Sinclair Gasoline

[JayhawkRoy]

KC
Originally Posted by GaryPoe
We have one in Council Bluffs but its ran down pretty and outdated. The last time I went I had to go inside to pay which was inconvenient. The Shell stations are getting to be more the same. BP is my choice, 2 new stations that are used by most so fresh fuel is frequent and usually chepest right off 29/80. Sapps is nice but im not sure they are "top" tier, I have used it some. Wish we had a Shoemakers here...


I remember when Sapp Bros sold Sinclair gas in 2014/2015. It was not Top Tier at the time. The Sapp Bros truck stop outside Harrisonville, MO was built a couple of years ago and it was opened as an unbranded station.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Maybe I'm a dork but I think the old stations were super cool. As a kid growing up in CA we always went to Union 76 stations. In fact my first job as a teenager was at a Union. Came home reeking of gas all the time🤣. But we were required to ask every customer if they wanted their fluids checked and tires checked. I remember having to count out change on that metal change thingy you wore on your hip. I forget what they called it...oh the memories.

All the gas that has gone into my cars over the years has probably been 76 a good chunk of the time. I will go out of my way to find a 76 if need be. Chevron is my next choice.

The base fuel is most like a generic commodity. Fuel is a fungible commodity, and the only thing that really separates brands is the additive package. Even then there's nothing preventing companies from using the same additive package purchased from Lubrizol, BASF, Afton, Oronite, etc.

However I do remember pumping gas (self-serve) at a Chevron station that stayed with dial pumps for the longest time. They took a heck of a long time to go to digital readout pumps that could be controlled at a kiosk. And even when it was mostly self-serve, an employee stood outside to reset the pumps and even to handle a credit card form imprinter. I believe before switching to electronic readouts they were using a swipe to verify the card, but the receipt was done on the imprinter with the employee hand turning the dial for the amount to imprint. That was definitely old school even with self-serve.

There was also this funky gas station that had a ton of antique, working gas pumps. Some were even old gravity feed dispensers where the fuel is pumped into a glass cylinder with graduations, and then the fuel is dispensed via gravity. They all had the county weights and measures stickers too. The owner eventually figured that he could make more money by selling to someone who just wanted a modern independent gas station. Not sure what happened to all the old pumps.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
The base fuel is most like a generic commodity. Fuel is a fungible commodity, and the only thing that really separates brands is the additive package. Even then there's nothing preventing companies from using the same additive package purchased from Lubrizol, BASF, Afton, Oronite, etc.


Oh I know. I have no real, objective argument supporting my preference of 76/Chevron over say Shell or Costco. It's borne more from sentimentality than anything else. ConocoPhillips does say they have more detergents than the Top Tier requirement, Chevron has Techron but Shell has their VPower, so who knows.

I have to say I am quite jealous of those drivers fueling up at the always busy ARCO across from the 76 I visit once a week. They're regularly paying 20+ cents less per gallon for what is now I hear, a Top Tier fuel. One thing the ARCO has over my 76 station is their AM/PM mart... 25 cent slushies on Fridays rocks or 3 baked in store cookies for a buck - can't beat that! ...‚

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by y_p_w
The base fuel is most like a generic commodity. Fuel is a fungible commodity, and the only thing that really separates brands is the additive package. Even then there's nothing preventing companies from using the same additive package purchased from Lubrizol, BASF, Afton, Oronite, etc.


Oh I know. I have no real, objective argument supporting my preference of 76/Chevron over say Shell or Costco. It's borne more from sentimentality than anything else. ConocoPhillips does say they have more detergents than the Top Tier requirement, Chevron has Techron but Shell has their VPower, so who knows.

I have to say I am quite jealous of those drivers fueling up at the always busy ARCO across from the 76 I visit once a week. They're regularly paying 20+ cents less per gallon for what is now I hear, a Top Tier fuel. One thing the ARCO has over my 76 station is their AM/PM mart... 25 cent slushies on Fridays rocks or 3 baked in store cookies for a buck - can't beat that! ...‚

Costco Kirkland Signature Gasoline. Treated at the station (not at the fuel depot) with Lubrizol 9888 detergent additive. I can go in for a hot dog and maybe samples.

 

[y_p_w]

I've been passing by a certain Sinclair station that's close to the cheapest in the area. There are some independents that might be about 6 cents/gallon (cash) cheaper. Also a Valero station that's a bit cheaper according toe GasBuddy, although it's kind of out of the way while this Sinclair station has a sign that can be easily seen from the freeway. Even adding 10 cents/gallon for credit it's cheaper than the closest Costco, which seems to have the lower prices at any Costco for miles.

I kind of wonder why this station doesn't have more traffic. Costco can be a four car deep wait, but this place always has available pumps and requires no membership.

 

[Audios]

Ive seen one Sinclair open up near me, about 30 mins away in Ringwood, and also an Amoco returned to Rt 23, I hadnt seen one since high school in the late 90s I think.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
I've been passing by a certain Sinclair station that's close to the cheapest in the area. There are some independents that might be about 6 cents/gallon (cash) cheaper. Also a Valero station that's a bit cheaper according toe GasBuddy, although it's kind of out of the way while this Sinclair station has a sign that can be easily seen from the freeway. Even adding 10 cents/gallon for credit it's cheaper than the closest Costco, which seems to have the lower prices at any Costco for miles.

I kind of wonder why this station doesn't have more traffic. Costco can be a four car deep wait, but this place always has available pumps and requires no membership.


Maybe it's hard to get in and out of the station? There's a Circle K where I live that is practically a desert, even though it's consistently some of the cheapest gas in town and it's because it's one entrance opens up to the same lane of traffic that happens to serve as the merging lane of the interstate on ramp. It's a butch to get back into traffic coming out of the station. At least 2 fender benders a week at just that one spot.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Audios
Ive seen one Sinclair open up near me, about 30 mins away in Ringwood, and also an Amoco returned to Rt 23, I hadnt seen one since high school in the late 90s I think.


Ringwood is only 30 minutes from you, at what, AUTOBAHN speeds?!?

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by y_p_w
I've been passing by a certain Sinclair station that's close to the cheapest in the area. There are some independents that might be about 6 cents/gallon (cash) cheaper. Also a Valero station that's a bit cheaper according toe GasBuddy, although it's kind of out of the way while this Sinclair station has a sign that can be easily seen from the freeway. Even adding 10 cents/gallon for credit it's cheaper than the closest Costco, which seems to have the lower prices at any Costco for miles.
I kind of wonder why this station doesn't have more traffic. Costco can be a four car deep wait, but this place always has available pumps and requires no membership.

Maybe it's hard to get in and out of the station? There's a Circle K where I live that is practically a desert, even though it's consistently some of the cheapest gas in town and it's because it's one entrance opens up to the same lane of traffic that happens to serve as the merging lane of the interstate on ramp. It's a butch to get back into traffic coming out of the station. At least 2 fender benders a week at just that one spot.

This type of thing is a factor with some local stations I rarely visit. There are a couple where you can pretty much get trapped if you take a spot at certain pumps, somebody pulls up behind you, and then somebody else parks by the convenience store...well, you're trapped for a while. Guess I could just try to avoid those pumps, but I'd rather just go somewhere else less than a mile away!