I try to top it off and sometimes bounce the car a little to get more in. The motivation is that stopping for gas is a disruptive hassle, especially in nasty weather. If larger tanks were an easy option to buy, I’d buy them. Roughly, I’m estimating that each second spent pumping gas gets me an extra ten or twenty minutes of driving, so extending a gas stop that is already required by several seconds seems like a good bargain.
I’ve heard about emissions systems problems from topping off, but heard they are rare and mostly occurred in just the first few versions of these systems before they learned how to make them more resistant to flooding. I’ve never had any trouble with this in my cars (unless the trouble can escape notice of the driver and the emissions testing station).
You must think that the extra click dispenses gas that the first click doesn’t. It doesn’t work that way. If you want the last few drops, wait for it to drain out, jiggle the hose, or change the angle of the nozzle. Starting the pump again won’t make the last few drops come out without charging you for it, it just sends more gas into the hose and registers it on the meter.
It’s much worse than that. In addition to ruining the paint outside of the tank, topping off can force gasoline into the emissions system. You can do things like force gasoline into the charcoal filter, which will ruin it. This will cause your check engine light to come on, and in some states this will prevent your car from passing inspection until you get it fixed. Those little charcoal filters aren’t cheap, either. Expect to pay a couple hundred bucks to replace it. Never top off. It’s not worth the risk.
As Gary T said above, if you do, he or one of his colleagues will thank you for your business.
Only some cars are susceptible to this via overfilling (earlier Taurus, for example). The thing with the charcoal filters is, they’ll eventually dry back out. You really won’t ruin them. You may think you’ve ruined them for a few months, but remember, gasoline evaporates.
Me? I’m stoopid I guess. When the pump stops, I usually get another half-gallon. Since I average about 22 mpg, that’s another 11 miles. And since I usually wait until I’m empty, that’s often an extra day between fillups. Yes, I understand that a lot of people like to worry about contingencies, but I never leave the metro area, and I have AAA.
On Edit: the truck I try to keep above half a tank. Because I don’t drive it regularly, I worry more about condensation and $80 fillups. Logically the $80 fillups don’t matter, because the cost is the cost. But if I put in $40 once per month rather than $80 once every two months, then I feel better, and that’s all that matters.
If you’ve ever watched COPS you should know that car chases don’t usually last very long before someone crashes, a car breaks or some such. Personally, if someone ever follows me in my car I will just drive to my local police station.
Anyway, if you’re concerned about how much gas you have, filling up more frequently will make a much bigger difference than topping off the tank.
Meh. I just fill to the next rounded number. Makes it easier for my poor, feeble mind to do the math on my bank account. If I have to repeatedly click, it’s because I keep going over. If it gets too toppy, I just give up.
My owners manual specifically states that I should stop when the nozzle clicks off and not try to top off the tank. It probably wouldn’t say that without a reason.
The real reason people do irrational things is because it makes them sleep better at night. In preparation for ever needing to defend their irrational position, they will create a list of reasons that make sense (to them).
Irrational behavior then leads folks to ignore sound reasoning or drive the person making the rational argument crazy. At this point, the irrational person, defending their irrational behavior, looks incredibly sound, as they are faced with someone ( an otherwise rational person) that is now the insane/crazy person. This bolsters the irrational person’s position.
If you have a friend, co-worker or loved one (and** especially** a spouse) that does silly things with their car (put it in neutral at every stop; drive backwards a block every day to even out wear; open the hood on hot days when the car is in the sun… etc) do yourself a favor and let them do it.
Don’t even approach it rationally. It ain’t worth it.
I doubt if many cars are built like this today, but my VW bug, which had a 10.6 gallon tank, had a very short filler neck. When the nozzle said it was full, there was a 4 gallon space left, so you betcher ass I topped it off.
The same thing happens in my motorcycle. If I relied upon the automatic shutoff, I would have an empty tank, since the nozzle hits bottom when inserted fully.
Yep. I have to hold the nozzle tip just at the lip inside of the lid. And in California, where vapour boots are common, I had to use both hands so that I could hold the boot up. (Otherwise it wouldn’t pump.) I had a girlfriend who had a friend who was inspired by her bike (we both had XJ600s), and he bought a motorcycle. He complained that he could only go about 50 miles on a tank. Yep, he just stuck the nozzle in and took it out when it clicked off. He was only getting a gallon of fuel.
How do they do motorcycles in Oregon? Do the attendants know how to fuel them? Or do riders have to instruct them each time?
Years ago I started a thread about stupid stuff people do with this OP:
Really, head scratchingly, stupid things that people do.
Today is the cheap day to fill up your car in Sydney, so I did. The guy next to me, when the pump cut out, pulled the nozzle out a bit and drizzled in another cup of juice. I said to him, "I have to ask. Are you planning to drive on that tankful until the point that you actually need that last little bit?’
Every time you fill up, its X minutes of free time out of your day at the rate you’d pay yourself at work, because its Your free/off time. To minimize this expense and maximize your free time, you buy the limit of what you need. Its the same reason you’d stock up on what you need once a week or more at a grocery store: you realize in advance that you will go through (substance X) & having to make even one unplanned trip to the store during the week is against your best interest and cuts into your personal time bottom line.
Companies who employ you use MBA tricks to maximize their profits. Why can’t you use these same tricks against these same companies to maximize your free time as a consumer?
I never said that the mileage argument was compelling, just that it was a valid one. It’s one of those things where we waste our time trying to perfect one small detail, while the big picture is messy enough that our efforts are in vain.
I never knew that there was an expensive emission control system doodad in there. Now I know and I will refrain from topping off.
It’s a moot point for me most of the time anyway—I live in Jersey, and they don’t let us pump our own gas.
When my wife’s Nissan stops its full, I’ll squeeze 1-3 pennies worth to round off. When my Ford 150 stops its got 2-3 gallons left to go, I’ll squeeze off another few dollars worth. And you’re right about the bikes, I don’t think I’d trust an attendant to know how to fill my Burgman.
As others have said, I used to put gas in to round it to get less pennies in change. I also used to be a pump jockey in the 70’s, so I suspect that some of it came from that.
I don’t bother anymore, and very rarely let my car get below a 1/4 of a tank. I usually fill up at about 1/2 tank.
The closest gas station is a good 20 miles from my house. I just like to be sure.
If you top off, instead of having to go to the gas station 25 times a year, you only have to go 24 times.
However, the extra minute you spend at the gas station topping off, means that you could has spent that extra 24 minutes of your time doing something else.