Fuel - Supermarket or well-know supplier?

[LSainsbury]

The great debate at work today:

Should you buy fuel from a supermarket or a well know supplier like Shell, BP, <insert other here!>

So - what do you lot think? I normally get it from Tesco's because of the price and clubcard points...

Is supermarket fuel bad for your vehicle?

[AndyCambs]

Or just bad for specific cars? Apparently Ford cars weren't affected.

I generally get mine from Tesco Express, which is an Esso station. Alternatively, from Sainsburys as there are points, and it's usually one of the cheapest in town

[LSainsbury]

Well I'm not not really talking about the current issues regarding fuel (see other thread!), I'm just trying to find out if the cheaper fuel is worse for your vehicle.

[MovedGoalPosts]

I've added a poll - might not quite fit the idea of whether cheaper stuff is better or worse. I suspect that unless we are car mechanics we probably won't know that one in detail.

[gazzae]

I get mine from Sainsburys as they are pretty cheap for Super unleaded

[Halcyon]

Normally always the suupermarket as you get club points and it is cheaper.

[LSainsbury]

I've added a poll - might not quite fit the idea of whether cheaper stuff is better or worse. I suspect that unless we are car mechanics we probably won't know that one in detail.

Nice one Rob!

Can you add another poll?

Q: Do you think supermarket fuel is bad for your car?

A: Yes / No

[videodj]

Branded for me, usually BP or Shell, whenever I use Tesco's my fuel consumption drops.

To be honest our local Tesco's is dearer than BP at the minute! So not worth it, even for the points.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Shell (not in the poll), because its just around the corner and cheaper than Tesco

[Marge]

I always buy from Shell even if it's slightly more expensive. I've always been suspicious of supermarket petrol and will only ever buy it if I'm about to run out and even then put a couple of pound in to get me to a "proper" petrol station

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

I always buy from Shell even if it's slightly more expensive. I've always been suspicious of supermarket petrol and will only ever buy it if I'm about to run out and even then put a couple of pound in to get me to a "proper" petrol station

i once did a very unscientific test where i had to drive Paris two weeks in a row. One round trip i used shell diesel and got approx 600 miles to a tank and the other trip i used supermarket diesel and got approx 525 miles. Agreed there could have been driving differences, traffic flow differences etc but 75 miles difference? made me suspicous too.

[MikeyB]

I either fill up at the Tesco I pass on the way to work, or at Asda when doing the shopping.

I don't think it would be any different from the petrol/diesel you get from a "normal" filling station.

[TheDaddy]

i once did a very unscientific test where i had to drive Paris two weeks in a row. One round trip i used shell diesel and got approx 600 miles to a tank and the other trip i used supermarket diesel and got approx 525 miles. Agreed there could have been driving differences, traffic flow differences etc but 75 miles difference? made me suspicous too.

I was thinking earlier when drivers on the news were blaming supermarket fuel, whether they had anything to do with it, through tampering with it etc

[homealone]

I'm not sure...

I know the 'supermarkets' in the UK put tremendous pressure on their suppliers.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 'supermarket' grade, which met that price point ;)

- but 'joe public' will never be able to prove anything, and, to be honest, our current car (Honda Jazz) seems to have been adapted to make the most of a bad 'fuel job'?

- Mrs Gaz has her eye on a new Civic 1.8se vtec, with a test drive tomorrow, though, which may change my opinion, and possibly require 'better' fuel :)

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 'supermarket' grade, which met that price point ;)

i doubt its lower grade however i also doubt that any addititives are blended in as i guess they cost more than the fuel

[homealone]

i doubt its lower grade however i also doubt that any addititives are blended in as i guess they cost more than the fuel

hmm, don't the 'additives' affect the grade, though, it is an interesting subject - spending 'push' has been satnav, not fuel economy, lately :)

[Nugget]

I use Sainsburys or Tesco for convenience - Sainsburys is just round the corner from Casa Nug, and I have to pass Tesco on the way to / from work, so it depends where I am when I need to put petrol in.

Fuel consumption's not really an issue for me - the way I drive, it's always rubbish ;)

[Chris W]

I buy from wherever petrolprices.com tells me is cheapest, or towards the end of the month from somewhere where i can pay by cheque. With incidentally, normally turns out to be Morrisons for both criteria.

[keithwalton]

I use shell diesel as it is a higher grade than most others.

When bp released there ultimate diesel (higer cetane value -> performance indicator like RON of petrol) shell responded by raising there diesel value and additives to the same but kept the price. It also has detergent in it like v-power (what was optimax) has as well.

This would explain why you got better mpg out of a tank of shell.
My xantia does run notably better on shell than other diesels (mainly esso from tesco)

[jellybaby]

I always try to get Shell. My car seems to run better on their fuel than any others

[Hom3r]

I used to buy my petrol from Total, but 6 years ago when there was the fuel depo blockades and fuel was running low Total put there up, since then I have never, and will never buy from them.

I buy from Tesco or Sainsbury

[Mr_love_monkey]

I buy from whereever is cheapest

[Maggy]

I cannot be a*sed to go down the Hell that is Newgate Lane to get Petrol from Asda which is the only supermarket providing petrol within a convenient drive.Anyway my two local Texaco's are pretty cheap and my fuel consumption has dropped drastically now both of us work within the Gosport bounderies.:)

[mrm1]

I nearly always buy from Tesco's. Never had a problem with there fuel yet. Don't think fuel related problems are limited to super market fuels. I remember in 87/88 Shell had a problem with their fuel. There branded "Formula Shell" was supposedly the cause of some cars valves prematurely burning out due to some of the additives. For this reason Shell withdrew the fuel.

[RUSTY]

was on contract work for a time near colwick/nottingham fuel depot and it seemed that various badged tankers used the same pumps,is the fuel supplied by garages the same or not?

[Xaccers]

Costco, they do a rather nice soya oil ;)

[c1rcle]

I normally use my local Shell, about 300yrds from the house. They put the price up on Saturday by 2p a litre then dropped it back down again lunchtime today so I went a filled up :D http://www.petrolprices.com is a good place to look for cheap fuel in your area.

[Paul K]

Well we buy from our local Tesco more often than not.......... and thanks to that we now have to take our car to the mechanics to wait for a new sensor. Bl**dy company that supplies the fuel to the supermarkets should be burnt down the useless gits. Someone needs to pay for the messing about a lot of people are having to put up with at the moment.