Pinching Pennies Won't Hurt Your Car

[MA-Caver]

With cars being the major investments that they are it makes sense to want to "baby it" by not putting in cheap gas and breaking your bank with the name brands. But as this report shows it's not going to hurt your car at all but is gas is gas is gas?

Will bargain gas harm your car?
Friday January 4, 6:00 am ET
Terry Jackson
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080104/24176.html?.v=1&.pf=insurance
You're driving down the street with the gas gauge pointing to empty. Scanning the prices on the boards at the gas stations, you notice that the national brands are all around $3.25 a gallon for regular.
Then, you approach Joe's Gas 'n' Go. To your delight, good ol' Joe is selling regular for $3.15.
You think about stopping at Joe's, but wonder: "How good is the gas? Will using Joe's bargain gas harm the performance or reliability of my car?"
The short answer is "no."
At a time when motorists are trying to shave even a few dollars off their fuel bill, shopping some of the lesser-known brands may be a good idea.
<snip>That means Joe's gas must perform to a certain standard and likely won't harm your car.
But that doesn't mean Joe's gas is the same as what you'll find coming out of the pump at Chevron, BP, Amoco or other brands.
At the fuel depot, where gasoline from the refiner is dispensed, a lot of brands mix in their own formula of additives that they say goes beyond what the federal government requires.

So once in a while it's okay... at least until the prices come back down... if ever!
I do this right now because of tight finances at the moment, but I do add a fuel injection cleaner whenever I (get a chance to) fill up, because mine is an older vehicle ('91) and thus it needs that special additive IMO to ensure it's going to keep going.
Do you use the name brands like Chevron, Exxon, BP ? Does knowing that going the cheap route help or are you doing that already?
Gas where I live right now is $2.91 at it's cheapest and $3.02 at the high end.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I miss when I could fill up for 60 cents a gallon back in 97. *sigh*

But I went where the price was right, Noco when in Buffalo, BP in Cleveland, and a couple of reservation stations in between, with a monthly Chevron additive.

 

[Rich Parsons]

With cars being the major investments that they are it makes sense to want to "baby it" by not putting in cheap gas and breaking your bank with the name brands. But as this report shows it's not going to hurt your car at all but is gas is gas is gas?

So once in a while it's okay... at least until the prices come back down... if ever!
I do this right now because of tight finances at the moment, but I do add a fuel injection cleaner whenever I (get a chance to) fill up, because mine is an older vehicle ('91) and thus it needs that special additive IMO to ensure it's going to keep going.
Do you use the name brands like Chevron, Exxon, BP ? Does knowing that going the cheap route help or are you doing that already?
Gas where I live right now is $2.91 at it's cheapest and $3.02 at the high end.

Many companies run durability on the standard fuels with the cleaners. So running a cleaner through or some gas with a cleaner is a good thing from time to time.

The issue is when people buy the sub regular gas with lower octane. This can cause problems with your vehicles over time.

Some vehicles state Premium fuels. They can run on regular but they do not meet the performance and possible could run leaner and hotter. This could also negatively effect your emissions if anyone is really concerned over not polluting.

The major car companies usually have a supplier and that supplier is one of the "name brands" as their standards are higher.

Of course all the local gas as stated comes from the same regional refineries and also from the same holding tanks. The issue is that one will pull up and get it raw, while others have to go through a filter and also get additives added into the mix based upon the level of gas. i.e. Mid or Premium.

Once in a while it really is not to worry about. All the time it could lead to problems. The thing to check for though is the engine running hotter than before? Is the engine running on after you turn it off? Is it knocking as knocking is just before pre-ignition which is and for the engine as well. If it is doing any of these, run a full tank through of a name brand regular gas. If it is still there step up to a cleaner additive for a tank. If that does not work, then step up to the next level in gas to see if the octane rating helps. I had a '93 that ran great on mid grade fuels. It would get about 26 to 27 mpg. If I stepped down to the regular it would have after run and also the fuel economy would decrease to 21 to 23 depending upon time of year. The winter was a lot worse with the lower level grades of fuels.

So, while in general, the article is correct, I would always pay attention and react when you see a change and try to see if something else helps. Many times the cost different for the regular versus the mid grade, the regular would actually be more expensive per mile then the mid grade.

 

[tellner]

• Chevron - $3.37
• Arco - $2.92
• Mileage difference in Honda Fit - unmeasurable.
• Sound those of you as far away as Maine are hearing - a grizzly bear with its tender parts caught i n a steel trap or me paying for gas

 

[KempoGuy06]

so this has nothing to do with the octance level of the gas and only with the place you buy it at?

I dont care where I buy my gas as long as they have 93 or higher. Because in all reality if you were to get some gas from a fill up station at it cause problems with your car...youll get a new car. the standards for gas are crazy high.

B

 

[jks9199]

so this has nothing to do with the octance level of the gas and only with the place you buy it at?

I dont care where I buy my gas as long as they have 93 or higher. Because in all reality if you were to get some gas from a fill up station at it cause problems with your car...youll get a new car. the standards for gas are crazy high.

B

Be careful... Some vehicle manufacturers strongly discourage using no-name gas, because they've experienced enough problems caused by the no-name gas. My step-brother is a BMW mechanic; BMW will not cover certain repairs if they're caused by poor quality gas. And a discount gas station may not have the funding to cover you, either.

The way he explained it is that the no-name gas is the last stuff in the huge tank. After they've done the Exxon, Sunoco or whoever gas, running it through filters and adding stuff per the brand's recipe -- they pull the no-name gas, and it goes straight to the retailer as is. With whatever settled into the tank, etc.

 

[MA-Caver]

Be careful... Some vehicle manufacturers strongly discourage using no-name gas, because they've experienced enough problems caused by the no-name gas. My step-brother is a BMW mechanic; BMW will not cover certain repairs if they're caused by poor quality gas. And a discount gas station may not have the funding to cover you, either.

The way he explained it is that the no-name gas is the last stuff in the huge tank. After they've done the Exxon, Sunoco or whoever gas, running it through filters and adding stuff per the brand's recipe -- they pull the no-name gas, and it goes straight to the retailer as is. With whatever settled into the tank, etc.

This is true but I'm sure that whatever comes out at the "bottom of the tank" for the "no-name guys" is still filtered against impurities and whatnots as per Fed Regs. The pumps themselves would have filters again to protect any impurities residing in the holding tanks at the gas station.
Getting a pint, quart of the additives at the store and putting them in your tank will be the equivalent to the stuff in the name brand gas.
Ok, you're spending the extra pennies there instead at the pump... I'd rather do that... be supporting the little guy that shaves a few cents off their own profit so that the rest of us can still afford to get to/from work, classes, where-ever.
Gas prices are getting ridiculously high because of some political strife or turmoil somewhere. We're paying for it and paying for it dearly. We do need to find more efficient alternate fuels vehicles and start using them more widely and more frequently.