goofballdeluxe

I've been debating buying a Mercedes ML63 that gets 12 mpg. My eco-friends want me to get a hybrid SUV that gets 26 mpg. They cite the rising cost of gas as well.

For the amount of driving I do the difference in gas cost to me would be $100/month at $5/gal. Not nearly enough of a difference to impact my decision. I think the same applies to hunting for cheaper gas around town. The difference is not enough to justify the drive and/or wait.

NC TRACKRAT

No matter what you buy, don't get gas if you see the tanker delivering or just leaving. It stirs up the sediment and water at the bottom of the storage tanks. Even with their filters, I prefer not to take chances.

race911

Well, of the 10K I've put on the car in the past 4 months, it's been about 50-50 between Costco and a Safeway near my mom's house. (I roll in at odd hours, lines are non-existent.) If there were an issue, I'm sure I would have run up against it.

Where CAN you buy over-the-road, non-ethanol oxygenated fuel in CA?

User 122821

A friend is a chemist at the local refinery in Martinez, CA (Most Northern California gas comes from there). He says they refine for most of the gas stations. The differences between loads are the additives. The state defines the base gas mixture. He says look for gas stations with high demand as the gas will be fresher and with less sediment.

I agree it doesn't make sense to wait at Costco for gas in long lines. I hit Costco only in the early morning when there are no lines or just use the Safeways near me.

FGL28

I live real close to a Costco and they run through a lot of gas. I would rather buy from a station that sells lots of gas. go early in the morning.

DB_NC_95C2

I'm jealous of you folks that can get Chevron. There are none here, and there was a Texaco that sold the Chevron formula but now there are none of them either.

I use exclusively Shell in both the 993 and Mini, and add Techron about once every 5k miles close to the
end of the oil life before an oil change.

I will only put top tier gas into either car no matter what the prices reach.

2Many Cars

IIRC a few years ago there was an issue with some gas formulations causing a problem with injector clogging. Several of the majors addressed the issue by agreeing to sell only "Tier One" gas. I believe Chevron, Shell and 76 were on the list of selling only tier one. I have no idea what tier one means but at the time I remember this wasn't just marketing hype because the auto companies were concerned that bad gas was causing problems that they were taking heat for.

H.H.Chinn

I've been running only Costco and sometimes Safeway gas for some time now where it seems to all come from the same refinery north of Seattle near Anacortes. Talking with one of the delivery drivers, told me that it's all the same pretty much where ever you go. Getting a precentage back periodically is good incentive.

Raleigh993

DB
Is there a nominal amount of Techron you can add to a tank of gas that would approximate the level at a Chevron pump? I understand waiting to the last tank before an oil change when using the the Techron concentrate so you can flush any impurities dislodged during the treatment. Is there something equivalent to the levels in the Chevron gas that could be used between oil changes or is the pre oil change treatment good enough.

Is there cheap Shell gas in NR?

Cheers,
Chip

chaoscreature

The gas typically all comes from the same local refineries. I don't remember the specifics but I have seen "brand A" trucks filling the tanks of "Brand B" gas stations before. I tend to veer away from the REALLY shady looking gas stations, but I try to buy the cheapest gas on the block (without going out of my way). 10cents/gallon x 13 gallons = $1.30... not worth my time to wait at Costco and they don't take credit cards.

race911

What's Amex? One swipe to validate membership + pay. All-in-all, with the 4% back it amounts to about $150/yr. rebate check for us. Nothing to go out of my way for, and I certainly won't wait in line.

Again, for me on the ski commute this winter they're ~25 cents/gal. over competing retail stations in the area (let alone if I wait until I'm near home). So with 15-17 gals going in each week on that stop alone (it's about 30 gals total weekly), that's nearly $5. Bottom line is that over the past four months by shopping gas smartly I've saved over $100. Enough to almost pay for the gas on one of the ski trips.

goofballdeluxe

Amex Blue Cash pays 5% cash back for gas, groceries and some other stuff like that. Everything else is 1.25% cash back. I get about $1000 cash back every year. Not bad for something you're gonna spend on anyway, and I always like taking money from a large banking institution.

Cactus

My Amex only pays 3% for gas......you mistype or do I have the wrong Amex?

cgfen

sure they do i f you have a COSTCO AMEX card.

earossi

My career was spent as an engineer and technical manager for a major oil company for 30 years. So, let me chime in with fact and fiction on gasoline.

The base stock gasoline is manufactured to an ASTM standard. So, you can say (as some have in this thread) that gas is gas. And, it is true that when you buy gasoline, it may or may not have been made in a refinery from the brand you are purchasing. The logistics of gasoline is that it is a comodity, and each of the majors does not manufacture and supply product for all areas of the country they operate in.

So, we purchase the "base stock" product from whomever has terminal facilities in the area for storing gasoline.

What IS different gas brand to gas brand, is the additization package added to each gallon. You have seen the marketing lingo......Chevron Techron. Shell Platformate. Mobil......"drive your engine clean". Amoco "clear" gasoline.....etc. These marketing terms refer to the additive package added to gasoline to differentiate one brand from another.

Buy from Cosco.....or Walmart.....or the local grocery store.....and the gas is usually less expensive....for a reason: they don't additize their gasolines. That is the truth.

Just as important, as was pointed out previously, is the station you purchase you gas from. Buy from a station tht is well run and moves a lot of product. Otherwise, you may end up with old and potentially contaminated product.....or product that has water in it.

Ethanol has posed a significant operational problem for dealers. Ethanol is hydroscopic....meaning that it will absorb water. All underground service station tanks have water from condensation out of the air. If the station is well run, they will pump the water out of their tanks on a regular basis. Any water that is not pumped out will be picked up by the ethanol in your gasoline. The problem with this is that the product can become super saturated with water that is entrained in the ethanol......and at a point, the ethanol along with its entrained water will drop out of the product mixture.


If this happens in your fuel tank, you will sustain a very high bill to clean out the fuel system and may have to repair engine damage from water injestion.

So, buy your product from a reputable dealer. The majors have a greaet deal at state in reputation and tend to monitor the performance of the the dealers that sell their product. Not sure this is the case at Cosco.

Finally, when you look at the cost of fuel in the overall cost to own one of our cars, it really is insignificant.

You get what you pay for. Sorry about the long posting.