I just got the following from Bunny via email, who got it from someone else via email, who got it from someone else via email …
> [Iconic markings on a gas gauge] [1]
I didn't know this! Did you?
I have been driving for over forty years. One would think I would have noticed the little secret on my dashboard that was staring me right in the face the whole time. I didn't and I bet you probably haven't either.
Quick question, which side of your car is your gas tank on? If you are anything like me, you probably can't remember right away. My solution is to uncomfortably stick my head out the window, strain my neck and look. If you don't do this in your own car you definitely have done it in a borrowed or rental car.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to share with you my little secret so you will no longer look like Ace Ventura on your way to the gas station or put your neck at risk of discomfort or injury.
If you look at your gas guage, you will see a small icon of a gas pump. The handle of the gas pump will extend out on either the left or right side of the pump. If your tank is on the left, the handle will be on the left. If your tank is on the right, the handle will be on the right (see photo above). It is that simple!
I don't know how you feel right now but when I found out this morning I felt cheated!
Why don't the dealers share such important information with car buyers? I don't understand why this isn't in the driver's manual? I don't get why any mechanic I have ever been too or know has even thought of mentioning this to me? The only possible explanation can be that all these people probably don't even know!
Go out and share the world's best kept auto secret with your friends as this information is way too important to be kept secret.
So I went out to Lake Lumina (as my car is known—and it's a long story why it's known as Lake Lumina, which is for another time) and checked. Lo' and behold—it was false.
But! It could still work. Even though the gas tank on Lake Lumina is on the left side, and the gas pump printed on my gas gauge with the handle on the right side, the gas pump is oriented the correct way were I to drive up to one.
So it could be that the gas pump is drawn to show the orientation of the pump as you drive up to it. I'll have to check more dash boards to be sure though.
![[1] /boston/2007/11/17/gas_gauge.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2007/11/17/gas_gauge.jpg){kind=link}