Well, ****. I wonder how much money I've given those crooks over the years. Thanks for the tip, I won't be doing that from now on.
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Car for graduation; need advice please!
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Well, ****. I wonder how much money I've given those crooks over the years. Thanks for the tip, I won't be doing that from now on.
I need to quit idling the engine when I'm waiting on my Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero from Sonic.
Screw that Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero business. Cherry Limeade FTW!
I wish more people knew that. I know it's on the EPA website and such, but most of the general population has no idea about this. Only reason I know is because my father is an safety inspector who occasionally inspects parts for gas pumps.
Obviously, the gas stations aren't going to tell you this, because it's extra money for them. Yet another way for them to screw us over.
I've seen full service gas stations where the attendants who are pumping your gas keep clicking it to go up to the next full dollar. They are making that station hundreds of extra dollars a week in profit. That's shady, because the companies clearly should know this, and are probably knowingly telling their employees to round up to make them that extra money.
And this morning it said I was averaging 17.7 mpg. Dammit!!
I need to quit idling the engine when I'm waiting on my Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero from Sonic.
Damn Sooner pansy.
Drink the hard stuff. Diet Coke, FTW!
Cadillacs reliable? Really? Perhaps you should be more specific. Everything I've read about the Escalade, for example, says it's a money pit.
I do not/can't believe this. I understand that some pumps do shut off for good once the trigger is tripped. That I understand and I try to avoid those stations whenever possible.
In my 98 S10 the pump will typically click off at 14.5 gallon or so. I can and do fill it up the rest of the way, typically another 1.5-2 gallons worth. I know it is filling up because I can see the gas just peak out from the filler neck.
And for reference my 98 S10 gets about 16MPG in the winter and right around 20 in the summer. My room mate just purchased a brand new F150 and he gets 18MPG in the winter and something like 24 in the summer.
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Cadillac_CTS/Reliability/
We are talking CTS, not Escalade.
You do realize that aside from just pissing away 5 bucks every time you fill up, you are risking damage to your vehicle and the gas pump's vapor recovery systems? These things can be hundreds of dollars to fix.
If you fill up once a week and do this every time, you are spending an extra $250 a year for absolutely NOTHING.
Interesting. I always thought it only affected the environment from topping off.
That's somewhat of an exaggeration, don't you think? Over a gallon??
No it isn't. How do I know? Because after it shut off, I topped it off and overfilled my tank on accident.
Brand new gas station by the way at the time
The person he replied to did say he added another 1.5-2 gallons after it cutoff....
He answered that for me. Thanks. If you're adding 1.5 gallons at our current prices, it's easily 5 dollars.
Yes it is. Google it. EVERY source on the first page of a google search for "gas tank top off" says not to do it. A tiny bit of air space is necessary for the engine & fuel system to run correctly. The pump is designed to turn off when you get to this limit. Any fuel you pump after this will (on a correctly working pump) go back in to the station, leak out possibly on to the ground, or possibly damage the vapor systems in either the vehicle or the pump.
There's a chance that pump you were using when that happened had a damaged vapor recovery system already and that's why you were able to "top it off".
Just get the BMW, you'll be sorry later if you don't.
This is only the case if you're filling up at a station that has a vapor recovery system. Only newly constructed stations or some stations that were mandated by local laws to retrofit their existing pumps actually do.
If you're filling up and the nozzle has a bunch of holes about 1" back from the tip, then you're dealing with a vapor recovery system and will only be able to fill some additional fuel before the holes become submerged. On normal cars this can be 1-2 gallons.
You should stop stating this as fact, since it is at best a half truth. The EPA is also removing the mandate here shortly, and I wouldn't be surprised to see stations convert back to normal pumps which are considerably less expensive to operate.
This is only the case if you're filling up at a station that has a vapor recovery system. Only newly constructed stations or some stations that were mandated by local laws to retrofit their existing pumps actually do.
If you're filling up and the nozzle has a bunch of holes about 1" back from the tip, then you're dealing with a vapor recovery system and will only be able to fill some additional fuel before the holes become submerged. On normal cars this can be 1-2 gallons.
You should stop stating this as fact, since it is at best a half truth. The EPA is also removing the mandate here shortly, and I wouldn't be surprised to see stations convert back to normal pumps which are considerably less expensive to operate.
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you all are suggesting audis and bimmers and he does not want high maintenance costs.
my suggestions?
third generation acura tl
subaru legacy gt
both of those have great stock stereos and are great basically bulletproof cars.
great mileage for what they are. and pretty damn quick. tls are based on the honda accord platform, so they are fwd. and they do not offer the sh awd for that generation. but it is not a necessity. if you're worried about driving in snow, just get a set of good snow tires mounted every season. makes a much larger difference than awd.
look into a tl-s if you want an even sportier feel.
infinity g35 (rwd)
volvo s60
my other suggestions, but the first two i think you'd be happier with.
personally, i have a subaru forester xt that i will not part with. i love the car, and it's fast. all subarus are very quirky, well made cars. if you are dead set on an awd vehicle, the subaru legacy or legacy gt would be my top choices. the newer gts are turbocharged, so you need to bear in mind you'll need to use premium gas. they also have a six cylinder option for legacies, but those are hard to find compared to the turbos.
most of the cars i listed are probably going to be automatic. manuals are much rarer and harder to find.
my suggestions?
third generation acura tl
subaru legacy gt
both of those have great stock stereos and are great basically bulletproof cars.
great mileage for what they are. and pretty damn quick. tls are based on the honda accord platform, so they are fwd. and they do not offer the sh awd for that generation. but it is not a necessity. if you're worried about driving in snow, just get a set of good snow tires mounted every season. makes a much larger difference than awd.
look into a tl-s if you want an even sportier feel.
infinity g35 (rwd)
volvo s60
my other suggestions, but the first two i think you'd be happier with.
personally, i have a subaru forester xt that i will not part with. i love the car, and it's fast. all subarus are very quirky, well made cars. if you are dead set on an awd vehicle, the subaru legacy or legacy gt would be my top choices. the newer gts are turbocharged, so you need to bear in mind you'll need to use premium gas. they also have a six cylinder option for legacies, but those are hard to find compared to the turbos.
most of the cars i listed are probably going to be automatic. manuals are much rarer and harder to find.
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So...do you think I'm lying or that I can't tell the difference between 18 and 13 on my instrument panel?
EPA rates it 14 city 20 hwy, so you might be right. Combined Consumer Reports got 13 mpg, but it was the extended length version with 4wd.
$20,000 would buy you a nice new Ford Fiesta. I priced one up and you can get a Fiesta SES (top model) with leather seats for $19,440.
I own one of these (European version) and I have to say it is by far one of the best all-round cars that you can buy. Sure, it is not going to win any races, but you are surely getting this car so you can travel to the new job you will get after University. The interior is very nice (best in class I'd say), the stereo has great iPod integration and there is lots of room in the back and trunk.
It definitely satisfies your "fun" requirement - the handling is great and it is a joy to drive. I'd also say it's quite respectable - people who know anything about cars know this is a good one.
Also as a new graduate, why do you need a big sedan? I'm a relatively new graduate too, and I drive around in my Fiesta with 4 empty seats most of the time - what use would it be to have an even bigger car?
It's also not AWD, but who really needs AWD? FWD is fine in all but the most extreme weather conditions and I am still yet to meet anyone IRL that actually ever drives off road on a regular basis.
It's a small car, so the running costs are low. The parts are cheap and very easy to find and consumables like tyres are also very cheap.
Here are a couple of pics of mine from the "post your car" thread in the Picture Gallery forum.
Avoid used German cars unless you get a bulletproof warranty!!!! That $20,000 sticker doesn't include the thousands you will end up spending on maintenance and repairs.
I own one of these (European version) and I have to say it is by far one of the best all-round cars that you can buy. Sure, it is not going to win any races, but you are surely getting this car so you can travel to the new job you will get after University. The interior is very nice (best in class I'd say), the stereo has great iPod integration and there is lots of room in the back and trunk.
It definitely satisfies your "fun" requirement - the handling is great and it is a joy to drive. I'd also say it's quite respectable - people who know anything about cars know this is a good one.
Also as a new graduate, why do you need a big sedan? I'm a relatively new graduate too, and I drive around in my Fiesta with 4 empty seats most of the time - what use would it be to have an even bigger car?
It's also not AWD, but who really needs AWD? FWD is fine in all but the most extreme weather conditions and I am still yet to meet anyone IRL that actually ever drives off road on a regular basis.
It's a small car, so the running costs are low. The parts are cheap and very easy to find and consumables like tyres are also very cheap.
Here are a couple of pics of mine from the "post your car" thread in the Picture Gallery forum.
Avoid used German cars unless you get a bulletproof warranty!!!! That $20,000 sticker doesn't include the thousands you will end up spending on maintenance and repairs.
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You probably shouldn't do that; Experience has shown at least on a few car forums people messing up their gas tank's evaporative cylinder because they were overfilling their tank that way. (I am not a mechanic!)
Curiously, in one of the menus on my car's info screen I can see how many pints of gas are in the tanks. If I took note of that when I filled the tank with gas, I could compare before and after and get a more accurate view of how much gas I've burned over that period of time!
You're right though, it's not really much to go by. At the end of the day, it's not going to make a notable difference.
I have a chrysler 300c myself, the V8s are harsh on gas usage, but pretty fun to drive and (despite the bad reputation) pretty reliable. If they were cheaper I'd recommend a current gen V6 charger, but those tend to be around $25,000 or more. The current ones have a really nice V6, though. In AWD form they're even more!
You know....I think my experiences trump what you say. Just saying
I'm going to leave it at that and recognize what you say is interesting but hasn't applied to me 100% of the time
There's always a possibility that something about your car's filler tube and tank setup is causing vapor to push back and shut the pump off a little early. I've heard of that happening, but yes you really don't want to do that with a lot of cars these days. On many cars it will damage the evaporation container itself. In a lot of cars, said part is part of the gas tank, and replacing the gas tank is kinda expensive.
What has been suggested is pretty good advice, I mean say you buy gas today for $4.40 and tomorrow it's $4.60. That extra gallon cost 10 cents more tomorrow, big deal! You saved 10 cents, and could possibly break a part that costs hundreds of bucks to replace. No amount of those extra gallons will make a difference >>
What has been suggested is pretty good advice, I mean say you buy gas today for $4.40 and tomorrow it's $4.60. That extra gallon cost 10 cents more tomorrow, big deal! You saved 10 cents, and could possibly break a part that costs hundreds of bucks to replace. No amount of those extra gallons will make a difference >>
OK, that clears up the generalized statement made previously. I looked at the link. Surprising, as the rating by Consumer Reports is "in the middle", the category they call Good, but there are two higher categories and two lower ones. I call that "average".
Yeah, they are much more reliable than the 3-series: http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/BMW_3-Series/Reliability/
Even the A4 is more reliable than the 3 series: http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Audi_A4/Reliability/