Bad Gas

[E Sully]

There has only been one instance with gas in my area. Back in 2005 the fuel truck accidentally put E85 in the E10 tank at the local Costco. Costco took immediate action and refunded everyone that requested it, along with covering the cost of any repairs related. Even though mine was not affected I was refunded for 2 fill ups. They no longer offer the E85 here.
I regularly fill up at Costco. They sell the newest rated Top Tier+. I live in NY near the border with NJ. NJ has the lowest prices but our NY Costco is usually about 5 cents cheaper per gallon. When travelling I usually use Sunoco. I also add Techron to the tank just before oil changes.

[Por_sha911]

I use techron in all my vehicles but when Chevron touts that they have Techron in their fuel it is such a minuscule amount that its only benefit is for marketing and not your vehicle.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

The top tier gas peddlers have good quality control but anything can happen. Maybe that chevron station received a truck load of lesser octane fuel? Did you ask them if they got other complaints?
Chevron is generally a stickler for customer satisfaction. The bathrooms are cleaner and the windshield squeegees are replaced frequently which they figure makes up for their greediness in a teeny tiny way :^)

No, I realized that I'd had an issue at that place on and off for years. It seemed to be chronic.

[gregpark]

Might be time to replace their tanks

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

I use techron in all my vehicles but when Chevron touts that they have Techron in their fuel it is such a minuscule amount that its only benefit is for marketing and not your vehicle.

The use of Top Tier fuels (not additives) vs standard fuels result in

Running a car on Top Tier fuel vs regular, results

THis is a great video (only 7 mins) on Top Tier fuels and the ACTUAL difference that can result from running them vs non-Top Tier fuels


Two bits of evidence from the video
An independent test was run on a bunch of engines using top tier fuels and non-top tier fuels. The pistons and valves were checked before and after (and presumably a bunch of other stuff too, but the pistons and valves were the main items mentioned in the video. IIRC, intake valves with top tier fuels developed 34mg of deposits, while intake valves of the non-top tier fuels developed 19x as much deposit (yeah, 600 and something mg of deposits)

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Might be time to replace their tanks

I think that's likely. I haven't been back in close to 15 years. There are 4 gas stations at that intersection (if you count the Walmart gas), so I've got 2 others if i find myself there needing gas. I'd have to be pretty desperate to get gas there, and if I did it would probably only be a gallon to get me to another gas station. I'm fine with going to any other Chevron, just not that particular station ever again.