Fuel Brands, Fuel Additives, & Batteries That I Can Recommend!
There are four main reasons that will direct you to choose between different "brands" of fuel, and batteries... and, I may as well add fuel additives:
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Convenience,
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The price,
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The quality (as perceived, or real... show me the chemistry!),
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Loyalty to brand (the least important factor for me, because no publicly traded company has loyalty but to making more profits for their shareholders, and I'm not a shareholder in any of these companies).
So...
Power/fuel/energy sources I recommend...
|
Energy Source |
Brand | Why? | ||
| Gasoline (Chemical Energy) | Murphy USA/Wal-Mart | Gasoline has a shelf-life of about 3 to 6-months before its combusting qualities start to degrade; if ethanol+gasoline, even shorter, ranging from 2-3 months. The very high turnover at said refueling stations lends to fresher gasoline. The prices tend to be superior to other locations, especially if you have a Wal-Mart membership (saves the customer 10₵/gallon). Read elaboration below. | ||
| Gasoline Fuel System Cleaners |
Berryman B12 Chemtool and Seafoam |
Being that I've chosen to purchase all my vehicles 2nd hand, to date, I have always used one of two products that have made notable improvements to said vehicles' performance (as part of a the first reconditioning processes project, and then for the regular maintenance cycles), and those are Berryman's B12 Chemtool, and Seafoam. Each has its uses, although, I recently discontinued the regular use of Seafoam due to the notable increase in its cost (double at some retailers), which outweighs the need (in my case). Read elaboration below. |
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| Electrical Energy (Batteries) |
EverStart (Wal-Mart) |
I used to favor Duralast Gold (AutoZone), but their pricing has become outrageous, and the duration of their warrantees has dropped significantly, making the increase in pricing unjustifiable. The Wal-Mart Everlast is a better battery, with a better warrantee, at a notably lower cost. Remember that all the automobile batteries on the market are made by the same few manufacturers. Read elaboration below. |
What fuel brands do I recommend, and why... (elaborated)?
We, as human beings, perceive value from a tangible and non-tangible perspective, and businesses understand that and capitalize on it. There are a barrage of YouTube channels that demonstrate how businesses are willing to push the boundaries of pricing exploitation tactics, following the "rule: "what the market will bear..." in other words, charge as high as the paying customer is willing to pay, regardless of the actual value being provided.
A few of my many favored YouTube channels, which provide an insight into this, are: Project Farm (testing all sort of things), ChrisFix (auto care), and Rose Anvil (footwear quality).
So, because a company's own marketing and sales says that the product is of great quality and the price is worth it doesn't mean much! These companies have learned the legal loopholes and lie and exploit their customers with belligerence and confidence! Speaking of Rose Anvil, I recommend that you watch the episode titled "($613 Scam?) Why Golden Goose is clowning you?" as a case-in-point.
Two of the most volatile priced consumables in cars are the fuel and the batteries. While AAA makes a good case for a quality difference between "top tier" and bottom tier" brands, which I can support from several experiments I've observed over the years. That said, I am yet to find a case that differentiates the quality between the top-tier brands in any significant way that justifies paying any marked difference in the price per gallon (liter).
With all that in mind, and calculating my experiences starting with all tiers, since the mid 1990s, I can confidently state that there is a difference between the tiers, but not among the same tier brands; more importantly, refueling stations that have high traffic tend to have better performing fuels, and the reason is that the fuel they sell is "fresher." Why is the latter an important quality? Well, gasoline has a shelf life of about three months, which is shorter when it's blended with ethanol... shorter by almost a month! Older gasoline looses more of the volatile compounds that increase combustibility of the fuel. Also, older fuel is more 'varnishy,' and creates undesirable deposits in the vehicle's fuel system, which can lead to problems later on (if you notice in "Project Resurrect," that is one of the reasons I'll be replacing the fuel tank!)
The choice...
While, in order, Texaco, Total, Phillips 66, Exxon, Mobil, Shell, Valero, and Conoco, were my preferred stations when I started driving my own vehicles, over the years, for the combination of performance, and cost per volume, I settled on "QuickTrip (QT)" and "RaceTrac;" but, over the past decade, I realized that "Murphy USA," the Wal-Mart brand, has served my vehicles exceptionally well, without any noticeable depreciation in performance or creation of deposits in the combustion chambers. Also, at least in the cities I frequent, they tend to have the most competitive pricing now-a-days; and, if you subscribed to Wal-Mart's membership "club," you'll be saving an additional dime per gallon!
Last, but not least, the other advantage of the Wal-Mart gasoline is provided by the high turnover of the fuel they sell due to the high volume of customers, so, their fuel is fresher than other stations that do not have a high volume of sales.
I should point out that I do use a fuel additive called Berryman B-12 Chem Tool every couple of refueling cycles, or thereabouts. I used to use a product called Seafoam, but their pricing has doubled with no observable value-added. I still recommend Seafoam for cars that are running "rough" as a first place to start, for I have noticed that it does make an improvement in performance by cleaning the fuel system, air-metering systems, and combustion chambers of maintenance-neglected cars, when used per the manufacturers instructions. Of all the other fuel additives I've used over the years, aside of the aforementioned two, they were akin to burning my monies in the combustion chambers!
What (lead-acid) battery brands do I recommend, and why... (elaborated)?
That leads us to the matter of batteries, and my focus will be on the lead-acid type herein. There was a time when a battery lasted in excess of five years of use; now, my experience has demonstrated that they last about four years at best, almost on the clock! Also, the price of batteries has gone up, in some cases by a couple of hundred dollars, which does not make sense, especially that auto-batteries are being recycled now, which should actually lower the prices! In the words of Derek Bieri of Vice Grip Garage: "Somebody just explain that to me!!" (whom, just like with Todd from Project Farm, I'd love to meet in person someday!😄)
⚠ Back in the day, the purpose of the battery was just to turn the starter so to start the engine. Today's cars are computers on wheels, and all those sensors and computers need electricity to run them! Actually, often, when a modern car fails to run, or has performance issues, the culprit is determined to be a weak battery or a failing alternator/generator, and not a mechanical issue. On the latter observation, this is why it is smart to own a battery tester or multimeter to run a quick test on the health of the latter two components of the electrical system, before you assume the worst!
For the longest time, I was a fan of the Auto Zone brand, "Duralast Gold," which used to come with a seven year (depreciating) warrantee... the latter kept being lowered till it arrived at three years, now, and the price almost doubled... that pushed me over the edge, and when I found a better battery at Wal-Mart (Everlast), made by the same manufacturer, and at $100 less, with "free" installation... damn! That's where I went, and where I will continue to frequent for this product/service till further notice.
Just remember that the great majority of all the auto batteries sold by retailers, including in the US, are made by one of the following, and they just label the batteries for the different brands sold on the shelves:
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Johnson Controls,
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Interstate,
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Excide,
then
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Bosch,
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EnerSys,
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Tuasa,
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AESC (Automotive Energy Supply Corporation.
👉 If I dared to miss listing any other needed fluids, please do not hesitate to bring that to my attention, and share any constructive feedback you may have with our community and visitors!