Why top off when filling gasoline?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been mulling about this a while now, and this thread about no self-serve in NJ and OR mentioned the habit of topping off a couple times has finally triggered me.

Why do so many people still go through the topping a fill up ritual, staring intently at the tab while going tunk-tunk-tunk on the nozzle valve, presumably trying to get it to stop on a round number? Back in those care-free days when gas was cheap and everyone paid cash, I could see why you’d like to bump $4.92 up a few cents so you could pay with a sawbuck and be done with it. Nowadays, except for truckers, everybody puts their gas on a debit or credit card and does it really make that much difference if you’re looking at your monthly statement with charge for $34.86 instead of $35.00?

So, how about it? There must be a few Dopers out there who habitually top off. Can you tell us why?

2

You forgot to qualify that statement with “except for the sensible people.”

You see, sensible people understand that basic precautions should be taken against card fraud, skimmers, etc. Even apart from that, we understand that sometimes the card readers have trouble, or the satellites go down, etc. To not carry cash is incredibly stupid and ignorant.

We also understand that to pay interest on ordinary purchases is also incredibly stupid. Most people who have credit cards carry a balance, and the more that people use their cards, the higher the balance is likely to be.
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-debt-statistics-1276.php

3

“Sensible people” carry more than one credit card in case of problems, and invariably clear the balance every month to avoid paying interest and to take advantage of the free credit.

4

Regardless, some of us still pay cash for gas, either occasionally or nearly all the time. And when I use cash I go inside, say X on Y, and go out and put that much in the tank. As it usually isn’t enough to fill up the tank, the full amount X goes into the vehicle and no need to tunk-tunk-tunk.

If for whatever reason there is not enough room in the gas tank for X I just go inside and get my change. I don’t fear coins so having less than an even dollar amount doesn’t bother me.

5

If the card reader isn’t working using a different card won’t help. Cash will.

6

No one carries cash except the person in front of me at the gas station, who goes into the store to give the cash, comes out to pump the gas, then goes in to get change, no doubt telling long stories to the cashier each time.

I do carry cash, but haven’t used it at a gas station in ages. But I do remember getting even numbers on the pump ages ago when I didn’t get money back on my credit card and used cash.

7

I guess I could see this, but honestly I can’t remember the last time I had any issue with the card reader at a gas pump. For me, they just always work.

8

I would probably be accused of topping off if you saw me filling my car, but it’s not because I want to get to an even dollar amount. Depending on the nozzle, the angle of the hose, the speed the fuel is pumped, and (apparently) the phase of the moon, many pumps cut off a bit too early on at least two of my cars. It’s always a challenge to get the car full…and I’m talking a gallon or two, about 15% of tank capacity. I habitually check this by changing the angle of the nozzle and “chunking” it a couple times. I frequently find that I’m significantly short of a full tank. Again, I’m not filling it more than recommended. I’ve confirmed this a few times by checking the quantity dispensed against the listed capacity of my tank when I know (and you know how) that I am down to fumes.

If it IS a cash purchase…yeah, why not? I don’t want 97 cents in change if I can avoid it by two quick squeezes on the handle. Is this really a problem for other people at the filling station?

9

Don’t top off. With the new smog gear, you can damage it by topping off.

10

I don’t top off for round number reasons. Sometimes, the pump cuts off before the tank is full. I always give it another squeeze. If less than 0.1 gal is dispensed (which it normally is), it’s done. However, I’ve been able to put another two thirds to a full gallon in.

It seems better now that years ago. Back then, I’d sometimes put the nozzle back in the pump, settle up with the credit card dealie, climb in and find the needle only rises to 80% of capacity. That’s annoying and, now, the habit is set.

Besides, assuming fuel isn’t spilling all over, what’s the harm?

And a sawbuck is a $10 bill.

11

Habit and instinct, mostly. Humans prefer to finish on round numbers when possible, and since you usually need to add a bit more after the automatic shutoff (most people like to fill tanks as full as possible so they don’t have to fill-up again as soon) why not add enough to bring it up to a full number and enjoy that feeling of one thing being “right” for a short moment.

12

I calculate my own fuel economy figures. By always (trying) to brim the tank each time I get greater accuracy. Or so I have convinced myself.

TCMF-2L

13

Presumably you calculate your mileage by taking the miles you’ve driven since your last fillup (from the odometer) and divide by the amount of gas you’ve put in (from the gas pump). I don’t see how it makes any difference to the accuracy whether you the tank is full or not.

I never top off my tank, for the reasons given in the link in post #9. The number of trips to the gas station you save by topping off is trivial (maybe one every couple of years), and not worth it compared to the risks and likelihood of paying for gas that doesn’t even go in your tank.

14

I don’t pay for gas by credit card, even though I pay for nearly everything else by credit card, because the gas station that I usually pay at (the cheapest one around) takes off five cents per gallon if you pay by cash. When I get gas, I look through my wallet and my pocket for how much I have on me. I go to the cashier and give them enough money to come close to filling up (and definitely not enough to go over) that uses up all the change in my pocket and the ones, fives, and tens in my wallet. I want to leave the gas station with no change in my pocket and as few unnecessary bills in my wallet as possible. Ideally, I would each time pay a twenty and nearly fill up my tank. I can generally come close to that. After I pay, I go back to my car and fill it up to the amount I’ve paid, since the cashier has set the pump to give just that amount. My goal is to spend as little time at gas stations as possible and carry no change and the fewest number of bills in my wallet as possible, down to a certain minimum.

15

I never top off. I just let the pump fill until the automatic shut-off activates. As others have noted, topping off might have made sense when I paid with cash, but it’s 2018 now. What do I care if my credit card charge is $33.87 or $34.00? Also, as DrDeth notes, topping off is not recommended anyway.

There is some incentive for paying with cash around here. Many gas stations give a 10c/gallon discount for cash, but I never bother with it. For reasons outlined below, the convenience of the card outweighs the slight cash discount for me.

Actually, at gas stations, most sensible people use a card.

When I get gas, I like to fill the tank. This means that, if I want to use cash, I need to walk inside twice: the first time, to give the clerk the money (making sure that I give at least enough to fill my tank), and the second time to get my change.

Compare that with using a card, where I swipe, fill, and go. I pay my card balance off every month, so I don’t have to deal with the boogey-man of interest payments, and I’ve never lost a single dollar to a fraudulent credit card transaction. My accounts have experiences two fraudulent transactions over the past 15 years, but both of those were identified immediately by my credit card company, and cost me nothing. And there’s no way for me to know where the fraudsters got the number anyway.

You’ve made this argument in threads before, and the argument was just as stupid and ignorant then as it is now.

I have no problem with cash, and I often carry some around with me, but there are times when I don’t, and I literally can’t remember the last time not having cash caused me even a moment’s inconvenience.

The last time a store I was in had a problem with its credit card machines, having cash wouldn’t even have helped me, because the same power problem that took down their credit card system also caused their point-of-sale equipment to reboot, meaning that they couldn’t take any transactions whatsoever, cash or credit, until the system was back up, which took about 15 minutes.

16

All good reasons for me.

And perhaps I can remember having a VW bug in the 1960’s. The tank held 10.6 gallons, good for 300 miles with a safety margin. This meant I could drive from St. Louis to Chicago’s Hinsdale Oasis on one tankful, but only if it was really full.

The VW’s filler neck, unlike most big US cars at the time, was on top of the actual tank, and only 4 inches long. If you put a nozzle in the neck, it would cut out at about 8 gallons. I always had to tell the attendants (that’s how it was done in those days) to add another 2 gallons; they weren’t used to that kind of behavior and didn’t believe me until I was proved right. Without that extra 2 gallons, I would never have made it to Chicago, so it was important.

17

Maybe the infrastructure in the US is much more prone to failure then here in Canada, but I don’t believe I have paid for gas with cash in at least the last 2 decades. I keep an emergency stash of cash at home if something like the Great Northeast Blackout happens again, but I often have less than $20 on me.

18

I like the round numbers. I also like having a full tank. I’ve done this for years on a variety of cars and have never damaged the engine or the vapor filter.

19

Since the OP is asking for opinions, let’s move this to IMHO.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

20

It’s happened to me once or twice. I took my business elsewhere.