Visiting a Gas Station in Mexico

The other day I stopped at the gas station.  Nothing unusual, right?  Well, no, it wasn’t.  But it occurred to me that you might be interested in hearing what it’s like here, since it might be different in your country.  So, here’s a brief description.

If you’re not interested, go read another post. 🙂

In Mexico, all the gas stations are owned by Pemex, one of the world’s top 100 companies.  This is handy because you never have to worry that you didn’t get the best price – prices are the same at every gas station (or, you could say, you miss out on "the hunt"!).

Gas prices here tend to be very reasonable compared to the rest of North America.  However, prices have been rising steadily this year, after a freeze on prices last year.

I pulled up to the pump and asked the attendant to fill it up with Magna – short for magna sin, which is regular unleaded.  Usually I don’t even mention what type, but if I’m on the road once in a while an unscrupulous attendant will just start filling with premium (expensive and unnecessary for my vehicle).

The attendant always points out that the pump has been reset to zeros (yes, back in the day this was another favourite trick of unscrupulous gas attendants).

While it’s filling, sometimes the attendant will ask if I need anything else checked on the vehicle (oil, tires, etc).  But usually they’ll just go help someone else or clean a window or two.

When it’s filled, the attendant tells me the total and I give him the cash (cash, cash, everything in cash…).  I’ll be sure to ask him for a receipt.

In this case, the attendant came back with my change and also gave me two lollipops.  No, not for my kids – I was alone.  A lot of adults can be seen going around sucking on lollipops here in Mexico – deal with it.

Then, of course, I gave him a tip.  A few pesos here, a few pesos there – it adds up, believe me!

This gas station had a convenience store – an Oxxo (owned by a Mexican company.  It’s like the Japanese-owned 7-11, but no Slurpees.  Actually, there are 7-11s in Mexico, but they don’t have any Slurpees either.  I want a Slurpee!).

So, I picked up a few things there for the trip home.

Then I had to make sure I had some spare pesos for the WC.

This was a fancy bathroom/restroom/loo/whatever you want to call it.  You put 3 pesos into a little box outside the Men’s Room, and the door automatically unlocks.  Often there’s someone standing there to take your money, or you just leave the pesos somewhere.  And once in a while, it’s even free!

I went in and found quite a nice place – the toilets even had toilet seats.  But – oops, forgot the toilet paper.

I went back outside, propping open the door (I don’t want it to lock again!), and I asked the WC attendant for some toilet paper.  No problem – after all, I had paid my pesos.

This place even had soap and running water to wash my hands with.  No, wait – not sure if there was soap.  Anyway, I wish I could remember where it was – nice place. 😉

Sometimes I wonder why I’m paying pesos when there is no water, soap, toilet seats, etc.  But that’s just one of those mysteries.

That was pretty much it!  I continued with my drive.

And now you like what it’s like to visit a gas station in Mexico.