Do you ever buy non top tier gas when top tier is available?

J

Joe1

Joined
Mar 14, 2003
Messages
891
Location
USA
I probably use TT gas about 85% of the time. I will buy non-TT gas even when TT gas is available under the following circumstances:

1) l am in an unfamiliar area and the TT station looks run down/and or does low volume. For example, l was once in NY in the Hudson Valley and needed gas. The top tier station had old pumps that didn't look well maintained. There weren't any other cars at the pumps.
There was a Quick Chek convenience store nearby that was sparkling new with nice modern gas pumps with multiple cars filling up. I opted for the Quick Check because l thought the chances of getting stale gas or water in the gas were much lower than the TT alternative.

2) If the price differential between the TT and Wawa or Quick Check is too great. I won't pay more than a 2 cent premium for TT gas.

My travels take me past a Costco on a daily basis and that is my first choice as it is usually the cheapest and being TT.
I prefer TT fuel, but l don't think using non-TT fuel on occasion is going to have any impact which is why l don't stress out too much if l fill up at a high volume well maintained non-TT station.
 
80/20 rule for me. Try to get the Costco gas near my home as much as possible, prolly near 80% of the time. Biggest driver is cheaper price over long periods of time, with TT status being 🍒 on top
 
Scotty Kilmer touched base on this recently and he makes a point: if top tier gas providers (ie Shell, Chevron et al) won’t tell you what’s in their gas that makes it so much better, maybe it’s not that great after all.
If top tier is convenient, I’ll buy it. If not, Speedway, Kroger etc.
 
Generally I use the Costco gas, but if for some reason I don't want to drive the extra distance to the station, within a mile from me are Exxon, Arco, Chevron (which is my last choice because of it's much higher price), all TT fuels. On longer trips, I'll look for TT stations, but if one can't be found and I need fuel, it's no problem going to Billy Bob's Quik Stop for a fill up, or partial fill.
 
I'd do it in a heartbeat if need be, but my daily routine allows me to fill TT almost 100% of the time.
Mobil +95%
The rest Chevron and Shell.
 
The no name gas station in my little village sells 87 and 93 octane gas, the 87 is usually priced evenly with other area stations and the 93 is usually among the lowest prices for premium in the state. There are a lot of people who go out of their way to buy 93 octane gas there to include many high end vehicle drivers.

I don't know how it may work in other parts of the country where I have not lived, but where I have lived a local oil company provides gasoline to every station in the area minus maybe a truck stop or two that run their own fuel supply. The only difference between "top tier" gas and everything else is in the proprietary additives that are added into the tanks for a specific gas station. Gasoline is gasoline and what is sourced for one area gas station is likely coming from the same source as others.

It is much like motor oil in that every oil from brand to brand has a different additive package.
 
Top tier gas has never proven its worth to me.
I've never experienced a gasoline related breakdown in 20+ years of driving.

From my perspective, gasoline is a commodity driven by price only. Modern ICEs are specifically designed to run on E10 and the overwhelming majority of the motoring public uses the product with no issues ever.

I buy Costco when it's convenient but other than that, the cheapest corner station always wins.
 
Joe1 said:
I probably use TT gas about 85% of the time. I will buy non-TT gas even when TT gas is available under the following circumstances:

1) l am in an unfamiliar area and the TT station looks run down/and or does low volume. For example, l was once in NY in the Hudson Valley and needed gas. The top tier station had old pumps that didn't look well maintained. There weren't any other cars at the pumps.
There was a Quick Chek convenience store nearby that was sparkling new with nice modern gas pumps with multiple cars filling up. I opted for the Quick Check because l thought the chances of getting stale gas or water in the gas were much lower than the TT alternative.

2) If the price differential between the TT and Wawa or Quick Check is too great. I won't pay more than a 2 cent premium for TT gas.

My travels take me past a Costco on a daily basis and that is my first choice as it is usually the cheapest and being TT.
I prefer TT fuel, but l don't think using non-TT fuel on occasion is going to have any impact which is why l don't stress out too much if l fill up at a high volume well maintained non-TT station.
Click to expand...
I mostly use HYVEE or Sams club or Casey's, gas, all 3 are close to me, never any fuel related issues with either.
 
High volume stations with easy accessibility. I’ll go to a station I can turn right into and make a right coming back out over going to a Top Tier station that requires me to cross traffic.
 
Never.

My Jeep 3.8 will develop pretty strong pinging after only 2 to 3 tankfuls of non Top-Tier gas. It would go 3,000 miles or so with Top Tier before developing the ping. Now, I only run Shell gas through it and it never develops the ping.

I used to have to run a tank of Shell V-Power through it along with doing a few "Italian tune-ups" to clean out the deposits and get rid of the ping for another 3k or so, but Shell changed their add pack in their 87 octane and now it doesn't develop the ping, at all.

A Shell fuel distributor told me their add pack exceeds Top Tier standards for detergency by a good margin. My old Jeep testifies to the beneifits.

It depends on your engines. Let them tell you if you need it or not. My Ford Transit gets cheap non-Top Tier all the time because my wife fills it up and doesn't care. It does just fine on anything, so I don't see/hear/feel a benefit there.

I think my Jeep 3.6 would do fine, too, but since I drive it, Shell or Top Tier goes in it.

I've heard that BP also exceeds Top Tier detergent standards, but haven't run more than a rare tank through my 3.8.
 
My Toyota doesn’t care what fuel is in the tank but my Subaru is oddly picky about fuel; BP and Chevron produce extended cranking times on startup and I get reduced MPG, most non-TT found in NY runs and starts fine but I occasionally get a bad tank, Shell runs and starts great and gets the best mileage. Down in Virginia, neither of my cars ever gets non-TT because I have the 3-5 cent/gallon Fuel Rewards Shell card for my Subaru and I usually have 30-80 cents off per gallon from our grocery store/pharmacy points at BP which I use to fill my Toyota’s tank as well as some jerry cans to get through the month.
 
Snagglefoot said:
I support our local yocal gas station. The driver says he picks up the fuel at the Shell or Esso rack in Calgary. No problems. :)
Click to expand...

Lots of threads on this. Our gas, as in many places, all comes from the same source. However, the additive pack is what makes the difference. I guarantee you that while he picks up the fuel from the same source as Shell, the additive pack that goes in it is very different, as Shell and others have proprietary packs. The pack going into the mom/pop gas is picked from a menu offered by the distributor, and most independent stores get the minimum, which meets EPA standards. That's fine, but it is not the same as Shell or Esso going into your car. If your car runs fine on it, then no worries. I like the idea of supporting local shops. We've got a Phillips 66 that is both a local family owned store, but has Top Tier gas. Win/win.
 
I forget if Irving is Top Tier or not. But as a rule I buy there when I can. Not sure it matters but I have their rewards card, so... I drive enough that pulling into one is trivial.

OPE I will use the corner gas station. Half of it will evaporate away anyhow, lol.

I'm not sure if it matters or not. I put 116k on my Saturn, 176k on the wife's Civic, 80k on my current Camry and 208k on the wife's Camry, all with no fueling issues. But the new-to-me Tundra, that I got with 73k on the clock, had to have the throttle valve cleaned due to gunk at the 120k mark. Was that from bad gas or bad motor oil by the prior users? Dunno. The problem hasn't returned in 40k of subsequent driving--maybe it'll lurk its head again.
 
I buy gas at the lower cost stations even non top tier gas has required additives..
 
Maybe 4 times a year for the car . If so , 90 non E . 90 non E all the time for small engines . No issues .
 
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