Board 8 > Have you ever ran out of gas while driving?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It has happened to me once before.

No
But I love living on the edge

My record was 6km left
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no I know my car
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I have a few times

but they're always as I'm pulling into the gas station and I coast to the pump
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I used to have a 69 Ford with no gas gauge.

So yes, it happened about 100 times.
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No, I don't even know how this would ever happen. I fill it up when it hits halfway.
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no, but I have pushed my limit a few times
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I used to sweat it out some college mornings in my old 97 ford contour.
But no.
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No but I had an extremely close call once. I think I had like 3 or 4 miles to empty when I pulled into the gas station. I didn't mean to cut it so close, but it was the middle of the night and most of the stations were closed.
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Menji posted...

No, I don't even know how this would ever happen. I fill it up when it hits halfway.

You wouldn't if you had a 30 litre tank
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*run
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Menji posted...

No, I don't even know how this would ever happen. I fill it up when it hits halfway.

I am also baffled by how people could let it happen. I think the closest I've come to it was having like 15-20 miles left in the tank. My ex-wife used to have what we called mystery tank in that once her car got below half tank the gauge didn't work correctly but she just estimated it by mileage when she would have to refill and played it conservatively

But I was also equally baffled by discussions where people don't fill their tank up (without it being a ridiculous size). Like I get being piss poor, I've been there myself in the past, but I always budgeted well enough that I could fill up my tank as needed. It's not like it saves money to refill more frequently with less gas.

ShatteredElysium posted...

But I was also equally baffled by discussions where people don't fill their tank up (without it being a ridiculous size). Like I get being piss poor, I've been there myself in the past, but I always budgeted well enough that I could fill up my tank as needed. It's not like it saves money to refill more frequently with less gas.

I mean, if you're living paycheck to paycheck on a weekly wage, you might only be able to put in what you need for the week and then when something goes wrong that requires more money somewhere, you cut back and hold on and squeeze out the time till you need to fill the car.

It's not about how much you spend, it's about the fluidity of your money.
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When gas was higher, I would put in the same dollar amount each time. That way Im buying more when its cheaper.

But no, cant imagine running out of gas. People I know in real life who have, I see as irresponsible.
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I'm usually pretty intent on going to the gas station once it hits a quarter left, so I understand the people who are incredulous about how one could let it run out...but I've done it. It's circumstantial -- you tell yourself you'll get gas on the way home because you need to get to the place...and then you end up driving home scared and realize you have no idea where the gas places nearby are. So there you are on the highway, and the gas light is actually on, and you're terrified because you never let the gas light come on and here you are with no idea which exit is going to find you a gas station...once I wasn't so lucky. Got stuck in evening traffic and couldn't readily get off the road, and then the engine sputtered and died. Thankfully I was able to coast onto the shoulder and call AAA.
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Yes. My dad and I were driving at like 2 AM. I told him we were going to run out of gas and that we should stop at a gas station, but he said we'd be fine.

I guess we were fine after AAA showed up an hour later.
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Look it takes me a little more than an hour to get to work and another hour to come back after 10 hours work so forgive me if I prefer to see the Gas Stastion as few times as possible
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Yes, once on an old car that had a really wonky gas meter and was difficult to judge just how much was left
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Came close, but nope. I usually fill up around the quarter mark.
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I never have but my dad did once when I was a passenger. He barely coasted into the gas station.

These days, I drive about 3 miles a day and there is a gas station on the way so I just fill up when the light turns on
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yeah once, right in front of the MAPFRE van so it wasn't too bad at all
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In relevant news, my girlfriend was late this morning because a semi ran out of gas in front of her. Running out of gas with a job where you do nothing but drive is insane to me.
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Never, but I don't drive much to get to work so I just fill it up when the gas light comes on.

It came on as I was pulling into the parking lot today so I'll fill it up before I go home.
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Yes, but not in years. Back when I was first driving, I couldn't give two cares to look at the gauges. Any of them.
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I've come damn close a few times I'm sure but my car has a pretty mighty magic pixel so it's never actually happened.
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Never. I always fill up when it's close to an eighth of a tank remaining. The last time the gas indicator light came on was in 2007.
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Yeah once when I was driving a car I was unfamiliar with. The gas gauge was behind the the steering wheel so I had to perch over to see it.
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XBoner posted...

Has this ever happened to you?

is this the start of a bad infomercial?
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In my car yes, but my friend was driving
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Also I hate going to the gas station so I always procrastinate until it's super low, but it never ran out on me
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Nope. I always push it super close though. Like it's about empty and think "I can probably make it 30 minutes across town and start thinking about a gas station then"

Someday this will punish me, but it hasn't happened yet
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Twice in the last... year or so >_>

No, but there was one time the dashboard said 0 miles to empty for like 4 miles.

Can't help but laugh at people who are shocked that someone could ever run out of gas. There are millions of drivers. Some people procrastinate. So people are forgetful. Some people are poor. Some people are none of those things but they just make a mistake.

turbopuns2 posted...

Can't help but laugh at people who are shocked that someone could ever run out of gas. There are millions of drivers.

That's not what we mean when we say that we don't understand how people can let it happen. Obviously it happens to people in the world and we don't find that hard to believe.
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Ever driven to work and realized you left something important at home? Ever made a payment late on anything? Ever made plans with someone then when the day came you realized you'd made two conflicting commitments?

Same difference, basically.

ClyTheCool posted...

Nope. I always push it super close though. Like it's about empty and think "I can probably make it 30 minutes across town and start thinking about a gas station then"

Someday this will punish me, but it hasn't happened yet

This is 100% me.
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Well, it's kinda the same as those things in the same way as a rock landing on your head because some moron randomly threw it out of their apartment window is the same as a rock landing on your head while you walked 4 miles through a stretch of road that had a sign that said "danger: falling rocks"
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Lopen posted...

Well, it's kinda the same as those things in the same way as a rock landing on your head because some moron randomly threw it out of their apartment window is the same as a rock landing on your head while you walked 4 miles through a stretch of road that said "danger: falling rocks"

It's an extension of the same human flaws. To say "I can't understand how anyone could let this happen" is either just a lack of empathy or bragging.

Or just straight up being judgmental I guess. Any of them is fine...it doesn't matter, really...it makes me laugh regardless of what we agree to call it.

With some things being an extension is important. They're both caused by recklessness or neglect but the degree of such is much higher with running out of gas vs making a payment a day late.
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Ever leave your kid in the back seat of the car on a hot summer day? It's the same thing.
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Came pretty close a couple of weeks ago but otherwise no
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The only time I ever have was when I was driving a friend's car on the way back from a Chiefs game. He said we could make it home, but he was also very drunk, so I don't know why I believed him. We ran out a good 15 miles short.
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Lopen posted...

With some things being an extension is important. They're both caused by recklessness or neglect but the degree of such is much higher with running out of gas vs making a payment a day late.

Depending on the circumstances that isn't true....

EndOfDiscOne posted...

Ever leave your kid in the back seat of the car on a hot summer day? It's the same thing.

Again depending on circumstances, this is a drastic leap. Like if you're in a situation similar to what someone mentioned where you drive 3 miles a day and there's like two gas stations on the route, consequences of running out are minimal. And because you're aware of this, you don't necessarily care as much to let the tank get low, which creates more chances of it happening.

Leaving a small child in a shut up car in sweltering heat is literally endangering a life that you are responsible for in 100% of cases.

...

I get the points though. I'm just trying to illustrate mine. I felt like the judgement was a little too harsh for what was deserved. That's all.

In light of this topic, I panicked and got gas earlier than I needed to today. The meter was down to an eighth, but I had only gone 200 miles when I can usually go 250. When I went to fill the tank, it only took 8.5 gallons out of 11.
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Twice. Both about a mile from a gas station. One of those I was about 150 yards from the top of a hill that would have allowed me to coast all the way to the gas station. The second one I could see the gas station.
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The gas gauge didn't work on my old car so yes, a bunch of times (I'd guess like 6 or 7). Generally it never happened that far from a gas station, and I always had a gas can with me cuz I knew it was a possibility. It didn't have a big tank either, so I'd have to go fill up like every other day if I really wanted to make sure I wasn't gonna run out. Man that car sucked.
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Yeah, once. I was going to a friend's place and our mutual friend asked if I could pick him up. I knew my car was pretty low on fuel but said yes anyways. While I was driving to drop him off was when my car ran out of fuel. Luckily for us, the closest gas station was only like half a mile ahead. I drove, and my friend pushed the car all the way. It was 2 or 3 am so no traffic issues either.

Once, ended up like 10 yards from the pump. Had to go inside and get the attendants to help push it the rest of the way.
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Purely out of curiosity I let my tank run down to the fuel low light because of this topic. It says I have 75 miles left in the tank and I have to assume this is a conservative estimate

I'm guessing that most cars give you less of a warning than that? As that seems like a long time

EDIT: On refill I had 2.85 gal left so i assume the trigger is 3 gal left mark