Which gas stations do you prefer when buying diesel?
 

When you go to the pump for diesel, which station do you prefer to use regularly? In making your decision, is it cost or quality? None of the stations near us list the level of cetane levels in their fuels. This leaves me to wonder which station provides the best option for your dollar.

Where are you located? Here in Virginia I've never seen a diesel pump that didn't have a sticker stating the cetane rating.

Do you guys get Shell V-power diesel in the states?

Yes, its available.

A lot of people here recommend Shell V-power. Unfortunately my nearest retailer is a 50 mile round trip, but on the odd occasion I do use it, seems to run well and give a slight increase in MPG. Having said that, my car is a petrol, but the same should apply for diesels, even if the fuel in the states is far less refined than in Europe.

I try to stay with major brands that sell a lot of volume.

All my life I've been a die-hard Exxon man for gasoline cars. I assume it's because my father was; like father like son...

However, in researching Diesel fuels on the various VW TDI forums, the consensus seems to be that Shell V-Power is the best (or at least consistently at the top) for quality, cetane, consistency, etc. After 25 years behind the wheel, I now use Shell whenever possible + Opti-Lube XPD to boost lubricity and protect my notoriously delicate HFFP.

I recently completed a 3,481 mile one-week Christmas road-trip, and except for Christmas Day in Swansboro North Carolina where I could only find a BP within my remaining fuel range, I used Shell exclusively. Sometimes that meant a little pushing of my range, but it always worked out. The most critical was a 4 AM fuel stop when I added 14.36 gal in my 14.5 gal tank. That one had me nervous...

By the way, if you happen to care, here's the stats on that trip:

3,481 Total Distance
61 MPH average speed
57:24 total ET
42.0 MPG

That was just a little over six tanks of of fuel. I left San Antonio full, and had to stop in Georgetown, just 100 miles from home, for my sixth refuel.

The vehicle is a 2012 VW Golf TDI 4-door with a 6-speed manual, two people aboard with about 150 lbs of luggage, gear, water, etc. we used the A/C with the heater because it rained 80% of the way both ways as well as the seat heaters due to the temps, so that's not bad. Cruise was set @ 82 MPH in Texas, 77 MPH most everywhere else when the limit was 70.

Shell V-Power did pretty well for us...

I normal use Esso or Sasinsbury's so I can collect nectar points. :)

I use the shell v-power whenever possable

I have to say that I usually use Shell V Power, but when not using that, I use Murphy's (Walmart) since it's the cheapest diesel fuel around often selling for $3.48 per gallon. To be honest, I can't find a difference between the two, but I almost never push my Cruze TD. At 6980 miles, I'm pretty sure I've floored it only twice, once to see what it would do and the second was dusting off a Nissan Sentra.

I delivered to 44 Charlotte area Shell Branded stores for 6 years and we never brought "Shell Branded V power" diesel. It was always unbranded fuel.
The Gas was "Always Branded" but not the diesel.
Cetane rating is 40 now from 42 prior to bio-diesel being blended.

The only stores here that offer Branded Diesel here with Additive are Exxon and Marathon.
Everyone else has unbranded fuel. There should be a decal (small)on the pump saying" this product is not a "XXXX branded product".

Shell V-power Nitro for me always in my VW 1.9 TDI PD 130PS engine as per the consensus at it performs well. I find supermarket fuel makes the engine noisy and it seems to have less low rev torque.

Shell diesel!

Mobil near my house. Only 3 fillups in 30K miles were not from this station. and the same pump

I live in RI, and they do not list cetane at the pump. Lately I've been using Mobil diesel. My average lately has been 46 mpg with winter tires on. Though I've changed my driving style significantly. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be swapping out the winter for my summer tires. Hoping to see a 20-30% increase in my mileage at that point.


As for Shell, about 4 fillups ago I had a problem. It was extremely cold that day, and the pump ran very slow. As a result, the pump never developed back pressure and ended up spilling out onto the ground. The weather played a major part of it.


Skrebel33

I know that there are diesel winter blends to prevent gelling and other cold related issues. Is there a noticable difference between the summer and winter blends in terms of fuel economy, as with the gasoline ones?

I'm using Sheetz, as it's convenient for my conmute and their price is $0.19 cheaper than everybody else in the area. 2K miles so far, no problems.

I buy my fuel where it is the absolute cheapest. Fuel is fungible. It's exactly the same fuel everywhere. The only reason to pick one distributor over another is if you are in love with whatever marketing additive they claim to put in their fuel.

I have no particular affinity for any particular additives so I pull into the station with the cheapest price/gallon. At the moment that is the Chevron station at Van Ness Ave and Pine St in San Francisco where diesel is $4.09/gal.

CountryMark Diesel R is all I use. Its consistently 50 cetane, and widely available throughout Indiana and Illinois. Plus, its extracted and refined here, so no foreign oil issues. On TDI Club Diesel R is only bested by Amoco BP, and I'm unsure if that formulation is produced anymore.

I also add Powerservice to every tank. While cetane gain may be negligible because I'm already getting 50+, it also increases lubricity and decreases wear in my upgraded injectors.

You need to exercise the turbo. It won't hurt the car. In addition, the occasional Italian tune-up will remove excess carbon buildup. If your turo design is a VNT (vane and rotator ring) vacuum controlled you're asking for long-term trouble if you don't give it the periodic flogging.

I totally agree!!!

My Mercedes-Benz Turbo Diesel has almost 500 torques and I love the feeling of being pressed into my seat when I unleash all of them. In the words of Jeremy Clarkson, "Yeeessss!!!!!"

Pumps around Arkansas do not display a cetane rating and if you ask anyone at the station they look at you like you are crazy. I fuel at the Loves near my job. Mainly because their diesel ranges between 5-20% biodiesel. You cant find B50 or above around here so this is the next best thing. If you look at my fill up history over the past two years all my fill ups are at the same location and my mileage is consistent. Winter or summer. I want to buy some lubricity additives someday but right now don't have the money for it. So far the run of the mill diesel has caused no issues. I confirmed this when I ran my oil 15K miles and had an analysis done on it. The oil still had some additive left and no signs of wear. It was only a partial synthetic oil.

Biodiesel might be increasing the lubricity of the fuel. So you may not need additives if you regularly use it.

I always use Sainsbury's as I collect Nectar points. They also tend to be the cheapest around my area for fuel as well.
There are a couple of independent garages that are sometimes a penny cheaper, but they don't give nectar points.
My cousin always uses Shell as his BMW (he thinks) runs better and thinks supermarket fuel is substandard. My shed doesn't seem to mind what I put into it!

I buy my diesel at Shell, Caseys and QuickTrip, they seem to give me the best diesel fuel, and they are cheaper where I'm at when it comes to Diesel. $1.50 great for diesel fuel, I've seen it drop to $1.10 in Colorado Springs. It costs me less than $60 to fill up my 30 gallon tank and I don't let it get bellow 1/8ths

Oh boy that's cheap, it's shot up here in the UK, probably the exit of the EU doesn't help. Paying £1.16 a litre here, which works out at just under $6 a US gallon. Petrol and diesel the same price now. It's been worse I guess...

Holy crap that expensive like no other! Gas is normally over $3 a gallon, so having a diesel is great when it comes to being cheaper

I use GasBuddy & get diesel from the cheapest station I can find.

In southern Ontario, Canada, where I live, diesel has been cheaper than unleaded gas since I took delivery of my Audi Q5 3.0 TDI in late May 2015. Right now, the best local prices are (CAD$/Liter):
- Diesel: $0.869
- Reg: $0.949
- Mid: $1.029
- Prem: $1.108

I benefit not only from the lower pump price, but also from the higher MPG. My calculations say my diesel has saved more than 1/3 of the fuel cost compared to a 2.0L gasoline powered Q5.

You know Steve, I've said it a thousand times before, but the higher initial purchase cost is irrelevant to your costings as you will get that back when you sell the vehicle on. In many cases diesels depreciate less than thier petrol equivalents so you'll be even better off ;)

My calculations tell me that sometime after 3 years of ownership, the diesel engine premium will be paid off. This is my first diesel, and after just 14 months of ownership, I never want to go back to gasoline (petrol).

I know what you mean - back in the '90s, before i ever worked out MPGs, i used to stick just a fiver in at the pumps.
It seemed that the big diesel nissan bluebird would go almost twice as far as the petrol version of the same car, and further than the small petrol vauxhall nova on £5 of fuel.
Apart from a couple of mistakes or emergency purchases, every one of my couple dozen rides since has been diesel.
Until i got this Prius!
Now the same passion i had for diesel i hold for hybrids - the fuel economy of the Prius is slightly better than a diesel supermini and around 50% better than a diesel of a comparative size.
The hybrid premium may be higher, may take longer to recover.
Free road tax helps. The nature of the hybrid system makes driving it more of a fun eco game than with the diesel - chasing the various states of charging and EV use.
When the Honda CR-V is to be replaced (with the wifes choice), i am trying to lead her towards the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV...!
On the other hand, she likes the look of the Dodge Nitro (as do i), shame shes a bit snobbish about the age of them.
I'd most likely only buy hybrids now, but i'd still be happy with a diesel in our "fleet".