If you think you are buying high test, maybe not
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Kestas
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I wonder how widespread this is across the rest of the country. The operators should be publicly shamed, indicted, and anyone with a receipt from the offensive station and period of activity should get reimbursed plus hefty punitive damages.
Poor quality gas is widespread, especially the E10 where the proper blend can be subverted by a little water in the underground tanks (<.5%)
This actually happens a lot more often than you'd think and it's not always out of a sense of greed. Typically, small stations need to order fuel a day or two in advance. Sometimes they "over order" and they wind up having fuel of one grade that simply won't fit in the tank. Nobody complains when it is 93 octane being used to top up a regular tank, but sometimes it is the 87 octane that goes into the 93 octane tank. The drivers aren't supposed to do this, but they hate having to haul a partial load back to the terminal. It puts the station order in a real bind if the driver refuses to dump the fuel since they might not get another delivery for 2 days and could run out of gas in the interim.
Unless a station is doing this all the time or very frequently, I'm inclined to wink at it. Sometimes shiznit just happens and your magic 8-ball misses the mark on your fuel order...especially around the holidays or during poor weather where you'll get sudden peaks and lulls in driving.
Unless a station is doing this all the time or very frequently, I'm inclined to wink at it. Sometimes shiznit just happens and your magic 8-ball misses the mark on your fuel order...especially around the holidays or during poor weather where you'll get sudden peaks and lulls in driving.
JHZR2
Staff member
But it can hurt if your car needs high test and doesn't change timing via sensors.
I see it like giving change... If I buy an item for $4.01 and pay with a $5 bill, the merchant is free to give me $1 back. But, if I buy an item for $3.99 with a $5 bill, they better not give me only $1 in change.
That is just the deal with being a merchant - you can upgrade for the same price, but not downgrade without a refund.
The problem is likely more pronounced in places that sell 91 as thehighest octane vice 93, and are relatively low altitude. You could go below 90 easily, and some engines may not like that.
I see it like giving change... If I buy an item for $4.01 and pay with a $5 bill, the merchant is free to give me $1 back. But, if I buy an item for $3.99 with a $5 bill, they better not give me only $1 in change.
That is just the deal with being a merchant - you can upgrade for the same price, but not downgrade without a refund.
The problem is likely more pronounced in places that sell 91 as thehighest octane vice 93, and are relatively low altitude. You could go below 90 easily, and some engines may not like that.
It also hurts the brand. I've gotten gas in the past that my butt dyno said the car didn't like, and I'd just avoid buying gas from those stations in the future. The Monte prefers super, will pull timing if the octane is lowered, but I've gotten tanks in the past that didn't seem to yield good mileage and affected performance. If I buy a tank at Conoco, and the car is just kind of bleh, then fill up at Shell and the car perks back up, guess where I'm filling up next time?
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This actually happens a lot more often than you'd think and it's not always out of a sense of greed.
Yes. When I was a midnight gas jockey in the later 70's this would happen from time to time. It never happened with regular, but premium often would not fit. The driver, if he knew how much would fit (if I stuck the tanks before he dropped) would merely stop the fill ..regrade the fuel on the sheet, and put it in the regular tanks. This was not illegal. The pumps only read "minimum".
That said, I imagine that the literal impact of 750 gallons of regular to 5k-10k premium tanks is not that big a deal other than the price difference. Naturally it depends on the throughput of the station and the size of the tanks.
I'd be more upset if the station rigged the blending for mid grade. They already tend to charge a premium for the mixture. If premium is $0.35 more per gallon, they're typically charging $0.25 more than regular (or somewhat more than 50:50).
This actually happens a lot more often than you'd think and it's not always out of a sense of greed.
Yes. When I was a midnight gas jockey in the later 70's this would happen from time to time. It never happened with regular, but premium often would not fit. The driver, if he knew how much would fit (if I stuck the tanks before he dropped) would merely stop the fill ..regrade the fuel on the sheet, and put it in the regular tanks. This was not illegal. The pumps only read "minimum".
That said, I imagine that the literal impact of 750 gallons of regular to 5k-10k premium tanks is not that big a deal other than the price difference. Naturally it depends on the throughput of the station and the size of the tanks.
I'd be more upset if the station rigged the blending for mid grade. They already tend to charge a premium for the mixture. If premium is $0.35 more per gallon, they're typically charging $0.25 more than regular (or somewhat more than 50:50).
I have this happen from time to time - order too much 87 so the excess goes into the 91 tank.
I mark it as 87, sell it as 87, and run the tank down as low as feasible, and then start over again with fresh 91. My loss, buyers gain. I don't sell 89. I normally don't keep much 91 on hand, it's not a big seller at my c store, so it's not much of a catastrophe when this happens.
The retail price of gasoline is so high now, the margins are tolerable without having to resort to fraud on purchasers. I am sure it still happens, but it probably happened a lot more when gas was a buck or less a gallon.
If you think you have purchased adulterated fuel, I would try to report it the brand if it is a major. They take this malfeasance seriously.
I mark it as 87, sell it as 87, and run the tank down as low as feasible, and then start over again with fresh 91. My loss, buyers gain. I don't sell 89. I normally don't keep much 91 on hand, it's not a big seller at my c store, so it's not much of a catastrophe when this happens.
The retail price of gasoline is so high now, the margins are tolerable without having to resort to fraud on purchasers. I am sure it still happens, but it probably happened a lot more when gas was a buck or less a gallon.
If you think you have purchased adulterated fuel, I would try to report it the brand if it is a major. They take this malfeasance seriously.
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