Women aren't always encouraged to ask questions or given logical and understandable answers to basic questions where vehicles are concerned. 

We are committed to providing you with the answers to questions women commonly have about their automobiles.  We will do our best to offer you solid information and interesting facts about the vehicle you drive.

Question:

I swear, my gas gauge has a mind of it's own.  Why does it seem like my gas gauge shows full for so long and then suddenly seem to drop to empty?  How do I know how much gas I have left when it shows empty so quickly?

Answer:

Gas Gauges are: "Deliberately designed to be inaccurate! After you fill up the tank the gauge will stay on full for a long time, then slowly drop until it reads 3/4 full. After that, it moves progressively faster until the last quarter of a tank seems to go very quickly. This is a bit of psychological slight-of-hand to give the impression that the car gets better gas mileage then it does, it seems to reduce the number of complaints from new car buyers during the first few weeks after they bought the car."

"When the needle drops below E, there is usually 1 or 2 gallons left in reserve.  To find out for sure, pull out your owners manual and find out how many gallons of gas your tank holds, then the next time you fill up an empty tank, check how many gallons it took to fill it.  The difference is your reserve."

Excerpts from "Understanding your dashboard gauges" written by Charles Ofria editor@familycar.com.  Used with permission - 2004.

Please follow the following link to read the full and very informative article:  http://www.familycar.com/Classroom/dashboard.htm.

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