When You Buy Motor Fuel in Washington, You Get What You Pay For
31 August 1998
Washington State Department of Agriculture -- When You Buy Motor Fuel in Washington, You Get What You Pay For
OLYMPIA, Wash.--Aug. 28, 1998--As motorists fuel their cars for holiday travel next week, they can feel confident that-- in most cases -- they will get what they pay for.
In a study of motor fuel quality at more than 1,200 gas stations statewide, 95 percent delivered the quality of gasoline promised by the service station according to the state Department of Agriculture.
"Several different brands of fuel were among the five percent that did not contain the octane level promised at the pump," said Jerry Buendel, manager of the Weights and Measures Program at the state Department of Agriculture. "We have asked each service station to look into any discrepancies and let us know what they are doing to correct the problem. Our future testing will focus on mid and high grade fuels."
All of the regular unleaded fuel tested was accurately labeled. About 97 percent of midgrade fuel and slightly less than 93 percent of premium fuel contained the level of octane posted at the fuel pump. When the motor fuel quality program began in 1991, only 72 percent of fuel pumps tested were delivering the quality of fuel promised by the service station.
Weights and Measures inspectors conduct the study. They draw random samples from gas stations across the state and have them analyzed for octane, purity and other characteristics. They also investigate consumer complaints about gasoline quantity and quality. The inspectors responded to 211 consumer complaints about fuel quality and fuel pump accuracy in 1997. About 25 percent of the complaints about fuel quality are valid. Most involved water or other foreign material in the fuel.
Most complaints about fuel quantity involve motorists who say they put more fuel in their tanks than their owner's manual indicate the tank can hold. About 22 percent of these complaints are valid and the stations quickly act to have the problem corrected. In the remaining cases the pumps were correct.
"Our research has shown that fuel tanks often hold more fuel than stated in the owner's manual," Buendel said. "And, some consumers `top' their tanks by slowly pumping in fuel after the automatic dispenser nozzles shut off the first time."
Motorists in Washington use more than 2.2 billion gallons of gasoline every year.
