Submitted by PermitCreative2034 t3_yfwnid in jerseycity
Does anyone know why the gas price at Fuel 4 Holland Tunnel is always cheaper than the other gas stations nearby? For example, regular is priced at $2.94 per gallon while the Exxon next door is 4.10 and speedway 3.80. This really makes me wonder how bad their quality is.
I go there or the other two cheap places down the street and my fuel economy is exactly the same as when I went to more expensive places and car runs the same. I'm pretty sure for the most part gas is gas. It is in an annoying spot maybe that's why?
Pretty sure if fuel is diluted your engine would not run…
yep, and its probably seriously illegal.
Unaffiliated stations are allowed to bid daily on fuel and are not locked into prices negotiated by major brands. This can work for or against them (and runs a greater risk of not getting any fuel if supplies are constrained), but usually results in better prices.
This is all true.
Also:
They tend to (but not always) use the minimal detergent requirements under the law. So more buildup in your engine. Vs a “Top Tier” gas, which is what your owners manual will recommend you use.
All gas is the same (there’s laws on this). The additive package they add to the fuel can vary slightly as long as it at least meets a minimum standard.
There’s some evidence this is actually a material difference:
Lastly, gas is intentionally sold slightly cheaper to unaffiliated stations to keep them afloat. They are the primary defense against anticompetitive claims. Gas companies can say “well look at their price”. That’s a really cheap insurance policy to keep US courts off their backs.
[deleted]
They cut it 50/50 with rubbing alcohol
This is all true.
Not always! Lowest price also varies depending on which octane level and cash price is usually lower also. Fuel4 probably pays less rent; it sits on a very small area.
Gasbuddy usually lists most of these on their maps program and it changes often. There are others usually less than biggest brands (Speedway Lukoil Valero, etc). Costco is not near Holland Tunnel; their member prices are usually pretty good throughout US.
> They tend to (but not always) use the minimal detergent requirements under the law. So more buildup in your engine. Vs a “Top Tier” gas, which is what your owners manual will recommend you use.
It’s interesting because that’s potential a problem for newer cars with direct injection that most people probably are unaware of. Not that most people know whether their engine has direct injection and/or port injection to begin with.
That said, my parents had a direct injected car that they religiously filled only with premium Shell or Chevron gasoline and it still ended up needing an expensive repair to clean the carbon buildup on the intake valves after about 100k miles.
Apparently, the design of some engines makes them inherently prone to carbon buildup no matter what type of gas you use.
The manual for every major car manufacturer strongly recommends top tier fuel.
As I understand it, it’s just a higher standard of detergents in the additive package beyond the federal standard. It’s otherwise the same fuel.
And yea, DFI is going to be more impacted since traditionally fuel is sprayed so it cleans the engine. DFI kinda prevents that effect.
I don’t think premium fuel would have any difference regarding detergent additives. That purely comes down to the additive package. Premium fuel is just a higher octane.
The article I linked to above shows some of the results from the AAA study. It’s pretty interesting.
Since reading that, I try to stick with Top Tier when possible, which 9/10 times is no real effort since it’s most stations. It’s not like I’m really making a serious effort.
I make gasoline, and I make A LOT of it. All gasoline starts it’s life as the same thing - RBOB. RBOB is a commodity and every refinery makes RBOB blends to the federal set specifications. What makes Exxon different from Shell is that when they buy the RBOB, they mix in their own lubricants and extras that they believe makes their final blend superior. This is what you are paying for. When you buy from a sketchy looking brand, they may be buying RBOB straight and adding nothing to it. This is NOT good for your engine. Save now and pay later (when your engine fails).
Yeah they used premium only because that’s what the manual said and the car’s gas cap was labeled “premium fuel only.”
But Shell’s premium grade also has extra additives (“V-Power”) beyond what their regular and middle grades have.
At most other brands, the premium grade has the same additives as the brand’s other grades.
There isn't any real material difference that would matter for a personal consumer vehicle for gas quality between stations.
Gasoline is unsurprisingly extremely regulated by the government. Cheaper gas is cheaper due to how gas station franchising works. And where they source their oil. Larger chains tend to be more expensive due to top-down price control, not due to higher quality gas.
The ability to get stuck at that light for an eternity has to be a factor.
Bh10474 t1_iu5nnkv wrote
Diluted probably. Also that station is ghetto as f*ck. All the custom modified fast and furious wannabe dudes fill up there