Motorists could save hundreds of dollars a year simply by choosing to fill up at low-priced petrol retailers, a new ACCC petrol report has found.
And the lower-priced retailers are independent petrol retailers in comparison to their bigger brand competitors, according to the competition watchdog.
This comes after an analysis of the average retail petrol prices throughout 2018, and compares the prices between high and low-priced major petrol retailers in the eight Australian capital cities.
“Independent chains were the lowest priced retailers in all eight [capital] cities, while Coles Express was the highest priced retailer in almost all cities,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
The independent chains were United in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart, Speedway in Sydney, Liberty in Adelaide, Vibe in Perth and FuelXpress in Darwin.
Lower-priced petrol retailers offer substantial yearly savings
The competition watchdog shows that a motorist in Sydney could have saved around $343 in 2018 by filling up at independent retailers rather than the highest-priced player, around $148 in Melbourne, around $229 in Brisbane, around $211 in Perth and around $159 in Adelaide.
Collectively, the savings to motorists from switching from a range of high to low-priced petrol retailers in the five largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) could have totalled around $275 million in 2018.
“While some motorists decide where to fill up based on reasons other than price, such as convenience and related offers, for many consumers price is the biggest influence on where they buy petrol,” Mr Sims said.
Fuel price apps and websites handy tool
“Motorists who want to save money on petrol should use fuel price apps and websites,” Mr Sims said.
Fuel price websites and apps that provide information to drivers about petrol prices, include the NSW FuelCheck website and app, the Northern Territory MyFuel NT website and app, the WA FuelWatch website, the MotorMouth website and app, and apps operated by GasBuddy, the NRMA and RACQ, 7-Eleven and Woolworths.
