Costco Gas

Anyone here use Costco gas? It seems like it's always .10 to .20 cents cheaper than brand name gasoline.

Does anyone know where Costco gas comes from?

 

I love costco gas!!!

 

Hooray Costco!

 

IIRC... Its Conoco Phillips a sister company to 76...

 

well its cheaper because only costco card members can use it. so the money that customers pay for the card basically evens out the price of gas.

 

I heard Costco places out a "bid" and whoever accepts it will supply them.

 

I use Costco gas most of the time...I was also wondering who supplies it.

I used to use Chevron exclusively but now I only use it about every 4th fill up.

 

All gas is the same and comes from the same location. Most major metropolitan areas have a single distribution center.

The only real difference between each brand of gas is the additives that are mixed in after the gas is picked up by the tanker trucks. After the additives are mixed in, the gas is delivered to the station.

Once I learned this I started buying the cheapest gas there is. I have used Costco gas and it works great, same as all other gas out there.

Gas distribution centers look like this http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.79...790675,-117.113764&spn=0.004753,0.011362&z=17

 

I was recently told this by a gasoline delivery driver but he did recommend to use Chevron gas every once in awhile because of the Techroline they add to their gas.

 

Yeah I agree. Techron, whatever is in there, probably a detergent of sorts--is probably a good thing.

 

Ha this is funny I work for costco and never bought gas there cause I grew up hearing chevron is better? Maybe I'll give it a try!

 

just got a costco gas and its cheaper than anywhere else so i always fill up there.

 

Exactly right!

 

my local costco is brutally busy. i fill up there all the time, but late in the evening. shorter lines. i do find the biggest assholes there. guys cutting in line, switching line to line hoping for a shorter wait time, or some fool that refuses to pull up making it gridlocked at the entrance. whatever..the 20cents+ savings is worth the shananigans. the fuel in the storage tanks has got to be super "fresh". they sell tons of the stuff. there is a supply truck there everyday. gas is like milk...better fresh.

 

It's fuel, and our trucks aren't picky. Enjoy!

 

All gas is the same. Some companies add detergents and stuff then charge you 30 cents more per gallon.

Buy the cheap stuff. If you're concerned about build up, use a $3 fuel injector cleaner every couple of months.

 

If you read up on the subject, you'll find that all of you are correct. There's only so many refineries in Calif for example (used to be 6, don't know if there are any more nowadays). All gas regardless of where you get it contains those same detergents (federal law). The difference between Chevron/Shell (etc) and cheaper places like Costco is brand name and added detergent. For instance, Chevron adds an extra table spoon or so of detergent (above and beyond what was added per the law) to a tanker truck full of gas. Thus they can claim they have more detergents, and charge you a helluva lot more. And Costco gets it cheaper because they do bid out to the cheapest distributor. And that changes frequently (not sure if it was daily, weekly, or monthly).

In decades past, you would have been advised to steer clear of little, off the wall gas stations because of the possibility of getting water in the gas from their tanks. Not an issue anymore. None of them wash the tanks out with water anymore and building/state/federal codes keep the tanks all stored underground similarly and monitoring for fuel loss/leaks etc.

 

You wanna see the difference in gas companies, get a sensative car like my friends bug or a high performance motorcycle, you can REALLY tell what gas you put in and the difference the additives make. I just suggest you stay clear of ARCO on sensative vehicles (i have never had good experiances there). But luckily we drive TOYOTAS and they don't care what gas you put in them.

 

Around here it's a full 10 to 20 cents cheaper.
never measured the fraction.
It does come from the lowest bidder.
The Costco I use is right across the street from their corporate office.
Costco does have a spec RFP and takes lowest bidder.
They're ruthless with their suppliers.

 

Funny, I've always thought that about ARCO.
And their pumps suck ass.