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So do you record any information when filling up?

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Unfortunately Im like alot where I get reimbursed for milage for work, so (on my WM6 phone) I keep a spreadsheet each month where the column number is the date and I have the following colums:

Start Milage | End Milage | Miles Round Trip to Work | Personal Miles

I plug those in to our work expense report for my reimbursement check, but then I have the following columns as well for personal records:

Current Milage | Trip A Odometer | MPG (current miles / Trip A) | Gallons Filled (2 decimal places) | Price

My Jeep Patriot keeps the current MPG, although its never accurate as to what I drove during that fillup (Im sure thats probably same for most people with an EVIC). It's interesting to see how much I drive in a year and the varying costs prices for a fillup, but more depressing to know how many hours I spend a month in the car.
 
My truck keeps track of the MPG, gallons used, and range. I don't keep track of the per gallon price - don't know how helpful that would be. I don't have a choice to not buy gas.
 
ive been doing it since '05. Always pay with CC, always fill up, always get a receipt, and write down miles driven on tank and the odo reading on the receipt, reset tank mileage. Add it to the spreadsheet when I get a chance to go online
 
I do it all the time. Its nice to know that you're getting what your car should get. If I see a huge dip look into either somethings wrong or I think about my driving pattern for that tank of gas and maybe change things up to get the most for my money. The road trip lite app for the ipod/iphone is real nice to have its free too.
 
I've always done this as part of my vehicle log. Every car I've bought (never new) I got a small notebook for this, kept in glove compartment. In the front I log at each fill-up the date, odo reading, gas litres (in Canada), calculated km/l (same idea as miles/gal). Then I reset the trip odo. In the back of the book (start from back page, work forward) I write notes whenever repairs or maintenance is done. I note oil / filter changes, brake repairs, tire alignments, parts replacement, etc. If a garage does the work, I try to note which shop and their Work Order no. If I do the repairs, I note what part no. I bought from which parts store, etc.

All this gives me a history to detect unusual conditions and repeat failures. Trends of gas mileage variation according to season (temperature) help me know whether today's numbers are "normal". Comparing tire wear patterns with inflation pressure tells me whether I have been using the right pressure or need to change it. Rate of adding oil to "top up" the engine level tells me if seals or rings are getting badly worn. Etc. My daughter's car recently started adding oil quickly. She took it for an oil change and they reported the previous oil change shop had left the drain plug loose.

With each car recently at the very front I have constructed, over the space of a few months, a calibration of the gas gauge so I know how much is in the tank.

To calculate gas mileage each fill-up I keep a circular slide rule in the glove compartment. Anyone here ever seen one of those? Lately I'm more likely to use the calculator function in my cell phone.
 
I've never recorded anything like this, nor do I know anyone who does (at least that I am aware of). I don't even know how much gas my tank holds or what mpg I'm supposed to be getting. Also, I had never put gas in my car until May 2008. I had to bring my friend with me to show me what to do. I've been driving since 2004, but, being a resident of NJ, filling up requires nothing more from me than handing the attendant my money and telling him what kind of gas I want.
 
that sounds like OCD beyond belief.

I have a general idea in my head from experience as to how much mileage my car can get and I'd notice if something were way off. I remember that I could fill my tank up before leaving my town and make it to my then-bf's college dorm in PA on a single tank, because he'd always fill the tank for me and that was how I didn't know how to pump gas until I was like 26 😱
 

Originally posted by: loki8481
that sounds like OCD beyond belief.

I have a general idea in my head from experience as to how much mileage my car can get and I'd notice if something were way off. I remember that I could fill my tank up before leaving my town and make it to my then-bf's college dorm in PA on a single tank, because he'd always fill the tank for me and that was how I didn't know how to pump gas until I was like 26 😱
Click to expand...

Reminds me of that bumper sticker "Gas, grass, or ass. No one rides for free!"
 
Originally posted by: loki8481
that sounds like OCD beyond belief.

I have a general idea in my head from experience as to how much mileage my car can get and I'd notice if something were way off.
Click to expand...

What if it wasn't way off? Maybe you've started getting 2mpg less than you did, and that could compound over a year or 2 so you never noticed a drastic drop. That's how you fix minor mechanical problems before they become big problems.
 
lxskllr, how can you possibly detect a 2mpg change? It'd definitely be a pain in the ass for me to try to determine that. Some days I drive in only stop-and-go traffic (fuel mileage is horrible). Some days I drive only on the freeway (fuel mileage really isn't bad). Sometimes it's a combination thereof. Sometimes it's all country roads - and then, it depends greatly on where in the country I am. Is it unusual that my mileage varies a tremendous amount depending on the type of driving I'm doing, and where? 😛

I'd basically need to also be recording each trip I take... which would be *way* too much data for me.
 
My driving was always very regular, but I could make allowances for "off" tanks. You get a feel for greater trends when you keep close track of mileage. My mileage dropped 3mpg when I switched to bigger tires on my Jeep.
 
Regular driving is one thing... but I'm irregular pretty much all the time, which sucks. 🙁 I've kept close track of my mileage pretty much forever. I would definitely notice an ongoing drop in mileage, over a relatively long period of time, but certainly wouldn't be able to quickly.
 
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