But we have 4 cars at my house and none of them have an inside fuel release lever!
OK, a story. Everyone is dead now anyway. My 59 VW had the gas tank and cap under the hood (luggage compartment). My mom borrowed my car-yeah she could drive a manual and stopped for gas. Couldn’t figure out where the filler was. Well my uncle happened to be there and he helped and got the hood open. Only problem was there was a six pack of beer in there. My mother was aghast and that my uncle saw it too. I heard about it but I never did drink much and probably been 50 years since I’ve had a beer. Back when they used to put everything in the paper, she was always worried about getting your name in the paper and being humiliated. I was home from school in South Dakota and think I was old enough there but not in Minnesota.
Ditto!
Sure, the hoses on Costco’s pumps are longer than at most stations, but I still prefer to pull up to one of their pumps on my right side–next to the gas filler.
That was pretty-much a standard part of the design of GM cars in the '60s, and I guess that it persisted into the '70s. When I worked as a gas jockey, I really despised having to continually bend down or kneel down in order to fill the tank of GM cars. And, let us not forget that the return spring at the bottom of the license plate holder frequently failed after a few years, thus allowing GM drivers to drive in stealth mode, with their license plates not visible.
The early Mustangs had a center-rear gas filler, and the heavy, oversized cap was attached to the body with a lanyard made of steel cable. The lanyard was extremely short and one had to be extremely patient when trying to re-attach the cap.
So did the 1957 Chevy, also on the left side. Cool feature copied (unintentionally??) by the Tesla Model 3 with its charging port behind the tail-light side marker light on the left side.
My wife’s 2012 Malibu has the arrow. and I want to say that while my 2000 GMC truck doesn’t have an arrow, I think the hose on the dash fuel pump icon faces the way the fuel fillup is on. (looked at it so much, I don’t remember! lol)
all I know- is the Malibu and my truck are on opposite sides, so since we got married, I can never remember which on is which (even though I had my truck for 8 years before we got married.)
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IIRC, every 1956 GM model had its gas filler concealed behind the left tail light.
That was GM’s great engineering advancement for the '56 model year.
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Some cars, the door release handle is hidden. Subaru’s it’s on the floor. I had one rental, I couldn’t find the release, had to return it with 1/2 tank.
Which brings up a point… Rental cars used to be easy to figure out, they all had similar controls. Now you need to study the manual for a long time (if it’s even there) before you can drive one.
Last time I rented a car, it was a compact. The clerk said: go out to the lot and pick a compact, but if you pick a larger model you will pay more. I said which is which? after a lot of argument, I had to have the clerk walk me out to the lot and pick one.
Current ‘compact’ rental car:
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Auto rental places have a pretty generous idea about what cars fit into which category. A “mid-sized” car to them is a Focus or Corolla. A “full-sized” car is a Camry or Altima. To get a legit full-sized/large car you have to go for the “Premium” category which usually is something like an Impala or Charger.
Auto rental agencies may not rent you what you would like. I needed to rent a minivan. The agency said that they could provide a Dodge Caravan. I said that I wanted a Duke Ellington Caravan. The agent replied “Sorry, we only rent the Duke Ellington Caravan to Sophisticated Ladies”
Another time I requested an SUV. I was asked if I would accept a Dodge Journey. I said that I wanted a Sentimental Journey. "Too bad’, the agent replied. “We already rented the Sentimental Journey to Doris Day. You will have to take the Dodge”. I do give credit to the Enterprise agents in their quick responses.
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@BillRussell, the way your quote of me reads, it is as if I made that remark. It was actually @db4690. Maybe there is too much quoted, and it only shows db4690’s words.
So buy a car with the gas tank on the right (i.e. passenger) side!
We have an Audi A4, an Odyssey and a Camry. the Audi has it on the Right, the Odyssey on the left. I think the Camry has it on the left, too, but I never drive it. All of them have a little arrow to show you which side it’s on.
Personally, I prefer it on the right side, as several gas stations around here have curbs so high around the pumps that you can hit the bottom of the door on them. Regardless, I agree with the others that you are making a much bigger deal of this than necessary.
The gas cap side largely depends on the country of origin and design for the car. You do realize that in UK and their territories around the world they drive on the OTHER side of the road at all times. Having a left seated drivers position like the USA has over in London, England is a major inconvenience at more than gas stations. Nearly every place you enter and exit for city parking in London has a window based terminal that requires driver interaction on the right – a MAJOR inconvenience if you have a French (Left Hand Drive) car in their assumed Right Hand Driver lots and highway. They also have gas station with a specific driving route through them that means pulling the rubber hose over the car to refill. Back in 50-60-70s there were many models of USA cars that had the gas tank in the back of the car - like behind the license plate or behind a rear turn signal. My first three cars were rear-tank cars. You will limit your car selection by setting up such a rule about gas door location. Also, try filling your tank full each stop and limiting the number of gas station stops each week. Travel the world and learn some other ways - it will change your perspective…
Could be worse. My late 60’s vette’s are located in the middle of what would be the rear deck lid. Try not spilling gas on the paint with that arrangement. However, it is pump gender neutral as you can get. Personally, I prefer the old GM rear plate location. Yes, you have to bend down to reach it but it’s not my profession and gas drips on custom paint are a non-issue
My experience in renting–always compacts, 1 or 2 people, plus 2-4 pcs. luggage–is the effort to stop the rental agent out of “upgrading” me to a bigger vehicle–I prefer to pay LESS for fuel than those honking SUVs! I like the 47 MPG+ I get with my 11-year old Prius.