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Price wars at gas stations in West Michigan bring savings for drivers

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WYOMING, Mich. –  There's a gas price war going on parts of West Michigan. GasBuddy.com on Thursday reported some gas stations in Wyoming were selling gas between $2.09 and $2.17 per gallon.  The Grand Rapids average is $2.495 a gallon.

The prices meant gas stations in Michigan had the second cheapest gas in the entire country.

"I think this is an anomaly for this area," one driver told FOX 17.

"I think it's a flash," said another.

A flash maybe, but that isn’t keeping drivers from cashing in.

“I was just doing errands and just happened to see it, because I saw it was $2.50 like five miles away," said Chad Brice, a Sand Lake resident who happened to be in Wyoming.

According to Gas Buddy, these are among some of the lowest prices in the country.

“All of these stations in Wyoming, or I should say, most of them, seem to be selling gasoline at well below the average for the Grand Rapids area at about$2.50," said Patrick DeHaan, Gas Buddy senior petroleum analyst.

The means stations are pumping out gas at a loss. But, for now, it's a driver’s dream.

“Normally it would be about $40 for me to fill up, so I saved about $8 to fill up," Brice said.

And that's money drivers could be using to take some extended road trips.

“Certainly, it makes it a lot more attractive to go long distances when you're not paying nearly as much," said Brice. "I mean, eight dollars for a fill-up over the cost of several fill-ups over a trip."

As the pumps began to look more like parking lots Thursday afternoon, many wondered how long the low prices would last.

DeHaan said it's difficult to tell how long it would go on if stations are losing money on every gallon they sell.

Though these cheap prices are tempting, DeHaan said it's rarely worth it to seek them out.

Most drivers would agree.

“I wouldn't have made a trip here to fill up," said driver Bob Bernott. "It doesn't really pay."

“That's a lot cheaper than I expect, so I’ll take advantage of it when I can,” said one driver.