Does anyone know
what brand of gasoline
Costco sells?
Their in-store merchandise
is usually good name brands
and high quality. Just wondering
about their gas outside.

 

 

I could be wrong, but I believe it varies by location. Here in Utah I think it is Sinclair gasoline which isn't a top tier gas. My sales advisor specifically recommended to me that I not fill up at Costco because of their lower tier rating. Several months ago that was tough advice to follow because their gas is always 5-15 cents cheaper than other stations.

 

$.05 a gallon at 13 gallons is 65 cents. Even at $.10 a gallon you are talking $1.30.

Is it worth it for a lower tier gas that will give you WORSE mpg? It might even be more expensive because of the decreased mpg, someone should test that out.

 

i wan ot know tooo

 

"Top Tier" = Marketing Hype.
Do a Google search on "Top Tier Hype".

I've used Costco here in the SF Bay Area and have had no problems.

Jim

 

MPG shouldn't be any different, if the octane rating is the same.

In my area (Metro Detroit) its 93 octane at Costco, which is the same as Mobil, etc. ("top tier"). The energy content of gas is exactly the same, the only difference is the alleged purifiers and cleaning agents they supposedly add.

93 octane at Costco is consistently .15 cents less per gallon in my area. So, my tank holds 13 gallons, and I fill up once a week, that saves me more than $100 per year, for a product that gives me the exact same MPG.

Looking at it another way, it lops off about $8.30 per month on your payment/operating expense. That is enough to buy you a cheap lunch, go see a movie, you get the point.

Times are tough, and I don't like throwing away $100 per year if I don't have to when I can get the same product for less.

 

I see the same tanker at Costco that I see at Conoco/Phillips...

 

Don't know about the hype. don't care about the hype. I've been using their gasoline since last year (october-ish) and have had no problem. It's been good to me and my Clubman.

 

I used Costco gas in my Mini once. After the engine jumped out from under the hood, rolled/wobbled it's way over to the side of the road and vomited twice, it jumped right back in the car and took off just fine! I'm kidding! My car ran just fine on Costco gas.

 

To answer the OP's actual question...

Costco purchases gas on the spot market.

Usually all gas in an area comes from a central tanker farm. All of it the same in the big round tanks it's when it goes into the trucks the additive packages are added. Chevron / Texaco adds Techron, Shell adds their proprietary blend etc etc.

Hope that helps.

 

This thread is getting interesting.

 

 

Don't know the brand but all the cars at our house run just fine on Costco gas. Actually, I'd say they perform best on Costco gas (versus Esso and Petrocan). And Superstore gas sucks--used it on our Civic once and the engine was pinging away uphill.

 

Was shooting the breeze with the Costco gas attendant one evening, and I asked him this question (my answer is particular to my area). He said it comes from the Chevron refinery in Richmond (about a half-hour away)
http://www.chevron.com/products/sitelets/richmond/ and is delivered under contract by InterState Oil Company
http://www.interstateoil.com/index.p...tpage&Itemid=1 which matches the trucks that deliver at my Costco. He wasn't aware of any additional additives (Techron) at the refinery, but was certain there were none at the tanks during refueling. He said they get 4 double tanker visits a day virtually year-round, and still can run out of gas in really busy months. I blame the RV's in the summer! :P It's rare to drive right up to a pump at my Costco...there's almost always a line of two to three cars, and they're always at least a dime cheaper, sometimes more, than even the cheapest place in town. I hit Costco twice weekly for shopping, so I always gas up there, never an issue.

 

Here was my testing procedure from day one I got the car.

1. Put in 87 octane for 7 tanks and got 33 miles a gallon average. one as high as 37.2, This ran me thru June 25 Averaged over that time 32.437 mpg

2. Then i ran the tank as close to empty as i dared. On June 25 I put in 12.1 gallons of 91 octane

3. I then ran 91 Octane thru the car for 12 tanks this took me thru Sept 12. Averaged 31.5 mpg

4. So after figuring that i lost 1 gallon per mile and was spending more per gallon i should go back to the 87 octane.

Went back to 87 octane on Sept. 12 buying from the cheapest place i could get. Did not even use a "Top Tier" station and since then have averaged 32.1 mpg.

Now this is over the winter with starting the car and then cleaning the ice/snow off and running a large ski box on the top of the car. So that is means the car would have done better with out it.

I have now taken the box off OEM rack off and on the almost one tank it looks like i will run about 33 MPG, and hopefully higher than that.

So my conclusion is that you do not need "Top Tier" gas nor do you need to run 91 or better octane. It's just not worth it.

Now some will say that the lower octane will distroy the engine sooner. To those people i will say phooie. I had a Nissian that required 91 or better octane and for the 311,000 miles i put on it, it never saw anything better than 87 octane. i just made sure i did regular oil changes. And never did any work to the engine. I sold the car and saw it a two years later and the owner had put anohter 100,000 plus with no work to the engine. So 87 octane will NOT ruin an engine.

 

No one is saying that low octane gas will ruin an engine.........you just risk having it run below optimum. It wil retard timing and you won't get full power out of the engine.

Now low grade gas is another problem. It has been proven many times that the additive package that the major gasoline providers offer do in fact help keep your engine cleaner and running better with lower emissions.

 

My CostCo doesn't even sell gasoline.

 

Not in this particular thread but there are many many threads where people do way that you will damage the engine. BTW did you read my post i get better power out of the 87 octane than I do out of the 93 octane.

Except that the addatives in Mobile Gas was destroying oxygen sensors on Nissan and other vehicle for a while. And many cars get cleaner emissions on crap gas than on the "Top Tier" gas. This has been proven in the stae of Mass where they have outlawed some of the addatives that the gas companies have put in the gas.

I have also seen those reports and not a single one has really proven it. They use two different engines driven under two different conditions and try to compare them. I.E. one is from a car that drives around L.A on streets only and uses "Top Tier Gas" and the other is from a car that drive around L.A. and the dirt roads in the mountains of CA and uses low grade gas. Well any car that drives on dirt roads will show mor contamination in the engine no matter what gas they use.

There is only one way to prove the outcome and that is to put two engines to the test under very very exact conditions and run them in a laboratory atmosphere.

Now one of the major companies is talking about using nitrogen or someting it the gas to make it keep the engine cleaner. I don't beleive it.

 

I'll have to find the article again, but one of the fuel companies went a step further - they built a single lab engine with a split fuel system so that half of the cylinders were fed one fuel while the other half were fed a different fuel in order to make comparative measurements between different additive packages.

As for the new Shell advertising talking about the nitrogen in their gasoline, they're probably just using a nitrogen-rich amine detergent like most of the fuel companies. I guess their marketing department decided to focus on the fact that their detergent contains nitrogen, but any of the fuel companies could make the same claim.

EDIT - Found an example of the "split fuel" testing here on Shell Canada's FAQ page. Question #6 explains the test and claims that they found significantly different levels of deposits in the two halves of the engine after as little as 5,000 miles.

 

And if people think they are using Top Tier Gas if they are buy in Mobil, Exon, Sunoco, Gulf, and others that are big names. Guess what None of those named above sell Top Tier gas.

Here is the list of "Top Tier" Gas sellers in the US and Canada

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

So by this list i have only one gas station to purchase from if I was to stick to the "Top Tier" program. That station is 15 cents more per gallon than any ohter station in town and i have tried it and get rather horible performance out of it, Lots of misfires, inconsistant power, bucking and general bad engine preformance. I will not use Shell Gasoline in my car any more.

 

Sounds like your problem may be with that particular station rather than Shell gas in general. During my cross-country trips, I've used all sorts of gas, from name brand to no-name and from 86 octane to 94, and I've never had any gas give me the problems you describe.

 

There is no way that you are getting better performance from running 87 fuel. Unless you are only cruising around on the highway.........

 

I've used Costco 91 octane approx 90% of the time in my MCCs 14000+ miles) and it is averaging around 32mpg, I did put 87 octane once and the mpg declined by 1.8.

 

at a 20 cent per gallon difference between Premium and regular we use 87 octane. and for you folks that drive the 680 corridor between Pleasanton and Fremont in CA, the gas station at Andrade rd at the bottom of the Sunol Grade,: Sunol Gas is ARCO and they are at least .10 per gallon cheaper than any other station around