What influences your gas purchase?

[GasSavers_Pete]

A few factors for me...

The local BP is closer but the owner is a jerk so I drive past that to the Shell since both are on the way.

The Shell is full service but I normally do it anyway and the BP is "we won't get off our butt for you" level of "service"

Prices are about the same within a cent or two so the Shell gets my business.

There is another fairly close by but in the opposite direction but getting in and out is a real pain. There never seems to be a "flow" in that place. People drive in from any which way so you end up with cars back to back , front to front or whatever takes their fancy on the day.
Don't normally go there either.

Pete.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I have been known to leave a station without buying gas if they don't have pay at the pump. Since all stations here have E10 I shop mainly by price. If i was in an area where ethanol free fuel was available I would probably get it as long as the price was somewhat reasonable.

-Jay

EDIT: I forgot to mention... I have been boycotting the Shell station a few blocks from my home because all of their signage is in Spanish. I feel if they can't have ANY signs in English then my business must not be important to them, and I buy gas at the Getty station. I also will not purchase 7-11 or Citgo fuel unless absolutely necessary.

[psyshack]

We purchase almost all of our gas at a local mom & pop station/store. They sell Sinclair and it is pure gas. No E10 or booze gas. We do pay more for our fuel. Any where from 5 to 15 cents more per gallon than QT, Kum & Go and others that sell the booze gas. The folks we purchase from do make 4 to 5 cents a gallon. By law they have to make a profit. But the law does not seem to affect the other vendors that seem to sell at a lose leader. You can check the wholesale fuel prices in the paper daily. Many are selling fuel below the wholesale price. But the local DA and the idiots in OKC don't seem to care.

[jcp123]

It used to be what's convenient, but lately, the more I learn about Chevron's Techron, the more I've become a Techron fanboy. I only fill up at Chevron now unless I'm on a trip and there's no Chevron around, and frankly, the Chevron station is only barely out of my way. Plus, at least around here, Chevron (and even Exxon!!) are very competitively priced.

I as well stay away from Citgos and 7-11's because of the Venezuela connection...easy because we have no 7-11's and the last Citgo in town that hasn't shut down since Chavez is way far out of my way.

[shatto]

I have a Business American Express Card from Costco.

I get a 5% refund on my petrol, regardless where I purchase it. However, Costco always costs less than the surrounding stations.

Gasoline is all almost identical, regardless the refinery.
What make a gas 'different' is the company's additives, which go in as the tanker truck is filled.

Because all gas has to meet minimum government mandated standards, it seems to me the best plan is to buy the cheapest gas.

Why? Because I have tested, using each vehicle I've driven, and never measured any improvement in performance using either a 'major brand' or higher octane.

In fact, I have usually lost a couple miles per gallon, using Premium in a non-premium vehicle.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Marvin definitely had a preference, +/- 10% of Canadian Tire gas, but I'm about equidistant from 3 different refineries, so I may get more variety here. Wile-E seems to like Petro-Canada best, but it's not quite so night/day as Marvin's preferences. The terrible tempo that I was driving for a while liked Sunoco above all, That could get 29/30 on Sunoco, and was down at 24-27 on anything else and ran like crap. Neither Wile-E or Marvin seem to like Sunoco, and feel like they run poorly on it. Marvin also seems to get another 5% on midgrade, but there's usually more than a 5% price difference. I did fill him a few times on it when gas was $1.30 a litre here, because then the difference was 2 or 3 cents. At the moment it's like 7 cents. Premium does worse than regular though.

Come to think of it, haven't had Sunoco in Wile-E since I did mods, so might try it again.

The Shell station here always has horrible gas, dunno if it gets water in or what, worst mileage of any I've used. On the road away from home I'll always try to use Petro Canada, Pioneer, Esso or Canadian Tire gas.

Several years ago when I was in the UK Elf petrol always seemed the best in the cars I had. They were sponsoring the F1 Williams Renault team at the time, and the fuel had to be pump fuel.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I haven't seen a Chevron station in ages. They all disapeared about 15 years ago. I remember my 1980 Pontiac wagon used to love Chevron. Only with Chevron in the tank would it spin the wheels.