How far have you driven once your car says 0 miles

Glanners

Hey y'all. I inadvertently 'tested' my Hyundai Tucson's capabilities in that regard last week.

Knowing I was in the fuel 'reserve' (0 on the guage), but needing to make an appointment on time, I decided to fill up before the return.

So, heading home during rush hour, I suddenly realised I'd forgotten to re-fuel (brain was distracted processing info from the appointment)! Realising I'd gone beyond my estimated 20-mile 'back-up fuel' - now at 25 miles, spotted a filling station the other side of a dual carriageway.

Heading onto the roundabout to swing round to fill up, I sensed a sudden dip in power - the fuel was gone! It was only pure momentum and the grace of God that got us off the roundabout just as the car died - about 50 yards from the pumps.

Had a petrol can in the boot and was able to restart without issue - phew!

Answer: 25 miles approx.

tickedon

So I inadvertently tested this a couple of months back - I set off with (just) enough miles to reach my destination where I could refuel, sadly the car changed its mind during the trip and I spent about 7/8 miles at "0 miles". When I filled up, it took nearly 2l more than my tank could hold (and I'm 99% sure it wasn't a pump calibration issue) - so I'm guessing the diesel tank, fuel lines, etc. were pretty empty...!

Not something I'm going to do again

mrdom

I never really fill up till my car is past 0 on the guage. I sometimes go 30-40 miles past and I believe there is still some juice in the tank by that point. Its a Suzuki Grand vitara 2.4 petrol. I only really do it because filling up is a pain and I only get like 350 miles to a tank so just push my luck with it.

DOBLY

None of the cars I have owned have had a miles left readout, so can't say i have played this game.

494930

Funnily enough I was in a NSX the other day The interior was just how it should be for a car of that type imo. No need for any digital nonsense.

bazza92

When I was en route to trade in my 335d I had 0 miles left displayed on the reserve.

Decided to chance it and managed the remaining 28 miles on 0 miles remaining.

Educated Guess

Took a trip to Westfield London recently with the wife and her friend (BMW 1 series). Was low on fuel when I started (100 mile round trip). No problem, I’ll fill up en-route. As like most I suspect every service stop on the motorway I approached I though, next one, next one. I just wanted to get there.

Gauge was on around 5 miles when we got to Shepherds Bush around 2 miles from Westfield’s. No problem, I’ll fill up when we leave.

Turned a corner and it was total gridlock with everyone heading to Westfield’s parking. OK, not great but it’s moving…..very, very slowly. Gauge showed 5 miles.

I was glued to the gauge. We can do this I thought. It took 40 minutes to get to the car park entrance. I looked back at the gauge and it had dropped  to 0.

Now I’m sweating. The cark park we entered for Westfield was a spiral one where you had to climb a quite a few floors to the very top. The traffic was just inching along up the incline. I kept turning off the engine to conserve fuel.

The wife and her friend kept looking at me. They thought exactly the same as I was thinking. If we run out now we are in a very long que on a steep incline with no way to turn around. It would be catastrophic.

I played it off cool, yeh these can go for 20 miles on empty, no problem. I didn’t know if the car could and I was kicking myself for not filling up earlier.

We made it to the top so whatever happened at least we were in a better position.

Done the shopping and hit up the sat nav to find the nearest garage (first time I’d ever used this option). Luckily there was one around half a mile away.

You can’t believe how happy I was when I spotted the Shell sign.