Opinions on Woolworths-Caltex fuel quality?

[Evan Bottcher]

Hi folks,

I usually buy petrol for my Alfas from BP or Shell.  The closest service station to my house however is a Caltex.  I buy fuel there if I'm in a hurry - always the Vortex premium unleaded.  I've never noticed any issue in normal driving.

However I noticed the other day that it is actually a Woolworths-Caltex and the docket actually says woolworths fuels, and have previously been advised to avoid the fuel from the supermarket servos due to varying fuel quality.

Any opinions?  Are there normal Caltex stations as well as Woolworth-Caltex?  Other Caltex stations in my neighbourhood have no Woolworths signage.

cheerio,
Evan.

[Stuart Thomson]

Hi Evan,

I use the local Caltex, now rebranded, but still looks like a Caltex, use the 98 (see other thread) with the GTAs and the love it.  Only problem I have is that it doesn't last forever, eventually you run out of fuel (Doh!).  The 98 smells real nice too!

Cheers
Stuart

[giulia_veloce]

Hi Evan

There are 2 Caltex servos just down the rd from me.
One is a Caltex Woolworths,and the other is a normal Caltex.

I have seen on many occasions,at the Caltex Woolworths,unbranded tankers,but at the other Caltex,always Caltex branded tankers.
Anyone else notice this ?

Robert

[lombardi]

Very funny that this topic has been raised regardind caltex- always fill my gtv6 gp with shell or bp 98 but about a month ago had to use caltex,after about a day car started to idle horribly,really rough,had an inclination of bad fuel,used about half tank then refilled with shell,the difference was immediate,back to normal idling,the bad caltex fuel was from a woolworths branded station,the fresh food people do it again,another BANANA GATE. ciao

[dehne]

i would not say that the normal caltex always use the own truck as in bendigo the woolworths here nearly always have caltex trucks but the real caltex use tasco ones(old mobil trucks) but acording to caltex that woolworths have to use the same fuel as normal branded caltex's

[Evan Bottcher]

eventually you run out of fuel (Doh!).  The 98 smells real nice too!

Are you sure you didn't hit your head in that accident Stuart?

[Stuart Thomson]

eventually you run out of fuel (Doh!).  The 98 smells real nice too!

Are you sure you didn't hit your head in that accident Stuart?

Yep, sure I DID hit my head, but I've always liked the smell of high octane fuel.  Avgas is fantastic too!  Give me a non-PC texta WITH xylene anyday as well!

Too much time in the lab I suppose!

Cheers
Stuart

[Miss Alfa Sprint]

hmmm this is a really intersting topic.. i fill my sprint with vortex 98 and it runs alright, i didn't know there would be a difference with woolworths caltex and normal caltex petrol.....

I have used BP and Shell too not really noticing much difference but i am only just starting to learn the technical side of my cars...

Does the quality of fuel effect the way a car starts in the morning, especially cold mornings?

[Evan Bottcher]

Our local woolworths-caltex doesn't sell the Vortex 98, only the Vortex (without any number quoted - I've assumed 95).  That's partly why I usually only use it for a splash-n-dash.

[diglad]

The supermarkets chains are fuel wholesalers, meaning they buy fuel in bulk, store and distribute via their large and efficient networks. They now own and distribute almost 60% of the domestic fuel supply. At first they were aligned and dealt exclusively with one fuel supplier/brand but that ended almost 3 years ago, now they are free to purchase fuel on the open market, therefore it could be argued that like other aspects of the supermarket business the end product is driven by price at the expense of quality.

The only issue I have had with Woolworths fuel is when my local station mixed their tanks and filled the 98ULP with diesel! I ended up with diesel in my wife's 3 week old Volvo! Luckily the engine management system detected the wrong fuel and shut isolated the supply. I complained and Woolworths were really good, they apologised, paid the $1,200 repair bill and refunded the sale.

[Barry Edmunds]

Aside from any questions about fuel quality, because of the Woolworths/Coles duopoly in fuel retailing, their dominance of the market and their obvious reluctance to guarantee fuel quality, I would suggest avoiding any of the supermarket chain fuel outlets unless absolutely running on smell of oily rag necessary.
As a previous poster to this topic suggested the supermarket chains will purchase the fuel that best suits their marketing campaigns and their bottom line, and that could well mean sourcing doubtful quality from some supplier off shore that is not particularly fussy about quality.
Be safe, stick to the regular Caltex, BP or Shell stations that are not aligned to Coles/Woolworths.

Barry

[Simon Aarons]

Interesting topic... i have used Woolworths/Caltex Vortex 98 for years....never noticed any difference in the way the car has run when using BP, Mobil or Shell. In fact i have even used 7-Eleven and United 98 and again noticed no difference.

Has anyone else noticed that half the Mobil's are now 7-Eleven's? Great for Slurpee's but i wonder what fuel they use?

[aggie57]

Years ago I had a Discovery which I ran on Safeway fuel.  After a couple of years of that it got some really bad carbon buildup on the back of the valves, to the extent that at steady light loads the valves started to stick and the engine miss.  Of course that was precisely at a steady 100-110km/h.

The blokes I took it to, Land Rover specialists over in Burwood, were adamant it was due to prolonged use of poor quality fuel.  These days I always use branded fuel such as BP or Shell. 

Alister

[Brett]

Just thought l'd stick my two bobs worth in here....
The Coles/ Woolworths branded sites in Victoria are supplied from the Shell and Caltex terminals respectively by accredited carriers. The supermarkets do not import or store their own fuel. These terminals are bound by licencing agreements to supply high grade fuel that at the least meets Australian standards but more often exceeds. They do not 'shandy down' their fuels to make them cheaper to the supermarkets, every litre that comes out of those terminals is of the same quality if it goes to Jo's truckstop at Upper Takumbut West or to the Shell at the Westgate. To say to avoid these sites is to say do not use any fuel supplied by these terminals, which leaves Mobil/Bp which also has agreements in many towns with Supermarket chains. Shell refine their fuels in Geelong, Mobil/BP and Caltex import theirs but it still must meet strict quality requirements. There were issues some years ago with the Safeway branded sites for poor fuel quality which was being imported though a supplier at the Hastings terminal, because of these issues the deal with Caltex to supply quality fuel was struck. The issues with high octane fuels is they can go a bit 'stale' when not lets say refreshed, if you go to a site that has a low turnover of 98 the fuel will offer a slightly poorer performance than of a fuel from a higher turn over site, nothing to do with the quality of the product, more to do with the age.
As for the branding on the tankers, caltex (the branded tankers)supply some of their own sites and use sub-contractors if their fleet does not meet their needs. Scotts Petroleum (the unbranded tankers)are contracted to deliver to the Woolworths sites. These tankers are unbranded as they also deliver fuel for the other majors- Shell and BP.
7-Eleven were supplied by Shell but since buying out the Mobil sites are now using Mobil/BP fuel.
All three terminals Shell, Caltex and BP/Mobil are linked by pipework that allows one terminal to supply fuel to the other terminal if one is in short supply.
I, too, hate that the supermarkets have such control of the markets, they are pushing the mum and dad independant service stations to the wall, like they did the corner milk bars. But you can not question the quality of their fuel l am afraid.
Brett