Gasoline Quality

Our local Toyota dealership is recommending that only name brand gasoline be used because of quality issues. Any truth to the claim that gasoline bought at Costco is different than sold at Chevron or Shell?

Reply to
Steve
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It's the same exact stuff. The gasoline is shipped as a commodity from the refineries through a common pipeline system out to the regional tank farms, and it all works on the honor system - if Chevron puts 100,000 gallons of regular gasoline into the pipeline at the headend, they can take out 100,000 gallons from the other end - even if it came from a different refinery. Because it all has to be refined to the same standards.

The only thing that is different is the detergent ingredients, which are mixed into the raw gasoline at the tank farm as they fill the delivery truck. Generic sellers get a generic detergents that meet the federal requirements, unless they can make special arrangements to use the name-brand refiner's additives.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

For most part, its all the same. The difference is in the end. The truck driver puts in additives (sometimes the additives are put in when the gas is poured into the delivery truck). Now here is the difference, Shell, BP and others have MUCH better quality standards on building storage tanks, etc. Dont get me wrong, the EPA mandates a baseline, and everyone has to follow it. Shell and major brand providers build better tanks, better protection from water. A citgo station by my house was just sued, because tons of water got into the gas tanks, screwing up over 50 cars. It was something to see. Most cars made it no more than 1/2 mile and just stopped.

For this reason alone, I like going with newer stations. Also, most new stations are built with car wash stations. So the 10 cents that I pay extra a gallon, I get back from the discount on the car wash. I was the car at least once a week (lots of bugs and stuff by my house).

Dan

Reply to
Dan J.S.

I think they are referring to the stations that mix methanol (wood alcohol) in their gas.

Reply to
IBNFSHN

Shell advertised their V-power quality gas crap made me laugh. I remembered seeing Shell mid grade is 88 octane in AZ last week. Is it true for everywhere?

In Utah, the octane rating is 86,88,and 91. Everywhere else, they are

87,89,and 91.

Costco one time advertised a brand name of their detergent package which I forgot the name. If in doubt, mixed in some Chevron fuel cleaner once a while.

Reply to
DTT

The EPA mandates certain quality levels for gasoline, but those are pretty low. And, who's to say that an operation trying to keep costs the lowest meets these specs, or meets them with every shipment they sell.

Some name brand retailers do add additional additives to the gasoline for detergency and other benefits for competitive reasons. I'd suggest trying at least three tankfuls of each brand in repeatable driving and see what effects you notice (I find about 1 mpg less with BP's ARCO gas). Some problems only become noticeable in the long term. Do add a treatment of fuel system and combustion chamber cleaner to a tank maybe before each oil change. I like Chevron Techron Concentrate, Berryman B-12 Chemtool, BG 44K.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Shelton

Which brand Toyota recommend beside their own brand. I saw Techron is sold at Toy dealer.

Reply to
DTT

I don't think Toyota Motor Corp. has a recommendation. Each dealership sells what they feel they can profit from most.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Shelton

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