For most of its history, a Costco gas station has meant a row of pumps in a warehouse parking lot. That changed in June 2026, when Costco opened a fuel-only station in Mission Viejo, California, with no store behind it. This post covers where Costco's gas-only stations are, how the Mission Viejo site came about, how buying gas there differs (or doesn't) from a regular Costco, and which other standalone sites have been reported.
Short answer: Costco has one true standalone gas station today: 25732 El Paseo in Mission Viejo, California, which opened on June 24, 2026 with 40 fueling positions and no warehouse. A second one is planned for the Kalihi area of Honolulu, with completion reported for 2027. Separately, new Costcos often open their pumps weeks or months before the warehouse, so Camarillo, CA, Amherst, NY and Lee's Summit, MO are gas-only for now. You need a Costco membership (or a physical Shop Card) at all of them.
Where are Costco's standalone gas stations?
Our tracker currently lists four Costco gas sites with no open warehouse behind them:
- Mission Viejo, CA (25732 El Paseo): the only permanent standalone. Costco's own page for it says "This location has no warehouse."
- Camarillo, CA (431 W. Ventura Blvd): pumps open since May 1, 2026. Costco.com lists the warehouse opening on October 30, 2026.
- Amherst, NY (4230 Ridge Lea Road): pumps open since September 4, 2026. The warehouse is due October 28, 2026.
- Lee's Summit, MO (10 SE Oldham Parkway): pumps open since September 24, 2026. The warehouse is due October 2, 2026.
The last three are ordinary Costco warehouses where the gas station opened first. Once their stores open, they will be regular Costco gas stations. The live prices below show today's regular and premium price at each one, its pump hours and how it compares with other Costco stations in the same state. For every other station, see Costco gas prices across the US.
Costco's first standalone gas station: Mission Viejo, California
Costco held a ribbon cutting for the Mission Viejo station on June 24, 2026, according to a city spokesperson quoted by Grocery Dive. Costco.com lists the same opening date and calls the site "Mission Viejo Gas Station", marked "Gas Station Only".
The station sits in the Mission Viejo Freeway Center, just off Interstate 5 near Oso Parkway. There is no warehouse, no food court and no convenience store. It is pumps, a canopy and a small building for staff.
Is it really Costco's largest gas station?
That is how city officials describe it. The Orange County Register reported in June 2025 that Costco would build "what city officials say is the chain's largest gas station and its first fuel-only location." Fox Business also called it the chain's largest, with "20 fueling dispensers, equivalent to 40 pumping stations," based on 2025 city planning documents.
Costco itself has not published a ranking of its stations by size, so "largest" comes from the city, not the company. For scale, the existing Iwilei station in Honolulu has 24 pumps (Hawaii News Now), and the new Camarillo station has 32.
Reports differ on the canopy: C-Store Dive gave 17,185 square feet, while Fox Business and Patch give 17,234. All agree on 40 fueling positions.
Why Mission Viejo, and what was there before?
C-Store Dive reported that the project would replace "a 35,020-square-foot commercial building that was formerly a Bed Bath & Beyond." Mission Viejo's Planning and Transportation Commission approved the project on March 10, 2025, the Register reported, clearing the way to demolish the old store.
The planning documents, as reported by C-Store Dive in June 2025, described:
- 40 fueling positions under the canopy
- three 40,000-gallon underground storage tanks
- six parking spaces and an employee breakroom with a restroom
- operation supervised by Costco employees
- planned hours of 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
The planned 5 a.m. start did not survive to opening. Costco.com now lists 5:30 AM–10:00 PM on weekdays, 6:00 AM–8:30 PM on Saturday and 6:00 AM–7:30 PM on Sunday, which matches the usual Southern California schedule.
Costco has not said publicly why it picked Mission Viejo. The site is a freeway-side lot in a part of Orange County already ringed by busy Costco gas stations.
Does it have a car wash?
No. The plans the city approved were for fuel only, with no other automotive or retail sales, and Costco.com lists no car wash for the site. Our data lists only regular and premium at Mission Viejo, so don't plan on diesel there.
What happened on opening day?
Opening coverage mostly focused on price. ABC7 reported Costco regular at $4.79 that weekend against an Orange County average of $5.35, just before California's gas excise tax rose on July 1. A Laguna Hills driver told ABC7, "I just feel like that's going to be an issue with traffic." Other outlets cited $4.59 and $4.69 on different days.
Prices have risen sharply since then. On our October 1, 2026 reading, Mission Viejo sells regular at $5.999/gal and premium at $6.399/gal. That is 6.3¢ below the California Costco average of $6.062/gal.
Is the standalone station cheaper than nearby Costcos?
Not by much. On our October 1, 2026 reading, Mission Viejo's regular price matched most of its neighbours:
Costco prices each station locally, and the standalone site is priced like its neighbours rather than as a discount outlet. The real difference for drivers is capacity: 40 fueling positions at a site with no store traffic. Compare more stations on our California Costco gas prices page.
How does a standalone Costco gas station work?
Almost exactly like any other Costco gas station. The differences come from having no store.
Do you need a membership?
Yes. Costco's gasoline Q&A says: "The fuel station is open to Costco members only. There is an exception: Prepaid Costco Shop Card customers do not need to be Costco members." You scan your card at the pump, and the pump checks that the membership is active. Our guide to whether you need a Costco membership for gas covers expired cards and household cards.
How do you pay?
The same way as at any US Costco pump. Costco accepts "Visa®, most PIN debit cards and prepaid Costco Shop Cards," and US pumps also take Apple Pay. A Shop Card has to be the physical card, not a digital one. See which credit cards Costco gas takes, whether Costco gas takes Apple Pay and how the Shop Card works for gas.
Are there attendants?
Yes. Costco's Q&A says its "safety-certified fuel station attendants" help members who need assistance and deal with safety issues, and the Mission Viejo plans called for the station to be supervised by Costco employees. Hoses reach either side of the car, so you can use any lane. Our step-by-step guide to getting gas at Costco walks through the pump.
What about renewing a membership or using the restroom?
There is no membership counter at a standalone station, because there is no warehouse. If the pump declines your card because the membership has lapsed, you need to renew online on costco.com or at a warehouse membership counter before you can fill up. At Mission Viejo, the nearest warehouses are a short drive away in Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano.
The planning documents mention a restroom inside the employee breakroom building. We have found nothing saying there is a public restroom for members, so don't count on one.
What are the hours?
Mission Viejo and Camarillo run 5:30 AM–10:00 PM on weekdays. Amherst and Lee's Summit run 6:00 AM–10:00 PM on weekdays, which is the most common Costco schedule. All four close at 8:30 PM on Saturday and 7:30 PM on Sunday. Our post on Costco gas hours has the full breakdown.
Why do new Costcos open the gas station first?
Because the pumps are often ready long before the store. Several 2026 openings followed this pattern:
- Camarillo, CA: gas opened May 1, 2026, about six months before the warehouse, which costco.com now lists for October 30, 2026. The project was held up for years by a legal challenge aimed largely at its 32-pump gas station, which an appeals court rejected in February 2026 (FOX 11).
- Amherst, NY: the pumps opened at 6 a.m. on Friday, September 4, 2026, with "a Costco membership … required to fill your tank there," according to WBEN. The warehouse, the first in the Buffalo area, is due on October 28, 2026.
- Lee's Summit, MO: costco.com lists the gas station opening on September 24, 2026 and the warehouse on October 2, 2026. The store was first expected on August 28, according to city officials, before Costco moved the date.
- New Braunfels, TX: the gas station opened May 7, 2026, about a week before the warehouse opened on May 15.
Costco has not said publicly why it does this. Our reading: a fuel canopy and tanks are a smaller job than a 160,000-square-foot store that needs stock, staff and inspections, so when the pumps are done there's little reason to keep them closed. Early gas also brings members to the site before opening day. If you are waiting on a new Costco near you, check your state page, such as New York or Missouri, for when its pumps appear.
These early-opening stations look like standalones for a while, but they are not. On our October 1, 2026 reading, Amherst sells regular at $3.799/gal, 31.2¢ below the New York Costco average of $4.111/gal, while Lee's Summit is at $3.999/gal, 9.0¢ above the Missouri Costco average of $3.909/gal.
Are more standalone Costco gas stations planned?
One more has been publicly reported, and it is still in development.
Kalihi, Honolulu, Hawaii (planned). Kamehameha Schools is redeveloping the old Dillingham Plaza into a project called ʻŌlauniu at Kapālama Kai, and a Costco gas station is part of it, on the parcel between Dillingham Boulevard and Colburn Street where Sizzler, Burger King and Popeyes used to stand (Hawaii News Now). C-Store Dive reported 40 pumps, citing KITV. At a neighbourhood board meeting in May 2026, residents raised traffic concerns about Dillingham Boulevard. The project's chief transportation engineer, Matt Nakamoto, said "the station is actually quite large" and that the aim was to "fix the problem by creating a greater supply." Hawaii News Now reported room for 80 vehicles fueling at once, red and green lights on each dispenser to show free pumps, and completion in December 2027. C-Store Dive put the site about a mile from the existing Iwilei warehouse and gas station.
Earlier reports said Kalihi would open in 2027; the May 2026 report put completion at the end of 2027. Treat both as estimates.
Canada. We found no reliable report of a standalone gas bar planned in Canada as of October 2026. New Canadian Costco projects reported this year still pair the gas bar with a warehouse.
Costco hasn't said how many more it plans. When C-Store Dive covered the Mission Viejo opening in July 2026, it said Costco had a second standalone station in development, "though it remains unclear how broadly the retailer plans to expand the concept."
Why is Costco building gas-only stations?
Costco hasn't explained its reasoning in detail, but its filings and earnings calls show why fuel matters.
- Fuel is a big business. Costco's fiscal 2025 annual report says: "We operated 747 gas stations at the end of 2025," and "Our gasoline business represented approximately 10% of total net sales in 2025."
- Gas brings members back. The same report describes Costco's gas stations and other ancillary businesses as located near the warehouses, "encouraging more frequent shopping." On the March 2026 earnings call, CFO Gary Millerchip said "we see about half of members that will shop at the gas station will also cross-shop at the warehouse" (Motley Fool transcript).
- Higher prices push demand. On the same call, Millerchip said that when prices are higher, members "take the extra mile that it might involve to get to the gas station." On the September 24, 2026 call, Costco said its gas business had a record year and that it had expanded 26 existing US gas stations during the fiscal year.
- Busy warehouse sites run out of room. A warehouse lot has to fit shoppers, deliveries and the fuel line. A separate site like Mission Viejo, or the planned Kalihi station near Iwilei, adds pumps without adding to warehouse parking traffic.
For more on how Costco keeps its fuel prices low, see why Costco gas is so cheap.
