Car Gas Tank Question

Factual Questions
1

I filled up my tank this morning and the local gas station. I normally use this station and have never had a problem like this before.

My car (2002 Nissan Sentra) has a 12 gallon gas tank. I usually wait until the indicator light for low gas comes on and I fill the car with gas. Normally when the sensor goes on, it takes about 11.5 gallons to fill the tank. I normally average 30 miles per gallon with my driving habits in this car.

The light went on last evening coming home from work. I estimate I was 3-4 miles from home. The gas station is 1 mile from my house. I decided to wait until morning to fill the tank.

I filled the tank this morning and the readout on the gas pump indicated that I put 12.2 gallons of gas into my car, how is this possible with only a 12 gallon tank?

Does temperature make a difference? It was cold, but not frigid this morning. My car was dewy, but not icy when I started it. Normally the car is in the garage, but last night it was left in the driveway.

Did I get ripped off?

2

I don’t think guests can search these days, but we did this about three months ago.

The crux of the issue is that the tank itself is actually bigger than its rated capacity to allow for expansion, plus the filler tupe holds some volume, too.

3

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4

From here your car has a 50 liter (13.2 gallon) gas tank.

5

Thanks!