# How do they decide which side of the car to put the gas cap on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837 "2003-07-30T04:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/21 "2003-07-30T15:20:26Z")
Worst placement decision ever: The 1972 Porsche 911S kept its fuel filler flap in its traditional place, which is in the _front_ of the car because it’s a rear-engine vehicle. Porsche also decided to give the S an external oil filler flap on the right rear fender. I think this was supposed to be for racing purposes, but I’m not sure. With 1972/3 still being the days of the full-service gas station, you can imagine what happened. The result is that if you can find a '72 911S today, you’ll pay a premium for it. [http://www.partssource.autopage.co.uk/Did\_You\_Know/did\_you\_know.html](http://www.partssource.autopage.co.uk/Did_You_Know/did_you_know.html) ---
**Author:** ![RufusLeaking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@RufusLeaking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RufusLeaking)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/22 "2003-07-30T15:41:31Z")
My vote for worst placement of fuel filler caps would be the older Jaguars which had one on each side. You’d think this would make it more convenient because then you could fill the tank from either side. Well no, it had two separate gas tanks and you had to fill them separately! ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/23 "2003-07-30T17:06:03Z")
I thought I had heard once that certain auto manufacturers put the fill hole _away_ from the driver to reduce the possibility of interaction between gas fumes and cigarettes. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/24 "2003-07-30T17:19:01Z")
**yabob** , thanks, that’s it!! Just looking at the photo of the car brought back an amazing rush of memories! ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/25 "2003-07-31T00:30:23Z")
Remember Chevy Chase’s car in ‘Vacation’ ? Did’nt have one at all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/26 "2003-07-31T03:21:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RufusLeaking \* > \*\*My vote for worst placement of fuel filler caps would be the older Jaguars which had one on each side. You’d think this would make it more convenient because then you could fill the tank from either side. Well no, it had two separate gas tanks and you had to fill them separately! \*\* International Harvester Scouts were the same way at one time. There was a little valve by the seat to switch gas tanks, and a little switch under the gas guage to set which tank the gas guage was measuring. There’s an obvious problem there … Qadgop, you’re welcome - I’m actually a bit surprised it preplexed the pump jockeys of the time - an enormous number of '56 Chevys had to have been on the road then, and you would have thought they’d be used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/27 "2003-07-31T05:14:44Z")
I rmember my dad’s '52 Cadillac Coupe De Ville had the filler under the left taillight. [The taillight was hinged at the bottom and lifted up to reveal the filler.](http://home.c2i.net/ptalseth/52rear.jpg) I thought that was the coolest thing when I was young. Now I have a 1989 Sedan De Ville and the filler is on the left. No imagination at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gumbercules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/28 "2003-07-31T06:28:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ltfire \* > \*\*Remember Chevy Chase’s car in ‘Vacation’ ? Did’nt have one at all. 😃 \*\* Haha I was gonna mention this. His wife found it. It was in the left front fender. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/29 "2003-07-31T06:35:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BwanaBob \* > **Ex. My old Probe was designed in the US and the cap was on the left; my Subaru Forester was designed in Japan hence the cap is on the right.** Your Probe was designed in Japan, where it was called the Mazda 626. Ford did do more than a usual amount of new fascia for the Probe version, but it was otherwise a 626. ---
**Author:** ![Gumbercules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/30 "2003-07-31T06:36:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balthisar \* > \*\*We’ve done this thread a couple of times. > > Highlights: there’s no real logic to the placement, and has nothing to do with the exhaust. It mostly has to do with (1) where it will fit, (2) where the filler neck is on current and previous models coming off the same line; and (3) the shape and location of the tank in the vehicle. \*\* I knew this must have been covered befoe. I even searched for it, but the three letter words like “gas” and “cap” choked the search engine. I am somewhat dissapointed with your highlights, however. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/31 "2003-07-31T07:08:46Z")
I think my grandparents told me their '65 Ford Galaxie 500 had a taillight gas tank. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/32 "2003-07-31T10:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gumbercules \* > \*\*I knew this must have been covered befoe. I even searched for it, but the three letter words like “gas” and “cap” choked the search engine. > > I am somewhat dissapointed with your highlights, however. \*\* Yeah, I know – I get chewed out sometimes for not having searched on three letter words, too. The highlights did suck, which is why unprompted I posted more info. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/33 "2003-07-31T11:24:46Z")
I remember someone on this board saying that Germany requires gas caps to be on the right, so that if you run out of gas you can refill the tank without standing in traffic. Most of the cars I’ve driven have been left-side capped. This is so much more convenient than right-sided vehicles when you pull into the gas station. I wish that GM, Ford, and Chrysler would get together and standardize this. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/34 "2003-07-31T13:58:33Z")
Here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133340](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133340) Since “gas” and “cap” are out, search on words like “pump” and “filler” that are bound to turn up in the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837/35 "2003-07-31T14:50:47Z")
“The 1972 Porsche 911S kept its fuel filler flap in its traditional place, which is in the front of the car because it’s a rear-engine vehicle.” Yes, VW bugs were just like that. With the gas tank right in the front. I prefer a cap on the other side of the driver so that I don’t hit the drivers door against something at the pump when I get out to put gas in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decide-which-side-of-the-car-to-put-the-gas-cap-on/191837.md?page=1)