Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion What Brand Of Gas Do You Buy?

I hope I am not over posting. My Dr. ordered me to stay off my hip so I have been on the site a lot. If I am, someone say so!
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone still buys their gas at a particular station like Citgo, Sunoco, Mobil or if most people are like me and go to the closest/cheapest place? I know that some places like Sunoco have different blends...does anyone actually go there for a certain blend? I know that certain companies tout their additives and such, but isnt gas really all the same? I am talking about our everyday cars, not sport cars that might run better on premium.
John

I dont have any particular one I go to but I do go to Mobil more than the others.

In Montana we don't have lots of Choices....Exxon (Town Pump all over the state) Sinclair, Conoco and a couple of places with Phillips 66 and Mobil. I suspect the Mobil is a brand from Exxon or one of the other generic refineries in Montana......

Vermonter..you post all you want.

Whenever possible, we find the nearest Shell station; we pass four other stations between Shell and home. The GPS is a big help locating them on trips. As a second choice, it's either Marathon, Mobil, or BP.

Here in the upper midwest, CENEX (old Farmers Union) is king so consequently, I have a Cenex credit card and we end up purchasing most of it there. Prices don't vary much in town because its kind of a conspiracy to keep gas prices up!
When out on the road, I stop wherever its handiest and buy the cheapest grade!

ARCO mini-marts have the lowest priced gas, here in my community. A close second, are stations affiliated with Safeway and Fred Meyer grocery companies. Both sell generic brands of fuel.

i also try to buy the cheapest gas, there's a Holiday & Mobil very close & they are the cheapest around,,,,i also worry about additives & how they can affect my internal engine working parts...when i drive thru Wisconsin all the stations on the interstate seem to have 10% ethanol additives...i try to stay away from these however not much choice when traveling....

Sinclair just down the street. I also have a Sinclair credit card so I get 5% discount until January 1 when they are dropping the discount. I have earned about $300 in rebates since I started with it a few years ago.

I buy whatever type Sams' Club sells. I this area it is usually the cheapest. If I am traveling, it is whatever I can find every three hours when I need gas. One brand that I refuse to buy is Citgo because of Chavez's opinion of this country.

Conoco/Phillips locally, when in Indy Speedway, when in Pa Rutter's.

usually mobil and probably cause its just a block away and i have been going there for 25+ years.at the time i moved here it was a J&L.i still call it that and my wife cant figure out why.when gas was really up there i went to murphy by walmart,but the difference is usually not worth the inconvieniance.that place is always packed and they dont have many pumps.

Most all gas is distributed by any brand to any service station. The difference is that the top tier gases add their additives. So for instance, Walmart( Murphy Oil ) will get Texaco, Shell, Conoco at their stations but not the additives. At the loading racks, for instance at an independent refiner if the gas is headed to Chevron, then the additive is added to the tanker after it is loaded but prior to shipment.
From everything that I have learned, the additives depend upon the vehicle. On our Explorer we get about 100 miles more per tank on Chevron gas, versus the Krogers' discounted no name gas. And we have done this multiple times as well as a lot of the people I work with at the refinery I am employed at.
As far as Ethanol, it is an oxygenated blend( similar to the MTBE that ethanol replaced) Basically all vehicles will get about 20% less mpg on an oxygenated fuel than a regular fuel. When gas is blended with Mtbe or Ethanol it lowers the btu's of the fuel. That's the reason you get more mpg on diesel, versus gas, versus 10% ethanol, versus propane,versus hydrogen etc.
The insanity of the whole ethanol thing is that it burns cleaner, but if you get less mpg then controlling the tail pipe emissions isn't happening in the long run.
Anyway, the best way to check out if a top tier gas burns better just fill up with it a few times, then try Walmart a few times and see if you tell the difference in mpg.
Troy

I buy from one of the two, local "Little Guys". They are both customers of mine, so I return the favor. On a road trip though, I try to buy CHEVRON. Just because...

i usually buy Hess or a independent that's called A L Prime has a lot of station,s in my area.

Arco & Costco....haven't seen any gas wars lately.
All of them seem to be in sync on cost.
Ever where you get it....it's to much.
Was 1.00 cheaper last year at this time
Do you think there "working to keep your trust"
just like the politicans.

I like Chevron. I never have to put injecter cleaner in the tank with it. The cheap brands I would have to add it. Also had a problem with Shell cloging the injecters, but that was in the early 90s

I buy mostly Pure. It is pure gas with no ethanol. It's about the same price as the rest around me. I buy some at Murphy and some at Texaco. The Texaco is also pure gas. Can't tell much difference in mpg on either one. Might vary two to three tenths per gallon, but not enough to worry about....Dale

I like to pay with cash so what ever station doesn't make you PREPAY gets my business. I could be wrong but i think this prepay thing is a western USA thing...maybe have more crooks out west I guess, or the justice system isn't hard enough on criminals to deter them.....mm

What's wrong with prepay? You walk up, tell the cashier $30 on #4. They punch it into the computer and you don't have to worry about going over that amount. If your rig takes less than the amount, go in and get the difference from the cashier. Seems simple enough to me. I never use a credit or debit card, especially after different agencies have been reporting finding card scanners hooked up to the gas pump computers. With prepay, a mini-mart or gas station doesn't have to worry about someone filling their rig and then just taking off without paying. Seems like an idea every owner would want to follow. I know in this area, I can't remember the last time I read in the paper or saw on tv a report about someone stealing gas by driving off without paying. 5 or 6 years ago, I read about it all the time.

I try to buy from local refineries like Conoco-Phillips and was using until last month Sinclair before it sold and also use Quik Trip stores. The people of Oklahoma let Chavez know how they felt and he took his commie Citgo's out of Oklahoma

Mainly Shell here--I seem to get about 1-2 mpg better.

Most gas is bought on the spot market, then as said before, additives are added before tanker is filled. You'd be surprised @ how big the container is w/ the additives for 10,000 gallons. Trace amount in each gallon.

ExxonMobil employees/retirees get a 10% discount....so I use those brands whenever possible. The one Mobil station in town is also usually the lowest price in town, which works out good.

Richard

SuperAmerica, Holiday or other local independent marketers by price. Not many refineries service MN, so...to me its basically the same. I have tracked mileage on all my vehicles for over five years and don't see any mpg pattern difference. The exception would be when I fill in larger cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and 10% ethanol fills in Iowa & Wisconsin, where my mpg drops noticably. ( -off topic- I see larger mpg differences in my choices of diesel.)

I'm more loyal to the brands I collect than the brands I burn.
More importantly, I'm loyal to good service when I can find it.

Several months ago in IL, I had a cashier sincerely say to me after the sale "Thank you for choosing xxx? We appreciate your business". I almost fell over. LOL

Kim

Bob it goes more like this in Montana....you walk up...wait in line 10 minutes...take a guess at a fill up amount and pay....walk back out and fill truck up but you have 2.00 coming as you overpaid...walk all the way back in again and get in line for another 10 minutes to get your 2 bucks back...head back out again to the truck swearing about the damn prepay....if no ones driving off what the heck is wrong with the old way....FILL UP AND PAY!!

Like Zooman an Dick Bennett stated when you buy fuel no matter what station chances are it came from the same refinery and the additives were put in at the loading dock. Frontier refining supplys 90% of the fuel in southern Wyoming and 1/3 the supply in the Denver market and northeast Colorado. There are two refinerys in Denver and they supply the rest. I found this out when we went out on strike years ago and did not want to buy Frontier gas. Mitch

Mostly Costco or Valaro in the newer vehicles. Chevron or Shell in my old Y-Block Ford. That carburetor does not like cut-rate gas. I steer clear of Mobil, after the second tank, my wife would complain that her car was running rough.

We only have 2 choices in town. Exxon and Unocal 76. The Exxon station is a C-store. I and most of the locals go to the 76 station. He still runs his service bays and he's a good guy. Plus his gas is always a nickle cheaper than his competitor.
When I go to Santa Rosa I usually fill up at Rotten Robbies......I like the name !

I buy Speedway or Marathon gas, you don’t suppose because I work for Marathon would have anything to do with that?

As most of you old timers on here know; I haul gas for a living.
I enjoy reading posts like these to see what the general public is aware of.

If you buy from any area station near you, and your vehicle runs good on the gas you get, there isn’t anything wrong with that. You are better off, buying from one place you know and trust, than pump hopping from station to station to save 2 cents.

The EPA requires detergent additives in all gasoline’s.
Vermonter, if you want to kill some time, here is a link to all that info: http://www.epa.gov/oms/fuels.htm
But, as DB pointed out, the requirements are very small (trace amounts).

Major “Brands” have higher amounts of patented additives injected and can make a difference in the performance of your car over its lifetime, especially if you own a car for a long time. These additives are specific to a particular company, and in essence, what makes them “Branded”. Better fuel mileage and fewer engine repairs are their most advertised advantages.

Most stations that make you prepay do it for one reason… Drive OFF’s. (People stealing gas).
It is just as much of a hassle for them as it is for you. I use a credit/debit card to pay. You are more likely to run into a card scanner at an ATM than at a station.

Most Independents and Mom and Pop’s buy “whatever” is cheapest on the market on any given day.

The Federal government, no longer requires stations to mark pumps selling Ethanol gas.
Some state regulations may vary. But looking for a sticker that says 10% Ethanol is not indicative of what you are getting. (Don’t even waste your time asking the pimpled kid behind the counter, they know less about the gas than you do).

Ethanol can lower your fuel mileage, but for the average person buying 10% blend with Ethanol, you won’t notice much of a drop. One or two miles per gallon if that (in my S-10 it is only about .6 tenths of a mile per gallon difference). From what I see, most drivers could gain more fuel mileage by changing their driving habits than switching to a non ethanol gasoline.
If you are using E85, the average fuel mileage loss is about 17%.

As for me, If I had a 1956 Ford pickup, I wouldn’t buy Ethanol gas, and I would use 89 octane (unless it had a high performance engine that required a higher octane) . If, I could find a Major Brand without Ethanol I would use only that.
Some people have really done their homework, so to speak, on the gas they put in their old cars and pickups, and go even further with this, but I can’t post that info here.

Chuck

I have one Van that runs great on Amoco / B P Mid grade . Meanwhile Shell is the gasoline of choice if I can get it . I try to avoid Hugo Chavez/ Citgo though. I sometimes buy Exxon . Ed Shaver

interesting info here guys. If anyone has insomnia, you can read the EPA info in the link by Chuck lol.
Im probably not telling anyone here anything they dont know, but if your gas contains any ethanol you should put an additive like Stabil in for your small engines like mowers, chainsaws,whackers and marine engines. I guess the small engines dont like the corn juice.
John

...pre-pay is alive and well on the east coast...pretty much the only option...what burns me up is when you have to go in the store for a receipt, because the slack &#@* attendants can't be bothered to put register tape in the receipt printer ...or maybe they're just trying to get you in the store to buy something else...

...I don't buy gasoline from Citgo as they are owned by the Venezuelan government...you'll note their commercials try to play up the 'hometown' aspect, just because the people that run the stations are Americans...

Whatever is handy when the tank is getting low but only ethanol free, which is usually premium grade in Wis. For you guys with old cars and carbeuratored engines don't use ethanol gas it will eat up the gaskets etc inside the carb. This I know from personal experience. All my lawnmowers, chain saws, ATV's, restored auto's etc with a carb get only premium gas. As for the Citgo thing, my fav brand over the last 40 yrs, what's the diff if you by it imported from Saudi Arabia where they sell to us in a lot of major brands then use the money to finance terrorists in the middle East, such as Iraq. Chavez is not shooting as us. The commie thing is ok but we have an embargo against Cuba, a commie country and borrow money from China and have given them our entire manufacturing industry and that's OK? The largest commie country in the world there guys.

I fill up then when the low light comes on I drive for another 30 miles or so then search for the nearest station out of desperation. I know, not good for the fuel pump but it seems like I am always running late and in a hurry to get to the next job. Ya, my new years resolution, fill up before the light come on. Resolution #53

I have too many bad memories as a Shell dealer back in the 70s to buy their gas anymore, only in emergencies.
QT swept through the St. Louis area and they seem to have a station a mile or two, nice places, people are courtious, they train their people well.

Jack Sim

Chevron and only Chevron ( ok well maybe a little Texaco, but they are owned by Chevron so....) 'cause they made my house payments for 30 years!

I prefer Sunoco or Marathon/Speedway. In Ohio, there is also very little choice. In the last 25-30 years, Texaco, ARCO, Exxon (since reappeared), Martin, 76 and recently Citgo have disappeared. I avoid bp since my truck runs like (you know what) on it. I have never forgiven bp for killing Sohio and Amoco (ARCO dies within the next 5 years). The only Valero close is on the Ohio Turnpike. In my town, there is only one major branded station left. I have had decent luck on gas from the stop and rob.

Another tip:

If you are using 10% Ethanol fuel, you don't need a gasoline deicer.

If you don't use Ethanol fuel, except on occasion you should consider filling up with a tank of Ethanol fuel once a month or so. Or at the least, if you will be traveling you should gas up with a tank of Ethanol fuel a couple tank fulls before you leave. Then if a problem arrises it won't ruin your trip.

What can happen, Especially if you are running your tank down to E all the time, is condensation build up. Over time water will collect in small amounts in the bottom of your gas tank. Then when you fill up with Ethanol fuel, the Ethanol will suspend that water and into your gas filter it goes.

Any tips on diesel? Have a o4 6.0 that has been a ongoing problem. Does it help to use additives?
Thanks
Rick

Rick, I converted my 99 7.3 to run on used veggie oil. I now have 130,000 miles running on veggie oil and converted when i had 230,000 on my truck. The low sulfur diesel we are now making is causing a lot of issues on the engines as it is more abrassive than the higher sulfur diesel was. My truck starts on diesel but when it gets to temp( about 3 minutes) it automatically switches over to v.o. Instead of filling up every three to four days I fill up every 6 weeks.
But I personally have seen no benefits in the additives.

First of all the amount of additives in a typical load driving down the highway is less thana 5 galon bucket spread over the 13000+ gallons in the tanker. I worked for the oil companies. Marathon sucks even though I sold for them in MI for years. It's hot all summer long as they don't allow it to cool after their last step refining so you don't want Marathon on a hot day when just delivered from the tanker. Chevron additives are still ahnds down superior but even they are jumping onto the 10% ethanol band wagon.

3 reasons why i buy Shell--

A good product--

I use a Citicard Shell Master Card,5 percent off of all gasoline purchases,to date $460.00 rebate.

Shell has been paying me since 1997 to NOT come to work!

My understanding about the additives are that they typically are detergents and some do benefit in helping an engine run better. The 10% ethanol gas as far as Texas goes is required in any county and county that surrounds the county in question that has higher pollution levels. I think that most vehicles made from 1997 and up have the required equipment(viton type rubber and gaskets) to handle the ethanol. Our small equipment doesn't stand up to the ethanol though and I had to deal with that until I figured out what to do. Generators, chain saws, and anything I do not use often is run til it's empty and put it up dry. I have had to clean a lot less carbs the past few years doing it this way.

Rick, since you mention your problem is ongoing, if changing your fuel filter solves your problem short term, then you may have a "Diesel Bug" problem.
Here is a description of that http://dieselbugsolution.blinkweb.com/index.html

Gaspedler thanks for the info.
My problem was I would start my van and let it idle and warm up. The Ford dealership says you cant let them idle to warm up. I now start it and let it run for a couple of seconds then take off even on very cold days. Year before last we spent over $13k keeping two vans running.This year it was less than half that amount. Also after going to 2 dealerships we found a 3rd one that understood the 6.o diesels and took care of the problem that was causing ongoing problems.Carbon had built up in the motor and was not allowing a temp sensor to do it's job. I just wish the first two could have found the problem. Wendle Ford in Spokane Washington found the problem

Working on Oil burners aint the same as working on a Gas job . I should outta know as I was a mechanic all of my life and I still drive professionally from time to time too. I know what a good running diesel sounds like and a Gas engine too. Ya don't take a diesel to a gas engine guy an vice virsa . I'm glad ya got the motor fixed as Diesel is outragously priced these days ! Ed Shaver

Since I live in a pretty small town, most of my gas is bought from an independent co. Owens Oil Company, out of Bloomington Ill. has several stations branded Freedom Oil, In Illinois and Flordia. For many years it was the only place you could buy diesel and gasoline both.I have stuck with them for the last 15 years. Norm.

Norm do they have any oil cans or bottles that say Owens on them? If they did I will have to make a trip down there

Actually the additive is added as the tanker is being loaded,all computerized.At the Shell yard in W.Sacto.if the computer for the additive is down you will not be able to load gasolne.

Living in the Twin Cities area, I'm able to choose Holiday's, low sulfur, "Blue Planet" gasoline. I like the "earth & engine" friendly option, and have been going to Holiday, every fill, for the past (17) years without a problem!

Dude. Even though I live close to Bloomington, I have only came up with one, Owens oil can, it was a two gallon,in good condition but the graphics were pretty plain,no quart cans at all.There is a lady in Clinton who has an OCOPEP globe, but she will not part with it, I have tried. I am sure you know better than anyone how hard it is to find Owens, collectables.Norm.

Yes I do there Norm. After looking for it for a little over a year now I have 3 quart cans,1-2 gal can,1 uniform patch & a coupon book. They did a good job cleaning up there stuff when they downsized!!!