Put your hand up if you’ve ever driven your car up to a gas pump only to notice after you’ve parked that your gas cap is on the other side.
My brother, if your hand is up right now, you are not alone.
See, some cars I’ve driven have the ol’ gas hole on the starboard side and some on port. Due to my unfortunate afflication with gasholenorememberititis, I’m always parking the car the wrong way. Sure, I try desperately to notice a little gas-cap bulge in the side mirror when I pull up, craning my head wildly in both directions, and generally pretty sure I caught quick glimpse of it as I pull in. But then I get out, notice I messed up, pound my fist on the trunk, give a sheepish toothy grin to the attendant, and then have to pull off a quick and awkward seven-point-turn before anyone moves in to steal my spot.
It is a terrible thing.
But guess what? High fives all around the room, because there is hope for People Like Us. Shockingly, I have recently discovered The Gas Arrow! Yes, believe it, driving fans, because it truly exists. The Gas Arrow is a little, tiny arrow right beside the picture of the gas pump, which tells you which side your car’s gas hole is on! I know, it’s crazy. And I guess whoever is responsible for marketing really dropped the ball on this one, because nobody I asked (n=3) has even noticed this before!
Yes, just look at that Gas Arrow, head-nodding casually to the left or the right, a classy pal just trying to tip you off real subtle like. It’s like a flashlight in a storage closet, a lighthouse on a foggy pier, a finger pointing at what you’re supposed to look at. The great, noble Gas Arrow, telling you which way to park your stupid car.
So thanks Gas Arrow, for the big helper. Until car companies start putting gas holes on both sides of the car or they invent a new wireless gas that lets you fill up through your radio, I think I can speak for all of humanity when I say that we love you and everything you stand for.
AWESOME!
this blog is awesome i just can´t stop laughting and teach me stuff like the awesome gas arrow =P
volkswagens do not have gas arrows :( not awesome…
i told my mom about this the other day when we were going to get gas and how i saw it here and we were just like it’s so crazy how you never notice those things, but very helpful :)
my husband’s volvo has the gas on one side while my edge has it on the other. I don’t drive his car very often but I always end up having to get gas… I know which side the tank is on due to the arrow but can’t ever remember how to open the silly thing….
i didn’t know that! i always wondered what the arrow was for. thanks for the info, it truely is awesome.
here is South Africa, and im sure many other places, they have just extended the gas pump chord thing, so it reaches all the way over, yay! hahah
I saw it literally the first time I ever got in the drivers seat of a car. I tell my mom that it’s there (she forgets where the gas tank is constantly) all the time — she can’t seem to remember that the AWESOME little arrow is there :)
What I want to know is… How many people, upon reading this, ran outside to their car/truck/etc and checked this out? If I had a car, I would so be outside by now… But I just have to settle for trying to remember for when I’m in my boyfriend’s car tomorrow… :P
how could i ever miss that arrow?? I feel so stupid :|
I so need to check this out the next time I’m in a car!
BTW: Love your blog!
This makes me laugh b/c my husband only recently discovered this arrow, and let’s just say that if he had a list of 1000 awesome things, this would probably make top 20 on his. :-)
Wow, that would have been so much easier to know for the first time that I went to fill up the van. So much time wasted in fixing the position of the car…
Very helpful for when filling up a rental or shared car (e.g. ZipCar) – thx!
Your right, I never knew about that until 3 weeks ago. I don’t have an issue because I know where mine is. But when I borrow a car, it’s great.
I don’t have one, you fail.
How can u americans be so idiot?
gasholenorememberititis-
now, that’s hilarious!
for having discoverd this, well it’s definately awesome 4u2 have shared:)
TANKS…hardy har!
My daughter was searching for her fuel tank recently…frustratingly said, “Why can we never remember which side of the car the tank is on?”
I was ecstatic to be able to know something! She was THRILLED and couldn’t wait to tell her husband and all her people, said, “I wonder how many people here are confused?”
Being a wee bit over zealous, I couldn’t wait to tell everyone at the whole service station… so that I proceeded to do…shout it out! Some looked at me odd; some bluntly said, “NO, not in my car!” quickly got in their vehicle, rolled up windows, locked doors and drove away!
Some sang the praises and I gave all the credit to you, Neil, yes I did! Thanks:)
Love the site
This give me a reason to buy a car! Thank you for the motivation push!
Don’t you have another weblog on this subject?
Cool post, keep up the great work!
I have known it was there for 5 years :) *pats self on the back*
I still messed up for that year between learning to drive and getting a new car (with the gas arrow).
Car companies are getting smarter! FINALLY!
I seriously just jumped in my car to look. I was sooooo disappointed when I didn’t see an arrow! AND THEN! I noticed “Fuel Door >”!!!!! Such a great discovery. Thanks! What an AWESOME thing!
Umm… so what? It doesn’t really matter which side the cap is on, does it? If it turns out to be on the wrong side you simply tug a little harder and put the hose around the rear end of the car. Okay, it does require some foresight in terms of where exactly you stop your car (i.e. go a little further than you would if the cap was on the “right” side) but that’s it. I mean, even I can do this and I’m a blonde woman ;-)
I think they (car makers) should go back to the way it used to be, the gas hole under the license plate in the MIDDLE of the car so it didn’t matter what side you pulled up on. Also, I wish the switch for the high beams would go back to the floor too…
I told my grandma about the gas arrow today. She was amazed and now thinks I’m a genius. Thank you!
thanks for the info , love this article
I love those arrows!!!!!
I just noticed my Gas Arrow not too long ago and pointed it out to my mother and we were both so excited we never had to do those awkward 7 point turns. Although usually I was the only one that had to, but the gas arrow is for sure super AWESOME!
this is a pretty cool factoid but most gas stations i go to have a hose that easily stretches to the other side – this is in fact preferable because it means you dont leave any gas in the hose when you hang the nozzle back up!
My 2004 Honda Odyssey must be unawesome because it doesn’t have one. I’ve never personally seen one either…
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Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article!
It is the little changes which will make the greatest changes.
Thanks for sharing!
That is so weird! I found out about that only yesterday and now I’ve stumbled across it again. I love it when that happens!
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One of the interesting things about this article is that once it’s noticed that there’s a gas arrow, prior assume it’s always been there.
They don’t wonder if it’s new and they just noticing it now.
The truth is, the gas arrow hadn’t always been there. Even in the time of color TV.
Some cars have the gas tank behind the license plate.
Old cars have a tank for gas under the seat which requires lifting the seat.
Some things which are generally considered types of automobile, like moving trucks and other utility vehicles have external tanks on both sides.
Many old cars have external tanks on or within the front or rear bumper.
The first cars didn’t even have intends commotion engines.
Some stream cars ran on coal/wood or other flammable material which is technically not gas or stored in a tank.
Many cars are only manufactured within a country which has it’s own automobile traditions and don’t require an arrow.
Many cars are manufactured for export yup countries which drive on opposite sides of the road.
When did the gas cap begin to be expected on the side of a car?
When did the gas cap stop being on the driver side by default?
When did people in any country realize that car traditions in different places have caused this unnecessary confusion?
Have they ever realized it?
Reblogged this on msamba.