Discount gas vs. major chain station's gas?

Anyone avoid no name gas station's gas? The major stations like 76, Arco and Shell spend millions in advertising that tout the extra little something they add to their gas. It depends on the location of your city, but here in So.Calif. Shell, Union 76 and Arco charge as much as 40 cents a gallon more for their 87 octane over no-name gas stations. 40 cents more seems a bit outrageous if you don't get that much more benefit. I bought a tank full of no-name unleaded 87 octane for my 2003 Tacoma standard cab 5 speed and got a very decent 20 miles per gallon city driving. Is it mostly marketing spending 40 cents more a gallon? Anyone do a comparison?

 

I like the ones that have chocolate milk and a clean restroom

 

Top Tier seems to be the real deal, but I haven't noticed much of a difference. I definitely prefer ethanol free though.


Other than that, whatever is cheap.

 

The only fuel that’s worth the price is SHELL premium. It actually DOES clean a system out great. We don’t need it in our trucks and it detonates slower than needed for our trucks too. I run it in all my high compression bikes.

 

Correct, just different fuel additives by brand is all. You select which to mix with the fuel depending on what fuel stations you’re delivering to. Really just look out for old af stations. Old tanks in the ground are prone to have water/more sediment in the tanks.

 

Then your mid grade is just a blend of your low/high test.

 

One station here sells ethanol free gas. Only one. Not been to that station and not sure it's even in business.
I Googled "Is ethanol bad for your car?", Wow. That bad, huh? Too extreme a viewpoint? The reply below wasn't from a forum.

"Ethanol can cause several types of damage to the engine in your vehicle. Your vehicle's fuel intake components can be damaged. In addition, ethanol can cause damage to the fuel pump in your vehicle. ... Your engine can actually be destroyed if the ethanol content in the fuel you use is too high."

 

As long as you stick with high volume stations, the risk is small. You almost have a better shot of the delivery guy putting diesel in the unleaded tanks.

 

LOLOL. I’d be going to jail if I pumped diesel into my truck.

 

So so true. I once got gas at an ancient gas station and my truck ran like someone had poured sugar in my gas tank. Hehe, afterwards, it made me buy a locking gas cap for that truck. I'm considering buying one now for my present Tacoma. Is it possible they make a locking gas tank door for my truck that uses my ignition key? Probably not.

 

I live by a Citgo refinery and you see every brand of tanker lined up plus a bunch of unmarked trucks at the racks. It all comes from the same place. Now I do know techron from chevron is an actual additive that is injected while the trucks are loading. I know this because I worked at an airport and we had instances were that was accidently injected into jet fuel instead of anti ice additive while the tanker was loading at the refinery rack.

I buy from where ever, usually a grocery store by my house. I will say never get gas while the tanker is there, its pretty common for them to dump diesel In the wrong tank, or water contaminated fuel, plus it stirs up all the water and crap at the bottom of the tanks.

 

If it helps, my dad manages a gas station and my step-mother is a district manager for Circle K, like people are saying, if you stick chain, there's little risk. Stations that just use branded gas but are their own independent shops are more likely to have water in their gas tanks. The inside of their store and their management are usually pretty telling if they care about their quality of gas or not.
I try to avoid filling when the tanker is there personally, it's not terribly important, especially at a reputable gas station.
I personally try to find a chain that I like going inside of, that's abundant in my area, so I can stick with fueling with the same type of fuel. I can't attest to how important that is, but I know it's supposed to be better to run the same gasoline. You'll find more stability with a chain for sure.
I live in the midwest, and personally like QT. I'm from Wisco though, and have to say my favorite chain ever is KwikTrip, so that's who I use when I'm there (If you know, you know). On road trips, I tend to gravitate towards Love's, or where ever the truckers are going.
If you're looking to get the absolute best out of your gasoline, you can look up who uses what additives. I don't really research that kind of stuff. Shell gas is supposed to be some of the best, but I know other branded gas uses different additives as a draw. I really don't know much about all of that. Since my parents work for Circle K, they rant and rave about the Shell gas, but I don't know enough personally.
Big life hack if you're a pay at the pump kinda person; if the lot is clean and the receipt tape is stocked, you're much less likely to get your card info stolen. A lot of stations don't replace their receipt tape which means they're probably interacting very little with the machine, and it's pretty easy to get a skimmer in there. Someone who's maintaining pumps is more likely to check that.

Fun fact: half the time gas stations post their prices, if it contains a 3, it's upside down. It's really hard to tell at first, but once it's pointed out to you, you never unsee it.

 

Yes. But when the tanker is there adding fuel, it stirs up the sediment.

 

Heres the thing though gas gets contaminated and when it does your car will seize up, a no name brand will not stand behind its product or its ways it contains the gas if you sue them or go after them, if you get bad gas as in water in your gas tank to the engine by a big name brand theyll have no choice but to atleast go to court and resolve things as they are a “known” brand

 

That doesn't stop movement of sediment. As the pumps pull fuel, what's around may come up, but not everything, given the pipe that pulls gas is usually at one side of a holding tank. That's not what's keeping you safe.

The main reason people shouldn't typically worry about sediment is the fact that there are filters in the system so crap doesn't end up in your car.

You can still avoid these times of day for peace of mind. There's no problem with that. Errors can always be made. Another reason to stick with corporate stations.

Anyone who's worried about it can always get a fuel testing kit, or even check jerrycans, pump fuel into a jar, whatever.

 

After reading replies about filling station practices, I'm gonna change my fuel filter. Been about 40,000 miles now, mostly discount station gas. I run my tank to empty a lot. Big tank same as small tank? Lol.

 

I’ll pay 10 cents more a gallon for gas with cleaning additives but I’ll never go out of my way for a specific brand. Just whatever is convenient/ good price. Now if I had a Porsche I would probably be more anal about what goes in my tank.

 

When my Passat was new, I only filled up at chevron or shell. Premium only.
With my trucks (03 and 19), I fill up at qt, and circle K as well. I stopped going to shell because some stations here post the cash price and with CC it’s like 30¢ more

 

What year? Why?

 

Arco is the cheapest gas around here.