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Original poster

To wonder how many people know about this? (car related)

72 replies

CrohnicallyCold · 04/02/2015 13:12

I found this out yesterday and couldn't believe that I never knew about it before!

Do you ever drive into a petrol station and forget which side your petrol cap is on? Maybe you just bought it, or are borrowing a car for some reason and didn't think to check.

If you look at the fuel gauge, there is a picture of a petrol pump and next to it there's an arrow. The arrow shows you which side your fuel cap is on. Simples!

Am I the only person in the world that didn't know that, and it was all a conspiracy to keep it from me and laugh when I pull up on the wrong side of the pump? Or is it a little known fact?

OP posts:
annadina · 04/02/2015 13:16

Some cars do, some don't, but there is no 'wrong side' of the pump, I've always been able to fill up on the 'other' side, even in a big car.

MaidOfStars · 04/02/2015 13:17

I knew this.

But as above, it doens't really matter - the hoses are long enough!

DontOpenDeadInside · 04/02/2015 13:19

I knew this, but my car doesn't have one :(

CuttedUpPear · 04/02/2015 13:20

Some do, some don't, there have been loads of threads about this over the years....

MillionToOneChances · 04/02/2015 13:20

I found out a couple of years ago and was gobsmacked I hadn't known!

FamiliesShareGerms · 04/02/2015 13:20

Along with you can't put diesel in a petrol car (but you can put petrol in a diesel) because of the nozzle size

Pastamancer · 04/02/2015 13:21

Known about this for many years but it doesn't work for all cars. Did you also know why baby vests have the envelope necks?

ChippingInGluggingOn · 04/02/2015 13:24

Yes, I found this out years ago and it's proven helpful at times.

I hate dragging the hose to fill at the 'wrong' side.

DidoTheDodo · 04/02/2015 13:26

I did know this, and my car does have one, but I can fill up from both sides (small car)

Original poster
CrohnicallyCold · 04/02/2015 13:26

Yes, I know about the envelope necks and found them very useful with DD's poosplosions.

I've been here quite a while and never seen a thread about it before. Clearly if I had, I would have known about it...

And the hoses might be long enough in most petrol stations now, but certainly when I first started driving (over 10 years ago now) it was rare for the hose to be that long. I have clear memories of trying to fill up my Ford Ka (so not a large car by any means) from the wrong side and failing miserably.

OP posts:
GokTwo · 04/02/2015 13:28

Wow, thank you! DW who thinks of herself as the world's authority on all things mechanical did not know this! Neither did I, obviously!

Varya · 04/02/2015 13:29

14 year old Peugeot does not do this! Ha Ha it relies on my memory¬

karatekimmi · 04/02/2015 13:31

Ha!! I've put petrol in a diesel car and diesel in a petrol car. It can be done both ways. yes I know I'm stupid

JollyFrog · 04/02/2015 13:33

My car doesn't have this. But I can fill up either side so dont feel too left out!

ShatnersBassoon · 04/02/2015 13:34

My fairly new car doesn't. Pulling the hose round is no problem anyway, even on big cars. I get pissed off with people who cause queues by refusing to do something really easy.

DropYourSword · 04/02/2015 13:35

Hoses aren't long enough where I live to fill from the other side!

StandoutMop · 04/02/2015 13:37

Mine had it (not sure on new one), but it didn't help me. I read it as arrow pointing to pump on the right meant pull up with pump on your right but it actually meant petrol flap is on the left so I was always wrong.

There's no helping some people I guess Grin

TedAndLola · 04/02/2015 13:39

I didn't know this. Thanks for posting, OP. Smile

I recently found out that the numbers on a toaster aren't some mystical degree-of-toastiness scale, but they represent minutes. I've since found that some people had realised this but most hadn't.

TeeBee · 04/02/2015 13:40

Yep, I knew. I learnt it from MN Smile

Dumbledoresgirl · 04/02/2015 13:43

Where do you live Dropyoursword, and where did you live 10 years ago CrohnicallyCold? Because I have been driving for over 30 years and have always been able to fill up my car from the other side. In fact, I find it easier that way, if your car is small, because I can face the right way to fill up and also be facing the right way to see the gauge on the pump.

That said, I now drive a monster and would never attempt to fill up from the other side.

Plus, I have never seen this arrow of which you speak (but I have heard about this before on MN threads).

RealHousewifeOfSheffield · 04/02/2015 13:46

Urban myth I'm afraid. My car (2 years old) has the arrow pointing one way and the fuel cap is actually the opposite.

Sorry OP

indecisiveithink · 04/02/2015 13:48

Reminds me of this! boredomtherapy.com/woman-at-gas-pump/

ShatnersBassoon · 04/02/2015 13:50

Hoses aren't long enough where I live to fill from the other side!

They are. They're designed to reach the other side of a vehicle, for convenience. You must be stopping too far from the pump, or not daring to pull it round hard enough. Our you drive a lorry.

OnceUponATimeAgain · 04/02/2015 13:51

Not in my car it doesnt

specialsubject · 04/02/2015 13:54

the hoses at my local garages aren't long enough to fill up my Mondeo from the other side.

it isn't a lorry and I know where to park it. Pulling hard enough on the hose is a matter of a strained shoulder, not daring.

so having tried this once, I now know I have to wait until there is a free space on the correct side.

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