I’m almost always startled whenever I hear the Low Fuel level sound comes on. I’m not sure if your car has the same sound, but it probably has the low fuel level light in your dashboard. Sometimes, I feel confident that I can still make it to the next gas station 25 miles away. But there are times that I start to panic, especially when traffic starts slowing down and then almost grinding to a halt!
But really, how many miles can you drive after your fuel light comes on?
You don’t need to guess now, thanks to a website called Tank on Empty.
If you go to that website, you can enter the make and model of your car to find out how many miles you can drive after the fuel light comes on. Here’s the average for most popular cars out there:
- Honda Accord: 46.85 miles
- Toyota Corolla: 45.69 miles
- Honda Civic: 43.35 miles
- Toyota Camry: 43.30 miles
- Mazda Miata: 35.75 miles
- Volkswagen Jetta: 44.70 miles
- Ford F-150: 39.06 miles
- Volkswagen Golf: 43.42 miles
- Chevrolet Silverado: 34.01 miles
I drive a 2007 Ford Escape Truck, and based on the website, it can run up to 35.41 miles on average after the fuel light turns on. A Kia Forte, on the other hand, runs up to 32.08 miles on average.
If you don’t want to head over to the website I mentioned above, check out the following chart from YourMechanic.com
Don’t run on empty!
If you are going on a long trip, you better plan for your stops and know long stretches of roads where you may not have access to a gas station. If you keep running on empty, or if you constantly run on very low fuel, the electric fuel pump may overheat and self-destruct. The reserve fuel in cars helps keep the pump submerged in fuel. If you do this, you may wrack around a $1000 in replacement costs. So better plan your trip and when your car warns you that it’s almost out of fuel, you better believe it.
Head to the next exit and look for a gas station!
