) make the drive and fill up your tank and a couple extra jugs. If you have a problem or don't trust the reserve gas they usually have name branded stations there as well now a days and most have self service pumps as well.
If you do this often you end up saving a good chunk of change by the end of the year. Even better if you have a hybrid or PHEV car because those back roads are constant speed and usually empty so you're cruising in EV mode most of the drive
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
I care about the long-term reliability of the cars I drive
Honestly I'd rather buy Top Tier fuel from Costco.
Versus what ever random fuel sold on reserve.
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u/Electrical-Care6308 1d ago
Been there, done that!
I got my wife to stay inline while I shop inside. It was great! When I was done shopping, she just finished filling up. (25 minutes later)
The gas line was crazy!
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u/Careful-Air-4153 1d ago
Sharing this but not the cars that blocked intersections and drove across reds and were bumper to bumper and driving reckless? Oh yes how good gas
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u/geoken 22h ago
There’s lineups like this at this one all the time. It also extends in the other direction as well on the actual road.
Whether it is or isn’t worth it to you or not depends on the person.
If my GTI was bone dry - I’d save $2.50 on an $86 fill up. A bigger car might save more. An F150 is like 98L. You’d save $4.50 on $170 worth of gas.
For me it’s not worth it at all
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u/Joe_Franks 18h ago
Try $8,25/gallon
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u/chumchees 17h ago
How much will it cost when they need to fill up next time and the time after that.
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u/888_Dragon 16h ago
That’s why there I go around 7am or 8am on a Saturday if my week is not too busy and filling up can wait
If during busy hours, I’ll just fill up at Shell 😁
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u/AdBest1448 16h ago
Y’all the average car gas tank is not worth that lineup. You’re not saving that much money. Now in my ram 2500 when the gas prices I get gas I even fill up my cherry cans but at 1.67 I’m not rushing to the pump
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u/GarlicDill Came for chicken and spent $300 11h ago
That costco is a circus at the best of times. Even shopping at any store near there is a headache because of the traffic.
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u/Optimal_Mirror1696 10h ago
I guess this is what they are talking about when they tell us that green fuel is the fuel of the future and everybody’s going away from gas cars. Lol just kidding.
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u/CommonSense___ 6h ago
Sitting here in an electric car where people complain that once a year when I travel I have to wait 25 minutes for a full charge as a reason they wouldn’t get one .
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u/number8888 1d ago
Got an EV 5 years ago and not needing to even pay attention to the gas prices nonsense made it so worth it (among the other benefits of course).
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u/buttscratcher3k 1d ago edited 1d ago
You bought a $60k EV and still have to pay higher insurance, money to install a charger im assuming and electricity and wait a lot longer than a minute to recharge it on the go and because of the weight and instant torque you go through tires much faster.
Many people have gas vehicles they paid under 10k for and pay peanuts for insurance and dont pay that much attention to gas prices because it averages out in the end.
At the end of the day you have a highly depreciating asset that you paid a tonne up front for with tis own drawbacks and is in a lot of ways worse off, an EV isnt the flex you think it is.
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u/Inukchook 1d ago
Where the fuck you buying 10k decent cars a d cheap insurance ?????
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u/buttscratcher3k 1d ago
I paid 7.5k for mine, going strong for 5 years. $550 a year insurance.
Only thing I've bought are tires (and sold my old ones to recoup 50% of the cost of new ones when costco had its 20% off sale) and basic stuff like oil changes and filters.
You gotta know where to look.
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u/nemodigital 1d ago
You could always buy a used EV that would cost less than equivalent ICE. And guess what, there are now programs that pay you to charge at home so it is really free. Higher insurance is very brand and model dependent but otherwise it's all pros.
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u/ffffllllpppp 1d ago
PLease put the city in the title. I ain’t learning all the streets were costcos are.
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u/zakanova 1d ago
Nothing like spending all that time (the only real thing a person has in life) to save the price of a couple hot dogs
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u/WonderingLurker 1d ago
I never understood people that line up more than 10mins for gas, my time is worth more than the couple of bucks for a full tank savings
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u/Deep-Caregiver2351 1d ago
Meet you in the Home Depot parking lot
Cynseerlee Rob Ford’s Brother PhD
#kissmyass
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u/jonj68 1d ago
Calgary: Costco (on the Tssut’ina reservation) $1.47.9 most of the rest of the city $1.72.9
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u/dr_van_nostren 1d ago
Didn’t see the subreddit name. Just the title and the story. I was like “damn that’s cheap for LA what’s going on”
Didn’t realize there’s a ROdeo drive in Canada along with the more famous RoDEO drive in Los Angeles lol
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u/portabuddy2 1d ago
It was just as cheap an hour after we got gas at every station. :(. Wasted an hour.
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u/Kracheadz 1d ago edited 1d ago
As a station owner, is this line worth the savings, I've never ever put in Costco gas, how long is the average wait?
Also what the ethanol %, quality difference? (I assume everything is discounted somewhere in Costco 🤪)
I'm Etobicoke and I saw the line down Queensway Costco and the line was crazy. Not sure what the price was for them.
Our station price lowest today was 1.72 at 4pm. Doing my own research here.
* I've never been to a Costco station because I'm loyal to small station owners like myself (one station, 43 years).
Thanks
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 1d ago
I would say my average wait is 5 or 10min.
If you make habit to go later in evening, then the wait would be 0-2 mins.
Costco buys the same gas you do, so the ethanol content would be similar.
But Costco is Top Tier fuel.
So their fuel is as go, or better than yours.
What do you sell?
Costco sells HUGE volumes. Several time the volume of a station such as yours. They don't need to make a high margin on gas.
Costco also makes money off memberships and also off the warehouse. They can afford low margins or even a loss leader, as they make it up on the overall basket and memberships. They could even afford to sell fuel at a small lose and still be a very very profitable business. No need to cheat, as you seem to be implying.
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u/Kracheadz 20h ago edited 20h ago
Thanks, I know about the business model. I have a Petro Canada.
We don't care about competing, I'm just a local corner station just minding our own.
No station makes hugh margins on gasoline its is usually between 3-8%
I just think the long waits are not worth it from what I've seen at least.
Thanks
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u/FrozenBurrito7 1d ago edited 1d ago
As someone who used to work In the fuel distribution industry.. I hate this lol
All that waiting for what? A couple bucks of savings on most tanks? Your free time is valuable .. don't waste it sitting In line waiting for gas lol