Service Tech Knocking on Shell Gas?
 

I called my dealership today to give them the BS speech to get a new flash, and I claimed rough idle and poor mileage, both of which are true, neither of which I really care about. Anyway, the service rep on the phone asked what brand gas I used, and I told her shell, and her exact words were "you drive saks 5th avenue, dont put wal mart in the tank". she spouted off a whole list of generic gas stations, and threw shell in there too. i always thought shell was one of the best!

hmmmmmmmm im curious what everyone thinks on this. i went to shell for my first fill up today because a few people on another thread thought shell was good. i think chevron or mobil are best personally.

Ask Canzoomer. He'll tell you (and I'll agree for sure) that Shell is some of the best stuff you can get.

It's all bullshit.

It really depends on the individual station itself and the condition of their tanks, as well as how often said tanks are refilled/refreshed.

Brands are BS when it comes to gas.

Check out hac's posting in the following thread for some good info regarding gasoline.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=20976

Re: Service Tech Knocking on Shell Gas?
 

Before giving away what you used, perhaps should have asked 'why' and 'what brands DON'T you recommend?'. Otherwise the stock answer to get a customer off their backs could just be to include YOUR choice as bad along with many others.

Sounds way too convenient that so many gas types are "bad", after all, don't many brands come from the same refinery anyway?

Got any alternative dealers to try?

In short, all gas comes from the same refinery, yes. The piplelines that cross the country are owned by 3rd parties, and fuel companies pay to put X gallons in at the refinery point and take that same amount out at the end of the line at the same time. Rarely is it the same gas however, as it take days for the fuel to actually make it that far. It's what's added at the terminals where they fill the trucks that makes the difference.

she recommended BP or amoco, i'll try and tank and see what it's all about. maybe it's a regional thing

I love this car, but it's hardly Saks.. Maybe Macy's.

Re: Service Tech Knocking on Shell Gas?
 

That is such a bullshit comment on so many levels. Saks sells $1000 skirts. The RX-8 is nowhere near that range on the price scale. Meanwhile putting down Wal-Mart implies that low price by itself means an inferior product even though Wal-Mart sells the exact same goods that cost more elsewhere. Typical shallow materalistic consumerism.

There is cost, and there is value. While I agree "generic" gas is not a good value you don't judge these things solely on cost.
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ECONIC

From some of the answers I have read on this board can we agree that not all service reps are created equal.

In socal I've found that I get the best mileage from Shell, next is 76, then finally Chevron. But that's just me...

i think it was just a figure of speech...

but yes, they are idiots. fairbanks mazda claims to be the largest mazda dealer in the country, and the head tech knew knowing about the L flash. what a tool.

I put 150,000 miles on my Miata and Shell was my gas of choice. Never noticed any problems. I agree it was probably a dust-off attempt. You could have said anything. "Ob, you use whatzamaheejit gasoline? No Wonder!"

Yeah, when I complained of rough idle, the "tech Line" also told the dealer mechanic the I try "another brand of gas". Since I had already used five separate brands of gas, adding up to every manufacturer of gas in my area, to the same mis-fire, I found this to be total BS. I have the car at another dealer trying to get this fixed, and hopefully it will be, but a "bad gas" answer is no good.

An update to the above.

I got my car back from the dealer with a new set of plugs in it, and that did far more to fix my rough idle than different gas. My car has never idled well, not even when new. When I went to the local club meet my car was the only one pop-pop-popping in the parking lot. Everybody just looked at me funny and moved away.

The first dealer said that it was a bad gas problem caused by oxegenated winter fuels sold in my part of PA this time of year, and he told me that that answer came from the Tech line in California. However, the car just kept mis-firing so I took it to another dealer who put in the hotter plug option in the car, and what a difference. It idles smoothly. It accelerates more freely. When clutched in, the revs drop much more quickly and in general the car just runs right.

At this repair, the only change made to the car was the spark plugs (since I had the reflash done by the first dealer), and that's what fixed my rough idle. It's the plugs. They are fouled and causing an unstable idle, at least that's what it was for me.