Costco or Sam's club Gas really bad?

[chaoskaze]

As topic? Anyone uses Costco or Sam's club gas at all? I usually go with chevron only but I just noticed how cheap the gas are @ those 2 places.... 50 cent cheaper per gallon so it's like 6 or 7 dollar cheaper per fill up. O.o

Obviously I know they ain't top tier gas & the fact how picky our car is over gas.... Wonder if anyone uses their gas constantly & can give some feed back.

(It's so cheap that I can go practically buy an injector cleaner/octane booster every fill-up..)

[why?]

there is literally no way to know what brand gas they use. They could be using the same exact Chevron you pay a ton more for. The law allows that. They could be using something else. The only way to know is to try it and see what happens. Just because they are not a brand name does not mean they sell bad gas.

[swarb]

From what I know it is top tier gas. It should be good. I just don't like the lines.

[RustySocket]

Costco is top tier fuel.

[mav1178]

But what is "top tier gas"?

That's the answer that is not being given. Actual definition is an industry standard approved by automakers: http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers/

As a general rule, if it meets the octane requirements to be considered "premium gas" then it will be fine for your car. All the other "nitrogen enriched" "cleaner gas" etc etc is all marketing fluff.

-alex

[Campo]

2 things here:

1. Costco does use top tier gas

2. The freshness of gas is more important than the brand.

I used to be a hardcore brand-loyal gas buyer until I saw the results for myself. We have notoriously bad gas here in Phoenix and a bunch of us did a ton of research.

Fresh gas > brand of gas


Tapatalk - because smoke signals would be too easy.

[aegisdrgn]

Thanks for the link @mav1178. Gas from the refinery is sold to anybody. Top Tier gas is just a distinction for gas that has the minimum amount of detergents deemed necessary to keep an engine from gunking up too soon. What you pay for when you buy brand-name gas, is the EXTRA detergents they put in the gas (Chevron has Techron, Shell has VPower, etc) - that's why Costco gas is so much cheaper. Costco isn't putting in that extra name-brand detergents, just the minimum necessary to gain Top Tier status. Is the extra detergents in name brand gas worth it? Up to you.

[extrashaky]

IIRC, Walmart and Sam's Club sell Murphy USA gasoline, which is not top tier. I have used Sam's Club gas in both my vehicles, and they ran just fine on it without any major difference in mileage or performance.

HOWEVER, I avoid Sam's Club gas in my BRZ, because it turns the minor chirping of the fuel pump into a cricket symphony. It sounds like I have the whole swamp under my hood. It's the only time I've ever really been annoyed by the chirping crickets. I don't know what the hell they're putting into their additive package to cause that reaction, but it is immediate and impossible to ignore.

Originally Posted by aegisdrgn

Top Tier gas is just a distinction for gas that has the minimum amount of detergents deemed necessary to keep an engine from gunking up too soon.

The top tier gas standard also requires that the fuel contain at least 8% ethanol. So the folks who search out ethanol-free gas in an attempt to avoid crickets are not running top tier even if they buy it from a station branded as one of the top tier brands.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by aegisdrgn

Thanks for the link @mav1178. Gas from the refinery is sold to anybody. Top Tier gas is just a distinction for gas that has the minimum amount of detergents deemed necessary to keep an engine from gunking up too soon. What you pay for when you buy brand-name gas, is the EXTRA detergents they put in the gas (Chevron has Techron, Shell has VPower, etc) - that's why Costco gas is so much cheaper. Costco isn't putting in that extra name-brand detergents, just the minimum necessary to gain Top Tier status. Is the extra detergents in name brand gas worth it? Up to you.

Have yet to see any third party research to verify the effectiveness of additive packages, all marketing imo.

[Dake]

I bought Costco gas once and it seemed like the crickets got louder. I typically buy Kroger gas because we get the minimum three cent discount and typically get a ten cent discount. The price is comparable and the crickets are on the quiet side of normal.

[aegisdrgn]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

IIRC, Walmart and Sam's Club sell Murphy USA gasoline, which is not top tier. I have used Sam's Club gas in both my vehicles, and they ran just fine on it without any major difference in mileage or performance.

HOWEVER, I avoid Sam's Club gas in my BRZ, because it turns the minor chirping of the fuel pump into a cricket symphony. It sounds like I have the whole swamp under my hood. It's the only time I've ever really been annoyed by the chirping crickets. I don't know what the hell they're putting into their additive package to cause that reaction, but it is immediate and impossible to ignore.



The top tier gas standard also requires that the fuel contain at least 8% ethanol. So the folks who search out ethanol-free gas in an attempt to avoid crickets are not running top tier even if they buy it from a station branded as one of the top tier brands.

Good tip! I think they have changed the top tier program requirements since then, now they don't require a minimum, and only set a maximum of 10% ethanol content.

See #2 in the FAQ: http://www.toptiergas.com/faqs/

[Packofcrows]

Costco tried for a month. Car ran same as Chevron. It's too far or i'd keep it at Costco. I go from Shell to Chevron.

[soulreapersteve]

If it weren't for the lines at Costco, I would use it. Happy with Chevron, no issues so far with them.

~3 minutes vs 15-20.

[imaguitar]

I've been putting in 91 Octane gas from Sam's Club ever since I got the car back in February & it has been running fine with it.

I also read somewhere (literally can't remember where, I've been trying to find the article but no luck) that gas stations will buy gas from like a retailer who is selling it the cheapest that day. & the retailer gets the gas from the refineries. So the gas that Chevron/Shell has in their tanks may be from the same retailer as the gas in the tanks of Sam's Club/Costco.

I have membership to both Sam's Club & Costco but prefer Sam's Club because the lines there are shorter.