# Ethanol gas in older cars **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519 "2018-04-30T20:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neilstrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dec6dc/32.png) [@neilstrat](https://community.cartalk.com/u/neilstrat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/1 "2018-04-30T20:29:03Z")
is using ethanol gas a problem in small older cars also can a odometer be rolled back on an infinity g35 bought one with 54k miles but acts like many more real miles ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/2 "2018-04-30T20:59:20Z")
It could be, but I don’t think it will be. Check your owners manual to be sure. Make sure you only use up to 10% Ethanol, not the E15 or E85. Not sure about the g35 ( you didn’t mention the year), but again, I doubt it ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/3 "2018-04-30T23:58:26Z")
Don’t use E85 in non -flexible fuel vehicles . . . you may wind up regretting it and causing damage Mechanical odometers can be rolled back . . . that’s as much as I’ll say. You could check service records, to see what the mileage was at various periods of time ---
**Author:** ![Carboncrank](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/carboncrank/32/9505_2.png) [@Carboncrank](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Carboncrank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/4 "2018-05-01T02:07:50Z")
Alcohol is corrosive and can degrade plastic, rubber or even metal parts in the fuel system that weren’t engineered to use alcohol-bearing fuel.That means you need corrosion-resistant tanks, alcohol-tolerant rubber lines, seals and fuel-pump diaphragms, and plastic fuel-system parts that won’t swell up in the presence of alcohol. So on yours just go as low as you can go. several automakers said that owners of older cars running E15 were in danger of voiding their warranties with the cutoff year at 2001. I think it’s fair to say your 1998 is out of warranty, but that is not the point. The point is that even makers are saying you shouldn’t use ethanol in pre 2001 cars. Actually that would be ANY amount of ethanol but you don’t have any choice any longer. But you can limit yourself to E-10. The manual on a 2008 says to not use more than E-10!! so your 1998 defiantly should not see anything higher than that, ever. It would be safer with no ethanol but I’ll leave to to others to say whether you can even find any pure gas anymore. I haven’t seen any less than E-10 for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/5 "2018-05-01T04:04:09Z")
I’ve used E-10 in my '87 Toyota pickup for 20 years with no problem. The owner’s manual recommends against too-much methanol (what _Heet_ and some other gas driers are - now you can buy _Iso-Heet_ (propanol, thus safe) instead). There’s lots more ethanol in all sorts of plastic bottles; I don’t think ethanol hurts most plastics. One place in Albuquerque has non-ethanol gas; it was $1 more last time I passed by. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/6 "2018-05-01T05:08:16Z")
I’ve used E-10 in everything for about 10 years with no issues at all. Prior to that i skipped Ethanol because it was a quarter per gallon higher than regular unleaded. Finally the price point reversed. There’s ways of getting around the odometer reading. If your state has vehicle emissions or safety inspections you can likely find out through prior records if the odometer has been dinked with. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/7 "2018-05-01T14:07:18Z")
I’m sure you can use E10 in your G35. It is new enough that E10 was available when the car was new. It’s a different story for really old cars. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/8 "2018-05-01T14:10:37Z")
E-10 has been at gas pumps for over 30 years…How old of a vehicle are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/9 "2018-05-02T02:28:09Z")
> [@neilstrat](#): > > also can a odometer be rolled back on an infinity g35 Before you try that, make sure you understand all the auto-insurance and DMV implications. There’s probably some paperwork involved that you have to have approved prior, to avoid those problems. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/10 "2018-05-02T02:36:19Z")
The OP does not want to roll back mileage , They are asking if it might have happened to the used vehicle they bought. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/11 "2018-05-08T13:45:17Z")
> [@neilstrat](#): > > also can a odometer be rolled back on an infinity g35 bought one with 54k miles but acts like many more real miles Not a roll-back per-say. Go to EBay and you’ll find used Odometers for almost every vehicle with low mileage. You buy and replace the one in the car. That’s how it’s done these days. Yes it can be done. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/12 "2018-05-08T14:49:15Z")
I asked a used car dealer what it cost to have an odometer rolled back these days and he said “2 to 10 years.” ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/13 "2018-05-08T17:25:45Z")
> [@neilstrat](#): > > but acts like many more real miles Look at the gas and brake pedals. The rubber pads on them will tell a story about how much usage they have seen. What year is the car? Older cars with very low mileage can have lots of issues just from lack of use. It’s not necessarily a direct correlation between mileage and condition. Time is the enemy of all and lack of use over time is even worse for mechanical things… ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/14 "2018-05-08T17:38:08Z")
In Minnesota you check the box that indicates the mileage is unknown or not true, when selling a car. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethanol-gas-in-older-cars/116519/15 "2018-05-08T23:11:03Z")
I used 10% ethanol in my 72 ford pickup truck, and 73 nova until 1990 and had no problem.