UK - maximise money – is integrating supermarket shopping with supermarket fuel best?
 

I live in the UK and drive Megane 1.5 dCi


I have always filled up from Shell garage and bought standard diesel.
Starting to feel the pinch financially and looking at ways to save money and get more value for my money.


As the title suggests….
Should I consider supermarket fuel e.g. is it as efficient and have the relevant cleaning fluids within it?


Is purchasing cheaper fuel a greater financial risk e.g. resulting in a clogged up fuel filter which needs replacing due to lack of cleaning fluids?


Are supermarket pumps cheaper than e.g. Shell?


I currently shop at Sainsburys and looking at alternative places to shop to cut costs, with this in mind….
Is integrating shopping and fuel within 1 place a good way of saving money e.g. not only a cheaper price at the fuel pump but also perhaps rewards points to spend on shopping or fuel? If so what supermarket provides the better deal?



Any help is greatly appreciated.



Thanks.

Hi there. I try to avoid Supermarket fuels if possible, you do hear the odd horror story but they are very rare. I'm sure the fuel is exactly the same as that elsewhere, and it is cheaper, but I prefer using a more reputable brand.

You already have a very efficient car (same engine as my Clio) with diesel prices below petrol, it makes sense. I would recommend always filling up, putting small amounts in will mean more trips to the station, in my opinion it's better to have a full tank and a long range.

Can't tell you where to shop, but I do a 50 mile round trip to my nearest Aldi, the food is top quality but is 30 - 50% cheaper than any other store. Saves me about £1500 to £2000 a year easy, it's worth the trip. The car park is always full of brand new Audis, Mercs, BMWs etc so says alot!

torque79,

Have to a agree with Draigflag, always fill the tank, this means less stops.

Have to agree on the branded fules verses supermarket as well, it might all come from Shell, or Esso, but they have different additives.

I remember a few years back I was always using Topaz for fuel but then for work reasons started using Esso and I noticed I got better mpg from the Esso fuel. Not by much and I don't have the data to support it, but I do seem to remember noticing it.

When you get a vehicle registered on this site and are tracking your MPG you could always switch for a couple of tanks and then switch back and see if there is any noticable difference.

Oliver.

I think that fuel purchased at supermarkets isn't significantly different from fuel purchased at other fuel stations, but there's a reason they can "afford" to give you great deals on your fuel. To me it says they're overcharging you for your groceries. The store I do my primary grocery shopping at does not run weekly sales, does not accept coupons, does not offer fuel discounts, and is an hour's drive from my home. Why do I drive out there every 7-10 days? I spend about 2/3 less on my groceries than if I shopped at the store 1/2 a mile from my home. What I save on one week's worth of groceries more than pays for a full tank of fuel in my car.

I don't have any horror stories per se, but I also have heard the same chatter about the inferior quality of supermarket fuels. I have no basis for saying whether these are old wives' tales or not. But in theory it makes some sense, it combines trips and discounts the fuel. It's a pretty good prima facie case. I have bought fuel for less than $1/gal before thanks to the grocery points.

We see the same truck delivering fuel to Shell, Kroger and Murphy (Walmart). I suspect the truck loads at the same distribution center so it's the same fuel at each place. I don't know for a fact but it seems likely. We buy fuel at Kroger, our grocery of choice, because each $100 of grocery purchases gets 10 cents per gallon discount on fuel. Her car has the larger tank so we use the discount on it, saving $1.50-1.60 per tank per $100 of groceries. Usually there's $200-300 of groceries purchased between fills so it's $3-4.50 total savings.

The gasoline and diesel will be the same, but the additives will be different.