This happened to me a few weeks ago and ever since, I'm half paranoid when I get gas. When it overflowed, I was filling up manually, pump didn't have the holder on the handle. I got gas today at a different station which did have the holder on the handle so I put it on the slow setting but listened carefully to the fuel going in. I could hear it getting to the point where either it was going to click off or overflow so I stopped it

Any thoughts on this?

 

Never had it happen before. What gas station was it when you overfilled? Maybe it was a vintage station. Most places have the auto-shut off to prevent that from happening.

 

i had his happen once when I went to tampa with my cousin...we stop for some gas at a station and I guess the automatic shutt off pump did not work...but no big deal..get a dry cloth and clean it up

 

I've had an overflow happen only once, and that was with one of my old cars at a Chevron station. I should have know something was gonna happen. It was filling up insanely slow, then when it finally got close to full, it all of a sudden sped up and started to overflow. Had to wash my hands inside and tell the worker that the pump was messed up.

 

that hasn't happened to me before. i think they're required to have the automatic shutoff when it senses the tank's getting full. it's not very safe to have people overflowing gasoline all over the gas station. and then getting charged for the gas that went all over the car and ground...not nice at all.

 

I had this happen to me just the other day, pissed me right off. I went in to just let the attendant know that the pump didn't work properly and that I, as a costumer, was frustrated that I had to pay for gas I would never use and deal with corrosive fuel on my new paint. But his dismissive and blaming attitude that received caused me to rip a strip off him and storm out of there, leaving some blackies on the pavement beside the pump that didn't work.

 

So, if this is not a dead thread, the problem is the fault of the gas station, not due to something wrong with my car? I just bought a Honda Fit 2007, and have been putting in only 5 gallons at a time, but this time decided to let it run until full, but it didn't automatically stop. Great, buy a car with good mpg and then spill that precious gas all over...

 

It's definitely a gas station issue. It happened to me with one of my previous cars.

 

I just realized I posted on this thread several years ago. Silly me!

 

fumes.... gas fumes... hmmm smell good all over hands...

 

I believe they change the pumps so that gas goes back into the tanks, It might be a Chicago pollution thing but I though it was nation wide. Those fumes and gas after you paid for it goes back so they resell it later. That could also explain some of the bad mpg people are getting.

 

Back in my teen years it wasn't uncommon to end up with a leg soaked in fuel if you were leaning on the car, hangin the pump on a fill-up looking cool for all the skirts. They were all wearing skirts back then... and I'm not sure auto shutoff was all that common or even existed for that matter. Gas on your pants sure impressed the skirts, watch 'em fly.

 

I never had that much money to fill the tank, but at least you knew the tank was full. Now they just take that fuel and resell it.

 

I have had my gas tank overflow twice in the same month while using the safety latch on the gas pump. Both times were at Valero Gas Stations (the main name in South Texas). I complained to the attendant both times and once I was refunded a gallon of gas.

After the first incident I thought it was the fault of the pump safety stop, but when it happened again the next time I filled up using the safety latch (at a different Valero station) I worried that it was a defect in my car-a 2008 Honda Fit Sport.

Now I just estimate a low gallon volume to fill to manually and hope it is enough to be near full. This is not a problem except that I want to fill it completely so I can calculate the miles/gallon, which is impossible to do without knowing the actual volume of gas in the tank.

I was hoping to be able to find an answer here, but from what I have read it sounds like Valero just has a lot of bad safety pump handles.

 

Happened to me once a few years ago when I still had the Altima. I was filling up at a BP station in Northeast Philly while using the safety latch...I think it was at about the 12-gallon mark when it started to overflow. Like Cynthiak above I was able to get refunded for one gallon of gas. Definitely a gas station issue.

 

never happened to me.. but my stupid ex girlfriend was foolishly being stupid and childish and pulled the lever before it was even in... so dumb. God I don't even know why I put up with her, but anyways it probably happens at older gas stations.

 

had an overflow while filling my crosstour at a Shell station (busted pump) Google Maps

 

You want a conspiracy theory?

I live in Oregon, one of the few states that doesn't allow self serve. You literally cannot pump your own gas.

And in over 20+ years I've never had an attendant or pump fail or the gas overflow.

Could it be when the stations know they could be held accountable or blamed they keep the pumps in better repair?

 

I used to work on race cars so the smell of gas is sometimes really nice and i learned how to gauge my gas from its location on the gauge to be safe. I overfill my tank anyway my gas lasts me pretty much all week if i'm not runnin around to much