When do you fill up your car?

[kakeya97]

Total wrong timing for this post I know. Putting the whole panic buying fuel thing aside. Before all this did you fill up when low or like to keep topped? The whole fuel thing has sparked this conversation with Dp though.

I have major anxiety about my diesel level getting too low. If it starts getting under half a tank I'll fill up, likely before it hits half a tank though. I can't relax until it's done. I just like the comfort on having it. I live rurally. Closest station is 8 miles away and shuts at 6pm!! Longer opening and 24 hours stations are much further afield. There aren't many stations on my most widely used routes so tend to have to make a special journey for it. I like to be prepared at all times. I have two disabled children and I like to fill up so I don't have to stop with them to get it.

Dp will literally run his work vehicle on fumes for a few days before topping up - even though he works right by a station - he often takes my (family) car to work to fill up if I'm stuck too. Most of my friends are the same - they let it get really low first.

I'm all good for now and I can assure you I am not panic buying fuel. I put some in middle of last week before it all kicked off and still got 3/4 of a tank full which should last a while. I think it will really bother me when it gets under a 1/4 a tank but it rarely gets that low.

Do you let it get right down or do you keep on top of it?

Genuinely curious that's all 😅

My light comes on at 60 miles to go, I'll try and fill it up within a day or 2 of it coming on, but I'm not hugely reliant on my car and in normal times, live near a plentiful supply of petrol stations!

When the light comes on. How much I put in at that point depends on how close to payday it is/what else needs prioritising.

I usually fill mine up when it says it’s got less than 90 miles left , which is about 1/4 of a tank left , unless I’m near Costco in which case I top up whatever because it’s cheap there .

When the light comes on. My dad never used to have the tank more than half full. He reckoned a full tank made the car heavier so it used more petrol - I have no idea whether or not this is true.

If I’m local, I’ll play fuel chicken with the light but do chicken out at about 30 miles! If I’m travelling or somewhere I’m not too familiar with (and where the closest petrol station is) then I won’t go below 1/4 and I’ll fill up if it’s around half before doing any sort of distance.

DH gets twitchy around a 1/4 of a tank. Regardless of whether he’s local or not. However, he’s now going to get twitchy around 1/2 a tank as I’m 30 weeks pregnant with gestational diabetes so have additional appointments but also just being prepared in case we need to go in unexpectedly for any reason. We’re 30 miles away from the hospital (and likely to get stuck in traffic). We could get to the hospital and back with a 1/4 of a tank but wouldn’t be able to make it back again if I needed to go back in later that day or the following day. We filled up yesterday at just less than a 1/4 of a tank because DH needs to drive to work today and we wouldn’t have had enough to get us to the hospital if it was needed.

I fill up when I hit the 5 mile range. It's always touch and go whether I'll make it to a fuel station

1/4 tank, topped up £20 today , Asda busy but only queued for 3 mins

I usually fill up Thursday night or Friday morning. I normally put £40 in but am having to up that recently since prices have been going up.

1/4 of a tank. My fuel gauge is dodgy and I’m very wary of letting it get below that as it could have a lot less than it thinks it does!!!

@kakeya97 I am like you and this thread is making me so anxious.

DH is much more relaxed person and he probably drives it under half full (we share a car) but I just don't.

I honestly had no idea that ppl actually regularly drove until the fuel light came on-in my mind it is an emergency scenario-not a normal occurrence!!

Just below a quarter of a tank. Only ever seen the red light once and vowed to never see it again lol.

I keep my tank full.

Most of my journeys use half a tank or more of fuel. So rather than taking time out to fill up before the journey I fill up on the way back preferably near the end.

I learnt the hard way in 2012 to do this when I had to hunt for petrol station that had fuel so I could get to work otherwise I wouldn't have got paid. I then realised I was filling up on the wrong part of my journey as were I was working was in an area of an oil refinery and the petrols stations always had fuel.

Around 1/4-1/3. I live miles from the nearest petrol station so need to keep topped up. Currently have an empty tank and stuck at home

I like to wait until there's a national shortage of HGV drivers due to a catastrophically pig-ignorant and selfish decision made by 52% of eligible voters and exacerbated by the most incompetent government this country has ever seen, then I wait just a bit longer to give the media time to whip everyone up into a panicked frenzy- then, and only then, do I go for a fill-up.

I fill up when I get paid regardless how much is in it and then depending on when it starts looking low compared to what journeys I know are coming up.

So if I have a lot of travelling to do in the next week or so but not enough fuel to cover it all I will just fill up when ever its convenient.

If the light comes on I fill up right away.

I plan to full it up when it gets below 1/4 but then inevitably put it off until the light comes on.

When the light comes on I have about 45 miles, but it depends on the weather and the running as to how long that lasts. If it gets down to 30 I go on ECO mode. Haven't run out yet!

I usually fill up when it gets to 100 miles. We also live rurally and don't have a petrol station near.

My husband starts getting jittery when we get to half a tank

When I was a young driver I was told that it is better to fill up when you are down to a half, rather than let it go right down. I think this is to stop muck at the bottom of the tank from being slurped up, but it was a long time ago, so I don't know if that is still relevant advice.

Usually halfway between empty and a quarter. But a few weeks ago dash was reading 100 miles left in fuel, went to start the car and it refused. Message said no fuel in tank. I no longer trust my fuel reading and fill up when it's a quarter.

I put diesel in every Friday on my way home from work ready for the following week. The amount I put in depends on the (vague) amount of mileage based on my diary

When the damn car pings at me that I’ve gone into the red at 3000 decibels and gives me a fucking arrhythmia for a couple of minutes.

On my first car I never even knew if it had a fuel light, tank was always full and refilled at 1/2

I know my current car has a fuel light because when I got it there wasn't much fuel in it. It's got a massive tank though so I normally have it 3/4 full and run it down to 1/4

Gonna get to 1/4 either tomorrow or day after, hoping things are sorted out by then

@upinaballoon

When I was a young driver I was told that it is better to fill up when you are down to a half, rather than let it go right down. I think this is to stop muck at the bottom of the tank from being slurped up, but it was a long time ago, so I don't know if that is still relevant advice.

Yes I was too

Usually somewhere between about 80 miles left and the light going on. I always fill the tank.