Save Money and Not Harm Your Car! Go Generic at the Gas Pump

Save Money and Not Harm Your Car! Go Generic at the Gas Pump! by Scott Siegel

As the price of fuel goes up and up more drivers are thinking about using generic gas from stations that are not affiliated with the big international gas companies like Exxon or Shell. The question is, can you get the same quality of gas from ABC gas station as you can get from the big guys? Will the XYZ gas run your car with out causing damage to your engine?

The answer simply is, there is not much of a significant difference between the generic gas and the more expensive gas except for some additives which each company has added to it's gas. To really understand how this is possible a short look at how the gas refining system treats gas makes the picture easy to see.

Gasoline produced at refineries is a generic product. A good example to illustrate the gas terminal concept is California where all gas sold there has to meet the same environmental specifications. Since all the gas in California has to be to the same specifications it doesn't matter whose gas the refiners use, it's all the same. Because of this, the refiners often trade gasoline and store gasoline at shared terminals where all the gas is in common tanks.

The gasoline that is produced at one refinery is not really different than another refinery. They all produce what one would call generic gas. It is the chemicals that are added to the generic gas that makes one brand different from another. Each brand has it's own formula of additives.

Such blending or adding of these brand chemicals or additives typically takes place when the gasoline is being loaded into a tanker truck for further distribution. In other words all the brands are starting with essentially the same generic gas as their main component. So generic gas is basically the same as the branded gas.

Just to make sure, studies have been done to see if there is a difference between generic gas and branded gas. A cooperative study was done by ABC News and the Maryland State Comptroller's office.

The Maryland Fuel Testing Laboratory was where a battery of tests were conducted. The gas was checked for contaminants like excessive sediments or diesel accidentally mixed with the gas. They ran the gas through an elaborate test engine to ensure that the gas was all the same 87 octane level. They even made sure that the gas was formulated correctly for the season.

The good news for the consumer is generic and branded gas had nothing but minor differences. They found that by and large the gas was one and the same. The primary difference between competing brands of gasoline is the amount of detergent or additives the distributors add to it. Even then the differences are small.

Essentially gas is gas is gas. All fuel sold for your vehicle regardless if it is generic or branded will work just fine. The one big difference is really what you already knew, the non branded gas has the lower price.

$100 to $200 per year is the estimate that is used in gauging how much you can save by using generic gas. Go to the generic station the next time you fill up and save yourself some cash.

Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page book of industry insider secrets on saving gas and money at the gas pump. Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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