# German Gasoline **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [June 8, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793 "2013-06-08T19:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brutzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brutzy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/brutzy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/1 "2013-06-08T19:03:20Z")
My wife’s Malibu 2010 tends to stall. The mechanic indicated… “only use ze German gas”… like Shell. The Shell seems to work better. I tried super unleaded from another company and it still had a mild sluggishness problem… a few times… on a long trip. The car did not stall with the super but made sounds… like coughing… and came close to stalling a few times. The idea of German gas does make any sense to me. An explanation would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/2 "2013-06-08T19:16:17Z")
“German gas”? Like what I get from eating too many _Knockwursts Mit Sauerkraut_? **;-))** Seriously however, Shell is based in The Netherlands, and their company name is _Royal Dutch Petroleum_. Somehow that doesn’t sound very German to me, and–in fact–you might wind up picking your teeth off of the ground if you told a Dutchman that you thought he was German. The war, you know… In reality, I think that your geographically-impaired mechanic was trying to guide you toward brands of gasoline that have higher levels of detergent, in order to keep the fuel system & the intake valves clean. Shell is one of the brands that is rated, “Top Tier”, by GM, Toyota, & BMW. The “Top Tier” rating indicates that the gas has a much higher level of detergents than brands that are not certified as such. You can use this link to see which brands of gas qualify for that rating, and to learn the details of how they earn it: [http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html](http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html) ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/3 "2013-06-08T19:41:06Z")
Nonsense - no such thing. And even if there was a German gas company just about all the gas sold in the US is refined here. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/4 "2013-06-08T21:08:36Z")
Any Shell gasoline you buy in the United States comes from the nearest refinery or pipeline terminal to the station where you bought it…It’s called an exchange agreement… If your Malibu is not running properly, then there is something wrong with your Malibu, not the gasoline… ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/5 "2013-06-08T21:36:56Z")
The mechanic is clueless or is giving you a brush off for some reason but the German gas thing is bogus. The brush off may be due to not knowing what’s wrong with the car and trying to avoid looking clueless or as a means of getting rid of someone whom they feel does not want to spend any money on any diagnosis or repair. ---
**Author:** ![WheresRick](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wheresrick/32/2717_2.png) [@WheresRick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/WheresRick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/6 "2013-06-09T00:33:57Z")
What he was trying to say is to only use top tier fuels. Gm has had a tsb on this for 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/7 "2013-06-09T03:47:52Z")
Stalling isn’t related to the vendor of the gasoline. Some gasoline vendors are said to better than others for knocking problems with higher compression engines – Union 76 for example (hold on to you wallet though) – but not for stalling. The car has a drivability problem that needs to be diagnosed by an experienced mechanic. It may be something as simple as a stuck EGR. ---
**Author:** ![RemcoW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/remcow/32/2471_2.png) [@RemcoW](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RemcoW)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/8 "2013-06-09T05:28:52Z")
Oh, minor detail but the Dutch, while not wanting to be called Germans, don’t really hate Germans. They wouldn’t knock your teeth out if you called them German. We’re pretty much over most of it, except maybe that they stole all our bicycles 70 years ago and are still holding on to them. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/9 "2013-06-09T07:22:02Z")
Yeah I guess bikes were pretty important back then and over there. ---
**Author:** ![bloody\_knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@bloody\_knuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bloody_knuckles)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/10 "2013-06-09T20:16:48Z")
The most important thing about buying gas is to always buy from a station that pumps high volumes. Buying gas from a station that does not turn over its inventory regularly could cause you to get old or cruddy gas. I buy from a BJ’s near my house that gets three fuel deliveries daily (yes, three deliveries daily) so I know I am always getting good gas. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/11 "2013-06-09T21:17:56Z")
I fill up at the 76 station near my house. It’s convenient, although on the pricey side. Earlier I had been using Arco. It was cheaper, but the stupid pumps always kept clicking off well before the tank was full. Excruciating. No such problems at the 76 station. I have no evap codes (current, stored, or pending), for those of you wondering if my car is the problem. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/12 "2013-06-11T03:28:19Z")
One more thing: The Malibu will run well on regular unleaded gasoline. You never need to use high octane fuel. It will not improve performance. ---
**Author:** ![oblivion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@oblivion](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oblivion)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/13 "2013-06-11T14:24:25Z")
It probably couldn’t hurt to pick up a bottle of “Techron” and run it through when you’re at half a tank or less of gas. While pricey, this is probably the best cleaner out there. All gas in the US flows through the same pipelines, mixed together. The gas you use is normally a mix of gasoline from many refineries. It’s only at its distribution points that additives are added by Mobil, Shell, etc. for cleaning and octane, and that’s what makes the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Wha-Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@Wha-Who](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Wha-Who)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/14 "2013-06-11T18:16:59Z")
Last I looked, BP was not in the Top Tier list. BP has good gasoline; I have been using it w/o trouble for years. Perhaps BP does not want to pay to belong to the “Club”. There are others including my other source, the house brand at a local farm supply store. ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/15 "2013-06-11T18:40:46Z")
I wonder if, by ‘‘german gasoline’’ , he’s refering to gas that has no ethenol content ? ie; pure gasoline . If so , it’d be pretty difficult to find that in the u.s. these days. In this town there is none. ---
**Author:** ![bloody\_knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@bloody\_knuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bloody_knuckles)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/16 "2013-06-11T21:54:40Z")
Perhaps “German gasoline” is a euphemism for peppermint Schnapps… ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/17 "2013-06-11T22:01:29Z")
I think any benefits derived from using german gas would be negated by the expense of travelling to Europe for a fill up ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/18 "2013-06-11T22:04:22Z")
for ethanol free gas, try looking for places that cater to boaters ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/19 "2013-06-11T23:44:54Z")
boaters in the high desert four corners …HA HA, surely you jest . :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793/20 "2013-06-12T00:01:54Z")
oh…lol. I suppose you are right. I m confused tho. how can you go fishing in the desert? surely people would not be able to survive in such a place [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/german-gasoline/79793.md?page=2)