Has anyone used the Costco Gas or have an opinion about it? I'm in Cali so if anyone from Cali with a response would be extra helpful too as I know they have different requirements on our gas that some states don't.

 

I use Costco gas all the time; in my area (Santa Clara, CA) the gas is great.

Costco buyers tend to purchase high-quality products including gas.


Mike Smeezy

35% Full Tint
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Anthracite 2003 TL

 

Costco gas is just as good as any other gas. I stopped going to Costco for gas when they stopped taking Visa/Mastercard for gas and only use American Express. Other than that little problem they are the cheapest.

 

I use costco gas all the time. There is no difference in the gas itself between different companies, just the additives that they put into it.

The costco where I go still accepts VISA/MC along with Amex and ATM cards. There was signs posted that they would stop but I have yet to have my card rejected. Maybe they are doign it to cut costs, VISA/MC charge a pretty penny to use their cards. Maybe the signs are up just to deter people from using them. WHo knows. I wouldn't mind using the other cards if they do stop taking VISA/MC cause I save almost 30 cents per gallon by going there. Well worth it to me.

 

No problems with Costco gas so far. Can't go wrong for the price. They told me as of July 1st they will not except the Visa etc.

 

I've used Costco gas (premium) lots of times. No problem here (in Connecticut).

:-jon

 

Believe it or not, ALL GAS ARE THE SAME. Did you guys ever notice when the refill truck stops by the gas station, there are no labels? I didn't believe this at first, but a friend of mine at Chevron confirmed it.

 

now that's something i didn't know about.

 

Sure is. The chemical composition of gasoline at a given octane is the EXACT same...there is no difference. They try to MARKET it differently to justify paying more money. Water is H20, no matter who is selling it. Same thing with gas. It's all in our heads, which is what marketers pry on. I think it's human nature for some to want to buy the "best" without even really know what the best is...we think that as long as it costs more, it must be better...what a falsehood!

 

I guess I must have been imagining that Chevron logo on the refill truck while it was at my neighborhood Chevron the other day...

That's sorta like saying "cola is cola, no matter what the brand"; however, I betcha many people would prefer to choose Coke or Pepsi over grocery-store branded colas. But Coke tastes different/better from the grocery-store cola, one might say; by your reasoning, that shouldn't matter, right? Water may be H20 no matter who's selling it, but I can tell you that it is not of the same quality from brand to brand (or no brand, for that matter). I won't go into the details but I will say that my dad used to operate an independant bottled water store, and I've seen the test results between the water he sells and the branded ones; let's just say that you're not getting a much "cleaner" water buying branded ones like Crystal Geyser.

Besides--if all gasoline were the same regardless of brand, then most of you guys have been clearly brainwashed by marketing; to put it another way--if you had a choice, would you pump gas sold at some mom-and-pop store into your car instead of Chevron or some other name-brand gas? Take a poll and ask people what brand of gas they put in their TLs? Betcha you won't find many people admitting to pumping in mom-and-pop store gas into their cars...

Tony

 

coke is different. the ones from the fountain are mixed from a syrup which is under the control of the store/establishment that owns those machines. Coke from the cans are all equal b/c they are actually packaged by Coca-Cola Co. Also, the formulations for Colas are all different, they have different formulas. Gas on the other hand have the same chemical formulas. So in a sense gas is the same chemical composition for the same octane no matter what brand.

" I've seen the test results between the water he sells and the branded ones; let's just say that you're not getting a much "cleaner" water buying branded ones like Crystal Geyser.
"

That statement contradicts your very argument.

 

Not sure all gas is the same. I believe there are different detergent additive packages that really make the brands "different." Some also contain ethanol, others use a different oxygenate to meet clean air requirements. Perhaps the base gasoline within a region is the same, but to make a blanket statement that all gas is the same is probably not correct. That's one of the excuses the gas companies use to justify higher prices - all the different formulations they use to support clean air requirements.

 

I think all gas is the same to a certain extent. All gas is the same until it gets to whoever is going to sell it, Cause different gas companies add different additives in it. Like chevron and there techron. I've put Three different types of gas in my car, and noticed that when I put Texaco or Shell gas, the car doesn't run so great, but when I put in Mobile my car runs way better than the other two. all in my head??? I think not

 

As a chemical engineer I can tell you straight up that not all gas is the same. Matter of fact no two batches of gas are the same, even from the same refinery. Gasoline literally contains 1000's of different compounds, albeit chemically similar. On top of that, there are 100's of process variables that effect the final chemical distribution.

In a refinery, gas is produced many many different ways simultaneously. From a single barrel of crude oil gas is produced or extracted from the following units within a single refinery: directly from the crude oil (only a small fraction is gasoline, typically low quality), catalytic cracking unit where larger compounds are broken down into gas (low quality), alkylation unit (good quality), hydrocracking unit (med quality), catalytic reformer (best quality). The final gas that you get at the pump is a blend from all of these sources. If that wasnt enough, each company has its proprietary blending process to produce the desired octane level and to meet environmental standards. Each company also has its own proprietary blend of additives, which I wont go into.

Oil companies definately do share gas though. You might go to Shell to get gas but you maybe getting ARCO. You never know. Surplus is sold when another has demand, etc.

I dont work nor have I ever worked for an oil company. Im actually in business to put them out of business, i.e. hydrogen based economy.

That being said, I think COSTCO sells fine gasoline. Im sure its just like all there other products med-high quality. I personally prefer Mobil, always have.

 

I work for one of the nation's largest oil refining and marketing companies(Valero/Diamond Shamrock/Total/Beacon/Ultramar) ....its true that most gases are the same....except for some "proprietary" additives (Cheveron w/ techron as an example). Usually the gasolines all come from whomever has a terminal in the area, where 2 grades of gasoline are kept 87 oct & 93 (the 89 is simply a mixture of the two). The additives are put in at the terminals as the truck pumps it. So Yes the gas is the same, but also No there can be some slight differences. Just my 2cents.

 

Chevron Supreme only has 91 here in California. Are there 93 in other states?

 

We have 93 in VA.

 

I don't get it--how does my water statement contradict my argument that not all gasolines are the same; or were you referring to the "Water is H20, no matter who is selling it" statement, which BTW was someone else's statement that I was quoting to use in my argument?

As far as your Coke rebuttal--I was referring to Coke (as in Coca-Cola, whether in a can or from a fountain, but I'll use the canned one to clarify my cola argument) vs. generic cola sold by grocery chains like Safeway and Albertsons. Both are considered colas, are they not? Just like gasoline is gasoline no matter where you buy it--which I want to state for the record wasn't my stance also.

Finally, I want to clarify that my arguments to the "gas is gas" comment are attempting to differentiate differences down to the last molecule, but in any perceived or noticeable differences, e.g., I would think that Chevron gasoline isn't exactly the same as gas from some mom-and-pop gas station out in the middle of nowhere.

Tony

 

wow.............I didn't even know Costco had gas.

 

Well...not all of them do; wish the Costco near my home had one.

 

Costco gas works fine. At almost a quarter savings per gallon and about 8 fill ups per month for me, that saves me some $20+ per month.

While not all gas is exactly the same, we are in a position where gas that is "good enough" and gas that is "much better" makes very little in our cars, so instead of watching for just brand issues (ie Unocal vs Cheveron vs Ultramar/Diamond/Shamrock vs Arco) we should actually pay attention to the station's own conditions as older storage tanks tend to have more contaminants, and stations that sell very litle gas may have older gas that may have degraded with time. So, a brand new "mom & pop" station that gets gas from the same refinery source as a branded older station may in fact have "better" gas.