My Tw and her entire family are all convinced that NPC somehow water down their fuel resulting in needing to fill up more often. Also something to do with the discounts that they offer for credit cards being too good so they have to “water it down”.
Just last night my wife told me that if she goes to cpc she only needs to fill up one time per week. If she goes to NPC she has to fill up twice.
Has anyone else heard this? Would NPC be allowed to do this?
Yes even the local mechanic told me only use Zhong You. It’s because NPC and others have almost no profit margin, supposedly their oil is dirtier and damages the engine too.
[quote=“Milkybar_Kid”]Has anyone come accross this belief before?
My Tw and her entire family are all convinced that NPC somehow water down their fuel resulting in needing to fill up more often. Also something to do with the discounts that they offer for credit cards being too good so they have to “water it down”.
Just last night my wife told me that if she goes to cpc she only needs to fill up one time per week. If she goes to NPC she has to fill up twice.
Has anyone else heard this? Would NPC be allowed to do this?[/quote]
Not only that! They’re using COLD water, so her car will catch a cold!
I know what the problem is. It’s one of two things. Your car’s feng shui is all wrong. Try putting the petrol tank on the roof. That ought to do the trick. Or, your car (or mechanic) needs to see a numerologist. Regardless, burn some ghost money. That will help.
The OP may have a point, it is totally understandable that NPC would use a lower quality gasoline (watered down was a poor choice of words). When I lived in California, Valero had markedly shittier gas than 76 or other more reputable stations and this was reflected in the price. I like NPC for the free water, I hope this isn’t truly the case.
And can you ask these omniscient inlaws of yours if the 95 and 98 grade are as shitty as the 92 or are they better?
I always use NPC and I have had no problems with it. I even use 92 RON because I am a cheapskate, but my engine runs absolutely fine.
Their UPC coffee tastes almost as good as their petrol and is certainly better than the stuff you get at McRonadl’s, the Seven Elephant and Family Mart.
All these urban legends in Taiwan usually have no basis whatsoever.
Different brands can have different mileage. But usually the diff is slight.
For me , here in Calif. I find i always get one to 2 mpg better with chevron
because of their additives. THe next best with mileage (very close to Chevron gas) is 76 gas. I get worse mileage wiht SHELL , probably because they use different additives. OR maybe some part of it is industrial alchohol.
Some states sell gasohol. Gas mixed with alchohol. And that always gets lower mileage.
Whatever they put in Chevron does well for mileage.
[quote=“tommy525”]Different brands can have different mileage. But usually the diff is slight.
For me , here in Calif. I find I always get one to 2 mpg better with chevron
because of their additives. THe next best with mileage (very close to Chevron gas) is 76 gas. I get worse mileage wiht SHELL , probably because they use different additives. OR maybe some part of it is industrial alchohol.
Some states sell gasohol. Gas mixed with alchohol. And that always gets lower mileage.
Whatever they put in Chevron does well for mileage.
So maybe CPC put more additives in their gas?[/quote]
Somewhere, ( I think it might have been when I was visiting California), I’ve seen or heard it alleged that petrol on American Indian reservations was poorer quality.
I got the impression that it was also cheaper, perhaps because its exempt from some federal or state tax?
my friend worked at a oil refinery. He said all the base gasoline is the same. The refinery then mixes additives per the oil companies formula. For example the refinery can make SHELL gas and then make Chevron gas to their respective formulas. The base gas is the same. And companies like Valero basically just sells the base gas without the extra additives.
TAxes are a big part of the gas price at the pump. Perhaps the indian reservations get a break on the tax part of the gas price.
I heard about this a while back, it was all over the news when I first came here.
If I recall correctly, there are two oil refining companies in Taiwan, CPC and I think the other is Formosa. That means that all the other petrol stations buy their fuel from CPC or Formosa. Even if it is the same price, where is the profit margin? They engineer in a profit margin by adding a sizable proportion of cheaper additives.
I think it’s pretty much an accepted fact among locals that NPC have crappy fuel compared to CPC. Avoid where possible!
It’s not just additives, they can simply provide gas that is dirtier, not as refined. This is Taiwan the land of eking out profit anyway possible. In the same week my father in law and mechanic both said never use NPC, my FIL also said avoid Formosa and even avoid CPC franchised gas stations. There is logic there as gas prices have been kept low for a long time in taiwan due to government order apart from the fact there are only two authorized refiners and no other importers.
Really? I doubt that the Multi BILLION dollar operations of an oil refinery will be putting out “dirty” gas. I am sure they are made to an exact international standard.
For many years Taiwanese believed CPC oil for cars to be inferior to imported oils. Even though thats a LOT of BUNK> As CPC oil is made to strict international petroleum institute standards and is even certified for use by the US military.
They dont put junk oil into US military vehicles.
Its all rumours. I highly doubt that the Formosa refinery will produce a gas that is not within strict standards. Taiwan is not nigeria. And i doubt they would do this even in Nigeria.
Id like to see an independent study of the gas from Formosa , compared to CPC gas.
You have to understand at the retail level what is happening.
Many of the gas stations are operated as franchises, not owned by the refiniries. Just because it says 95 on the pump doesn’t mean they are giving you 95. You grew up in Taiwan so you can figure out the economics of this.
Formosa is a private company, therefore they have more pressure or more incentive to eke out profit. CPC doesn’t have the same type of pressure or incentive to cheat being state owned.
Also, just because Taiwan is not Nigeria doesn’t stop big companies here cutting corners.
If you think you know more than my local mechanic who explicitly warned me about this without being prompted, who actually checks engines for a living, well fair enough. I’m not saying everybody is at it, but at the same time I think it is pretty likely a lot of gas stations are cutting corners.