Top Tier is a marketing gimmick.

Gas is gas.

 

gas is gas, look at a map of the pipe lines from the Gulf.

 

It is a major company and their gas should be just fine. I would only worry about "off brand" jackleg companies that usually show up on the outskirts of town right next to the used car lots with the dusty plastic flags and the snakeskin booted salesmen.

 

:rofl:

 

Gas is not gas.

There are industry standards for base gas. In that respect, gas is gas.

Some stations can have water leaking into the tanks or old gas. If a station always looks dead, consider not buying from them.

Tesoro, who refines gas for many lesser known brands, told some reporters that it won't put a penny more in deposit control additives designed to reduce build-up on the valves because consumers won't pay a penny more. That is honesty. That also means that gas is not gas.

On the other hand, some brand name gas is much more expensive. Costco is planning to sell only Top Tier gas in the future.

Chevron says they put double the deposit control additives as the minimum requirement so they meet Top Tier standards. Chevron also says if you use concentrated Techron, you will get 10x concentration. You shouldn't use 10x regularly (20 oz. to 20 gallons of gas)

By my math, if you use 1 oz. of concentrated Techron added to 20 gallons of no-name gas, you should have Top Tier gas. That is because no-name gas has additives roughly equivalent to Techron except at 50%. To add the other 50% to get Chevron-like gas, add 1 oz. (20 gallons of base gas needs 2 oz. of Techron to be Chevron, 1 oz. to have the minimum EPA amount).

I'm a bit nerdy. I buy the same brand for a few consecutive tankfuls so as not to mix additives. It doesn't matter but makes me feel better.

 

Good balanced summary of why the often quoted 'gas is gas' is an over-simplification.

If Marathon gas was a choice for me, I'd be comfortable with it because:

- new stations mean clean tanks and dispensing equipment

- Marathon is a refining and distribution company, so there is consistency in the product
(that is, you know what you are getting additive-wise)

 

I do know that BMW recommends that drivers avoid BP whenever possible. I made the mistake of filing up with BP gas. X3 stalled after 1/10th of a mile. Good thing I always save the receipt. 20% water. It cost the station $1900.00 in repairs. Complete flush of fuel system including full tune-up and new fuel pump plus misc. items.

 

I do know that BMW recommends that drivers avoid BP whenever possible. I made the mistake of filing up with BP gas. X3 stalled after 1/10th of a mile. Good thing I always save the receipt. 20% water. It cost the station $1900.00 in repairs. Complete flush of fuel system including full tune-up and new fuel pump plus misc. items.

Got any proof of that?

I use BP among others and never have any problems. Then again, I don't have problems with any brand of gas.

Gas is gas. Sure, if the station is a run down POS, there is some possibility of a contamination problem, but the gas was fine when it arrived at the station. Brands don't matter, extra detergent doesn't matter, believe whatever OWT and marketing BS you want, but it isn't an oversimplification. Gas is gas.

 

No proof in writing. I am just going by what my dealer told me. Maybe BP has cleaned up their act.

Someone else can do some snooping on BP.

BP around here is usually higher anyway.

 

No proof in writing. I am just going by what my dealer told me. Maybe BP has cleaned up their act.

Someone else can do some snooping on BP.

BP around here is usually higher anyway.

It all boils down to who won WW11 or the Civil War.
Both are still being faught every day
BP is disliked in the US because of the recent spill issues.
Before BP it was SOHIO, GM had a hard on for them.
A bad tank of gas could ruin the reputation of any brand.
I worked for a rental car company and ordered 8,500 gallons of the cheapest gas I could find every ten days for 10 years without a gasoline related problem.
Infrequently a customer would fill up with Diesel by mistake and that would cause problems.
Gas is Gas and bad Gas is bad Gas

 

I use BP premium with no problems. The retailer is a friend and I have done business with him for a long time. A few years ago his 'regular' storage tank had water in it and quite a few customers had exactly the problems mscamp described. Almost all of their problems occurred within eyesight of the station.

 

I am fortunate to have a local Shell station that sell ethanol free 93--both my BMWs get this gas exclusively. I also put it in my Accord, or I put some generic 93 ethanol free in it at another local station if I'm out that way. When I travel, I try and find ethanol free 93--even if it's generic--and I buy that before any other branded fuel. Since Chevron went out East of the Mississippi, I use Shell, Mobil, Sunoco, and Gulf if I can't get ethanol free. I run a bottle of Techron before each oil change, and if I use ethanol poisoned fuel, I run some Startron Starbrite through the car afterward.