I use only Top Tier gasoline, per Toyota’s guidance. The stations that sell Top Tier do not have ATMs that I can use freely. If I want gasoline, and money from a free ATM, in the same place, the gasoline is not Top Tier.
In place of Top Tier gasoline, do those treatments you can buy in an auto parts store, or discount department store, have the same effect as Top Tier gasoline?
For example: Fill up the tank with Joe Schmo’s 87 octane, and add a bottle of Gumount fuel injector cleaner, or STP’s Oxygenated Gas Treatment.
…or, better yet, pay for the gas with a credit card that gives cash rebates.
I pay for my gas with my Costco Visa card from Citibank, and it gives me a 4% rebate on gas purchased at ANY gas station, not just Costco stations. When you consider the inconvenience of having to constantly seek ATMs to replenish your cash supply, as well as the cost of the gas that you are using to drive to and from those ATMs, IMHO it’s a losing proposition to pay cash for your gas, and that is without even considering the cash rebates when using certain credit cards.
Yes Volvo_V70, I did get the answer. I am forgetful, due to brain damage. Per the answers I received, I still use Top Tier gasoline, it is not a problem. I will mark my latest question as “Solved.”
I get cash at the grocery store when I pay with my debit card. As long as I buy something, there is no fee for the cash. This also works at stores like WalMart, Target, Home Depot, and Lowes. I can’t remember the last time I paid an ATM fee. This leaves me free to get gasoline at a Top Tier gas station. There is a town about half way home from work that has BP, Exxon, and Shell stations that are the least expensive in town and only a penny or two more per gallon than Sam’s Club.
Since the minimum additive performance standards were first established by the EPA in 1995, most gasoline marketers have actually reduced the concentration level of detergent additive in their gasoline by up to 50%. As a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards has been hampered, leading to engine deposits that can have a big impact on in-use emissions and driver satisfaction.
Eight top automakers have raised the bar. TOP TIER™ Detergent Gasoline helps drivers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts, reducing engine performance. That’s something drivers and automakers can get behind. http://www.toptiergas.com/
We have very few top tier gas stations in my area and the only one that is near me was a Mobil that just swapped sites with a non top tier brand that is further away. The owner of what is now the Mobil has been notorious for neglecting to stick his pumps or draining water from them so I won’t go there.
One cold Sunday night I was going to take a set of thruway tandems (New York State’s nomenclature for pulling two long trailers that are only allowed on the NY Thruway and Mass Pike). Usually our city drivers fueled and hooked up the rigs at the terminals but the only worked weekdays.
I stopped at what is now the Mobil Station and set the pump running into one of my 60 gallon tanks and went inside to get a cup of coffee.
When I came out the pump was still running and claimed it had pumped 300 gallons. I pulled the nozzle partly out and saw brown foam instead of diesel fuel.
So , 5 years in with my Camry and no problems yet with using non top tier fuel. Maybe everyone in the puffalo area is too cheap to pay for top tier fuel so we don’t have many stations. We also don’t have a Costco here , or an Ikea or Staples either even though our Metro area is over a million people.
I too have very few top tier gas stations any where close to where I live or work. They are just not convenient. My wife’s Lexus recommends top tier it might have 1 or 2 tanks of tip tier gas in its 185k miles life. Car runs EXCELLENT. Still getting 32mpg.
ATM ?
to buy gas ?
All of my places have beautifully easy ‘‘pay at the pump’’ slots.
Have you ever tried one ?
It may not be as obvious as an ATM keypad but they work the same. Ours are both debit and credit card and the pay-at-the-pump pumps are open 24/7 even when the store is not.
…and, in case anyone is not aware of it, when you purchase something with a debit card, the purchase price is deducted from your bank account within hours, and that also holds true for purchases made by a scammer who manages to get your card information. And, because of the statutes that are in place, a debit card user has almost no consumer protections–unlike a credit card user.
A credit card user has a maximum liability of $50–as long as the disputed purchase is reported w/in 60 days.
No such protections exist for debit card users!
And then, there are the very nice cash rebates for those who pick the more consumer-friendly credit cards…
No bank is going to hold you accountable for fraudulent activity on either your debit card or on your credit card (not even for the first $50). They want to keep your business, and if they make you pay for fraudulent charges, you’re going to take your business to a better bank.
There is an advantage to using a credit card over a debit card, because if your credit card is used for fraudulent activity, you haven’t lost any money. The time that it takes for the credit card company to straighten everything out isn’t going to cause you any stress. On the other hand, if your bank takes 3-5 business days to put your money back in your checking account, you’re going to be without that money until they do. That’s why you’re not supposed to use your debit card for any transaction in which it will be taken out of your view where you can’t see the card, like at a restaurant (where you pay your server rather than a cashier) or a drive-thru. You should only use your debit card when it is going to remain in your line of sight.
I use my reward credit card for every purchase I can. I pay multiple times a month from my bank that also has a savings reward program. This is worth several hundred dollars a year to us.
Only if they run it as Debit (which they can’t do without the pin), Credit doesn’t come out immediately (with our credit union it’s not withdrawn immediately. It shows, but the money isn’t withdrawn for at least 24 hours). Also Visa Debit cards have the exact same protection Visa gives to their credit card holders (not sure about any Master Card debit cards, never had one).
Each state is different. Many states you must notify the bank within 10 days of any fraudulent charges. After that you may not be protected. Not sure there’s any time limit in credit cards.
The article is from 2009, but the information is still pertinent to today:
Main quote I would point out: “The amount of protection offered by debit cards versus the level of protection offered by credit cards is identical, as mandated by the law and in common practice. But this is not to say that the level of protection matches the level of convenience. Both debit and credit cards offer zero percent liability, meaning that all consumers who find themselves victims of card fraud will end up in the same place–their money will be refunded.”
Per the FTC debit card liability depends on when you report the card as lost/stolen: before charges are made $0, within 2 business days $50, more than 2 business days but less than calendar days $500, but this is policy can also be changed per individual banks to lower amounts (I know from experience my credit union didn’t charge us a penny and got all of our money back when we reported our debit card lost/stolen 5 days after)
I tried to but my last two new cars with a credit card but neither dealer would let me put more than a $3000 down payment on a credit card. I don’t use debit cards, I have never seen the point or any advantage to them. I go to the bank about every 6 weeks to withdraw some cash but put everything I can on credit cards.
The protection given to you by a debit card is just that. Protection that is given by the card company, not by law. I will never order anything that I have to put a deposit on except by credit card. If you leave a cash deposit and a merchant goes bankrupt, you will not get your money back. You will stand in line behind the government, banks and lawyers and by the time they get to you there will be little or nothing left.