Ok this might seem like I'm rambling, but I have a legitimate reason as to when I fill up. I did a tour in Iraq and we had vehicles to drive around base. My unit standard for vehicle fuel is to fuel up when the vehicle is 1/4 empty, as in there's 3/4 fuel in the tank. Well, I did that for a year. The reason is because we never know if the fuel point will explode or a sudden shortage of fuel.

Now that I'm back in the States, I feel the urge to fill up at half a tank. I don't know, but when I see my car 3/4 empty, it get nervous and think that my car is about to run out of gas, even though I have like 6 more gallons. Back then I would wait until the fuel meter goes beyond the "E" line before I fill up, haha. I don't think filling up at half a tank is a bad habit at all, because you never know when you'll need the extra fuel. Some examples I can think of would be natural disasters like earthquakes or major storms forcing gas stations to shut down. I was in SoCal when a huge fire broke out recently and they shut down numerous gas stations around the area.

Now that I'm done with my story, I want to know if I'm not alone out there. So when do you guys fill up?

 

haha i remember in iraq we would always get the vans and shit stuck in the sand

irrelevant i know

if im in a local area i fill up when my light comes on.

if im out of town, i stay above 1/4 just incase i cant find a station

 

Usually around 1/4. I don't like letting it hit E or let the light turn on. Kind of makes me nervous...

 

i fill my cl up when the gas light comes on. i have always filled my truck up when the needle gets down to 1/3 tank.

 

My wife's Odyssey: anywhere beyond the 1/2 full mark (worst gas gauge ever)

My Legacy: When the light comes on.

I'm stationed in Okinawa, so I get gas on the local Marine base (good guys, just a bit rambunctious and horny when liquored up, but aren't we all?), not very far away.

 

 

Usually once the low fuel light comes on.

 

I start looking for a gas station when I have seen the third bar for a while, by the time the third bar is no longer illuminated I start looking even harder. When the second bar has been illuminated for a while I start to get frantic and I have seen the single, last, bar and fuel light once when I couldn't find a gas station. It's scary when you put 11.6 gallons in a 12 gallon tank!

 

My rule used to be that I'd never leave myself with less than a 1/4 tank of gas, period. Since I walk to work and don't drive as much, I have had no problem waiting longer to fill up (gas light) because I know I probably won't be using the car too much over the coming weeks. However, in winter, I'm back to my rule of never going beyond 3/4 empty and will always follow that in winter.

 

1/2 to 3/4 empty usually. Once in a while I'll wait until the gas light comes on

 

I just put $10 in every other day regardless. Of course when prices were higher, that was closer to $20. I like to ride with enough fuel, but light.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've gone till I have only 4 or 5 miles left as indicated on the MID.

 

 

I forgot that in winter I will fill up any time I am at or near a half tank if it is warm out, if it's really cold out I try to hold off until it is warmer. Then again I drive very little in winter, so its not as much of an issue.

 

Usually when the light comes on. I don't trust it too much in my CL so I usually make quick work of finding a station. I usually only put $10-15 of gas in the car. Lately I have been doing full tanks to hedge against it going up. Gas at $2.20? I'll take 10 gallons please.

 

Gas station and low gas prices are frequent around where I live so I have no problem waiting til the light comes on. I dont mind have to fill up from E because whether you spend $20 in 3 days or just $20 filling up all at once it's all the same.

 

luckily the cheapest stations within 50 miles are within two blocks of me. If I get fuel up by where I work, it'll be at least $0.30 more.

 

For awhile I did half but than that got ridiculous. I normally do now when I am a bit below 1/4. It does not make me happy to see the light come on.

 

I used to fill up at around a 1/4 of a tank or so, but now that I've got a longer commute to work, I'm pushing it more... Sometimes I wait till the low fuel light comes on. Before I got the new job, I had only seen the low fuel light maybe a 1/2 dozen times (over the course of 5 plus years). Now I've seen it 1/2 dozen times over the last 3 months...

A fill up used to be 12-14 gallons, but now I'm putting in 14 or 15... in a 17 gallon tank.. (light comes on w/ about 3 gallons left). I've got a 50 mile one way commute, so even if the light goes on close to work driving in, I can make it back home after work to where the cheaper gas is...

 

You turncoat! J/K'n. I never thought I'd see the day! Congrats, GM!

Sorry, back on topic, I usually wait until the low gas light comes on, but when I lived in the North East I would only let it get down to about 1/4 tank before refilling because my father always told me to not let it get really low in the cold weather.

 

Between 1/4 tank and low fuel light-- usually I will wait until the low fuel light comes on if I know I am going to a nearby Costco.

 

It depends. The personal vehicles I wait until around one-quarter of a tank before I fill up. The commercial stuff is ALWAYS kept up to the brim. Especially during the winter months as the heavy equipment, trucks, and pickups are always been rotated between warm shops to freezing temperatures. Condensation in fuel tanks is NOT a good thing.


Terry

 

I fill up as soon as the light comes on. I never really go anywhere and only have to have fill up once or twice a month.

 

When I have about 1/4 left, no sense in overheating the fuel tank pump

 

When my gas light comes on.

 

when my needle is under the red line

 

usually fill up when I have 1/8 to 1/4 left in the tank. Rarely ever see the light come on.

my gauge seems pretty stable though. My old Land Cruiser would fluctuate as much as 1/4 tank depending on if I was going uphill or downhill, so I would usually fill up around 1/4 tank, cause it would hit E going downhill.

 

damn you guys all fill up pretty early
maybe i need to too

i usually fill up about 20-50 miles after the fuel light turns on

 

I drive way too much to fill up at half a tank. I fill it up just before, or when the low fuel light comes on. If it's really cold out I make sure there is always at least half a tank in the car.

 

when @ 1/3 or 1/4 tank left

 

I haven't found the bottom of my tank yet. Once the light comes on, I budget about 60 miles and I do it. I've had the needle below the red line numerous times.

I've put over 15.5 gallons in on a fillup. I thought the tank was 14, then 15, now I'm not sure.

I was told this is very bad practice in a previous thread about filling up. It works for me.

 

1/4 tank or when the light turns on..

 

When the light comes on...theres no real reason to fill it up before unless you live in an area without many gas stations. Around here, every other block has one

 

I usually wait til the light. I've put 16 gallons in the TL on one occasion.

 

I once put 18.8 gallons into a 19 gallon tank. That was a close one...

 

when the light comes on, or if i know bad weather is coming and i'm going to work. Just in case i get stuck in traffic or slide off the road and have to sit for a while

 

Usually when the light comes on.

 

i put 16.70 gallons in my tl :p

 

Hey this might be a little off topic, but why is it bad to run on near empty, or even half empty, when its cold?

 

In the winter time, no less than 1/4 tank left, in the summer time, when the low fuel warning comes on.