Published by JPLand on 13 Aug 2008 at 02:21 pm
My Car Lies to Me
My car isn’t even a year old yet and the thing has been lying to me. I first caught noticed something was up about 6 months ago, but I decided to let it slide. After a while, I couldn’t take it anymore. I took out my camera phone and got photographic evidence. See if you can identify the problem:
Did you catch it? Well, yes, there’s the obvious fact that I’m not good at taking pictures and my camera phone is crappy. But look at the gas gage and then look at the bottom mileage number.
If you do the math (and I’m sure that you already have) here’s the mileage I get per 1/4 tank:
- 1st 1/4 tank - 181.4 miles
- 2nd 1/4 tank - 132.8 miles
- 3rd 1/4 tank - 139.1 miles
- 4th 1/4 tank - 91.9 miles
So, on the first 1/4 of a tank of gas, I’m really, really efficient. On the last 1/4, I burn gas like there’s no tomorrow. I heard from a friend who rented a Nissan Maxima, and he noticed the same thing. So, if we assume that I drove consistently throughout the tank of gas (and you can trust me because I have a blog), we’re left with two possible solutions. (1) The 2008 (maybe earlier, too?) Nissan Maxima and Altima gas gages aren’t very well calibrated. In fact, they’re way off. The first 1/4 is actually more than 1/3. (2) My car is just much more efficient when it’s belly is full.
I don’t know which is more believable at this time. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m in the middle of my 11th free month of XM radio, then I might take the car in to get checked out. I’d rather have the free radio than the fixed gage. If the “free 3 month trial subscription” ever ends, though…
Mr. Rickie on 13 Aug 2008 at 3:20 pm #
This is a problem that has plagued mankind ever since the gas gauge was invented. Being a “used to be auto mechanic” I know what the problem is.
Alana on 13 Aug 2008 at 4:39 pm #
You should tune your satellite radio to Click and Clack (http://www.cartalk.com) on NPR and give them a call!
Queen Kelley on 13 Aug 2008 at 9:40 pm #
You are so bad!!! You should be ashamed of yourself. But you’re incredibly funny too. So at least you’ve got that going for you. I don’t think it will convince the cops, though.
JPLand on 14 Aug 2008 at 7:44 am #
I think I’m with Mr. Rickie when I say that I know what causes the problem. The issue is that it’s easily correctable if the car manufacturers actually cared. But, if you’ll notice, they apparently don’t. Someday when I’m rich and have tons of money, I’ll solve this problem once and for all. I’ll hire someone to tell me how much gas I have.
I should be ashamed of myself? That’s odd. Every time a certain wife of mine borrows my car, the station is changed to a different XM channel. So if I’m going to jail, I’m bringing you with me! After all, prison food won’t taste near as good if I’m not hearing how bad it is for me.