Stories when fillig up at the "Gas station".
 

The VW TDI Forum has a page by the same name and it has been running since May 20th of '02 and has developed a real following. Maybe it will here two.

Pulled into a MFA station for my B5 46 cetane (was 49 before the switch ULSD) and a guy was filling his Avalon as I pulled past him to the diesel pump. When I got out to start the pump he asked if my Benz was a diesel. I said yes it is and he replied it didn't sound like a diesel and was very quite. He then looked at the fuel price list board and before he said anything, I said 619.5 miles since I filled up. The look was priceless as his jaw dropped open and he stammered out a "wow" and then he said he has never made he 400 mile mark when traveling and usually is filling up around 350 to 375 miles at most. He then ask me what my mileage was and I told him normally when I travel I drive hard and usually only got 32 to 33 on the road.

He then ask if it was hard to get on the interstate or drive in the mountians with the slower diesel. I laughed and told him I had on this tank done a few blow the cobbs out and on one of th 1/2 dozen times I had been cruising for about 4 miles at 140 mph his knee's almost buckled and he asked if it was a V8 engine. He was supprised when I told him it was just a 3L I6 and that I regulary got 26/27 in town with my heavy foot. He stated at that point he got 16/18 in town and his average highway mileage was 26 mpg for his Avalon.

He waited and watched as till I finished and saw the pump kick off at 18.7 gallons and then just said take care and it was nice talking with you before he got in his car and drove off. I was able to let it vent and get 19.1 gallons into the 21.1 gallon tank. I will just call it 32 mpg and I am very happy about that kind of mileage the way I drive.

I had thought it would burp again, but it didn't and dribbled down the side of the car. I have just about decided that trying to vent this car is wasted effort and most of time it just dribbles fuel down the side of the car. :mad:

I don't chat much with the gasser's but on occasion, I will chat with the suburban/excursion drivers, and lament with them over the price of a fill up. my SD usually takes around 18gallons to fill, and it is lately needing around 60.00 to do it. when I am in the suburban, a fill up takes over 35 gallons, usually around 42 or so. and usually tops the 100.00 mark... OUCH! it's been parked since late october, so I haven't had to fill it up since RUG topped 2.99. I am going to have to drive it again soon, need to haul some large items... no hitch on the SD yet.
anyway, I do like to chat with the diesel drivers at the pump. mostly ford trucks around here. every so often a MB will be at the pump with me, and we get to chatting about this site. I have never had a working odometer in my MB's so I have no idea the mileage, but I go longer between fillups in the MB than in the Suburban. and it has 1/2 the tank size.

Once I had a guy tell me that I was putting diesel into my car. My response was something like "Oh Sh#t, Im gonna f*&k up my engine" I finished filling my tank, and started the car, and thats when the guy realised that it was a diesel powered car.... Thats when he started asking about fuel economy and power.... lol.....

I just hate prepay on diesel pumps. Chances are we cant drive off fast enough.

Yeah, they'll nab us during the glow.... :D :D ;)

Also, it prevents you from putting the right amount in the tank, unless you give them the card to hold onto. Huge pain. However, 99.9% of the time I use my card at the pump, so I never even go inside.

I wish that more stations had pay at the pump.... a lot of the time I'm looking for diesel none of the pumps have it. I really hate going inside to pay. :musicbooh

most of the pay at the pump stations around here have a stop at 50.00, so it always takes 2 or 3 swipes to fill up my vehicles... the BP will go to 100, so unless I am filling up the wife's and mine at the same time, I rarely need more than 2 swipes...

I walked in to pay and the cashier looked at me sideways, said I already paid. I then remembered that a woman was sitting at the diesel pump but then she moved her car right when I pulled up, moved over to a gas pump and left before I got done.

Appearently she had put her credit card in there and didn't cancel or something. The cashier asked if i was sure I wanted to pay it, he had no problem w/ me just leaving...but my parentals raised an honest son. I'm sure he pocketed my cash, but whatever, not on my conscience.

Hahahahaha!!! ROTFLMAO!!! :huepfenic

I haven't had mine long enough to have really encountered this. There was a time when I believed that all Mercedes were diesels. I guess in this country they are really in the minority, though.

No one really notices me car around here. But I have had some good conversations with VW TDI owners at the pump, they are usualy pretty cool. The Dodge Cummins guys never give me the time of day.

Why would they? It just makes them insecure to talk with someone that has a superior diesel vehicle. :D


As for pay at the pump, it seems to be a lot more popular up here in the Arctic Tundra, as you can quick get out of the car, fuel/pay, and get right back in again before you freeze. We move quickly and efficiently in the cold. :D ;)

I mean it when I say tundra, its been 22-26F steadily for the past 5 days....and its only going to get colder/snow more! :eek: Oh well.

Last time I filled up I had to pay inside. I was filling up before a long trip, and it took 12.5 gallons. The attendant said "you must have been almost empty!" and when I told him it was a 20 gallon tank, he told me that my car was "pretty much a truck." Made my day.

Is it my imagination or do Mercedes tend to have larger fuel tanks than other car brands?

Last week my wife pulled up to only one of the two diesel pumps at Valero (the pump has both gas and diesel) and the other diesel pump was occupied. Some idiot in a big dually diesel pick up with Oklahoma plates pulled up behind her and started blowing his horn then got out and told her that he was in a hurry and she didn't need diesel, so why the hell was she blocking the only open diesel pump.
Then she pointed to the diesel emblem on the back of her 300SD - the guy still didn't want to believe her - then she spelled out d-i-e-s-e-l for him and asked if they teach you how to read in Oklahoma - he cursed some more, then got back in his truck.