Low fuel warning

[Nikgen]

I expect he meant do it *once*, so you know what to expect in the future.

Thanks - yes, I get that now by rereading. Still a really bad idea to run to fumes on a regular basis as was suggested for the reasons several have captured here...

 

[litesong]

but that makes no sense to me. Carry a gallon of gas around in your car all the time?

Never said that. I said I carried 1 gallon around till I ran out, then filled the gas tank. Then I knew precisely how much fuel I had when the gas gauge hit empty.

People always bring up the subject of overheating the fuel pump at low fuel levels. Perform the test on a cool day & don't run down the road at 100 mph. The fuel pump was designed to pump at 4(more?) gallons per hour at 120degrees(more?). People make it sound like I'm racing my vehicles, while making the test.

 

[LA Genesis]

My light came on earlier today. I drove about 10 miles or so with it on and filled up with about 20 miles left in the tank. I put 19.6 gallons in the tank but I definitely topped off the tank. I've never put that much gas in my car.

 

[Markr]

My light came on earlier today. I drove about 10 miles or so with it on and filled up with about 20 miles left in the tank. I put 19.6 gallons in the tank but I definitely topped off the tank. I've never put that much gas in my car.

Mine says "10 miles" right now and I will fill up on the way home from the office. But I would like to pump 20 gallons
each time I fill up if possible (to maximize my discount, of course). I wonder if it's possible? (I almost always fill 20 gallons on my minivan, once I even got over 23 gallons in!)

 

[AustinTX]

Mine says "10 miles" right now and I will fill up on the way home from the office. But I would like to pump 20 gallons
each time I fill up if possible (to maximize my discount, of course). I wonder if it's possible? (I almost always fill 20 gallons on my minivan, once I even got over 23 gallons in!)

The fuel tank capacity on the Genesis sedan is 20.3 gallons. Driving the car to empty "to maximize discounts" is a bad idea for several reasons:

First, the fuel gauge isn't always accurate. In fact, how precise your car's gauge is relies on a variety of factors, including your driving style and your car's fuel economy. According to experts, you should consider it more as an estimate -- rather than an exact measurement -- of how far you'll make it before running out of gas.

Plus, allowing the level of gas in the tank to run low can damage your car:

According to YourMechanic.com, "if you do run out of gas, you can do damage to your catalytic converter, which may then need to be repaired or replaced."

On top of that, according to Consumer Reports, the gas in your car "acts like a coolant for the electric fuel-pump motor, so when you run very low, this allows the pump to suck in air, which creates heat and can cause the fuel pump to wear prematurely and potentially fail."- The repair could cost a couple hundred dollars -- more than what it would have cost you to fill up the tank. Also, CR says "if there is dirt in the fuel tank, it could lead to blocking the fuel filter" -- leading to another expensive repair of a few hundred dollars.

In addition to potentially costly repairs to your car, driving on a low tank can be dangerous. If the car suddenly stops running, you could be stranded in a deserted area, or in the middle of a busy highway. And with many cars, the airbags don't deploy if the car is turned off, putting you, and any passengers, in an even more dangerous situation.

If you want to save on fuel costs, driving a Genesis Sedan is a bad idea, since it has terrible gas mileage compared to almost anything else in this segment. Saving a few cents at the pump when you purchase a $50,000 car sounds ludicrous to me, especially when you take the items above into consideration.

 

[Mark_888]

Mine says "10 miles" right now and I will fill up on the way home from the office. But I would like to pump 20 gallons
each time I fill up if possible (to maximize my discount, of course). I wonder if it's possible? (I almost always fill 20 gallons on my minivan, once I even got over 23 gallons in!)

Maybe this was discussed and I missed it, but how do you save money by pumping 20 gallons at one time?

 

[Markr]

Maybe this was discussed and I missed it, but how do you save money by pumping 20 gallons at one time?

The FuelPerks program at Shell (which is ending and will be called FuelRewards instead) allows you to earn cents off each gallon by making various purchases at specific stores. And it is limited to 20 gallons. So if, for example, you earn 25 cents off, then the way to maximize your savings is to pump exactly 20 gallons (and save $5 in this example). You can also earn $2.25 off per gallon and then pay $0.10 (or whatever) per gallon.

I was only able to pump 18.54 gallons yesterday afternoon, but it wasn't at a FuelPerks station anyway, so it didn't really matter.

 

[jsmit86]

You get 3 years of Sirius Data even if you no longer subscribe to the radio service.

 

[rve]

Maybe this was discussed and I missed it, but how do you save money by pumping 20 gallons at one time?

I have a BP credit card that offers fuel discounts that appear to be identical to the Shell program described by Markr. Most of the time I pay $2.18 for 20 gallons of gas. That's the total price for 20 gallons, not the per gallon price.

I started tracking my fuel costs when I purchased an Equus in in August 2016. I have saved $330 in fuel costs for my Equus over the 6 month period from September 2016 through February 2017 using the 20 gallon fill approach.

I used the same 20 gallon fill approach for 7.25 years with my Genesis 4.6 from June 2009 through August 2017. I never ran out of gas, the fuel pump didn't fail, and I never had a blocked fuel filter. I didn't monitor the fuel cost savings with the Genesis, but we can estimate the Genesis savings to be $660 x 7.25 years = $4,785 during my 7+ years of ownership of the car. Not too bad.

 

[PaFromFL]

... But I would like to pump 20 gallons
each time I fill up if possible (to maximize my discount, of course)...

You could pump the shortfall into a gas container and put it in the tank later when there is room.

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[Markr]

You could pump the shortfall into a gas container and put it in the tank later when there is room.

I thought of that, but I'm not too keen on carrying around a smelly gas container in my Genesis!