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Costco gas is now Top Tier

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Dark_matter_doesn't, Apr 2, 2014.

  1. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    I've been using Costco gas in both my Prius and 2013 Q5 Hybrid for some time now, and haven't seen any problems. I once saw a new Ferrari getting fuel at the Seattle Costco pumps!

    Top Tier Gasoline
    Kirkland Signature™ Gasoline
    Attached Images
    [​IMG]
     
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...also BP on the list now, and few other new ones.
     
  3. matt b.

    matt b. Member

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    as long as the gas pumps RB and cycled constantly like from my area it would be Arco in SoCal and there is constant flow of gas and truck service constantly filling the pumps up that makes for cleaner gas.
    it's the other gas stations like mobile and Chevron that they'll charge top dollar for the same fuel and their tanks and pumps sit that's what I stay away from
     
  4. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    The only reason I usually don't choose to fill up at Costco, is at least at the one I frequent, the lines and wait time are both so long.

    My time is money, and I don't usually feel like giving up 15-30 minutes of my day just to save 10 cents a gallon.

    Of course I usually end up at Costco on the weekend. So maybe it isn't that bad during the week?
     
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  5. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    The Costco lines are always looonnggg....:sleep:
     
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    It varies very strongly with both time and day. Having a carpool meeting place in a Park & Ride next to a Costco for a while greatly increased my sample set.
     
  7. 3PriusMike

    3PriusMike Prius owner since 2000, Tesla M3 2018

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    Wow! You really need to stay away from that 2 week old gas.

    Mike (often driving around in my PIP with 2-4 month old gas)
     
  8. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I don't know.
    I think a great, great benefit of owning a hybrid is of course the great gas mileage.

    This benefit extends in my opinion to having to worry less about gas prices. And I extend this benefit to my also not worrying so much about the price per gallon I'm paying when I do fill up.

    A 5-10 cent difference? I'm just not going to sweat it. If I go to a Top Tier station? Which usually I do, at worse I'm paying $1.00 dollar more for an average fill up vs. Arco or Costco. I can afford that.

    The potential albeit debatable benefit of "better gas" in the form of detergent packages, coupled with usually far less wait time, and it makes that $1.00 well worth the expense.

    But of course...everyone is free to do whatever they want.
     
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  9. 70AARCUDA

    70AARCUDA Active Member

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    Ironicly, PiP drivers are EXACTLY the people needing to use Top Tier fuel, because of the L-O-N-G lengths of time gasoline can/might "sit" in their tanks. And, even Toyota cautions against fuels containing greater than E10 amounts of ethanol alcohol.
     
  10. stannc

    stannc Junior Member

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    On a recent trip to Costco in Matthews, NC, I saw a Kenan Advantage truck filling the underground tanks. About 30 minutes later, I saw the same Kenan Advantage truck filling the tanks at the Exxon station down the street. It busted my illusion of Costco gas being 'better' than anyone else's.
     
  11. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...both are TopTierGas.com members so in that sense, it makes sense
     
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  12. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    A lot of times you will see instances where a tanker will visit more than one brand at different locations. It is a common practice today. We have a Exxon storage and distribution facility close by our home. I see all sorts of brands coming and going from that one location. So it makes sense what a lot of folks say. It all comes from the same pipeline. The only real difference in some of the brands is the detergent level and additives.
     
  13. BluetoothEdsel

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    FWIW, over the years I've had both Toyota and Mazda service people warn me, without any prompting, to stay away from Costco gas. Wondering if they've actually changed their additives, or is it the same stuff and they just recently got the TopTier rating?
     
  14. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Can't say about Costco since I don't have a station by me. I remember years ago everyone said "Stay away from Chevron", but today Chevron is recommended and Top Tier to boot. A lot of questions out there concerning brands and quality of fuel.

    There is a old saying. What is one man's garbage is another man's treasure. IMO it boils down to what works best in your engine. Find the brand that works best and use it.
     
  15. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Just don't forget that, due to the vagaries of the shared fuel distribution system, a brand's product in one region will often be different than the same brand's product in a different region.

    It seems that for any given region, most different brands should have the same few base stocks but different additive packages. Across the county, any one brand should have the same additive package but different base stocks.
     
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  16. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Now that Costco is TopTier and in general EPA regs force similar good quality over the whole gaso pool, I don't see too much merit anymore to those kind of thoughts. I agree years ago there were bigger differences, as refineres had a lot more freeedom to vary recipes. Depending where you live you could had unique supply situation but I don't think so in Houston.
     
  17. canta

    canta Member

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    totally true on Saturday and Sunday in my area.
     
  18. magnumrtawd

    magnumrtawd Member

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    I delivered gas to many customers years ago in the Toledo Oh area.
    Marathon was the top brand at that time. The same trucks that delivered the Marathon stations also delivered the off brand stations.The difference was that when loading at the bulk plant the Marathon customers got a premium additive package while the off brand stations got none! Of course the public saw those same trucks delivering to the off brand stations and assumed they were all getting the same gas! The company finally realized that and used no label trucks ( Me ) to deliver the off brand stations. Now don't get me wrong. Same quality gas just better additives!
     
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  19. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    When my old carpool met next to a Costco, it seemed that Tuesday at supper time, as we were coming home, was a great time to shop and get gas there. Some other weekdays were reasonable too.

    That was more than a decade ago. Patterns may have changed since then.
     
  20. BluetoothEdsel

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    After my 2000 Corolla got to be about 10 years old, its Check Engine light got sensitive to differences in gas. It only liked midgrade (or premium), and I gradually determined that it also had to be "brand name" gas (not including Arco.) I'd never heard of "TopTier" gas until I stumbled upon the listing a few weeks ago - at which point I recognized that all the brands my ex-Corolla liked were TopTier, and none of its known disliked brands were. There are of course many reasons not to generalize potential effects of gasolines on other cars based on the behavior of one car. And I never tried most of the TopTier brands because they're not in my region. But since it was consistent with the brands I did use, it would seem to suggest the TopTier distinction has some significance.