Do you go further out the way for cheaper fuel prices?

[Pigeon12]

The BP pretty much next to me is around 1.45p (petrol) however, there is a station thats less than 2 miles from me thats 1.31p although I dont go here often as theres always a massive queue, but theres a couple of others around thats around 1.33p. It got me wondering if people often go a bit out of the way for cheaper prices. Obviously its not always worth it if its too far and you have to factor in time and effort too. I suppose theres also the argument that BP is better fuel (although I am sceptical of this stuff) so mabye some people wouldnt bother going to the cheaper places anyway.

[alexp999]

All the 95 stuff is basically the same, it has to reach a minimum standard and big oil isn't going to waste money putting anything in the fuel they don't have to.

I wouldn't go far out of my way, there is no point, you are burning the saving you make getting there and back.

I do try and incorporate the cheaper stations in my journey. A slight detour means I can go via my local sainsburys on the way to or from work which is one of the cheapest in the area.

[iantt]

I always use the same fuel station.  No detours required. 🤣🤣🤣

[TomsFocus]

BP near me is often the cheapest as it's hidden in town on a side road.  The supermarkets near the dual carriageway are generally equal or more expensive.

I've always found BP diesel to be a bit cleaner and less sooty than Tesco or Sainsburys.  Every little helps when only doing short journeys in a diesel! 

For me, the biggest factor is pump or app payment though.  Haven't paid in a kiosk since about 2018 lol.

As with Alex, I used to factor the local BP into a journey, so I wasn't driving any unnecessary miles for it.

[Jimpster]

As long as i go more than 5 miles out i can save 5p or more a litre, even Asda charge different prices at different stores which i find disgusting. I have the petrol prices app on my android phone, its free

[StephenFord]

I have a garage 1/4 mile away, though because it's rural, it's often quite expensive. I'm fortunate in that a normal 10 mile commute, I can pass about a dozen garages so have an abundance of choice, usually end up using Asda, or a monthly treat of BP Ultimate!

[Jimpster]

Do different brands make any difference, they all originate from the same refineries

[StephenFord]

4 minutes ago, Jimpster said:

Do different brands make any difference, they all originate from the same refineries

Oh dear, I feel an 'argument' ensuing on the merits of BP Ultimate v supermarket petrol LOL

[Jimpster]

nope no argument here was just posing a question, i appreciate some cars dont like this new "E" stuff. i throw any cheap stuff in

[TomsFocus]

Short answer is yes brands do make a difference.  The base fuel is all the same, but there are different additives such as detergents etc.

[alexp999]

13 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Short answer is yes brands do make a difference.  The base fuel is all the same, but there are different additives such as detergents etc.

In the 97+ stuff sure. But the regular stuff I’m not convinced, they are trying to compete on price. Not putting in any more than they need to saves precious pennies for them to make their billions. 

[Pigeon12]

I have seen the BP vs Tesco etc, argument countless times and no one seems to know for sure the differences (if there are any) but if there are differences I assume it would be additives.  You'd think that they could market that; being more transparent on whats in their fules and what benefits it has. I have seen ethanol tests online and the different brands have different ethanol levels in them but obviously this could also vary in time and between batches and not just brand.

[StephenFord]

2 minutes ago, Pigeon12 said:

 and no one seems to know for sure the differences...

 

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, alexp999 said:

In the 97+ stuff sure. But the regular stuff I’m not convinced, they are trying to compete on price. Not putting in any more than they need to saves precious pennies for them to make their billions. 

Fair point.  I haven't done any petrol testing.  (Gave up petrol daily in 2011 - no idea how people afford to run the thirsty things lol).  Generally used Momentum99 in the ST & GTi-6, but as weekend cars didn't do enough miles to compare effectively.

I did a lot of diesel testing between 2012 & 2017 though.  I was expecting Sainsburys diesel to be the same as BP due to the Nectar partnership.  But ended up very surprised to find noticeable differences between them.  Most notable was the smoke levels as said above, and more frequent regens on the DPF equipped cars.  I would assume the difference is less noticeable for people doing a lot of motorway driving.

 

[iantt]

My local. 🤣🤣

[unofix]

18 minutes ago, iantt said:

My local.

I see that you are using the MK Logic 'Plus' series of wall socket, that comes with extra electrons 🤣

[alexp999]

22 minutes ago, iantt said:

My local. 🤣🤣

If you were using one of the gold plated ones, it would definitely add a few extra bhp and mpg kWh/100km

[iantt]

Depending where I'm going will depend what extension lead I choose. 

[iantt]

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

I see that you are using the MK Logic 'Plus' series of wall socket, that comes with extra electrons 🤣

How can you tell it's an mk?? 

[unofix]

5 minutes ago, iantt said:

How can you tell it's an mk?? 

Because only MK Logic Plus has the slight curved front plate from the centre point towards the top edge.

[iantt]

3 minutes ago, unofix said:

Because only MK Logic Plus has the slight curved front plate from the centre point towards the top edge.

Socket nice and cool even with 2.2 kw going through it . 

[iantt]

Sorry, back on topic, when I had a proper car, I used what was cheapest without deviating from any journey. Normally fill up once a month in town then same again the next month. 700+ miles between tanks . 

[unofix]

I only ever fit MK products. The sockets are one of the very few on the market that have double pole switching and the unique safety shutter system. The socket contacts are rated at a continues 20Amp even though use 13Amp fused plugs it is still possible to draw up to 30Amps for up to 4 hours before the 13A fuse would blow.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, unofix said:

I only ever fit MK products.

They were the preferred product when I was with the leccy board. Part of Honeywell, now I believe.

 

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The base fuel is all the same, but there are different additives such as detergents etc.

When I was buying fuel in bulk, I occasionally visited our suppliers refinery on Teesside from where product was despatched by road and rail.

Our supplier did not have any retail presence of their own in the UK, selling to big fleet customers such as ourselves and (interestingly) other oil companies who did have retail operations. I was intrigued to see various tankers turning up with logos of all the (then) well known brands and all leaving with the same basic product of the various grades on board. I was advised that each brand then added it's own "special ingredients" either into the tanker or at the point of delivery.

[unofix]

9 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

. I was intrigued to see various tankers turning up with logos of all the (then) well known brands