ALWAYS Chevron...when I had my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, Chevron gas always made my engine run smoother, never any hesitation, and quiter at idle. Actually any gasoline that is considered "Top Tier" is recommended by the car companies for use in their cars.. Top Tier Gasoline
On Holiday? Don't you mean on vacation? I don't ever remember seeing gas at a Walmart on the west coast.
I never use Costco because of the lines there. It's usually around .10-.15 cents less but to wait for 30 minutes to get gas & save $1????? Crazy to me. My time is worth much more. I use Shell most of the time since there are 3 stations very near me & they are around .05-.10 cents cheaper then the Chevron stations near them. On trips I will use Shell or Chevron if possible but I'm less picky since I know that I'll burn through the tank of gas very quickly.
That makes sense, Murphy has an exclusive deal with Walmart, but do not do business west of Colorado. Cheap Gas Finder - Find Best Gas Prices - Cheap Gas Locations
Ironically Top Tier was the reason that I switched from Chevron. They were all that I used, then when Top Tier came out in 2004 I found out to my amazement that QuikTrip was one of the very few at the time (along with Chevron) that adopted the Top Tier standard. QuikTrip prices are almost always the cheapest which is why I had never even thought about buying gas there, but after they were listed as a Top Tier gasoline I switched from Chevron to QuikTrip. For the past seven years they are now the only place that I buy gas unless I am travelling somewhere that doesn’t have QuikTrip in which case I will use Shell, Exxon, Texaco etc.
The only time I ever had a highway-warm car start stumbling and running rough right after a fillup, was immediately after filling at a Chevron station on I-84. Sam's Club out here.
I live in Rogers/Bentonville Arlansas. Home of Walmart. We have several WMs and Sams Club in the area so I try and my gas there by using a gas card for .10 cents off per gal. Otherwise, I use the Kum & Go by my house because it's clean and has pretty good prices.
I wouldn't want to wait in a line like that either. I usually go to Costco in Kennewick and there might be 1 car ahead of me. Filled up today it was only $3.19/gal but price isn't so important with a Prius. I prefer to get gas in Washington instead of Oregon where I live because I'd rather pump my own.
Are there any consequences to pumping your own in Oregon? During a New Year ski trip at Bend a year ago, I pumped my own because I forgot I was in Oregon, and the attendant was so busy he didn't see us. My error was discovered only because the receipt printer wasn't working, and directed me inside for hardcopy. The attendant was a bit confused, but did print it out and gave me no grief for my illegal self service.
Heh, I had heard of Kwik Trip before, but not Quik Trip. I recall being mildly surprised that a regional chain like that was on the Top Tier list. I just had to go look at the list again and sure that they were two different places, and indeed, both are on the Top Tier list.
No consequences for the customer anyway, especially if you are from out of state. If a gas station is caught letting people pump their own they would probably get a warning letter the first couple of times then a fine. The only real problem is that most of the attendants receive no training whatever and often underfill or overfill the tank. Plus a lot of the smaller stations have only one clerk for the convenience store and the gas pumps so self service would be faster.
I usually get either Sunoco, Mobile, or Shell. I fill up in Orange County NY where I work which is usually 10 to 20 cents cheaper than where I live in Dutchess County NY. But to be honest, the cost difference doesn't really matter when I am putting 6 to 8 gallons of gas in my prius. I would be more concerned if I was driving my Tacoma PU which only gets 20 mpg and I am putting in 12 to 15 gallons.
can we add a poll to this thread with options based upon all the responses here so we can populate it? ie Shell, Mobile .. .. or is there already one?
I have been using Shell/Chevron but did the math today and realized that the cost difference between a top-tier station and a high-volume generic station is about 0.15/gal...or about $14/mo for me. Adding Renewable Lubricants' Bio-Plus Injector Cleaner at a rate of 1 oz per fill-up (it is advertised to be used at a 1 oz to 15.6 gal ratio) will cost me about $4/mo. So in theory, generic gas + Bio-Plus additive will give me a better performing fuel than top-tier alone....and still save me $10/mo.
You can trust the oil company, but can you trust the gas station. Down the road from where I work, there was a BP station. There may have been some complaints because BP came in and tested the product and found it wasn't BP gas in the tanks and pulled the franchise.
I'll avoid an Arco station at any cost. They charge to use a debit crd, have one crappy kiosk for the entire island to start your transaction and the gas makes your car knock, especially in warm weather. Cracks me up, the Arco will be 3-4 cents cheaper than a Mobil or Shell across the street and people will line up at the Arco with no wait at the others to save .50 cents
Our family has probably purchased thousands of gallons from Arco over the last 20 years and has never had an issue. The main difference between the brands is the additive pkg.'s performance anyway. I'm curious why Arco's gas would cause knocking....could 87 really be less than 87?
I was told because they have a higher ethanol content. I just find it inconvenient to not do my transaction at the pump and it's annoying that they charge to use a debit card. Not worth the hassle to save a few pennies.