out of gas

When I was in high school, I ran out of gas for the first time. I had my parents' gas card and no viable income so I was determined to wait until I got to the hometown gas station before filling up and came just a few miles short. I started walking and then a couple I didn't know stopped to pick me up in their truck. It was very nice of them but I was very embarrassed. Since then, I've tried to operate on a 1/4 tank minimum. When it gets to 1/4, I fill it up. I've gotten lax about that here and there but I haven't had any further issues until today.

My new-to-me car has a broken gas gauge. The previous owner said that he would just turn the trip odometer over whenever he filled it up and when it got to around 350 miles, he would refill it. I was driving to meet one of my customers today at her apartment complex in Beaverton and the car started dying. However, the trip odometer only said 240 miles. I managed to restart it a few more times and just get to the light at the top of the hill where I would turn into the apartment complex and it died completely. I put it in neutral and managed to push it to where it coasted down the hill and into "Future Resident Parking." I checked in with the office manager and told her my situation. She said it was fine there and gave me a ride in her golf cart to my meeting spot (there are over 400 apartments in this complex so I appreciated the guidance.

After the meeting, I sent Andrew a text about the situation and he sent something to his brother who gave me the car. The car kept saying to check the gauges but they all looked fine except for the gas gauge was fluctuating. I ended up walking .2 miles up the street to a well-placed gas station and bought a gas can. I brought back a gallon of gas to the car and then drove it back to the gas station to fill it up for another 18 gallons.

So, to wrap up this saga, I learned the hard way that this car gets significantly less mileage in the city than it does on the highway.