# Premium vs. regular gas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premium-vs-regular-gas/453629>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 20, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premium-vs-regular-gas/453629 "2008-06-20T22:15:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premium-vs-regular-gas/453629/41 "2008-06-25T12:15:20Z")

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My Infiniti takes premium. One time my wife forgot and put regular in, and the check engine light came on shortly thereafter. The light went off about a week later, and I can’t be sure it’s related. A mechanic told me it might be. I didn’t hear any knocking, but performance did seem down a little, which could have been psychological.

> [@](#):
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> It has an octane plug in the engine compartment that can be pulled if you need to run regular. It retards the timing a bit

Wouldn’t it advance the timing? To make up for the earlier ignition?

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**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premium-vs-regular-gas/453629/42 "2008-06-25T13:28:20Z")

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[QUOTE=samm]  
Well… since you asked. How is this car on reliability? I love Volvos and my family has always had good luck with them. When I called my local Volvo mechanic to ask him what he thought about my considered purchase, he said the reliability went down when Ford took over and he would recommend a Toyota or a Honda for the fewest problems. But I really love the look of the S60! I didn’t want him to tell me that. I am just looking for someone to refute my trusted mechanic so I can feel good about ignoring his advice. 😉  
[/QUOTE]  
Ford bought Volvo in mid 1998, the 1999 models were already out. There is no way that Ford had any influence on a a 2002 car due to the lead times involved in automotive manufacturing.  
As **Balthisar** said Ford pretty much lets Volvo do its thing.

Concerning the car in question. If you were looking for a turbo engine, I would shop for an 02 or later. for the non-turbo engine, I would shop for an 03 or later car. The reason is the engine management systems underwent a revision in 02 and 03. The later version is superior.  
I’m not sure where you live, but if you can find an 03 or later California spec non-turbo (what is called market code 31 inside Volvo, and only sold new in California and several Northeastern states) it comes with a 15 year/ 150,000 emissions warranty. The warranty is transferable to a second (third) owner, and could save you serious bucks in the event of a emissions problem. It does not cover the full car, just emissions items. But hey it is for 150,000 miles.

I own and drive a 05 non turbo with the long warranty. I have not quite 30,000 miles on it and all that has been done to the car is routine service. I get what I consider excellent fuel mileage (25 city/32-33 Highway)

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