How low on fuel do you let your car get before refuelling?

[Bletchleyite]

How low do you go?

EV owners can also post of course.

Anybody want to sponsor a thread on "How low on fuel/charge do you let your car get ?".

In theory mine could do Stevenage to Aviemore (via A82/A86) on one tank, but I have never risked it. Filling up at Fort William avoids the risk of being wrong, and is cheaper.

Early in my driving career I was driving to North Wales late at night via the A5, and went from 1/4 to fumes before I found a petrol station that was open (the one in Betws I think). Since then that's been my approach. It's vindicated itself several times, both in that case and during shortages etc.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Feb 2023 ==

Good grief! I don’t look for petrol till I’m on 10 miles range or less (Unless on a motorway. I’m not paying those prices). Life’s too short to be at petrol stations unnecessarily!

Petrol stations also sell coffee and (usually) have toilets. If I'm stopping for that, putting fuel in as well is not a massive encumbrance.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Obviously it depends. If I'm planning a long trip and don't have enough to get there and back I'll fill up, however I've regularly got 56+ litres of petrol in my current 55 litre tanked car. So, in general I'll fill up either when I happen to be passing a reasonably priced petrol station after the warning light has come on or when I absolutely have to.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I don’t drive unless I have to so my cars often laid up for a week or more. I’m not in a high crime area but I do believe in not making it easy for them so seldom far from the red unless I know I’m going long distance. There’s a garage nearby so I can easily top up as required.

 

[Ted633]

As a lot of cars have these days, mine has a 'distance to tank empty' (DTE) indication. Needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, but if the range indicated is 50ish miles more than my next journey, I won't fill up until afterwards.
My fuel gauge drops rather quickly from the 1/4 mark to the 1/8 mark when the light comes on, which the displayed DTE takes its input from, hence the need for a slight buffer.

 

[richw]

Every Thursday (I’m paid weekly) I put enough in for my planned miles for the week ahead. I know my fuel economy so know the minimum I’ll need. My car hasn’t been below 1/3 tank as I keep the left over fuel from the previous week as a reserve.
Yes I’m tight on spending but I put surplus funds into savings.

 

[dgl]

My sisters Micra can display "--" range left when there's still over ~15mi in the tank. Time constraints and deciding who is going to pay means there is a lot of low fuel driving.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Nowadays, whenever's most convenient / cheapest once I get to 50 - 75 miles remaining range.

In the past I had some sort of mental blindspot when it came to refuelling my car - I saw it as hugely inconvenient and I'd leave it as late as possible then fill it to the brim. In my (partial) defence I was driving about 65,000 miles a year at that point so it was all quite time consuming. The nadir was the gauge telling me 0 miles remaining as I barrelled along the M65 in a thunderstorm on a Sunday night - it remains the one occasion I've been glad to get to Burnley

 

[Cowley]

I do it as soon as the light goes on (or the ding of doom as it’s known in our house). Basically I’ll never park any of our vehicles up outside the house with the fuel light on, unless it just happens to go on after I’ve passed the garage ( which is about half a mile away).

Mrs C on the other hand…

 

[LowLevel]

The fuel gauge on my car is useless - takes a while to move off the stop, then swings through the range quickly, then takes a while at the bottom end - so as long as I'm just doing my regular runs to and from work I work it out on mileage. Usually once the warning light is on I look to fill up when convenient.

 

[PeterC]

I usually stop at the first reasonably priced garage after going below the quarter full mark. Once the light goes on I will fill at the next available garage but only "splash and dash" if it is expensive.

I may fill at about a third full for a long journey.

 

[bspahh]

I had a MkI Ford Focus which nominally had a 55L fuel tank. However, if I filled it until the second click, I would only get at most 48L of fuel in it after running until the gauge said it was empty. Once I decided to work out exactly how it would go before running out, so I filled a petrol can and ran it until it spluttered. Then I did get 55L of fuel into it.

The engine ran really roughly for a few days after that, as a load of crap in the bottom of the fuel tank had got into the engine.

 

[Ken H]

Dont do many miles now. Fuel local to me is eye-wateringly expensive. So when I am away I look for cheap fuel to fill up. Usually at an ASDA

 

[Annetts key]

Unless I’m intending on going on a long journey, normally only after the warning light goes on (in the case of my current car, the last segment on the display flashes and a warning bleep sounds). That gives me more than enough range to get to a fuel station.

 

[Ediswan]

Generally wait until, depending on which year it was, red line on the gauge, low fuel light, or the fuel computer goes to -- at 30-50 miles (never had one that counts down to zero).

Sometimes push my luck based on previous noted tank mileage. Equally, if there is long rural/remote section coming up, such as Grenoble to Briancon, not taking any chances.

The only time I actually ran out was after many days of short local trips. Kept meaning to fill up, kept forgetting. Car on drive refused to start. Short walk to local Shell.

 

[cin88]

Usually I fill up at 1/4 left, although I use the petrol station at my local branch of Costco so i'll top up if I happen to be on a shopping trip in between large fill ups.

However my new to me car has a design flaw with the fuel sender where it'll get stuck at either half way or 7/8 segments on the digital guage if you'd brimmed the tank the previous time you'd filled up as there's 10L of capacity meant for expansion space due to diesel foaming up. I didn't know this when I first filled it to the brim so i've spent the last 3 or so weeks running the tank down as far as I can in order to get the sender to re-calibrate, now I actually find myself hoping that I don't need fuel before my mechanic sees to a minor fault he's diagnosed. Hopefully I won't make that mistake with the fuel sender again.

 

[Halwynd]

The engine ran really roughly for a few days after that, as a load of crap in the bottom of the fuel tank had got into the engine.

I was told about tank sediment problems when I was a young lad many years ago and I've been a quarter tank filler ever since. Not likely to be an issue with a new car perhaps, but after a few years as it gets older...

 

[gswindale]

I don't trust the DTE display much - I've had my car 6 years now, so it's had plenty of time to calibrate to my driving rather than the previous owner (always starts out saying 441 miles and often still 1/4 tank left when I've done 400), so tend to fill up once it's dropped below 1/4 tank.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I don't like letting it get too low in case I get stuck in an almighty traffic jam like I did a couple of months back on the M4 (satnav said why not go that way and save 10 minutes - my usual 30min drive took the best part of 2 hours!)

 

[dgl]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I don't like letting it get too low in case I get stuck in an almighty traffic jam like I did a couple of months back on the M4 (satnav said why not go that way and save 10 minutes - my usual 30min drive took the best part of 2 hours!)

My sister had something similar happen, my brother told her how long it would take her to drive him somewhere and he got it completely wrong, combined with traffic she got very worried about running out of fuel. Luckily our normal drives mean we are no more than about 3 miles, if that, from a petrol station, with 8 garages in Weymouth and Portland and another 3 in Dorchester, so 11 garages within a ~12mi radius of Weymouth Town centre, you'd have to be on fumes to run out before getting to a petrol station!

 

[Annetts key]

On a related subject, who knows how much fuel is left in the tank when the gauge shows “E”?

I bought a Rover 214sei from new in 1994. At the garage I bought it, at the time, it was their policy to fill a new car with £7 of petrol. They must have got lots of questions from previous buyers, because they told me at least twice, don’t worry about the gauge showing “E”, we did put £7 of petrol in it.

Now, I have no idea how much fuel you got for £7 back then. But no vehicle I’ve driven has ever ran out when the gauge has got to “E”. Obviously if you keep driving instead of filling up at that point…

 

[Bald Rick]

Fumes. My record is 20 miles with the range showing “0 miles”, and I still only got 68 litres into a 70 litre tank.

I take after my dad. He once had his mini pinched from a road near the station. He found it on the next street, because it had run out (And they didn’t look in the boot for the can of 2*).

 

[alxndr]

Usually around a 1/4 tank, although it does depend on my shifts as I only fill at the Costco which is round the corner from work. Sometimes I'll fill up a little early or run it a bit emptier to avoid having to make a special trip up there just for fuel or fill up during the early evening/weekend rush.

People who don't fill up pool vehicles promptly do my head in though, especially if you get a run of people who think they'll leave it for the next person.

 

[ABB125]

I once filled up shortly after the warning beep, and more fuel went in than the stated tank capacity!

I'd like to, at some point, "run out of fuel", just to see what happens and how much range is actually left after "empty". (With a suitable container of petrol in the boot of course!)

 

[Annetts key]

People who don't fill up pool vehicles promptly do my head in though, especially if you get a run of people who think they'll leave it for the next person.

You would not be best pleased with me then

I treat pool vehicles a bit like hire vehicles. With the vans that I have hired, normally you find them with not much fuel in them. So you have to fill them up with whatever amount you think you will need…

With a pool vehicle, I won’t fill it up until I need to (that is it gets to “E”). When I do fill it up, I will however put as much as practical in. But yes, I do occasionally get moaned at.

 

[Cowley]

Fumes. My record is 20 miles with the range showing “0 miles”, and I still only got 68 litres into a 70 litre tank.

I take after my dad. He once had his mini pinched from a road near the station. He found it on the next street, because it had run out (And they didn’t look in the boot for the can of 2*).

Ah interesting. As you know I had an A6 diesel estate and I had to pick it up from the mechanic we used to use and it was absolutely bone dry and saying zero miles, plus the battery had packed up (there’s a reason I said “used to use”). So I couldn’t let it stall after I’d jumped it and I about 6 miles of very hilly driving to do to the nearest filling station.

It made it!

 

[james60059]

If I'm just using the car for commuting, I'll fill up once the tank has a quarter left. On the other hand, if I'm doing some considerable distance on a day, I will fill up to the top.

 

[Bald Rick]

I'd like to, at some point, "run out of fuel", just to see what happens and how much range is actually left after "empty". (With a suitable container of petrol in the boot of course!)

You don’t, on a modern car, especially if it’s more than a couple of years old. You’ll find all sorts of rubbish at the bottom of the tank, which can block the fuel filters, or sometimes make it through to the injectors with predictable results.

 

[Speed43125]

I was told about tank sediment problems when I was a young lad many years ago and I've been a quarter tank filler ever since. Not likely to be an issue with a new car perhaps, but after a few years as it gets older...

My car was registered in September 1999 on a 'V plate' and I've definitely got as far as putting in 68.5L into a nominally 68 litre tank - not really ever had an issue with it running rough. I would recommend people change the fuel filter as I keep putting off doing though. Though perhaps this is a diesel thing that we've all been told?

Usually I do try and fill up at around when the fuel light comes on. Being a very old car, there is about a 20 mile window where depending on what gradient the car is on, it'll either come on or stay off when you start up though.

When I was younger we had a BMW E39 (also V Reg incidentally) and we ran out of fuel in that once. And in the outside lane of the M9 I might add! We got towed to a pump and brimmed it before restarting, gave it 5 minutes idling while the tow truck pulled around to a car park to unload the car, and away with no bother. Allegedly filling the tank up will help dilute any sediments you've exposed by letting it run dry. No idea how true that is though!

 

[LowLevel]

I once filled up shortly after the warning beep, and more fuel went in than the stated tank capacity!

I'd like to, at some point, "run out of fuel", just to see what happens and how much range is actually left after "empty". (With a suitable container of petrol in the boot of course!)

It judders, coughs a bit and then stops extremely rapidly if you're so thoroughly taken aback about it that you forget to dip the clutch so you can roll to the side.

Definitely not from experience of dying in the middle of a busy road 100 yards from my target petrol station having pushed things a little *too* far about 10 years ago.

Luckily an elderly man waiting for a bus helped me push it to the side and then waited with it whilst I went and bought some petrol from the petrol station, and got a tenner out of the cash machine for him to get a few pints for his trouble!

 

[Peter Sarf]

I will also fill up before a long trip.

Generally I avoid going below 1/4. I fill up before a long trip to be safe (but also to monitor fuel consumption). After a long trip I will fill up to see what the fuel consumption is like after motorway use.

As for running it dry. My first car developed a petrol tank leak - horizontal split across 50% of the upper rear !. So I ran and ran the car to get as low as possible before draining and dropping the tank. Ended up stranded and had to chuck a gallon in I had ready. The following weekend I swapped the tank - luckily I had hoarded some old oil cans as I got nearly 3 gallons out of the blasted old tank !.

 

[PeterC]

You don’t, on a modern car, especially if it’s more than a couple of years old. You’ll find all sorts of rubbish at the bottom of the tank, which can block the fuel filters, or sometimes make it through to the injectors with predictable results.

Been there, paid the garage bill.