Is ARCO Gas Bad For Your Car?

ARCO gas is typically cheaper than gas at other gas stations. How can they offer lower prices than their competitors? Is ARCO gas bad for your car since it’s a lower price? Let’s take a look at why ARCO gas is cheaper than other brands. Moreover, let’s compare it to those brands to make sure that if you decide to go with ARCO gas, it won’t do any damage to your car in the long run.

Why Is ARCO Gas Cheaper Than Others?

ARCO has a reputation for offering considerably lower prices for its fuel than other gas stations. According to the SCA Auto Auction, consumers can average a savings of $0.05-$0.10 per gallon in comparison with other brands of gasoline.

It seems that with ARCO, these large price savings are due to many of its business practices. First of all, ARCO has no processing fees for credit cards because they do not accept them. This offers ARCO a savings of about $0.30 per credit card transaction fee which its competitors have to pay. In other words, your gas is cheaper because you pay cash.

Moreover, ARCO charges its customers a $0.45 fee per debit card transaction. So, if you don’t pay cash, then you pay more for your ARCO gas. If a customer is already paying a $0.45 debit card transaction fee, chances are the customer will in turn purchase more gas than they might if they were not paying the transaction fee. This allows ARCO to sell more gas per customer, thus granting them the ability to offer lower gas prices.

So, is ARCO gas bad? Since it’s the company’s business practices that lower the gas cost, not the gas that they offer, there’s nothing to suggest that’s so.

Lower Prices Still Meet Minimum Gas Requirements

Since the inexpensive gas offered at ARCO comes at a significantly lower price, consumer often wonder whether or not it’s safe for their vehicles. The federal government has fairly strict guidelines on most things, and gasoline is no exception. Therefore, there are certain standards for all gasoline sold in the United States, such as octane levels, and the general characteristics that gasoline must possess. As a result, all gas sold in the United States is basically the same.  

But Is There Better Gas?

Well, the basic minimum level of gas is the same across the board. However, you can pay more for premium gas. Some companies add extra detergents and additives above and beyond what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires. All gas must contain a certain amount of detergent additives. Of course, those things are also EPA approved. Many companies add even more to differentiate their brand for other gasoline. So the question becomes, is the branded gas from companies like Shell, 76, Exxon and Chevron better than ARCO gas?

Why ARCO Gas Is The Same Or Better Than Competitors

While the blend of detergents and additives is different for each company, ARCO gas is on par with other top gas brands in the United States.

Is ARCO gas bad? No. In fact, it’s quite good.

Per Consumer Reports, ARCO offers “Top Tier” gasoline (here). Top Tier gas is the standard which is recommended by seven of the top automakers in the world. Importantly, it’s of a standard even higher than what the EPA requires. 

Notably, ARCO didn’t always use Top Tier gas. In the past, they used a cheaper gas. People who believe that gas quality does impact how well your car runs used to say to avoid ARCO gas as a result. However, when ARCO began to offer Top Tier gas, consumer complaints appear to to have subsided. 

It’s Okay to Use Cheaper Gas

To further ease customers’ minds, Edmunds conducted a study questioning experts in the automotive field. According to those findings, consumers put their vehicles at no greater risk by putting “cheap” gas into them. Most vehicle owners will not notice any difference in performance by purchasing cheap gas. However, the best advice is to look at your car’s owner’s manual and follow the guidelines given about the best type of gasoline for your particular car. That said, the average car that you drive probably runs perfectly well on ARCO gas.

TIP: Gas Hack

Whether or not you are concerned that ARCO gas is bad compared to other gas brands, here’s a “gas hack” that you can try to save you money at the ARCO station. In many parts of the country you can tank up at the ARCO station, and also add quality fuel injector cleaner. Adding this fuel injector cleaner as recommended should address any quality concerns, while still allowing you to buy the cheaper ARCO gas.  Chevron has a pretty inexpensive fuel injector cleaner – 

It costs like 12 bucks, which is a ton cheaper than buying the more expensive gas. 

Just add the injector cleaner when you go to the gas station and you should be good to go. Of course, you do pay for the fuel injector cleaner. But you’ll pay less per gallon of gas than if you buy another brand of gas. Plus, you’re doing something that is almost certainly likely to improve your gas quality. 

You can get it here.

Don’t Pay Full Price – Use A Cash Back App

If you want to find the cheapest gas prices near you, then you might want to download Upside.  Upside is basically a newcomer in the cash back app scene. How it works is you download the app, and set up an account.  The app will show which gas cash back deals it has in a given area.  You just buy the gas and scan your recipt or let it read your credit card info – and it gives you cash back automatically.  While its not a huge money maker, using Upside is a frugal habit that will definitely pay off in the long run.  It basically guarantees that you won’t overpay for gas. 

You can use it to search all nearby gas station prices. Moreover, you can filter to search by just certain gas brands. So, if you know that you want to use ARCO gas, then you can easily find the ARCO station closest to you. Since ARCO is often the cheapest option that uses Top Tier gas, it’s a safe bet.

Get Upside here. 

So, No, Arco Gas Isn’t Bad For Your Car

Consumers today are always looking for a bargain. As prices on most things continue to rise, it is good to know that consumers are not putting their vehicles in jeopardy by taking advantage of savings at the gas pump. If you’ve wondered whether Arco gas bad gas just because it’s cheaper, the answer is a resounding no. 

Read More:

• Is Costco Gas Quality the Same as Exxon, Shell and Chevron?
• Is Safeway Gas Good or Bad for Your Car?
• Is It Better to Keep Your Gas Tank Full or Empty?
• Need Cheap Gas, Consider Costco.  Here Is When you Can Get It

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