Since I bought it, I thought that my 99 Corolla had a fuel capacity of 11 gallons. If I ran my tank too low, invariably, I would end up putting in about 10.5 gallons. For some reason, I took a look at Edmunds.com and saw that my car supposedly has a 13 gallon tank.
Does anyone know the truth here? As much as I hate to do it, I have run the car pretty low before and thought that I was dead meat. Do I have two gallons more sitting in the tank or do I have a faulty fuel gauge?
Googling “99 Corolla tank capacity” sans quotes brings up many hits, all of which say the tank is 13.2 gallons. But, bear in mind that the fuel gauge is NOT intended to be an accurate instrument and is only a reference. Besides, running your tank down that low isn’t generally recommended.
A google search turns up several sources that say its a 50 liter tank / 13.2 gallons.
Probably a couple of more gallons in the tank.
My experience with fuel gages is that they hit empty and a little later the fuel warning light goes on, but there is still a pretty good reserve of fuel in the tank. I’ve driven 30 miles and more with the fuel light on in an old Toyota Camry I used to have.
Did your fuel gauge say full up at 10.5 gallons?
I had a `96 Corolla; didn’t take me long to figure out that the warning light came on waaay before the tank was empty. I became very lackadaisical about it, and would regularly go 50 or 60 miles with the light on before hitting up the gas station.
I recall one night when I really pushed it, and was impressed to see I had managed to pump 13 gallons for the first time ever.
I try not to let the tank run down too far, sometimes you let it go. Unfortunately, when you have a five minute commute to the office, its easy to think that you can hit the gas station after lunch or on the way home. After two days of saying that, the needle is so far below the ‘E’ that you are worried you won’t make it back up the hill to the gas station. And I still manage only to get 10.5 gallons in there.
You never know how much your tank holds until you run out of gas. 
If you’re really really curious to find out how much it holds fill a 2 gallon gas container and haul it around in your trunk. When your car eventually runs out fill it with these 2 gallons, drive to the closest gas station, fill up and see how much you had to add to those 2 gallons.