# What side is your vehicle's gas cap on? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619 "2011-09-08T15:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/21 "2011-09-08T20:16:07Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I might start one asking which side your dick hangs to, if you’re male. Speaking for myself, I don’t like mine hanging it all, so I tie it in a knot. . ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/22 "2011-09-08T20:20:57Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Opposite my gas cap. Can’t be too careful. I seldom actually laugh out loud at the computer. I just did. . ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/23 "2011-09-08T21:02:19Z")
My vehicle’s gas cap is on the side of righteousness. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/24 "2011-09-08T21:11:16Z")
My new Fiat 500 has it on the right. (Indeed, opposite the muffler.) ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/25 "2011-09-08T21:15:12Z")
Wow, what a way to screw up a poll that would have been interesting by making the options completely ambiguous. Left and right can mean anything, depending on where you’re standing. The options should read “driver side” and “passenger side” (obviously, for UK types this means the opposite side of the vehicle but it would still be the more important distinction than “left” or “right”). ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/26 "2011-09-08T21:23:34Z")
2007 Toyota Camry ----Left (drivers side), Indeed opposite the muffler… i never noticed that before. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/27 "2011-09-08T21:43:24Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I asked this a while back. The Car Talk guys said that most of the time it is on the opposite side from your muffler. > > I just got a car, mine is on the driver’s side (the left), but I don’t know which side my muffler is on. It’s on the opposite side from your gas cap! ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/28 "2011-09-08T21:53:46Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Wow, what a way to screw up a poll that would have been interesting by making the options completely ambiguous. Left and right can mean anything, depending on where you’re standing. The options should read “driver side” and “passenger side” (obviously, for UK types this means the opposite side of the vehicle but it would still be the more important distinction than “left” or “right”). Huh? Most people have no trouble interpreting it as ‘left or right when sitting as one normally does inside the car - facing forward’. Do “no left turn” signs on the road routinely stump you? As you yourself note, “driver’s side” and “passenger side” is different if you are in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/29 "2011-09-08T21:54:11Z")
I can’t answer the poll. I have two vehicles; one has the gas cap on the passenger side (Nissan, opposite the muffler); the other on the driver’s side (Ford, closer to the muffler.) Also I’d have to get clarification on what the OP means by “left” or “right”. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/30 "2011-09-08T22:09:25Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > As you yourself note, “driver’s side” and “passenger side” is different if you are in the UK. Yet it’s a more meaningful distinction. I don’t see any reason why “left” and “right” should mean “while sitting in the car” vs. “while looking at the car”, therefore it’s ambiguous. ETA: by the way, there’s a reason why at sea they don’t refer to the “left” or the “right” side of a ship - because of this very ambiguity. Hence “port” and “starboard”. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/31 "2011-09-08T22:11:50Z")
Truck and passenger on the Left / Driver (and I didn’t need anyone to explain that to me), and one old muscle car that fills up at the rear. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/32 "2011-09-08T22:24:56Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yet it’s a more meaningful distinction. I don’t see any reason why “left” and “right” should mean “while sitting in the car” vs. “while looking at the car”, therefore it’s ambiguous. You may not see a reason, but reason there is. You are imagining an ambiguity that reasonable folks will not be troubled by. In contrast, “driver’s side” creates an actual ambiguity, because it is different in different countries. > [@](#): > > ETA: by the way, there’s a reason why at sea they don’t refer to the “left” or the “right” side of a ship - because of this very ambiguity. Hence “port” and “starboard”. Unlike in a car, in a ship folks tend to wander about. They could as easly be facing the stern as the bow at any one moment, so “look to the left!” could indeed be somewhat ambiguous - it could mean “look to my left, as I’m facing right now” or “look to the left side of the ship”. In a car, unless it is an extremely large or unusual car, this is less of an issue. People tend to be sitting in seats that face forward. It is an easy extrapolation that what is “left” when you are sitting in the car is the “left” side of the car. Also, any vehicle is usually “sided” by which way the vehicle itself is facing. Would you have any real difficulty identifying if your seats were located on the “left” side of an airplane? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/33 "2011-09-08T22:34:07Z")
I don’t have a car, but I rent one 3-4 times a year. Some cars have it on the left, others on the right. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/34 "2011-09-08T22:38:32Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Also, any vehicle is usually “sided” by which way the vehicle itself is facing. Would you have any real difficulty identifying if your seats were located on the “left” side of an airplane? Actually yeah. Airplanes are almost universally boarded by passengers facing and walking towards the **rear** of the vehicle. So saying your seats are on the “left” side would most logically be the ones which are on the **right** side when facing forward. Still ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/35 "2011-09-08T22:43:55Z")
Why can’t they just put one on each side, with a pipe that merges in the middle? I should patent that idea. I’ll make a killing. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/36 "2011-09-08T22:56:41Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Actually yeah. Airplanes are almost universally boarded by passengers facing and walking towards the **rear** of the vehicle. So saying your seats are on the “left” side would most logically be the ones which are on the **right** side when facing forward. Still ambiguous. When you’re facing the unambiguous backs of the seats as you walk toward the unambiguous back of the plane, the seats on **the** left are the seats on **your** right. I doubt that very many people can’t remember their body has turned around when they’re facing backwards. But where IS the gas cap on an airliner, anyway? . ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/37 "2011-09-08T23:22:46Z")
Three cars. One on the right/passenger side and two on the left/driver side. The arrow on the dash works except in the Miata. Not sure why it is different but the gas cap is directly behind the driver but no indication on the dash. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/38 "2011-09-08T23:26:03Z")
Two vehicles. Both gas caps are on the passenger’s side. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/39 "2011-09-08T23:34:07Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > When you’re facing the unambiguous backs of the seats as you walk toward the unambiguous back of the plane, the seats on **the** left are the seats on **your** right. I doubt that very many people can’t remember their body has turned around when they’re facing backwards. Your doubt is quite misplaced. Try it sometime - tell someone who is currently boarding a plane that their seat is on the left side. 90% chance they will immediately look to **their** left (i.e. the plane’s starboard side), rather than what _you_ think is the left side of the plane (the port side). ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619/40 "2011-09-08T23:42:34Z")
**Rigamarole,** in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re talking about cars. not planes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-is-your-vehicles-gas-cap-on/595619.md?page=3)