Crap gas? Quick poll.

[Lil bastard]

I don't think the gas is truly inferior at all. It will lack the proprietary additive pkgs. from the name brands, but the gas itself was all cracked in the same batch at the refinery.

The issue I have with some Indies stems from the last spike in price - '06 (Katrina).

Just past dusk, going past an Indie (which I had used in the past for the DDs), which is fronted on a main street, but nestled between 2 quiet side streets, I saw the owner standing next to a parked car in the middle of the lot, an odd placement.

I was stopped at a red light and while watching him (nervous, darting glances side-to-side, etc.), I noticed a garden hose running from the spigot on the wall of the station, going to where this guy was standing. The parked car acting as a screen to the busy thoroughfare.

Curious, I turned the corner and sure 'nuff, the guy had the underground tank open and was pumping tap water into it!

A few hundred gallons @$5 per in a 20k gal. tank would be a fairly dilute mix and likely be compensated for by a modern car's ECU, the car owner none the wiser, but a quick, tax free, $1 Large for the station owner.

Now I have a friend who owns 2 BP stations, these are equipped with tank sensors which link back to the BP depot who use the data for scheduling resupply and computing franchise fees. But, the sensors and software also measures the moisture content of the tank as well, which prevents him from doing the same thing - there's a data trail.

At times of high prices, the temptation can rise to make an otherwise honest operator take advantage of the situation.

But, the name brand franchises have systems in place which unintentionally discourage this, the Indies do not.

Cheers!