What makes cheap gas cheap?

Look at those two gas stations less than a mile apart from each other. That cheap gas must be cheap for reason. It is tempting, but I am nervous. Almost $1 difference. I love my 4Runner. What do you friends suggest?

 

87 requires nothing more

 

87 octane TopTier.

 

Please tell me why that cheap gas is cheap?

 

Supply and demand

 

But the other gas stations less than a mile away sell it over $4 per gallon. Why is this gas station selling gas so cheap? What is the problem with their gas?

 

You need to find something else to worry about honestly.

 

This might help why some gas are cheaper than others -

https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

What station is the cheap gas at? Is it a known chain?

Which price is more typical in your area?

I try to stick to "top tier" places that get a decent amount of traffic.

I agree that's unusual, but maybe there's some logical reason for it.

 

The typical in my area is over $4 a gallon. This place is selling at almost a dollar cheaper, it's a big place, where trucks also fill up. This place sells even cheaper than Costco

 

In the old days, I used to hesitate to purchase "cheap" gas because on the occasion of when I did, I had to replace my fuel filter soon after. That hasn't happened for quite a while. So maybe that's not an issue any more...

 

Weird. I get how a place like Cosco can be $.20-.30 cheaper. But a buck just seems weird. Is it a promotion or something?

 

I have no idea, it is always crowded and people are buying gas from this place. Plus it sells a lot of other stuff too inside

 

It is a place that you cannot easily find, I found it because I saw this huge advertisement that they had on the highway.

 

Is it busy, lots of folks getting gas? If so, I’d buy it there. If it’s an area I know, I go for the cheapest as long as it is busy. When I’m in an area I don’t know, I look for names I know.

 

I’ll go with they get a discount for selling a shit load

 

Maybe it's a money laundering operation.

 

Blending and refining aside, it's generally called, Passing the Buck.

Lower priced fuel is cheaper to produce.

If you're in a business to make a profit, you're squeezing their balls already.

Profit Before People.

 

This is EXACTLY why and it DOES matter to your vehicle.
All gas has a minimum standard it must meet and some manufacturers toe that line while others go beyond.
Not all gas is equal at the same Octane rating.
I used to drive an Acura TL - aluminum high pressure engine which required Premium fuel. Was in having some work done and asked about why the car was 'bogging' each time the AC compressor kicked on.
After a long chat with the mechanic about the fuel system and such being negatively affected by using cheap gas (SAMS club i used) and then follow up research on what he said it was all validated. Non top-tier gasolines end up leaving alot of deposits and they aren't the good kind .

I had never really contemplated that within one octane vs another there is a difference - turns out there is.

So top tier is all i'll put in and one thing i've started to do on all my vehicles is dump in a can of fuel system cleaner at a fill up at the interval i change my oil.
Been doing this for a few years on a few different vehicles both foreign and domestic and all run like a top with no issues...

through research you can find them out and you want Top Tier Gas. Doesn't mean you can't still get a decent deal though - Costco provides top tier gasoline but SAM's Club for example does not...

 

interesting and makes sense. you get what you pay for I guess

 

Cheap gas is cheap if it isn't being sold in California. The other reasons it is cheap is that it takes more refining to achieve a higher octane rating. The higher octane rating means nothing to 4runner engines, money pits like Audi require a higher octane fuel because they need a fuel that wont detonate too early because of a higher compression. This doesn't mean 87 octane is more flammable than 91, it means that will be more likely to prematurely detonate under pressure, expose either to an open spark and they will both explode at the same time.

Audi also likes to say that the higher octane gas is needed because its engines were direct injected and therefore could foul the intake valves if you weren't using premium fuel with its additional additives, but this is fucking bullshit because the cleaning additives wont get a chance to clean your intake valves if they are sprayed directly into the cylinder to be burnt (and from experience it made no difference). The gas brands (chevron techron) advertise that they put extra additives in their fuel to help clean carbon build up, it makes almost no difference to a 4runner engine because gas is already a great solvent on its own. But you pay for those extra additives. And only on very rare occasions would I recommend buying it for a 4runner.

The last factor into fuel cost is ethanol percentage. Because of politics and the government having too much corn (among other reasons) gasoline started in the mid 2000s getting contaminated with ethanol (basically alcohol that has been poisoned as deterrent for human consumption). Now this had a bunch of bad consequences like shorter shelf life, but in short gasoline with ethanol is like how heroin is to medical grade opioids, it is cut with filler and less pure and effective. But that filler is cheaper, so if you find ethanol free gas its likely going to be more expensive because it is the real deal.

Important to say this. Gas is regulated by the government, if you get bad gas something is wrong. The regulations make it impossible for a station to legally sell you something that could cause damage to your engine. So there is no reason to buy one brand over the other apart from cost.

 

I prefer to buy "top tier" rated 87 octane. All gas stations are overpriced in my community, but currently the "cheapest" is Sinclair at $4.29. The Chevron down the block is $4.59 and the Unical is $4.45. I avoid stations with unknown brands. I also avoid Costco, not because of quality or price, but because life is too short to wait 15+ minutes in a gas line to save a few cents per gallon.

Location has a lot to do with gas pricing. Usually gas stations at freeway off ramps charge more as do stations at resort or tourist locations (look at gas prices in Death Valley or Bridgeport, CA).

 

Cheapest gas in town is always Costco and it's top tier gas

 

Costco and QuikTrip best places for Top-Tier gas if you can get it.