Costco Gasoline Quality: Do you get your gas at Costco?

Ahh! Another who has bought into the top tier advertising scam. But don’t feel bad refiners have been BS’ing the buying public for decades.

Anyone remember Shell with Platformate?

 

"My opinion supersedes you facts"

 

If there is a line to gas then have your sh...stuff ready to go when it is your frigging turn. Spot opens up, people sit there and finally put down their phone and then slowly move into position. Then the sit there and do what I have no damn ideal. Finally they get out of the vehicle and start looking at the pump. What the hell? Then they decide "oh I need my card." Where is the card? Some where in the wallet or purse or many times it is still inside the vehicle. The passenger actually has the card sometimes. Now, instead of handing the card to the driver/gas pumper the passenger decides to get out of the vehicle. Finally they are going to pump the gas but no! The passenger calls for the attendant. Probably gonna ask some questions about how the settlement has settled to the bottom and what time the last delivery truck tested the "specs." Anyways, Yeah I use Costco gas if there isn't a long ass line.

 

No different than being stuck behind the hick who tells the cashier their life story while buying a dozen scratchers, two packs of cigarettes and 4$ worth of gas.

 

I always fill up at Costco. I've noticed if I use premium the slight tick goes away.. but thats for another thread.
Living in Oregon we can't pump our own gas, so when I pull up I insert the card, open the tank and sit and wait for the dude to literally pick up the pump and put it in my tank..

 

Top Tier isn’t a petroleum industry creation, it was started by a group of automobile manufacturers to ensure fuel quality. AAA has conducted actual testing demonstrating Top Tier fuels had better corrosion protection than non Top Tier fuels.
I’ve posted links to both in this thread but many don’t like actual facts so they don’t read. Myself I prefer to be scammed by facts backed up with testing than a random post.

 

I have a buddy that works where they fill the trucks. There’s definitely a top tier and a bottom.
If you really think Exxon is going to let someone say they’re not top tier and Costco is I got a bridge to sell you.

 

Has ethanol in it so no thanks

 

I am a novice when it comes to things like this. Is ethanol good or bad for the truck, as I have seen posts state both?

 

I get about half my gas at Costco. The gas comes from a BP refinery. Gasoline sent to Costco has extra additives to meet Top Tier standards. Not all companies buying BP refinery gas have the extra additives but do have some amount of additives. My owner's manual recommends Top Tier gasoline...I don't know about yours.

 

I don’t use Costco. Not because it’s not good, but I’m not willing to wait 30 minutes in line to fill up to save 3-4 dollars on a tank of gas.

 

While it is true that all gasoline coming from refineries is essentially the same, grade to grade. HOWEVER what you are ignoring, or are unaware of, is that once a specific company purchases this "stock" gasoline some then add additives and they are no longer the same.

This isn't an opinion because top tier gasolines are SCIENTIFICALLY proven to clean engines and keep them clean, it's not hype.

Costco, Kirkland Signature, fuel meets top tier standards...walmart/sams and murphy do not
https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

Sams/Costco same crap....I Do get 1 to 1.5 MPG better when I use Sunoco though...

 

so you don't buy ANY gasoline then? XD

 

Nope, Top Tier is a fuel additive developed and sold by Savant and is added in the fuel truck, mixing as it's transported to the station. Any fuel delivery company can buy the stuff and the station can pay the cost to have it added. To advertise it as such is different though, you gotta pay for the license from Savant.

 

You have no idea what you’re talking about.

 

Y'all get wound up about some seriously pointless bullshit, put fuel that's the right octane in, the rest really doesn't matter. It's going into a underperforming pickup truck motor, this isn't F1.

 

Me either so I research and let the links to solid resources do the talking.
This is a good paper:
https://www.petro-online.com/articl...additives-nbsp-where-are-they-going-next/2712
“These substances are referred to as additives and every major producer of gasoline has its own version of an ideal additives package. These additive packages are often unique and proprietary to the respective companies, and as such the specific compounds in packages, such as BP’s Invigorate, ExxonMobil’s Synergy, and Chevron’s Techron, largely remain the company’s trade secret.However, despite the lack of information available on such additive packages, the present paper will describe various classes of common gasoline additives and explain how they were developed, their present status, and where they are headed with respect to use in future gasoline formulations.”

 

From the same article:

In 1996, the EPA created the Lowest Additive Concentration (LAC) standard to enforce minimum amount of fuel detergent in gasoline [14]. The implementation of the standard for fuel detergents was a strong first step, but many automakers felt that the LAC standard was insufficient. This inspired the collaboration of automakers, such as Toyota, Honda, General Motors, and BMW, to establish a higher standard for detergent additives in gasoline. The result of this collaboration was the creation of the Top Tier gasoline standard in 2004. The Top Tier designation is a significantly stricter fuel detergent standard than the LAC that requires the fuel to use larger amounts of the certified detergent additives[15]. In a study conducted by AAA,Top Tier fuel was shown to be an astounding 19 times better at reducing the engine deposit build up than the non-Top Tier fuel. The use of non-Top Tier licensed fuel in addition resulted in a 2-4% reduction in fuel economy[16]. There are currently 54 different retail gasoline brands that are Top Tier licensed, which translates into 2/3rdof gas stations across the United States, including popular brands marketed by top gasoline suppliers, such as ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, Marathon, Sunoco and Conoco[17]. This number is likely to rise further in the coming years as engines become more complicated and the grime and deposit buildup on the engine components becomes less tolerable for peak performance and efficiency[/B]

 

Yep. And I posted a link to an article with a link to the AAA testing earlier in this thread. In fact I’ve posted the link to AAA Top Tier gasoline vs Non-Top Tier test results on several of these gasoline threads that pop up from time to time.
The point I have also made is that not all Top Tier gasoline’s have the same additives as noted in my prior post. The AAA testing also showed different results between top tier brands though all were better than the non-top tier fuels tested.
http://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/files/Fuel-Quality-Full-Report.pdf