Maybe people don’t know that when doing an alignment we need to drive the car before and after. But even so, why would you ever drive around with the fuel gauge on E, the low fuel light on, and the fuel range down to 1 mile?
Because some people are cheap, some people have a weird phonia about never filling the tank and some people just pay NO attention to their dashboard and probably more. I know folks who fit the 3 types. The 3rd type has run out of gas several times.
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I have always wondered why it is such a common sight to see people carrying a gas can to their stalled-out vehicle. I had assumed they were driving around with a non-working fuel gauge, and simply could not afford to have the fuel pump changed to correct the problem. Every time I have owned a vehicle with a fuel gauge that didn’t work properly, I always took care of that right away, and I am by no means wealthy.
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The person I know who has done this several times drives newer cars. They just don’t look at the gas gauge.
… or the low fuel warning light, or the trip odometer, apparently…
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When they figure to get free gas from the service place 
Lucky you got it in and out of the shop! Do you call and say there will be a $5 charge for gas, or bring it back with gas if you want us to test drive it?
Seems almost normal to me, but You’d have to ask my “trophy wife,” to be certain. However, I’m thinking it has to do with me buying the gas and the convenience and savings of all that.
I’ve asked her several times not to do it (Not safe in case of emergencies and living in a hurricane area), but each time I get excuses… Didn’t have time… Suspected gas skimmers at the closest station… Didn’t have the Costco card, credit card, cash, etcetera… Didn’t want to smell like gas, break a nail, get mugged, car-jacked, etcetera… “You do such a good job filling the tank, Honey!” (How can I argue with that sound thinking, eh? (Besides, my car is full of gas)
Oh, well, after being married for 36 years, I’ve learned to suck up some stuff and to choose my battles very carefully. Besides, it’s not like I’m without faults (don’t ask). I guess that’s why we’re still happily married after all those years.
My sincere apologies to all those suffering the collateral damage from the NO GAS thing, especially @ asemaster professional technicians. And my sincere apologies to all those professionals because I haven’t been to one in decades, being a DIY’er, sorry.
CSA
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When I needed to put gas in customers’ cars they found themselves buying the most expensive 2 gallons of their lives.
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See above…
An hour labor just to install a new gas cap?? Who knew it was that difficult? 
Wow, that’ll teach me not to have a low gas tank when I come in for service! You get’em guy!
CSA
It’s costs time and money for us to send a shop helper out to keep gas cans filled in the shop. So when a car comes in with a low fuel light and needs a test drive as part of the service we inform the customer we will add $25 to the bill for 5 gallons of gas.
But in this case, since I’m a gambling man, I took the half-mile test drive before and after the alignment and noted on the work order that I hope the customer makes it to a gas station.
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So it seems some would expect me to clock out and take my break time driving to a gas station to buy gasoline for them. I’m sure that seems quite reasonable to some. But I always enjoyed taking a break when I had an opportunity which was often difficult to find. Maybe calling a customer and explaining that they must stop by and take their car and get it fueled up before it would be worked on would have been more fair. Funny how some people feel entitled.
The mechanics take my car to Sonic for a lunch run while test driving my car. The least they can do is fill my gas tank.
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Well that’s the way my dash looked for several years when the sending unit was kaput and the replacement was $350. Drove me nuts seeing the low fuel light all the time but I just filled up every day and never had a problem. But yeah, I’m the gas buyer in this household. It’s a lot easier that way.
Speaking of which…
Back in my gas jockey days, every day–during the AM commute–a guy would come roaring into the station in his Mustang, and shout… “Just give me $2.00 regular. I’m in a rush.”. Apparently, it never dawned on him to buy… maybe… $4.00 worth of gas every other day…
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Heh heh, yeah but I was driving over 120 miles a day with no working gauge.
I was at work, and the boss told me to get his wife cause she was broke down less than a mile from the shop. I when I went and got her, I noticed the gas gage was down to empty. I took her back to the shop and grabbed a gas can, took somebody and put gas in it and drove it back. I told her that she ran out of gas. She snapped back saying she couldn’t be, there was 3 miles till empty reading on the screen.
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Some people just choose not to take the 5 mins to fill their tank. Others invent some other bizarre reason not to swing through a gas station they pass by every day. For others they don’t have the money.
Personally, we have a credit card we only use for gas. Pay it off every month. That way you always “have money” for gas. It makes sense to me.
I also fill up on 1/2 a tank, just in case.
Spoken like a true man of wisdom. Keeping not just your wife happy has its give and takes as it is but keeping a trophy wife happy and keeping her for the impressive amount of years that you have definitely takes lots of being one step ahead and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you post next month that you’ve decided to go into the business of being a marriage counselor and you’ve been so successful your only regret is you should have done it long ago. I can only guess how you would handle this scenario, Your wife comes home in a cab and informing you the car is down the road and didn’t want to wait for a tow and didn’t know how to get one dispatched anyway. No problems beautiful I’ve got it covered. When the repair shop tells you it you only had about 1/2 gallon of fuel left in the tank but that’s not the problem. You need a new fuel pump along with a new fuel filter because repeatedly running the fuel so low ruined the pump when the filter was so clogged up gas was no longer able to reach the pump. The repairs are only $789.99 and I have to drop the fuel tank to replace the pump on your model. You come home pretty steamed wanted to say to your wife your inability to keep fuel in the car just cost me a cool grand. Of course when you see her with a big smile and hugging you as a trophy wife will along with her smelling so good kicks in your jeep my wife happy mode. No big deal sweetheart it’ll be ready to pick up tomorrow so don’t worry and if you need a luxury rental I’ve got you taken care of. The moral to this is keep the wife happy and she’ll definitely keep you happy🤩
Agreed.
I’ve never had to replace a fuel pump, but if I did, I’m a DIY guy and the tank(s) on our car(s) do not have to be removed as the cars have access panels in the trunk. I replaced a fuel sensor on the pump module in the driveway in about twenty minutes, once.
Please explain… I’ve never understood why people say this. It doesn’t make sense. By the way, I’ve never had a clogged fuel filter, ever!
CSA