Tag: Gas

How To Easily Know What Side A Rental Car’s Gas Cap Is On

Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a rental car and you need to buy gasoline for it. You get to the gas station and…wait, what side is the gas cap on? It’s on the driver’s side on your car at home, and was on the passenger’s side on the car you had before that one, but what about on this car?

Of course, unless you have a Plymouth Pacer (Joe’s family had one when he was growing up), an AMC Gremlin (my family had one when I was growing up) or a few other cars where the gas cap was on the BACK of the car, your chances are 50/50 for left or right, and if you get it wrong, it’s not really a huge deal – many gas pumps have extra long nozzles so they’ll reach to the other side. Or at worst, you’ll have to pull out and pull back in so the “other side” is facing the pump.

But wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to just “know” what side the gas cap was on?

Turns out, there is.

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What Should You Do If You Put The Wrong Kind Of Gas In Your Rental Car?

Every car has a recommended type (octane) of gasoline, commonly known in the U.S. as Regular, Mid-Grade (or Plus) and Premium. Well, there’s diesel too but fortunately, diesel pumps don’t fit into non-diesel gas tank openings in the U.S. Most rental cars work best on regular gas (87 octane), which is good because regular gas is always cheaper than mid-grade and premium ;-).

However, there are a few rental cars that require Premium or, on rare occasion, diesel (either way, the car rental company should tell you when you pick up the car). And if you rent a car outside the U.S., all bets are off in terms of color coding their pumps the same way they do in the U.S., or even if the diesel pump will or will not fit in your rental car’s regular gas tank opening. So it may be easier than you think to put diesel into a car that needs regular, or regular/mid-grade into a car that needs premium or diesel.

But here’s what to do if it happens to you:

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Five Reasons You Should Be Renting Cars from Silvercar

Silvercar, or Silvercar by Audi to be correct, is our favorite rental car company. They’re not the one we use the most, unfortunately, because they’re only in limited locations and I’m generally a cheapskate. More accurately I’m frugal, which is being cheap with a dash of common sense thrown in. So while I’m not willing to pay a huge premium for a Silvercar, I will rent from them if the price is comparable to other rental companies.

Silvercar’s business model is 180 degrees opposite from everyone else. I’ve written before about why they’re our favorite car company so I’ll focus on the five reasons Silvercar is different from everyone else and why you need to look into renting from them the next time you need a car.

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The Closest Places To MCO To Get “Normal” Priced Gas/Petrol Before Returning Your Rental Car

A while back, I write a post about the two gas stations near Orlando International Airport (MCO) that rips off travelers and tourists with prices that are over 2x the norm. The post did include one gas station just north of the “rip off stations” that also wasn’t far from MCO, but unfortunately, it was in a location that tourists, especially those coming from the theme parks area, really wouldn’t be going past.

This post solves that problem 😉

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Should You Prepay For Gas With Your Rental Car?

You know the questions you’ll going to be asked at the counter when renting a car. Do you want to upgrade to a larger/nicer/fancier car? How about the  insurance coverage? Do you want the navigation system? Do you want to opt in to their toll program? Lastly, you’ll get the pitch to prepay for the gas. It sounds like a good idea. The price they’re showing is pretty decent and it’s much lower than the amount they’ll charge you if you don’t bring it back full. Should you go for it????

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