The major gas companies spend a lot of money on their advertisements, many of them trying to convince you that their fuel is worth the extra pennies because of some elusive additives that the bargain brands don’t have. Some people come to our Seattle auto body shop and wonder: is this all marketing, or is there an actual benefit to buying costlier gas?
In truth, you’re not likely to see much of a difference between two different brands of regular gasoline. Though one may boast the power to clean out the gunk that the other one supposedly leaves behind, this represents a somewhat dated notion of the effects that gasoline has on your engine. There is still some debate on the issue, but there have been tests conducted wherein the long term effects of using cheaper gas have been shown to be apparently identical to those of gasolines with more specialized additives. If you need advice, simply buy from whatever pump is giving you the best deal and the most convenience.