Honestly, I don’t have the energy to take a billion trips to the gas station, especially in the middle of an awesome road trip, so I fill that sucker up to the tippy top. When I’m jamming out to Beyonce I WILL NOT be disturbed, especially by a little dashboard light telling me to put gas in my car. Consequently, I have developed a somewhat bad habit of overfilling my tank in an effort to minimize the disruption of Queen Bey. How does one do that when the pump automatically shuts off, you might ask? WELL, once the pump shuts off for the first time I squeeze the handle again until it clicks off again. Naturally, I thought I was being brilliant and thrifty. As it turns out I am not a car wizard and should 100% NOT do that to my car. Here are some reasons why:

1. There are gas AND gas vapors inside your gas tank. The gas expands, especially when it is hot out. As the gas expands it needs to go somewhere. The gas rises and the vapors are forced out of the tank and into the emission system of your car. Parts of the emission system collect and store gas vapors to be burned in the engine later. If you top off and there is too much gas in the tank, as it expands liquid gas is forced into the emission system which is only designed for gas vapors. This can cause your check engine light to come on, your car to run poorly, and/or you pollute the air more with your exhaust. You will need to replace any damaged parts of the emissions system. Specifically, something called the charcoal canister.
2. A lot of gas pumps are designed to feed gas into their pumps to prevent vapors from escaping into the air and contributing to air pollution. Any additional gas you try to pump into your tank may be drawn into the vapor line and fed back into the pump. Causing you to pay for gas that was returned to the station. Anytime you top off you created a great possibility of gas spilling on the ground and vapor releasing into the air. Very bad for the environment.

So while your bargain savvy and lazy brain tell you “you can definitely fit more into that tank!” In the long run, it’s really not worth it. Like really not worth it, because I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty broke and I am not super into wasting money OR causing more damage to our already jacked up environment. It’s time for me to take one for the team and stop taking short cuts. So make the most out of your gas with an amazing vehicle from Della Kia of Plattsburgh!