Where do you fuel up?

[KidneyMD]

I used to fuel up my car at Exxon, BP, or Mobil stations but recently have been using Speedway since they seem to be a little cheaper. There are a lot of small single owned gas stations in my area where the price is much cheaper (e.g. $1.78/gallon vs. $1.98 at major chains) but growing up my parents told I shouldn't trust them. Anyone care to comment?

[ender]

Sams Club, or wherever is convenient.

[Paul der Krake]

I have a rule to never to go out of my way to purchase gasoline. However, strategically planning trips to take advantage cheaper stations that I know that I will be driving by soon, is fair game.

Kroger fuel points are my discount method of choice because that's already the grocer we go to.

[Syonyk]

My garage.  :p

My ebike plugs in every night, and is full by morning for my commute.

==========

The "cheap gas" stations are probably fine.  I wouldn't use their gas for situations in which it's going to be in an open system (lawn mowers, motorcycles, boats, etc), but for a fuel injected car that's going through at least a tank a month, it'll probably be fine.  You might want to toss some Seafoam or similar in every few tanks to help keep stuff cleaned out, but while additive packages do differ, "gas is gas" in many cases.

Especially with falling oil prices, what I've seen is that the high volume stations can cut prices faster than the other ones - the big ones may be going through one or two underground tanks a day, so they get "cheap gas" out of the refineries faster than the stations that only sell one tank a week.  That drives more people to them, so they can continue running cheap.  I also suspect some of those stations will sell their last half a tank or so at a loss to drive that volume, because they can make it up on people coming into the store and people regularly going to that station.

Interestingly, rising oil prices seem to affect all stations at the same time.

As for finding cheap stations, do the math.  For my truck (40 gallons of tanks, typically filling 25+ gallons after I get back from a trip), diesel prices vary so wildly around an area that I can save $0.50/gallon by driving another few miles - that's worth it.  And we typically save grocery fuel points for my truck as well, since the car just doesn't have a large tank (typical fills are 7-8 gallons, every few weeks).  I've also been known to carry a 5 gallon portable diesel jug with me so I can max out fuel savings (it caps at 25 gallons around here, and I make it a goal to use that savings if I'm going to fill up).

[coolistdude]

I used to fuel up my car at Exxon, BP, or Mobil stations but recently have been using Speedway since they seem to be a little cheaper. There are a lot of small single owned gas stations in my area where the price is much cheaper (e.g. $1.78/gallon vs. $1.98 at major chains) but growing up my parents told I shouldn't trust them. Anyone care to comment?

I've fueled my car at a cheap station a couple times with no bad results. Did that on a trip. It may depend on the station.

Edit: I can has grammar.

[nobodyspecial]

At the farmer's market.
We only use artisan, organic gas made from free range dinosaurs

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

We bought a local fundraiser coupon book that gives us 10 cents off per gallon at a few stations in town, so we usually fuel up there. 

Costco has good prices too, usually about 5 cents per gallon cheaper than most places.

[Parizade]

I get 10 cents off each gallon I buy at Holiday (perks cards) so that's usually the best deal for me.

[SMCx3]

Costco / Kroger

[thingamabobs]

Shell station that is attached to my Smith's/Kroger rewards. I buy she'll GC with my highest supermarket rewards earning CC which earns fuel points. Using the gift card drops the gas price to cash rate plus a few extra cents off so even without fuel points I'm saving off the advertised rate.

[Chris22]

Most of the time at the Speedway right by my house but sometimes I need a wash and the Shell a couple miles away has a decent one for ~$5 once the gas discount is taken into account.

[Rubic]

The quality of the gasoline you purchase is all over the map, even for the same brands.  Even the accuracy of the pumps, as measured by third parties, isn't as precise as the gauges would indicate (though often in favor of the consumer, so its not specifically related to cheating).

Avoid purchasing fuel whenever you see a tanker truck refueling the station tanks.  The process of refueling can churn up the gunk in the bottom of the underground tanks which can end up in your car.

[Kazr01]

In our area Costco is always 2-7 cents less than the competitors.  If you go to the edge of town you might find a gas station that is the same price as Costco.  Plus, the gas is Kirkland signature; while I don't know anything about their gas specifically, they claim to blow away the competition in the categories gas is rated in.  That being said, I don't go out of my way to fill at Costco.  There's a Shell on our block and, in a pinch, I'll fill up there. 

Getting cashback from using my Costco credit card is also a plus :)

[Northwestie]

My kitchen!!! 95% of my trips are on the bike.  Never take them to a shop - overhauled two recently.  Awesome way to get around, get exercise, and clear the cobwebs.   

[Thinkum]

I go to Costco as it's really close by to me. Also, it's never out of the way since we buy grocery items there. Last time I was there it was down to $1.41/gallon. Can't beat that.

[Larabeth]

The shell station near my house has rewards and I use it most of the time.

[nobodyspecial]

Here in Vancouver we get to pay 1.09/litre ($4 gallon) so PC financial giving you 7c/litre discount at Canadian Superstore is worthwhile

[Frankies Girl]

Kroger and use fuel points/reward card to get 10¢/gallon off. Just recently paid $1.33/gallon (one of the few perks living in the heart of oil country).

[FIRE me]

At the farmer's market.
We only use artisan, organic gas made from free range dinosaurs

That is the best joke I have heard in a long time!

[alsoknownasDean]

I'm not fussy. Usually I fill up at United because the prices are usually good, but sometimes BP or one of the other majors. I don't really bother with the supermarket discounts, 4c a litre is basically SFA, and I'd save more by buying my groceries elsewhere.

Funnily enough I drove past a Caltex/Woolworths servo (service station in Aussie slang) today with a big fuel truck with a United logo on it parked there.

The quality of the gasoline you purchase is all over the map, even for the same brands.  Even the accuracy of the pumps, as measured by third parties, isn't as precise as the gauges would indicate (though often in favor of the consumer, so its not specifically related to cheating).

Avoid purchasing fuel whenever you see a tanker truck refueling the station tanks.  The process of refueling can churn up the gunk in the bottom of the underground tanks which can end up in your car.

I once put 64L in my car on a fill, although the vehicle specifications indicated that my car only had a 60L tank. I don't go to that servo anymore. :)

My car's got a fuel filter so whatever. :)

[nobodyspecial]

I once put 64L in my car on a fill, although the vehicle specifications indicated that my car only had a 60L tank. I don't go to that servo anymore. :)

My car's got a fuel filter so whatever. :)

It's also got a tank of charcoal to absorb the fuel vapour when the car sits in the heat.
If you top off the tank and manage to saturate this with fuel you will wreck the emissions.

[Altons Bobs]

I ask GasBuddy.  :-D

[use2betrix]

I have a diesel truck with a 60 aux tank in addition to my factory 26 gallon. It's great when I get 9mpg towing my 5th wheel I love full time in.

In terms of filling up, I usually find the station where I can fill up the whole thing without it stopping at $75. That's annoying.

With diesel, especially up north in the winter, you NEED high traffic stations a lot. They switch the diesel blend in the winter so it doesn't gel as easily. The small stations with much less traffic take longer to switch over because they don't run out.

Like some of the hybrids here, I can also go nearly a month between fill ups :D

[LeRainDrop]

Almost always at QuickTrip (QT), which tends to offer the best prices in my area.  Plus, I usually fuel up while I'm visiting my mom because she does not live right in the center of the city, so prices are lower near her home.  I don't drive much, so I only need to refuel once every 4 to 6 weeks.

[ketchup]

Mostly whatever's convenient geographically.  I know which stations tend to be cheapest (and most expensive) in a given area most of the time.  Speedway, Shell, and Costco have been the bulk of my gas recently.

[iamlittlehedgehog]

Shell/Circle-K when I have Winn Dixie fuel perks. Usually Race-Trac next to my house, it was $1.62 this morning.

[tobitonic]

At the farmer's market.
We only use artisan, organic gas made from free range dinosaurs

Love it.

[clarkfan1979]

On Kauai, Costco is about 40-50 cents cheaper than the rest of the island. Right now it's $2.45/gallon at Costco and $2.85 - $3.09 everywhere else.

[projekt]

All gasoline is the same when it comes out of the pipeline. But then some remarketers (like Texaco) add detergents and other additives. The jury is still out on whether these detergents are doing anything useful.

I've never heard of a well maintained or new car developing problems on cheap gas, but I've heard lots of people with junk cars claiming that it was the off-brand gas that gummed up the engine in their third-owner '92 grand am.

[slugline]

Conveniently enough, the station closest to home has the cheapest price for a radius of several miles, so the decision is easy. If I'm away from home, I let the GasBuddy app be my guide.

[WSUCoug1994]

FWIW - my wife's best friends husband (follow me?) works at Chevron as a Chemical Engineer and was one of the "Techron" developers.  He SWEARS by the performance and quality of the additives - now this could be for job security or whatever  - but he says that it truly does give your mileage gains and will keep your cars performance up particularly as the engine ages.  We have spent hours discussing this topic - sober and under the influence and his perspective hasn't wavered.

I usually go to Shell or Chevron but my wife will drive 10 miles out of her way to get the Costco pricing....lol.  I love that she loves a deal even when the math doesn't work out.

[gt7152b]

I never discriminate against a gas station except on price. Never had any problems with bad gas so it seems to be working out OK. I've heard that the gas tankers deliver the same gas to all the stations in a particular area. The only difference may be additives but I doubt there is that much advantage to using Techron or some other proprietary additive with a fuel injected engine. Gasbuddy.com is my favorite for finding low gas prices and I check it regularly for prices in my area and for the best places to stop on a road trip.

[pbkmaine]

Shell because of Winn-Dixie cents off, Shell discount card and Publix spend $50, get a $50 gas card for $40. Otherwise, Sam's Club.

[dudde_devaru]

I got $800 worth of BP gas cards in 2015 during the eBay sale and using up Amex offers in BestBuy, Staples etc.

I usually goto BP in Michigan Avenue Dearborn which has been hovering around $1.26-1.35 for a month.

I usually run 300miles a week. With a 30mpg 'yota I have to fill up every week! :(

[Another Reader]

Costco is 30 - 40 cents cheaper than other cheap places.  Since this is Silly Valley, there are always at least 4 cars in front of you at every pump when you pull in.  More at the Santa Clara station.  I will go to Safeway when I have a reward for the difference in price.

[The_path_less_taken]

Costco

[JLee]

Costco.

[coolistdude]

FWIW - my wife's best friends husband (follow me?) works at Chevron as a Chemical Engineer and was one of the "Techron" developers.  He SWEARS by the performance and quality of the additives - now this could be for job security or whatever  - but he says that it truly does give your mileage gains and will keep your cars performance up particularly as the engine ages.  We have spent hours discussing this topic - sober and under the influence and his perspective hasn't wavered.

I usually go to Shell or Chevron but my wife will drive 10 miles out of her way to get the Costco pricing....lol.  I love that she loves a deal even when the math doesn't work out.

This argument may be more effective with people driving newer/more expensive cars. My '97 Honda is worth about $2k-$3k. Saving $240/yr by buying non Shell/Chevron gas makes a lot of sense to me since I will save my entire car's value in 8-12 years. Really though, I'm not counting the pick-n-pull value which is about $400 for my model (high demand when I sold my last one 4 years ago), so it is more like 6-10 years, or if it is running I can retire it in cash for clunkers for $1k. So, in 4-10 years I will have another comparable car by not buying expensive gas. Seems like a win.

[Papa Mustache]

I only buy from Shell in my town because there are so many of them along my typical routes. The difference between them and other brands are only a few cents. We carpool and drive less. There is our savings.

There really can be a difference in gasoline. I drove a work truck across the state recently. It was refueled by a coworker at a small country store near where we store the truck.

I loaded up ~12K lbs of RR ties on a gooseneck trailer. Truck pinged and complained all the way to and from the lumber yard. I stopped and bought Hess fuel along the interstate and all the engine noises stopped immediately and the power was up. Transmission was not as quick to downshift for hills.

Shop carefully.

FWIW a friend of a friend recently had their new diesel truck shutdown and require a tow back to the local Chevy dealer. Turns out (according to the story I heard) that the diesel fuel he bought from WalMart had a high percentage of gasoline in it. Take that one with a grain of salt of course but that's what I heard. Local problem? One time problem? Lying dealership? I don't know.

I think if you keep a car ~125K miles (zero to 125K) then it probably doesn't matter what you burn/buy. If you plan to keep it ~250K+ then it probably does matter that you buy from a first tier fuel supplier that does add a bit of detergent to the fuel.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/all-fuels-are-not-created-equal-technologue/

(yeah that could be an advertisement written like an informative story).

I will say that my Honda at nearly 300K miles idles smooth, pulls smooth, and runs well with no problems.

I've known a number of people close to me that perpetually run economy gasoline have cars that ping and idle rough as the cars age. Make what you want of that opinion.

As for little engines - weedwackers and leaf blowers, etc. - only run non-ethanol fuels.

[GetItRight]

Wherever is cheapest. My truck holds around 60 gallons so I have time to shop around. I try to be aware of prices along my normal route and most weekends I'm out where fuel is usually a little cheaper so time it around then. I also dump a few gallons of waste motor oil in the tank with every fill so a little freebie there. Fuel costs are a very small amount of my monthly expenses so I don't worry much but try to time it for when prices are lower. During the summer when I ride my bike I don't have the luxury of shopping around due to a barely over 100 mile range, so I go wherever is convenient when I need it.

[simpleFIblog]

Costco is pretty close to me and significantly cheaper. I usually either go early in the morning to beat the crowd or before making my weekly grocery run.

[jeninco]

Discount places in the summer, Shell in the winter as soon as they start the Ski Free deal (http://skifreedeals.com): BOGO lift tickets for a variety of places we like in Colorado. I'm happy to pay an extra 5 - 10 cents per gallon (for the once every three or four weeks we fill up) to get a free lift ticket ($50 to $140 value, depending on where we go).

Presently accumulating BOGO coupons to take two extra 15-year old boys to Crested Butte for my kid's (not particularly mustachian) birthday celebration. (We'll stay in a borrowed house, and cook most meals, but as soon as put the 11 year old in ski school -- which we do every year, their ski school is AMAZING -- we've lost any credibility on the frugality angle.)

[reader2580]

FWIW a friend of a friend recently had their new diesel truck shutdown and require a tow back to the local Chevy dealer. Turns out (according to the story I heard) that the diesel fuel he bought from WalMart had a high percentage of gasoline in it. Take that one with a grain of salt of course but that's what I heard. Local problem? One time problem? Lying dealership? I don't know.

The delivery person probably put gasoline in the diesel tank by mistake.  If Walmart did this on purpose to save money then I am sure the major news outlets would pick up on it.  A diesel engine can be destroyed with 100% gasoline instead of diesel.

I usually fill up at one of two major chains across from each other, but mostly I use them because they are generally cheapest along my route home.

[FIRE_Buckeye]

I work south of Charlotte, NC, about 3 miles from the SC border.
Gas in SC is always about $0.20/gallon cheaper than in NC, and I've got a specific station 4 miles from my office that is consistently $0.30/gallon cheaper than in Charlotte. I'll typically take a portion of my lunch break whenever I need gas to trek down there and fill up. I figure at roughly ~$3+ in savings each trip, I'm saving well over $100/year.

[Rubic]

I work south of Charlotte, NC, about 3 miles from the SC border.
Gas in SC is always about $0.20/gallon cheaper than in NC, and I've got a specific station 4 miles from my office that is consistently $0.30/gallon cheaper than in Charlotte. I'll typically take a portion of my lunch break whenever I need gas to trek down there and fill up. I figure at roughly ~$3+ in savings each trip, I'm saving well over $100/year.

It's 8 miles round-trip.  Assuming 10¢ per mile (20 mpg, $2/gal), you're paying $0.80 per trip, so your net savings should be discounted by $28 per year (~35 trips).  If you enjoy driving during your lunch break, it's still net positive, but I'd probably prefer to do other activities.

OTOH, I typically spend one lunch break per week on manufactured spending for my credit card bonuses (churning).  To each their own.  ;-)

[TomTX]

We bought a local fundraiser coupon book that gives us 10 cents off per gallon at a few stations in town, so we usually fuel up there. 

Costco has good prices too, usually about 5 cents per gallon cheaper than most places.

Not only does Costco have cheap prices, none of the other cheap places have Top Tier gasoline. It's a designation for higher amounts of the detergents/additives. GasBuddy will tell you which stations are Top Tier and which aren't.

[Purple Economist]

Most of the time we fill up at Dillon's (Kroger in Kansas).  We always have $1.00 off per gallon since Dillon's in Manhattan gives 2x fuel points every day on groceries and 4x fuel points on gift cards every day.  So right now, we are paying $0.459 per gallon.  We fill up with the 35 gallon max (two vehicles) and it costs just over $16.

Sometimes (though not recently) we will fill up at Hy-Vee.  We watch their ads and when they are having good fuel points sales, we build up the fuel points.  At Hy-Vee, there is no maximum discount you can get up to the price of a gallon of gas except the last $0.009.  They have a 20 gallon maximum, so we pay $0.18 for 20 gallons (that is $0.18 total, not per gallon) when we fill up there .

[Goldy]

I always check gasbuddy before I go and try to tie into other trips.  I have found a few stations around the area that are always as cheap or cheaper than Costco so I usually go there.  It's usually .15-.20 cheaper per gallon than the average price.

[ketchup]

FWIW a friend of a friend recently had their new diesel truck shutdown and require a tow back to the local Chevy dealer. Turns out (according to the story I heard) that the diesel fuel he bought from WalMart had a high percentage of gasoline in it. Take that one with a grain of salt of course but that's what I heard. Local problem? One time problem? Lying dealership? I don't know.

The delivery person probably put gasoline in the diesel tank by mistake.  If Walmart did this on purpose to save money then I am sure the major news outlets would pick up on it.  A diesel engine can be destroyed with 100% gasoline instead of diesel.

I usually fill up at one of two major chains across from each other, but mostly I use them because they are generally cheapest along my route home.

I know someone that had the opposite happen.  She had a rental van and had to fill up in New Jersey, the land of you-don't-pump-your-own-gas.  The genius at the gas station put diesel in the van and killed it.

[nobodyspecial]

Diesel in gasoline engine isn't normally so bad, the diesel will burn with the gasoline. If you own a car made in the 70s/80s you will know how efficiently they can burn oil.

Although in theory a diesel engine can burn just about anything. A modern common rail diesel car engine runs at such high pressure and tight tolerance and relies on the fuel to lubricate the pumps and injectors that putting a solvent like gasoline in will cause a lot of expensive damage.