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Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

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  • Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

    With gasoline near all time highs, more and more people are looking for ways they can save a bit on gas. If you thought you have heard all the ways to save on gas and are looking for ideas a little less common, here are some gas saving tricks that you probably haven't considered before.

    <b>Fill Up Your Car When It Is Cool Outside</b>: This is one of those tricks that you would never think about except if you were a chemistry teacher. Luckily, some of those teachers decided to share the information with the rest of us. It's best to purchase your gasoline in the early morning or at night when it's cold outside. This is because gas becomes denser in cooler temperatures. Since gas pumps only measure the volume of fuel - not its density - you'll get better overall gas mileage for your money by purchasing fuel when it's cool outside rather than in the heat of the day.

    <b>Don't "Top Off" When Filling Up</b>: We all like nice round numbers and have a tendency to round our gas purchase up to the next full dollar amount. This is not a good idea for a couple reasons. First, gas pumps don't contain enough pressure to deliver gas well in short bursts meaning that you get short changed when you top off your tank. Secondly, topping off the tank makes it much more likely the gas will end up overflowing when it expands in the sun or if you park on a hill.

    <b>Tighten Your Gas Cap</b>: Not tightening your gas cap wouldn't seem to be that big of a deal, but loose, missing or damaged gas caps are estimated to cause some 147 million gallons of gas to evaporate each year. If your gas cap doesn't fit properly or you forget to fully tighten it, gas will evaporate from your gas tank. On newer cars, not fully tightening the gas cap can cause errors and warning buttons to light up unexpectedly. Replace your current cap if needed and make sure you tighten it up each time you fill your car.

    <b>Go For The Shade</b>: Although you probably haven't thought about it, parking your car in the shade does more than keep your car a little cooler. It also saves you gas. Letting your car heat up under the sun causes more gas to evaporate from the tank than if it's parked in the shade. Shade will also mean that your car won't be as hot when you get in and thus there will be less need for the gas guzzling air conditioner to be used. Find a nice parking spot where a tree or building provides a bit of cover whenever possible and save.

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    <b>Use Your Garage</b>: If you have a garage, use it. While parking your can in the garage provides shade for the car and the resulting gas savings as mentioned above, it also saves gas in other ways. In the winter, it will protect the car from having ice and snow form on the windows and thus the gas wasted when you need to let the car idle with the defroster blasting until the ice has melted.

    <b>Turn Nozzle To Get Last Drops Of Gas</b>: This is a little trick that is simple but hardly anyone does. After you have finished filling up your car with gas, turn the gas pump nozzle around 180 degrees (upside down) with the nozzle still in the tank. This will drain about a half cup of gasoline into your tank which you paid for, but didn't get high enough in the hose to empty into your tank. If you don't, it'll either spill, evaporate or go into the tank of the next customer.

    Using these easy-to-do tricks can save you more than $100 a year on gas and give you some uncommon knowledge to pass along the next time the conversation turns to different ways to save money on gas.

  • #2
    Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

    Thanks for the nozzle turn info and the other great hints :-)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

      Wow, thanks for these unusual ideas. I will have to use them. I am a chemistry teacher and I never even would have thought about the expansion of the gasoline in warmer weather and the greater evaporation rate in warmer weather. I am going to try that turning the nozzle around trick, I can't believe there is extra gas there just waiting for me to take.

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      • #4
        Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

        I knew about the gas in cooler temps. It's also better for emissions. In cities with "ozone alert days" (Tulsa, OK is one) they ask that you fill up in the morning or late evening because there is a small amount of evaporation during the filling process.

        I wish I could find shade to park in at work, but there's only one shady spot and it's taken before I get to work (I work 8:30 to 2:30). It is sooo hot here. Even at night it's hot here.

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        • #5
          Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

          Thanks - too bad most of these don't do me any good as I don't pump my own gas. I live in Oregon where all stations are full serve by law.

          I also don't have to worry about it getting hot this time of year, and I don't have a garage.

          Instead I save by being aware of the prices and trying to go to the cheaper stations. They vary by location. Also, I get a 10 cent per gallon discount at Fred Meyer, with my card, provided I've bought enough groceries.

          By the way, I think it would be really helpful to people if you could quantify how much money they'd save on gas (or at least, how many gallons they'd save) by using these techniques. Just seeing them, I think "Oh, that might save me two cents, so why bother?" Some figures would be really motivating.

          Savon

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          • #6
            Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

            How about switching to WVO and fill up your car for free! Depending on how many miles you drive per year this system could pay for itself rather quickly.


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            • #7
              Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

              Unfortunately, it only works in diesel cars. Can't afford to buy a new car....

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                jeffery..i copied this to my webpages. i copied the whole thing. i hope thats keeping in with the shareing of the information. if not please let me know..you write such good articals.

                have a good weekend.
                ericka

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                  Originally posted by Savon
                  Unfortunately, it only works in diesel cars. Can't afford to buy a new car....
                  With all due respect diesels have been around for a long time and you can buy more than just a new diesel. The older Mercedes and VW diesels can be had for cheap depending on where you live. You can even buy them with the conversion kit already in place.




                  or if you prefer a big beast


                  We always buy cars that are 3+ years old as the book value has already taken a clobbering and we try to find cars that have something odd about them that causes it not to sell well. We bought our last Suburban (98) in early '04 that we bought for less than Edmunds wholesale (it has non-power windows). It did need an intake manifold gasket and some upper control arm work but my mechanic looked it over completely before we bought it and we were able to slash the price another $1200 (the cost of the repairs).

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                  • #10
                    Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                    Thanks nixuzer. I didn't mean a "new" new car. I only buy used cars as well. Can't afford to buy a used car either. Can't sell my (11-year-old) Honda as I just took out a loan on it, for more than I can probably sell it for.

                    Wow, I thought my car had a lot of miles on it, over 150K. The ones you pointed out had well over 200K. I'd be a little scared to go that high. I bought mine when it had 30K miles and was 2 years old. I just have to wait until I pay it off for the second time.... Also, I'm not big on German cars or trucks. No offense, but all the cars on that site look pretty boxy to me.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                      PS---don't let you gas tank get low or empty. Condensation forms water inside of it and dilutes your gas. you get better gas mileage if you fill up at a 1/2 tank to the top. and it is less painful to look at the total.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                        Thanks, lukkyb22. I've also heard that if you live in a cold climate, you don't want to let your gas tank get too low in the winter - perhaps because of frost?

                        It would be helpful if you could quantify the savings, though. Could you give an example of how much you saved by doing this? Do you know what a typical amount of condensation is that might form in your gas tank, at a certain level?

                        Here's one reason for me not to do what you say. Fred Meyer gives me a 3 cent per gallon discount for using their card. But each time I accumulate $100 spent in the store, I get a 10 cent per gallon discount on my fillup. If I refill it when it's half full instead of 1/4 full, I'll forfeit 1/3 of my discount. Of course that works out to only 17.5 cents lost each time it happens.

                        So, which rule should I follow? Depends on how much I'd save by following the "avoid condensation" rule. Hence I would appreciate it if you could quantify the savings.

                        Regards,
                        Savon

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                          Condensation also causes rust on the inside of the gas tank. Not sure what the cost of a new tank is for your car, but it might more than even out the 17.5 cents.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                            Has anyone tried any of those "gasoline additives"? I bought the Ethos a couple months ago after seeing that 3 or 4 news stations had done positive reviews on it - said to lower emissions and increase mileage also. I have not used it yet as I am waiting until I go back to school (a mere 2 weeks away. Ack! Where did the summer go?!) since I know the exact mileage I get on that route everyday.

                            I have a 1999 Saturn SL2 with 131,000 miles on it, and it usually gets between 28-32mpg. I have an hour drive each way to school and back do if I can do better than that it would be very helpful.

                            Wondering if anyone has tried these products, especially the Ethos and has any feedback.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas

                              I was looking at these tips and they are very good -- thank you. Here is my question (I know near nothing about cars, so please bear with me.): I drive a Honda Accord (certified used, 2004) and since I want to drive this car as long as I possibly can, I use mid-grade gasoline with the idea that better gas might help the car run well longer. Is this true? Is mid-grade worth the extra few pennies per gallon?

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