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Original poster

Running out of petrol

478 replies

jmh740 · 07/03/2025 15:51

So after a discussion with Oh yesterday can I ask how many times you have ever run out of petrol and how many years you have been driving.

Person A run out once in 25 years of driving.

Person B run out 4 times in 30 years of driving.

Person A thinks B is irresponsible and most people have never run out. Person B thinks 4 times in 30 years is not much.

OP posts:
barumph · 07/03/2025 23:45

36 years, never ran out. Have once put petrol in a diesel car though....

JackGrealishsCalves · 07/03/2025 23:17

35 years , happened twice.
Annoyingly the first time I was on my way to the petrol station but didn't quite make it!

DonnyBurrito · 07/03/2025 23:01

I've run out 4 times, at least. Mostly when I was young and irresponsible (as in, didn't have any responsibilities, such as a job or kids).
The last one was when I did have responsibilities, but it was a genuinely difficult situation where everything was against us.

I'm a risk taker, though! It would be boring if we were all Careful Crispin's.

rebeccachoc · 07/03/2025 22:43

21 years and 0 times

PrivacyScreen · 07/03/2025 22:06

40 years and never run out. Haven't read the thread, so don't know what the trend is

biggreenapple24 · 07/03/2025 22:03

I was a late driver, so 15 years, but never run out.

ForPearlViper · 07/03/2025 22:00

I had an old car with an intermittent fault with the fuel gauge many years ago. I travelled with a petrol can in the car even when that one was long gone, just in case.

ThinkingThroughOptions · 07/03/2025 21:58

I used to be perfectly happy running on fumes with an empty tank for the final 30 miles, but I don't like the EV to drop below half nowadays!

Lost my nerve or maybe because it takes longer to charge up to full again

Hoardasauruskaren · 07/03/2025 21:56

Once, my first car in 1991! Never let it happen again & have always had a car since then !

ThinkingThroughOptions · 07/03/2025 21:54

In my 50s and never ran out of petrol

EV now and haven't run out of battery either (though oddly worry about that much more than I ever did with petrol!)

Catza · 07/03/2025 21:46

KickHimInTheCrotch · 07/03/2025 21:07

I'm surprised at the levels of anxiety some people have about this. Never going below 1/4 tank, panicking if the light comes on. I know it would be annoying to break down but some people really live with high levels of stress don't they? I'm not sure I could cope with it!

It's go nothing to do with anxiety. A quick glance at the dashboard before setting off is all the thinking it takes. It is really no different than filling it up once the light comes on (or well after). It's not like I believe the world is going to end if I don't. But I pass my local petrol station every time I leave the house so it's really no skin off my back.

dogcatkitten · 07/03/2025 21:45

Bunchymcbunchface · 07/03/2025 21:42

31 years
run out a few times, I am a professional fuel Russian roulette player

My DH is like this, tells me how many miles he should/might have after the tank is showing empty because they allow a bit....

Bunchymcbunchface · 07/03/2025 21:42

31 years
run out a few times, I am a professional fuel Russian roulette player

TourangaLeila · 07/03/2025 21:40

jmh740 · 07/03/2025 16:08

Lol yes.
The first 2 times were in my first couple of years driving and I was really poor and was trying to stretch money out.

My petrol gauge doesn't show how many miles I have left. The other 2 times I've run out on the way to the petrol station last time I was literally 10 feet away from the station.

Oh has only run out when he was a teen and living in the Highlands.

Show quote history

You don't need to know how many miles you have left. When it's in or close to E fill the fucking car up!

I have never run out of fuel.

dogcatkitten · 07/03/2025 21:38

KickHimInTheCrotch · 07/03/2025 21:07

I'm surprised at the levels of anxiety some people have about this. Never going below 1/4 tank, panicking if the light comes on. I know it would be annoying to break down but some people really live with high levels of stress don't they? I'm not sure I could cope with it!

It's more being stuck in an a possibly scary place at night and waiting hours for a rescue, or having to get friends or family to come get you. The simple solution is to always carry a can of fuel, no stress, no anxiety, no panic. A habit from the days of fuel shortages when even if you got to a garage in time they might not have any fuel.

Edit: Of course if you only ever drive locally it's not a big deal. I used to drive all around the country for work and some places were not that nice to be stuck in.

BansheeOfTheSouth · 07/03/2025 21:32

KickHimInTheCrotch · 07/03/2025 21:07

I'm surprised at the levels of anxiety some people have about this. Never going below 1/4 tank, panicking if the light comes on. I know it would be annoying to break down but some people really live with high levels of stress don't they? I'm not sure I could cope with it!

Or some of us might live rurally and a diversion could be a significant distance.

My car rarely goes below half tank. Road closures and diversions are too common here.

dogcatkitten · 07/03/2025 21:30

Once, but my gauge was broken (someone had hit my car, but I didn't know it had broken the gauge) and it was telling me I had plenty, driving about 50 years. I always used to carry a can of fuel, just in case as well.

Original poster
jmh740 · 07/03/2025 21:26

Sunnierclime · 07/03/2025 21:07

Never. What’s it like when it happens? Does the car just roll to a stop? Curious!

Judders and then stops

OP posts:
Coolasfeck · 07/03/2025 21:23

KickHimInTheCrotch · 07/03/2025 21:07

I'm surprised at the levels of anxiety some people have about this. Never going below 1/4 tank, panicking if the light comes on. I know it would be annoying to break down but some people really live with high levels of stress don't they? I'm not sure I could cope with it!

It’s nothing to do with high levels of anxiety. It’s called being responsible, planning and risk mitigation.

You never know when the day you only have 10 miles left in the tank is the day you end up on an 11 mile diversion due to an accident or the usual petrol station is closed.

Even my phone rarely gets below 20% if I can help it. I never know when I’ll be held up. I wouldn’t like my battery to die on a night out either.

c190 · 07/03/2025 21:14

Nearly 30 years and never run out (although did arrive at a fuel station with the gauge reading -5 miles once)

KickHimInTheCrotch · 07/03/2025 21:07

I'm surprised at the levels of anxiety some people have about this. Never going below 1/4 tank, panicking if the light comes on. I know it would be annoying to break down but some people really live with high levels of stress don't they? I'm not sure I could cope with it!

Sunnierclime · 07/03/2025 21:07

Never. What’s it like when it happens? Does the car just roll to a stop? Curious!

JaceLancs · 07/03/2025 21:03

40 years and not run out yet

Justlurking10 · 07/03/2025 21:02

Twice in 21 years. Both times when I was about 18 and a skint student and the fuel gauge had stopped working on my car. I was guessing judging by how many miles I’d done on the trip computer but my calculations obviously failed 😬

Got it fixed after I got a bollocking off police after breaking down the 2nd time literally 1/4 mile from petrol station I was trying to get to. Took the bollocking rather than a ticket x

redastherose · 07/03/2025 20:55

Once about 33 years ago when driving my mums car (old banger) with a broken fuel guage!