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| Running on Empty |
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You're on a highway in the middle of the night when your gas light comes on. As you scan the blue signs at each exit to see if there is a 24-hour gas station, you wonder, "How far can I drive with the gas light on?"
How far can you go? |
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| Fill up for your car's sake |
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It's true. When the light goes on, you have several miles to find a filling station. But there is no standard distance given for how far you can go.
 Owners of cars, SUVs and trucks have typically reported being able to drive 30-45 miles from the time the light is on until the gas runs out. Those could be city or highway.
Obviously, these numbers are not reliable. Your vehicle might go farther, might not. We want to give you a ballpark idea so you know what you can expect from your car in an emergency situation.
However, remember your gas tank isn't built for you to use up ALL of the gas in the tank. Most vehicles with an electric fuel pump have the pump submerged in the fuel inside the tank. This is to cool and lubricate the pump. Reserve fuel is there to keep the pump from self destructing and overheating. If that happens, you could need a new pump. Those can cost $1000 or more, especially for an older car.
We don't like to see you in our service department with a serious problem simply because you ran out of gas. We like seeing you when you visit to prevent problems.
That's why we recommend you bring in your vehicle for a once-over. Everything from wheel alignments to spark plugs to air filters can affect your fuel economy and how far you can go on a tank of gas BEFORE the light goes on. |
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