My beef comes from full-service gas jockeys (no choice here when driving through NJ) trying to unscrew rather than swing open my MCS fuel door.

At first it wont spin off, of course. After a moment of staring at the cap door like you'd think they'd try something else. Instead they try again, this time bearing down on it like crazy to unscrew it even though I am calling out that it swings open.

I wont get into them leaving the cap swinging by the tether instead of using the little holder provided for it in the door.

 

I've had my MCS for a year and a half and I never knew there was a holder for the gas cap in the cover...Now I feel like the idiot ...Thanks Greatbear

 

Frankly the tether is not long enough to quickly put it in the holder, to me. I used it the first few times, but it's stupid. I dangle.

 

Gasp!!!

No!! Turn in your MINI to the proper authorities and proceed directly to your local Honda dealership.

 

morknmini's location is listed as "left coast". In Oregon you aren't allowed to pump your own gas (unless you take matters into your own hands ). An attendant must pump the gas for you. So it is theoretically possible, if you live in Oregon, to never have to pump your own gas.

 

Not change topics... but what other states won't let you self serve? I knew about New Jersey. I used to go there alot on business... and being from California, I would get out and pump... they about had a cow!

Where else must they pump your Ethel? And why is that?

 

It's just too dangerous to let people pump gas on their own!!!

 

The cynic in me suspects that the New Jersey law exists simply to keep a lot of pump jockeys gainfully employed. However, I've never delved into the subject too deeply, since my kneecaps are allergic to baseball bats.

At least the price doesn't seem to be inflated to pay station attendant salaries. :smile: I used to make it a point to fill up before exiting the NJTP for points north and west, since the price seemed to jump up a notch at the NY state border.

Of course, that was before MINI entered my life. Now, I wouldn't dream of letting some stranger feed my baby!

 

I've had to open a LOCKED fuel door manually...ya gotta be real careful, as the locking mechanism is just a polyplastic rod. If ya horse it too much it will snap [fortunately, I did not break it, and noticed it just in time]. The gas door locks automatically when the car is set into motion...some may wonder why, and I can tell you that, from personal experience, it's because the plastic tabs that hold the fuel door to the car sometimes work loose and the door can go flying while you are tooling down the road, through the Dragon, at autocross, or on the track. A check of those tabs occasionally will prevent your having to make a panic stop to retrieve your fuel door before some SUV flattens it for ya.

 

Apology accepted. NAM is a friendly site. When most of us have to wait several months between ordering a MINI and getting one we post a lot on NAM as a substitute for not having the real car. Good therapy. Otherwise we drive our family and friends crazy talking about something they don't want to hear. I picked up my car about 2 weeks ago (no dealer orientation--just 5 cars dropped from a transporter) and just recently got the gas indicator down to the bottom quarter. I tried to find a gas cap thread in the NAM archives and got lost in MINI Talk history. Not sure if I am as ridiculous as loquacious (perhaps both)--570 is admittedly a lot of posts for a MINI tyro, but I am also a writer. Occupational hazard.