Gas station under new ownership

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My local Arco station has been bought out by Stop n Go. You guys think the gasoline is still the same or would it be from a different source now? I see the same brown Peterbilt truck going to all the gas stations whether it be Shell, Chevron, Union 76, or Arco.
 
For most areas, gas all comes from the same source unless you're on the border between two different regions. The only real difference between gas from on station and another is the additive package that gets used by different brands. Some brands tout how their additive package is better than others, but the EPA mandates a minimum amount. For the average run of the mill car, it really doesn't matter although some prefer Top Tier gas
 
Originally Posted By: FordTrucks71
Ask the manager..may still have contract for gas intact maybe not!


There's never a manager there. Just a kid that takes the money and switches on the pump you want.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
For most areas, gas all comes from the same source unless you're on the border between two different regions. The only real difference between gas from on station and another is the additive package that gets used by different brands. Some brands tout how their additive package is better than others, but the EPA mandates a minimum amount. For the average run of the mill car, it really doesn't matter although some prefer Top Tier gas


Thank you sir. That's reassuring.
 
Gas brands are as much a bunch of marketing hype as is Dodge vs Plymouth/Buick vs Chevrolet vs Oldsmobile vs Pontiac/Ford vs Mercury vs Lincoln....same platforms,same engines,different signage.They know people will grow to habitually buy one or another,they just cover all the bases.
 
Agree w/NHGUY.

Although I normally use just a couple of brands, that's simply because they are convenient. I have used everything from Shell V-Power to small local chains and have never noticed one bit of difference in the way my cars run.

For the record, I do use Techron or Regane a couple of times a year, so maybe that helps, but really I buy gas by price.
 
I try to go to Shell most of the time. I seem to notice a difference. However, I'll take it a step further. There are some OLD, shell stations around where I notice no difference. So my thought here is the small indy franchise owner probably orders fuel from where ever. Then there's some newer stations with the food marts that probably have newer underground tanks since I remember when those were dug up. They are all operated by a large chain franchise owner called True North. I think I've even seen the Shell gas tanker semi filling up the tanks versus the no-name truck at the smaller old places. I'm not 100% on any of this but this is my current line of thought. Link to True North:

http://www.truenorth.org/
 
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The gas itself may be more or less the same.

However... how often does the station pump the water from the bottom of their tanks, and how often do they change the filters on their pumps?
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
I try to go to Shell most of the time. I seem to notice a difference. However, I'll take it a step further. There are some OLD, shell stations around where I notice no difference. So my thought here is the small indy franchise owner probably orders fuel from where ever. Then there's some newer stations with the food marts that probably have newer underground tanks since I remember when those were dug up. They are all operated by a large chain franchise owner called True North. I think I've even seen the Shell gas tanker semi filling up the tanks versus the no-name truck at the smaller old places. I'm not 100% on any of this but this is my current line of thought. Link to True North:

http://www.truenorth.org/


I think it's all in your head. I go to whoever is cheapest and that might be BJ's or Prime or Hess. Sometimes I use gasbuddy.com just to find out who has the lowest price in my area. Never really had a gas related problem as the stations I use tend to have high volume if they have low prices. Plus I've known for a long time that all the gas comes in from the same tanker, when I was in the energy industry I even used to get the newsletter that listed all the bulk gasoline prices coming from the terminal.

As for Shell stations, they probably all have to get their gas from Shell, might not matter who actually ships in it. A lot of those brand name stations are actually squeezing the independents as they have to buy from their brand as that's what's listed on the pump. They've been squeezing their margins so much they have to remodel as convenience stores as they don't really make money on gas.

The real question is, what difference do you notice?
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
My local Arco station has been bought out by Stop n Go. You guys think the gasoline is still the same or would it be from a different source now? I see the same brown Peterbilt truck going to all the gas stations whether it be Shell, Chevron, Union 76, or Arco.



Arco is basically BP unless you are in Alaska....
It was sold to Sunoco at one time but BP owns them now
smile.gif

Read:

Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO)

Acquisition

In 1985, the Atlantic brand was spun off for ARCO's East Coast stations as Atlantic Petroleum. Atlantic was acquired by Dutch trader John Deuss (nl) who later sold it in 1988 to Sunoco. The ARCO brand is now used on the West Coast. ARCO specializes in discount gas by removing many frills, among them forcing prepayment for fuel, not accepting credit cards at most locations, and charging 45 cents[12] for the use of debit cards. In most locations, it is co-branded with ampm convenience stores, also a division of BP West Coast (ARCO introduced the ampm concept in 1979).

On April 18, 2000, ARCO was purchased by BP America and completely merged into BP operations except for ARCO Alaska which, due to FTC requirements, was sold by BP to Phillips Petroleum. ARCO as a subsidiary no longer exists.

Over the course of 2004 and 2005, ARCO signs have been replaced. New signs still have the Arco spark, but BP's Helios (BP's new white, yellow, and green "sunburst" mark named after the Greek Sun god, replacing the old British Petroleum shield mark)[16][17] is also located on the sign. A new tagline "ARCO - part of BP" has also appeared on some signs and advertisements. ARCO is known for sponsoring the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California,[18] with a license fee of $750,000/year through 2007.[19][size:14pt][/size]
 
I couldn't detect any performance different between various brands, but I would pay 3-5 cents per gallon more for Chevron than 7-11, USA Gasoline, or MOM and POP station. Mainly because all Chevron grades have Techron, and premium grade has more.
 
Is 76's additive package different? I have a couple cars and tI don't notice a difference, except for my Honda Ody. I have owned over 30 cars and it is more sensitive to gas brand than anything else I have owned. It will ping in the hills with anything but Shell or 76. But when using the 76 power is up. It also felt more powerful with the combo of Shell and Gumout All-in-one. When I used 76 in my Subaru the car felt the same but mileage was 2-3 mpg worse. Just recently tried Sunoco in the Ody and it pinged a little. Tried Coastal and it pinged more. Went back to 76 all is good. The 76 station is really cheap compared to others around but it is 5 miles from where I live.
 
Originally Posted By: David1
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
My local Arco station has been bought out by Stop n Go. You guys think the gasoline is still the same or would it be from a different source now? I see the same brown Peterbilt truck going to all the gas stations whether it be Shell, Chevron, Union 76, or Arco.



Arco is basically BP unless you are in Alaska....
It was sold to Sunoco at one time but BP owns them now
smile.gif

Read:

Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO)

Acquisition

In 1985, the Atlantic brand was spun off for ARCO's East Coast stations as Atlantic Petroleum. Atlantic was acquired by Dutch trader John Deuss (nl) who later sold it in 1988 to Sunoco. The ARCO brand is now used on the West Coast. ARCO specializes in discount gas by removing many frills, among them forcing prepayment for fuel, not accepting credit cards at most locations, and charging 45 cents[12] for the use of debit cards. In most locations, it is co-branded with ampm convenience stores, also a division of BP West Coast (ARCO introduced the ampm concept in 1979).

On April 18, 2000, ARCO was purchased by BP America and completely merged into BP operations except for ARCO Alaska which, due to FTC requirements, was sold by BP to Phillips Petroleum. ARCO as a subsidiary no longer exists.

Over the course of 2004 and 2005, ARCO signs have been replaced. New signs still have the Arco spark, but BP's Helios (BP's new white, yellow, and green "sunburst" mark named after the Greek Sun god, replacing the old British Petroleum shield mark)[16][17] is also located on the sign. A new tagline "ARCO - part of BP" has also appeared on some signs and advertisements. ARCO is known for sponsoring the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California,[18] with a license fee of $750,000/year through 2007.[19][size:14pt][/size]

That is some old info there. ARCO is now owned by Tesoro, with some licensing back to BP in NorCal, Oregon, and Washington:

Originally Posted By: http://arco.com/straight-up-gas/faqs/
How is ARCO affiliated with Tesoro Corporation?

As of June 1st 2013, Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC (a subsidiary of Tesoro Corporation) acquired all of rights, title and interest in the ARCO trademark.

How is ARCO affiliated with BP?

As of June 1st 2013, Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC has licensed the ARCO trademark to BP for BP to market motor fuel in Northern California, Oregon and Washington.
 
Originally Posted By: rob6773
Is 76's additive package different? I have a couple cars and tI don't notice a difference, except for my Honda Ody. I have owned over 30 cars and it is more sensitive to gas brand than anything else I have owned. It will ping in the hills with anything but Shell or 76. But when using the 76 power is up. It also felt more powerful with the combo of Shell and Gumout All-in-one. When I used 76 in my Subaru the car felt the same but mileage was 2-3 mpg worse. Just recently tried Sunoco in the Ody and it pinged a little. Tried Coastal and it pinged more. Went back to 76 all is good. The 76 station is really cheap compared to others around but it is 5 miles from where I live.


I'd think that 76's additives should be identical to other Phillips66 (formerly ConocoPhillips) brands.
 
CSANDSTE- there are very few 76's in my area and I don't think we have any other CononcoPhillips around. I am on Long Island.
 
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