Where do you fill up your car?

[FrustratedUser]

I go to the gas station and it happens to be either Shell, Exxon or Chevron.

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
If anyone is interested a good friend of mine used to work for Texaco in their finance department (pretty high up) and he said that most of the gasoline comes from only a few refineries...so basically, it's all the same.

yes, most of the gas (even at Costco/Safeway/your local private gas station) comes from only few refineries in the area that are normally owned by the Top 3 or 4

BUT

the quality varies a lot. I dont remember the exact specs but one of my cousin owns a gas station and he was telling me this. The refineries keep the best quality for their own branded stations and the lower quality that is left over goes to costco/safeway/private unbranded gas stations (I dont know how much of this is true but it came from my cousin who owns an unbranded gas station).

 

[Jeff7]

Where do I fill up my car? A gas station, preferably one with pay-at-the-pump.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
If you're buying gas with a higher octane rating than what your car needs, you're wasting your money. I buy my gas from the supermarket that's right by my house.

VQ engines run best on premium, straight outta Nissan's mouth. That topic was beat to the grave in a thread I posted earlier, this one's about where you fill up, not what grade.

Uh, that means that the car needs premium. :Q

That's why I put premium in it?

Right, heisenberg said not to put in gas with a higher octane rating than your car is meant to have. The VQ engine is meant to have premium.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: gsethi

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
If anyone is interested a good friend of mine used to work for Texaco in their finance department (pretty high up) and he said that most of the gasoline comes from only a few refineries...so basically, it's all the same.

yes, most of the gas (even at Costco/Safeway/your local private gas station) comes from only few refineries in the area that are normally owned by the Top 3 or 4

BUT

the quality varies a lot. I dont remember the exact specs but one of my cousin owns a gas station and he was telling me this. The refineries keep the best quality for their own branded stations and the lower quality that is left over goes to costco/safeway/private unbranded gas stations (I dont know how much of this is true but it came from my cousin who owns an unbranded gas station).

Don't know much about "quality", but I do know the huge difference between stations is the additives/detergents that are added to their fuels right before they load it up on the tankers at the refineries; that's usually what separates brand from brand, at least at the pump.

 

[FoBoT]

i buy gas from gas stations

 

[Vitamblu]

whereever the closest.

 

[thomsbrain]

i buy the lowest grade recommended for my car (because that's what it is supposed to run on), and i buy at the cheapest clean station i can find. that station is invariably at a costco.

 

[Insane3D]

I get whoever has the cheapest premium (93)...right now that is the local Mobil's.

As for higher octane fuels like 94 and such, generally, they won't make a bit of difference, even if your car just requires normal premium. Higher octane gas 100 or above can actually damage things if you aren't careful. There are a few cars that can benefit from the higher octanes, but they generally are the ones that already require a high octane to begin with. The best rule of thumb is to use the required grade that is on your gas cap/manual...

 

[Freejack2]

I run my car on whatever is cheapest. I see no point in spending 25 cents or more a gallon for premium gas if my car isn't designed for anything above 87 octane.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Oy, this isn't a "what do you put in your car?" thread, it's a "where do you fill it up?" thread...

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: tweakmm
I fill it up wherever I am when my gas is getting low and I have time to stop.

 

[compuwiz1]

Anything, except Arco. For some weird reason, I get worse mileage when I've used it. Maybe it's in my head, but I believe you get what you pay for.

 

[iversonyin]

Exxon or BP usually. The cheaper and closer of the two. I don't go out my way just to find a Exxon or BP. If I pass by one and the price seem ok, I fill it up.

 

[Tom]

what kind of underground tanks are used these days ? a long time ago, some stations would have problems with rust or other crap in their tanks, but I haven't seen that for a long time. back then I felt the higher volume stations were less likely to have this problem, or water in the gas.

but for 20 years, i pretty much get whatever's cheapest, and never have any issues.