The End of Unleaded Plus?

[PHLBOS]

It seems like the pricing spread has increased over the years. Back in the early 1990s I had a 1982 Honda Accord that never ran well on 87 or 89 for whatever reason, so I used 92. Back then it seemed like it was typically a 10¢-a-gallon difference in grades: If they charged 99¢ a gallon for 92, 87 would be 79¢. (I don't remember any stations having leaded gas by 1989, when I first got a driver's license, so I don't remember how leaded gas slotted into the price structure.) Nowadays it seems like the price difference from regular to super can be anywhere from 30¢ to 50¢ depending on the station. I guess 30¢ isn't that different from the 20¢ split, but 50¢ seems like a lot.

Leaded gas was already gone by the late 80s.  When it (regular leaded) was still around; IIRC, it was usually priced below the unleaded grades.  Such made holding onto a vehicle made prior to 1975* an short-term asset.

*some trucks, vans & import models used leaded gas through the 1979 model year.

When unleaded first rolled out, it was only one grade (89 octane) and priced in between that of the regular & premium leaded grades.

[Roadrunner75]

If I recall, Getty was one of the first stations to go entirely unleaded.  We drove old clunkers, so Getty was always off the list.

[Road Hog]

I've been told some stations in Texas sell 93-octane with ethanol, and some sell it ethanol-free. I'd like to know which ones sell which, because it's not publicized.

I definitely can tell a difference in mileage between certain brands. On one brand I can get close to 400 miles on a tank, and on another I barely get 300 before the light comes on the fuel gauge.

[Pink Jazz]

I've been told some stations in Texas sell 93-octane with ethanol, and some sell it ethanol-free. I'd like to know which ones sell which, because it's not publicized.

I definitely can tell a difference in mileage between certain brands. On one brand I can get close to 400 miles on a tank, and on another I barely get 300 before the light comes on the fuel gauge.

Going by brand isn't enough to determine if you are buying ethanol-free gas, since one station may sell ethanol-free gas while another of the same brand may not.  Typically, the sale of ethanol-free gas is determined by the station's owner, not by the brand of gas that is being sold.

[cjk374]

I've been told some stations in Texas sell 93-octane with ethanol, and some sell it ethanol-free. I'd like to know which ones sell which, because it's not publicized.

I definitely can tell a difference in mileage between certain brands. On one brand I can get close to 400 miles on a tank, and on another I barely get 300 before the light comes on the fuel gauge.

Many stations around here PROUDLY announce to the world, with the use of signs and banners, that they sell non-ethanol gas.  Unfortunately, it's priced about the same as super-unleaded w/ethanol.  All of these stores that sell non-ethanol are unbranded, independent stations.

[SSOWorld]

Iowa stations sell their "mid-grade" for less than the regular - in truth, the difference between them is not the octane rating, but the "possible content" of ethanol in the "mid-grade"; So happens that it is no longer called that anymore, but...

UNLEADED
With Ethanol

[PHLBOS]

If I recall, Getty was one of the first stations to go entirely unleaded.  We drove old clunkers, so Getty was always off the list.

That might've been the case when leaded regular was being phased out but it certainly wasn't the case not when leaded premium phased out years earlier. 

Back in the late 70s when leaded premuim gas was being phased out (in favor of premium unleaded); I vividly remember that Getty aired several radio commerical ads back then (in the Greater Boston listening area) touting that they still had leaded premium. 

Their radio ad. slogan at the time was, "Traded in or sell your old car because you want to; not because you can't get gas for it."

Granted such didn't last forever but Getty was likely one of the last stations to ditch leaded premium from their pumps.

Not 100% sure

[Roadrunner75]

If I recall, Getty was one of the first stations to go entirely unleaded.  We drove old clunkers, so Getty was always off the list.

That might've been the case when leaded regular was being phased out but it certainly wasn't the case not when leaded premium phased out years earlier. 

Back in the late 70s when leaded premuim gas was being phased out (in favor of premium unleaded); I vividly remember that Getty aired several radio commerical ads back then (in the Greater Boston listening area) touting that they still had leaded premium. 

Their radio ad. slogan at the time was, "Traded in or sell your old car because you want to; not because you can't get gas for it."

Granted such didn't last forever but Getty was likely one of the last stations to ditch leaded premium from their pumps.

Not 100% sure

I think it was in the 80s that I remember it.  I just searched 'Getty' and 'unleaded' and there's a newspaper ad from 1983 where Getty touts that they are going fully unleaded:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19830603&id=sxJJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lwUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5196,437655
If I recall there was still a couple of years after this that you could still find leaded gas relatively easily elsewhere, and Getty was one of the first to phase it out. 

[PHLBOS]

If I recall, Getty was one of the first stations to go entirely unleaded.  We drove old clunkers, so Getty was always off the list.

That might've been the case when leaded regular was being phased out but it certainly wasn't the case not when leaded premium phased out years earlier. 

Back in the late 70s when leaded premuim gas was being phased out (in favor of premium unleaded); I vividly remember that Getty aired several radio commerical ads back then (in the Greater Boston listening area) touting that they still had leaded premium. 

Their radio ad. slogan at the time was, "Traded in or sell your old car because you want to; not because you can't get gas for it."

Granted such didn't last forever but Getty was likely one of the last stations to ditch leaded premium from their pumps.

Not 100% sure

I think it was in the 80s that I remember it.  I just searched 'Getty' and 'unleaded' and there's a newspaper ad from 1983 where Getty touts that they are going fully unleaded:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19830603&id=sxJJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lwUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5196,437655
If I recall there was still a couple of years after this that you could still find leaded gas relatively easily elsewhere, and Getty was one of the first to phase it out. 

As I stated earlier, Getty's touting that they were keep leaded premium for the older, bigger, more powerful cars that were still on the road back then was circa 1978-1979. 

For whatever reason, they obviously did an about-face (wouldn't be the first time for a company to do such) circa 1983 with regards to phasing out leaded regular.  Most of the Getty stations in the Greater Boston area were already gone by then; which is probably why I don't remember the ad you showed but clearly remembered their older radio ad.

[The Nature Boy]

It's interesting to me that 25 years after the last drop of leaded gas was sold, gas stations still market "unleaded" gas.

[1995hoo]

It's interesting to me that 25 years after the last drop of leaded gas was sold, gas stations still market "unleaded" gas.

That's what I was getting at earlier in this thread:

....

I haven't seen many gas stations around here using the term "unleaded" in years, presumably because it's to be assumed. I found it a bit interesting this past June on our way down I-75 in Georgia that many of the billboards did use the word "unleaded." I found myself wondering what they were distinguishing it from. Not diesel, I assume, since some of them also listed the price for diesel.

....

[spooky]

It's interesting to me that 25 years after the last drop of leaded gas was sold, gas stations still market "unleaded" gas.

If I go to a full service station, I still say "fill it with regular unleaded".

[kkt]

I usually get 89 octane, my '02 Protege is a little bit happier with it than with 87.  No trouble finding 89 octane, except on the way to Yellowknife north of High Level.  They had nothing but 87 octane unleaded and diesel.

[Roadrunner75]

As I stated earlier, Getty's touting that they were keep leaded premium for the older, bigger, more powerful cars that were still on the road back then was circa 1978-1979. 

For whatever reason, they obviously did an about-face (wouldn't be the first time for a company to do such) circa 1983 with regards to phasing out leaded regular.  Most of the Getty stations in the Greater Boston area were already gone by then; which is probably why I don't remember the ad you showed but clearly remembered their older radio ad.

I don't dispute your recollection.  In fact, a quick search found the following quote from page #38 of the article located here:

http://www.academia.edu/6273485/PLEASE_SCROLL_DOWN_FOR_ARTICLE

In 1970, the percentage of leaded premium was 42% of the total gasoline sold, but by 1980, it was less than 5%. The only holdout in the East for leaded premium was Getty. In 1970, Getty began to offer only one grade of gasoline: leaded premium.  In 1974, it changed its marketing philosophy and offered both regular and premium grades. In 1983, it began to replace its leaded grades with unleaded.  By 1984, Getty no longer sold leaded gasoline and was the first company to quit completely.

For the dropping of leaded gas entirely, here's a commercial I found which should bring back some memories:

We still have a handful of Gettys around here.  Most are small, outdated stations.

[PHLBOS]

We still have a handful of Gettys around here.  Most are small, outdated stations.

There's one small Getty station in Aldan, PA not too far from where I live as well.  It's one of the few stations in PA that has individual price signs on top of the gas pumps.