Techron?

I use mostly Murphy USA gas as it is cheap and convenient. The station is really busy so I am not getting stale gas.
If for some reason I am not near a Walmart, I use Shell which is Top Tier.
In 44 years of driving, I have never needed a gasoline additive. (barring pre-mix oil for 2 strokes in my youth)

 

I did use the Techron concentrate occasionally in my very first fuel injected car, a 1986 Accord. But only during the first third of its life. After that, nothing. When I unloaded it (at 235k miles) for a 2010 Prius, it was not showing any symptoms of fuel injector problems, still came up clean in its biannual emissions test (nearly perfect on highway test, 1/3 of limit on idle test), and had just topped 40 MPG for the first time. (That was more a driver adjustment than a car thing, becoming a new student of Wayne Gerdes.) A kid (well, 30-ish by now) six blocks away still drives it, at 305k miles early this spring.

Engines and fuel additive blends have improved since then, so I feel no reason to bother.

 

Here in Vancouver Canada all of the gas brands are extremely competitive and prices are almost always either identical or within a cent or so per litre of each other - so there's no penalty for using one brand or another. But when I drove down to California I was amazed to see that Chevron was priced way above everyone else. I take that as a sign that people value the brand enough to support such high prices.

The lack of comparative information about gas brands has always annoyed me. But I've always used Chevron because of two anecdotal pieces of info from people that I trust:

1) A friend of mine took an auto repair course and said that the instructor swore by Techron

2) Another friend knows a Chevron dealer and mentioned that even when there's a gas shortage and they're forced to from a third-party bulk seller, they have barrels of Techron that they add to the fuel.

In the absence of any other information that's swayed me enough to stick with Chevron. Pity that it's only available on the Left Coast.

 

Exclusively...no.

Any "top tier" brand will suffice.

Different fuel brands have different additives.
Yes Techron is good stuff with no horror stories about this additive causing issues, at least that I am aware of.
FWIW I personally like to switch between brands to rotate their specific/ proprietary additives.
Further, at oil change time I add a bottle of Techron concentrate to the tank and run through said tankful then do the oil change to remove any debris Techron broke down.

Have fun.

 

I tank up at Chevron almost exclusively, never use Techron concentrate though. No special reason that I latched onto Chevron, well I suppose to avoid possible variables in gas quality.

I like that they still have free air.

 

Techron additive is OK I guess, but I'm not seeing a benefit for a 4-year-old car, The good news is that it will not harm the car, which is better than some of the products in the Marvel Mystery Oil aisle in your local auto parts shop.
I use Seafoam quite a bit, but then again I have 3 lawnmowers, 2 weedwackers, and a few other items with small ICEs, so buying Techron for me would be extra-redundant.

If you use brand-X exclusively for fuel, then you should see if they have some kind of rewards program like a cash back card. Sometimes a grocery store will team up with one of the [sic] Top Tier outlets in a play for pay deal.
Chevron is good fuel. I'm just not married or related to them, so I can and do buy gas guilt-free at Murphy.....and I generally keep cars for an extended tour of duty (200K) so I'm persnickety about my cars too.
I keep the fluids and filters checked fairly regularly, which is a much more reliable predictor of how long your car will stay away from the tow trucks and service bays.
I lost confidence in "top tier" fuels being substantially different than plebeian brands when I discovered that you could purchase this pedigree if you threw enough money at the right people.

One benefit too the Chevron brand is that they will (sometimes) keep their tanks, pumps, and filters in better shape than some of the mom and pop places, and you (sometimes) get cleaner restrooms and fresher coffee---which is a REAL benefit that you can immediately ascertain.
If you get gas from a very high volume outlet, you'll also benefit from better (and more secure) facilities which means that in some towns that the Murphy station might offer cleaner fuel than the snootier low volume Big Boy place up the street.

Good Luck!

 

I also have some 'insider' contacts that I reasonably trust.

My sister (now retired) spent her career in a regional refinery, starting as an engineer blending fuel before moving up the management chain. Her spouse had a similar career path at a competing refinery. Neither was Chevron.

Early on, she mentioned Chevron's Techron as the best additive package in the industry, and some auto makers referenced it in their advertising. Much later, she indicated that all the majors had advanced beyond that earlier Techron standard. Techron had also advanced, and still was the best, but now by a much narrower margin. If you were not having fuel quality issues with your buying pattern back then, you shouldn't have any problems now.

Her household's fuel purchases were once based on which of their employers was running the best loyalty program. (i.e., never Chevron.) Recently, that has been nobody.

 

If you use TopTierGas.com brands, you should be getting adequate levels of detergent. If you are not using TopTierGas.com brands, then extra detergent may help once in a while, or you could alternate using a few tankfuls of TopTier once in a while. Basically, TopTier brands agree to add more detergent than the EPA minimum requirement.

In my area we mostly have TopTier but some regions are increasingly smaller brands.

 

Chevron is good, techron is good, I like it, but it's also the most expensive brand in my area. Always 20 cents more per gallon. But not a big deal with a Prius, and a small 11 gallon tank. I also get Mobil and 76.
Heck, that car will run on anything.

 

If you are pretty much only using Chevron (except for occasional bigamy), you are wasting your money buying extra Techron, as the additive is in every tank of gas you buy.

My 2003 Toyota -- 170K -- has pretty much only been fed Chevron from the day of delivery. If I use pretty much any other fuel (except for gas from Fred Meyer grocery stores), it causes the check engine light to throw an O2 sensor code. Shell, Texaco, Mobil are among the many brands that can cause the code.

As soon as I refill with Chevron, it goes away. My mechanic explained it to me once, but I don't remember what he said, other than not to worry about it. He also said there was nothing wrong with Shell, Mobil, Texaco, etal.

 

I use only top tier gas and in the first six months used only Chevron. In a bad hour of night I was compelled to use Shell. I since have used 76, and Arco also. My supermarket carries a top tier gas without its brand so it is Gas ?. It isn't part of your question but I was using top octane for awhile. I find Chevron overrated as a gas, and the C I drive really gets along with Arco and Shell. I switched back to regular 87 grade. Now about additives. I notice a difference in the smoothness of running, the more harmonious sound of the ICE, and the jump up of torque when using an additive. I drive on freeways at 25 mile clips, alternated by streets for 10 mile stretches. I drive on coastal turn-filled roads, some hills, and generally an urban or salt-water environment. I have to have the pickup to negotiate my way around convoys of trucks, or the idiot here and there who can't comprehend a turn signal. I can not consider not using an additive. It may not make a difference in the numbers, but it makes a difference in the ride.

 

When our 2008 Prius started losing mpg at about 150,000 miles I determined it was the ICE not the traction battery. I dumped in a can of Sea Foam and it cleared up the ICE problem after about 15 minutes of driving. I suppose it was dirty injectors. I'm averaging 48 mpg on the 8 year old Prius with 163,000 miles on it.

I believe Techron is an equal to SeaFoam.

We buy the cheapest gas in town to save money. Chevron is priced quite a bit higher, between 20 and 30 cents per gallon. I figure over 150K miles that is something like $850 less for the cheap gas; enough to buy a few cans of SeaFoam.

 

Chevron is the best. Its so good that G.M. and Ford would ship it into Michigan when they would run testing on new cars. Sometime you just have to pay more for a better product. Now why use Mobil 1 when you can buy a bottle of Orbit oil (this is a real brand). Same thinking behind motor oil and Gas. Buy the best you can afford, after all your car is your 2nd highest investment!

 

I used to use additives, but after many years of not seeing any benefits, I now usually fill up only at Tier 1 fuel stations. Occasionally I will buy lower-tiered fuel, if I have to.

 

Looks like they just updated all the licensed brands of top tier gas today:

Licensed Brands | Top Tier Gas

They added Citgo.

 

The thing I noticed was Amoco Ultimate which used to be clear premium, we've talked about. Blast from the past? Or just hijacking the Brand Name?

 

I have used Techron since it was recommended by the Honda Gold Wing Owners Club many years ago. In my 2008 Prius when the mileage dropped from 44 to 30 I put 2 bottles in one tank of gas and the mileage jumped right back up. Just did it on my brothers Prius V with the same result! I would absolutely recommend it.