I know Costco makes a tremendous amount of money(cash flow) off membership fees. I think it would be nice of them to recognize their loyal customers," ie the ones that brought them here" so to speak, and help to enable them to be so successful. I’ve been paying since 1994 and frankly, I’m thinking it may be getting close to the time for me to drop my membership.
I don’t spend 12-15k a year like I use to but I do like purchasing gas at Costco because of their top-tier quality.
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Not because of the price, but because of an ill-defined concept that you have no way of evaluating? Top Tier is nothing but a marketing term designed to make people think there’s a difference in a commodity sold by different companies. That makes it so the vendors don’t have to compete on price as much. Now Costco doesn’t seem to be using it to not compete on price, but they have successfully convinced many people that Costco is on a short list of acceptable places to buy gas.
Maybe you should just buy gas at Kroger then…ill-defined concept.???Do you really think a company such as Costco would risk its reputation in the marketplace and sell fuel that wasn’t blended to quality standards to be designated top tier? Look at Clarke’s own website to see top-tier fuel recommendations.Costco obviously wouldn’t use the fact that their fuel is top-tier to adversely impact a consumer’s purchasing decision. They provide a superior product at a lower cost as an incentive- not as a deterrent to buy. In case you haven’t noticed look how competitive fuel pricing is on any given 4-way intersection that has multiple fuel stations. Vendors have to be extremely competitive in the fuel markets. Have you ever noticed when prices spike at other gas stations that Costco “holds” their pricing steady for several days before raising fuel pricing? The fuel is basically the same commodity as millions of barrels move thru the pipeline. What’s different is what the refineries "add to"it. In the old days when we had leaded and unleaded gas, certain companies like Amerado Hess had different tolerance levels for contamination of fuel in the pipeline. Hess was actually one of the most restrictive in that they required that their unleaded fuel had larger buffers in the pipeline between types of fuel. They wanted their unleaded(cleaner) fuel to be better protected from contamination by leaded fuel. Contamination being leaded products that required less refinement. The refineries then add their additives. Chevron uses its additive Techron for instance. Most people have personal preferences on what gas they choose to use. A lot of choices are influenced by what your family used growing up. Others are influenced by ads in the media. Some get told to use the highest Octane available. The truth is fuel quality in America is so good that you can generally use the lower octanes unless your car starts to ping or knock. If this occurs then it’s prudent to move up the spectrum to the next higher octane.
The AAA has evaluated it and thinks it’s a real thing.
For us, teh $1 less a gallon than any other station was a selling point for us. COVID changed that considerably but Costco is still cheaper than anyone else for us.
But you have no way of evaluating the certification or whether any particular fuel actually meets it. You’re relying on someone else’s opinion, and you have no idea who’s paying them. Even if you believe everything in the article, it doesn’t mention whether an engine that is “19 times cleaner” matters or how much. Maybe it matters, maybe it doesn’t. 
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Heh, that’s the problem with the entire Internet.
The top-tier standard was developed by a group of major car manufacturers including Honda, GM & Ford… It averages 3 cents more a gallon. Do you really think they would go to that trouble to promote a costlier fuel if it wasn’t needed?
It matters, and it really matters in modern combustion engines with fuel injection and tight tolerances.
Carbon deposits in the combustion chamber will form “hotspots” which erode valves and when suspended the lubricating oil will cause excessive wear in bearings and cylinder walls.
3 cents per gallon times however many millions of gallons of gas are sold each day equals a ton of money. So yes, it’s conceivable that someone would go to a lot of trouble to sell Top Tier additives even if they’re not needed. Convincing just half the people to spend the difference (after all, it’s only 3 cents per gallon, and better safe than sorry) is a big payoff.
Here you’re just repeating the same claims as the people who stand to profit. Maybe it matters, maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know, and it’s clear that you don’t either. I do know that I’ve never had an engine failure that could even possibly be attributed to excessive wear due to carbon deposits, and never known anyone who has.
Whether 3 cents a gallon is a deciding factor or whether it is called Top Tier or not makes no difference to us if it is still the cheapest in the market. Currently Costco is 8 cents a gallon cheaper than the next expensive price and 32 cents cheaper than the Texaco a mile away. (Using todays prices of Regular - Costco $4.69 vrs Texaco $5.01). Premium has a 28 cent spread (Costco cheapest), Diesel 17 cents (Costco cheapest). Does it matter to me that Costco gas is called Top Tier or not? No.
So yes, an extra 3 cents on my Regular might be great (60 cents on my fill up) but then again, I am still potentially saving $6.40 already on my fillup.
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I know enough to know that a reduction in carbon deposits in a gasoline engine is a good thing. I’ve overhauled car engines and seen what carbon deposits can do to an engine and how it affects the useful life of one.
And do you really think companies like BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford and Subaru are making money on top tier gas sales?
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