I know it is all relative, but did you ever think you would be "happy" gas is 2.18?

2.80 here in town, 2.44 by my job, 20 miles away.

 

Around here there is 8 or so gas stations in about 3 mile area. Today there was a 25 cent dif. in price. Only two tankers deliver gas to all the stations. I know were I go, the cheapest.

 

Please, let's not turn this into ANOTHER gas price thread.

-Matt

 

In a market like Los Angeles, where every major brand has its own refinery, there are almost no unbranded stations. Walmart and Costco have pumps, but that is about it. Valero is probably the main supplier to them because Valero has hardly any branded stations.

The few independents out there tend to be the same price, and sometimes more, than the name brand stations at times of rising prices. When prices are falling, they are a little less. That is because they are buying at "spot market" prices from the majors.

Flying J truckstops decided to do things differently and ended up buying the Shell refinery in Bakersfield in order to have its own supply of diesel. They even sell to large farmers directly from the refinery. Unfortunately they have had a lot of startup problems and diesel is still in short supply in that area.

Jim

 

I always by Gasoline from the Busiest gas bar.

Shelf life of Gasoline is something like 28 days.

Busy gas bars get their tanks filled every 3 - 5 days so you are always burning the best

 

I filled up at the Walmart station the first couple of times with my '94 Ranger 4.0L, but then it came around and decided not to start at the gas station for about 5 minutes sometimes. Filled up at Brookshire's or Albertson's ever since and never had any problems.
Report in the newspaper last week said Walmart's gas was found to be watered down. Figures. Sorry truck...

 

So thats why Murphy oil's gas was cheaper.......

 

Then the got in their tanker vehicle (a gutted PINTO with a big tank in the back seat area) went to a local gas station and filled it up with the stolen card info. Then they just dumped the gas into thier own holding tank.

A PINTO...not exactly the best vehicle for that use!

 

I go wherever is cheapest- generally either Valero or a Gulf- they're right next to each other, and have a price war. I think the Gulf probably does better business (and he runs a tip-top shop, I've had lots of a/c and heat work done by him) but I also trust the Valero because it is a huge chain. But I'll also go to the Hess if I'm near it. Basically, whatever's cheapest.

BTW, in CT we are required to have 15% ethanol in our gas, so a little bad gas won't screw anything up more than ethanol will. It's fine in the FFV explorer, but in anything else i question it, especally old/high milage engines.

 

I'm not so sure about that. The only requirement I'm aware of is a federal one that says that the gasoline must (still) contain at least 2% oxygen by weight. Since the MTBE additive is banned here in CT, that leaves ethanol.

If I'm not mistaken, Connecticut actually limits the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 10%. That's why you see on all the pumps now little signs that say "Contains up to 10% Ethanol".

 

As most have said on here, I was always told the main difference in fuel was what the station adds itself not what the fuel started out as. I just run a bottle of Chevron Techron through about every oil change on my fuel injected cars and don't worry about it on my truck. The best mileage I ever got was off of some farm gas I got from a buddy in Ohio, where I got about 36 mpg in my 85 celica on my way back to CT. Ironically enough the worst mileage I got was also from an Ohio station (Pilot) when I was driving across country with my dad following me in my celica, and he only got about 22 MPG. Not sure if it was just a bad batch of gas or the station, but both the car and the Ryder truck had about 2/3rds the miles we had been previously getting. The biggest thing I have noticed is if you have to get fuel at a station that adds ethanol or oxygenates the fuel, I typically loose 2-4 miles per gallon. Personally here in CT I just get my fuel at Costco (10% Ethanol), since they are typically (at least now) about 10 cents cheaper a gallon, and in my truck which only gets about 8-10 MPG to me its worth it to save a few bucks a tank.

 

There is a gas stop chain in Covington TN that has been caught several times with a water hose going into their tanks. Definitely don't go there.

I think it's called Hajehs. The word is that several engines have died because of them.

 

yeah I've had the water gas from an en mark in the area. Sometimes it's deliberate that the gas get's in there
[QUOTE]There is a gas stop chain in Covington TN that has been caught several times with a water hose going into their tanks

sometimes as the underground tanks age there can be condensation that gets in there and mixes with the gas. Not sure how it gets there, somebody else will surely know. That's the downfall of the older stations. They have the low overhead for the building, but sometimes need new tanks underground.

 

Hard to believe that a station would water down the gasoline in the tanks and not think what the repercussions of such a move would do for their business. All it took for me back in the 70's was buying gasoline from a station one time and getting water in my tank for me to spread the word and NOT go back.

Gasoline prices run slightly higher in my area but that's not due to "questionable" stations but more to "questionable" oil suppliers here. Prices have always run a little higher here than say 5 miles up the road. All one has to do is drive around and look at what the local oil suppliers house looks like.

I buy gasoline from the same station as a rule, whether or not a station may be 10 cents cheaper a gallon up the road.