Valero is Top Tier and so is 76. There are some of those stations that are a little cheaper than Costco.
ARCO is cheap, but not Top Tier in California. The independent stations are not Top Tier.
Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
-
- Posts: 14379
- Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
- Has thanked: 2 times
- Been thanked: 298 times
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
Sinclair is Top Tier.
Arco is advertised as Top Tier in the Marathon regions (Fresno and south in CA; AZ, NV, midwest) but it is unclear what is going on with Arco's Top Tier status in the BP regions (NorCal, OR, WA).
Some of the independents will tell you they get their gas from the same place as the Top Tier stations. Whether or not that could count as Top Tier is up to you. I run a lot of not Top Tier gas; no issues.
-
- Store Manager
- Posts: 1019
- Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
- Been thanked: 50 times
- Status: Offline
Re: Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
"Top Tier" is basically a group of additives (which you can buy at the auto store as Techron or Lucas fuel injector cleaner).
-
- Assistant Store Manager
- Posts: 747
- Joined: March 11th, 2010, 7:52 pm
- Has thanked: 96 times
- Been thanked: 54 times
- Status: Offline
Re: Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 24th, 2022, 9:20 pm
Previously, people would avoid non-brand name gas stations and willingly pay more for brand name gas. Now there are crowds at independent stations. Even car washes that sell cheap gas are becoming popular. Things have changed so much in just the past several weeks. Some of those gas pumps at car washes look so old, but they are popular now.
I think that the majority have come to the realization that 'gas is gas'. Especially with high priced these days, I don't think that many have loyalty to a particular brand anymore, they just fill up wherever is either cheaper/most convenient for them.
-
- Posts: 14379
- Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
- Has thanked: 2 times
- Been thanked: 298 times
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
Beyond what I see with Chevron on the west coast (where I think there is a pretty large customer segment who thinks that gas is somehow "better" than other gas), I think this is generally how it works elsewhere in the US. At this point unbranded gas has become so common and so widely used that customers have come to realize gas is gas.
-
- Posts: 2690
- Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
- Has thanked: 11 times
- Been thanked: 61 times
- Status: Offline
Re: Gas Stations Dropping Brand Names
I do use Chevron, and will say that in some surrounding towns their prices are more competitive. One thing that is worth mentioning is that, when a fuel quality issue develops (water in underground tanks, drivers accidentally filling an underground tank with diesel, etc.) Chevron, Shell, and the other branded stations do step in to make sure problems are addressed. I am not sure how this works with unbranded fuel. But with many modern vehicles lacking a replaceable fuel filter, I don't mind paying a little more to ensure that fuel meets a quality standard.storewanderer wrote: ↑April 26th, 2022, 8:36 pmBeyond what I see with Chevron on the west coast (where I think there is a pretty large customer segment who thinks that gas is somehow "better" than other gas), I think this is generally how it works elsewhere in the US. At this point unbranded gas has become so common and so widely used that customers have come to realize gas is gas.
I do know of a situation that happened at a Shell station years ago where the driver filled an underground tank with diesel. This was a station that dealerships used to fill the tanks of their parts delivery vehicles and vehicles that were recently sold. Shell stepped in and paid for repairs on affected vehicles and also provided a fill-up of premium after the tanks were emptied and refilled.
I have heard of spotty quality among unbranded stations, as well as some of the grocery store stations. With that said, some vehicles cope with this better than others, and older vehicles with carburetors are a little more sensitive to this.