Top Tier Fuel

I recently contacted United refining of Warren PA and asked if their Kwik Fill gas was Top Tier. I tried to post their rep;y but couldn’t so I will summarize.

They say their gasoline has no additive prohibited by any carmakers and has more than minimum detergent levels but they chose not to pay the large fee to be listed as Top Tier.

Any thoughts? They are the two closest stations to me and I use their 91 octane , ethanol free gas in my lawn and snow equipment.

It makes me think of Costo fuel, which is currently top tier certified, but wasn’t always

If your vehicles do fine using fuel which isn’t top tier rated, I see no reason to change anything

Is the Kwik Fill 87 octane gas in your area also ethanol free, or is only their 91 octane ethanol free?

It is only the 91, we have no one selling 87 octane non ethanol around here except possibly marinas ant they would be much more expensive than the #.25 the 91 octane is at Kwik Fill.

Unfortunately the current business climate trends toward “lie unless it’s expressly forbidden.” You’re not allowed to lie about being tier-1 certified, but you can get away with lying that your product could be T1 if you’d only get it certified.

That doesn’t mean they’re lying, but it also doesn’t mean you can guarantee you’re getting what you think you’re getting.

That said, I agree with @db4690 - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

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Kwik Fill, Country Fair and Keystone are outlets for United Refining. They refine Canadian crude in Warren Pa, I am pretty sure they are the only larger refinery that uses North American supply/production exclusively. They have been around a long time and are a major regional supplier of retail gasoline. Many many cars have been using their fuel without any problem for a long time. While they may not have the ‘top tier’ lable I have no concerns using their fuel.

All they told you is that their gasoline meets minimum requirements for sale where they provide gasoline. I use the least expensive top tier 87 octane I can find (usually BP or Shell), or Sam’s Club gas if I take is substantially cheaper. I don’t see a difference, but until now, I didn’t own a direct injected vehicle.

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I am not sating I take what they are saying without a grain of salt but it did make me curious as to how much it costs to become top tier certified and is it the same for all gasoline companies. An amount that is affordable to a national seller might seem steep for a regional one.

Where I get my ethanol free gas (lawn equipment), that pump does not have the Top Tier sticker but all the other pumps do.

Today I was listening to a really old Car Talk, old enough that a caller was not aware that the AC ran in defrost mode. The next caller had a problem that was diagnosed as the need for a fuel additive.

So, yes I use Top Tier gas.

There are still people who do not know that , just recently someone posted that very question.

My very weird boss (the one who only bought a few bucks of gas at a time for his Buick because, “If you tell them to fill it up, they will cheat you”) was one of those people. So, he operated his system on “Defrost”, rather than simply reducing the temperature.
:face_with_raised_eyebrow: