pb's Forum Comments
Showing comments 1-30 of 1170 by pb.
Car was with mechanic - let idle for a while - how to handle?
You can can check "missed a fuel-up" and Fuelly will skip an individual tank calculation there. And you can use Fuelly however you want but I sort of feel the same way DTMAce does. Stuff happens over the life of your car so why not record it so you can go back and see what happened when?
posted by pb February 13 at 9:17 AM
First fill up using Trip with no prior history, can't do it?
Yeah, that's a great idea. We have a lot of confusion around the first fuel-up, especially with new cars.
posted by pb February 12 at 2:32 PM
Reset your tripometer when you fill your tank, and then start tracking on your next fuel-up. There's really no way to know where the trip or odometer was at when the tank was first full to the top, and you need a full tank to work from. I know from experience that's frustrating, because you want numbers right now.
Here's more info about why the full tank is needed: Why do I have to fill the tank all the way up every time I buy fuel?
posted by pb February 12 at 2:03 PM
Car was with mechanic - let idle for a while - how to handle?
You could just skip your next fuel-up and pick up again next time. Or maybe just add a note about the type of driving that happened to help you remember why things might be a little off there.
posted by pb February 12 at 1:49 PM
First fill up on brand new car?
You don't need to worry about a zero odometer reading or a full tank capacity. Just fill your tank full to the top and record the odometer at that point. And then repeat. So you start recording the first time you put in fuel.
posted by pb February 10 at 2:49 PM
Need separate option for Cruze Eco
No, we don't track any sort of engine displacement size or turbo at the current time. We can't make an exception for a single engine. That would solve the issue at hand in this particular case, but would open up hundreds of other cases.
Why don't we track engine displacement size for all engines? Why not track whether or not an engine has Turbo? We've covered this ground quite a bit in the past. The FAQ has more info: Why don't you track more vehicle details?
We simply can't track every potential dimension that folks want to track. And people want to track all kinds of things. We're trying to be a general interest site for people who might not be car enthusiasts. That's going to frustrate the enthusiasts. But in the long run, we feel like getting the general car owning population to track their fuel economy is more important than pleasing car enthusiasts. Yes that means less data to sort on, but it means more data to look through because we believe it means more people will be tracking. It's all trade-offs and we feel like we're at a good balancing point right now.
posted by pb February 10 at 9:03 AM
We're not going to add a trim level option. I disagree that people know their trim level better than the type of fuel their vehicle uses. Fuelly is a small operation—two guys working on it part time. We have to structure the site in a way that we can manage.
I understand why you're disappointed that Fuelly can't be everything that you can imagine it could be. There are other options out there. The EPA has a fuel-tracking site, and they use much more detailed vehicle listings. That might be a good alternative for you.
posted by pb February 9 at 9:53 AM
8.5 MPG is a good difference. I tried to explain why we can't base a rule on mileage difference. Someone might have a Cruze 2LT. Through careful driving they also get > 8.5 MPG difference. Should that be added as its own model as well? I don't think so. We don't want to get into adding every trim level for every model. It would make the directory sprawl out of control very quickly. So while you see adding the ECO as an opportunity to improve, I see it as a step toward making things worse.
If we can come up with a solid rule that makes sense going forward and wouldn't degrade the quality of the listings we can do it. Until then I'm going to have to say no.
posted by pb February 8 at 10:19 AM
New Feature: Loan and lease cost
This is a frequent request and something we've thought about quite a bit. Right now I don't think we're going to take the site in this direction. Changing Fuelly from a focus on fuel economy to a focus on total cost of ownership would be a significant change for the site. I definitely think there's a need out there for an app like this, but it would change the scope of Fuelly significantly.
We have discussed this a bit in the past: here, here, here, here, and probably many more.
posted by pb February 8 at 10:12 AM
Need separate option for Cruze Eco
No one is paying here, but yes we do make money with ads and we do take customer service seriously. We want to work with people so they're happy using Fuelly. We know it's not possible for it to work out that way 100% of the time. It's a balancing act and we're always trying to improve.
posted by pb February 8 at 8:41 AM
There is no easy filter for the ECO unless you add it as a body style option.
That's true, and there simply can't be an easy filter option for every aspect of a vehicle that people want to compare. It might be nice to see how spoilers affect mileage, but we can't have a "spoiler" filter—it's too narrow of an interest. We're serving a very wide audience and we have to make decisions based on that.
posted by pb February 7 at 7:54 AM
We're definitely planning to add an option across all vehicles for selecting automatic or manual transmission. That's been on our to do list forever. So we're not going to go down the road of adding a special model for transmission differences, because a blanket auto vs. manual feature will take of that eventually.
Any system that has rules is going to have friction where those rules exist. People are going to want those rules changed no matter where we draw the line. The passion for this change is there, I see that. I know that you really want it. I'd like to be able to add for it you, but you have to see things from our perspective as well. I'm trying to find a way to change our rules so I can make this happen and I just don't see it yet.
Our current rule is: we don't add a new model distinction for a trim level without a significant difference. A significant difference might be a completely different engine. (eg. Civic vs. Civic Si. The Si has its own Wikipedia article.) We not only manage the Cruze section of the site, but every other section as well, so we need to have rules that apply across all vehicles.
The new rule I've heard proposed here is: split the trim into its own model when you have at least 6-8 mpg difference from the base model. That's a tough rule to use going forward because it's very difficult to prove that. Mileage can be all over the map based on driving style, geographic location, and a bunch of other factors. Basing a rule on mileage is going to be very difficult for us to follow.
posted by pb February 7 at 7:52 AM
You're both new here and might not be aware of our site history. We've had debates here in the past about how much detail to track and where we draw the line. At one point we had diesel Jettas as a separate model, and after some debate we decided to keep them together in a single model and rely on the filter controls. And that idea of keeping things simple and consolidated has been a guiding principle for us on decisions like these.
Chevy doesn't list the Cruze ECO as a separate model on their website. It's a trim level. And we don't add a new model for a trim level unless there's a significant difference from the standard model. We don't want to add any model distinction that anyone wants—the directory would become out of control fairly quickly. I just haven't seen the case made. Maybe there's a great reason to break with our system in this case. We can discuss it here.
posted by pb February 6 at 10:52 PM
For example, as of 2012, there's a Honda Civic Hybrid available. The difference between this model and the other Civic models should be obvious, yet there isn't a section for it.
You can use the filter controls at the top of the page to limit the listing to Civic Hybrids if you want to. It's a different engine altogether.
The Cruze Eco has the same engine as any Cruze. I understand your view--you'd like to see how that trim level performs on its own. Unfortunately we can't track every potential level of detail that folks want to see.
posted by pb February 6 at 9:57 AM
UK, new user, date and currency issue?
And here are some notes that might be helpful for UK users: I'm in the UK. Will Fuelly work for me?
posted by pb February 5 at 11:08 AM
You have your location in your profile set to United States. If you change it to United Kingdom by clicking the 'Settings' link on the left you should be set.
posted by pb February 5 at 11:07 AM
MPG and UK MPG???
Yes, folks in the UK use a different gallon than folks in the US. The UK gallon is slightly bigger at 4.546 Litres. The US gallon is 3.79 Litres. So "Miles per Gallon" is going to mean slightly different things to those two groups.
According to your profile you're in the UK, so you probably want to use UK MPG exclusively so you're comparing apples with apples when you talk fuel economy with other UK folks.
posted by pb February 5 at 11:04 AM
Need separate option for Cruze Eco
Yeah, I'm taking a look at the page here that lists the Eco along with the other trim levels: LS, 1LT, 2LT, LTZ, and ECO. And I just don't think those distinctions are right for Fuelly. I get that they're meaningful distinctions with some serious differences, but we can't get into tracking the trim level of every model out there. We just don't have the resources for it, and allowing them into the main directories would end up being very confusing for people.
You're welcome to call your Cruze a 'Cruze Eco' and track it on the site. It just won't be listed in the public browsing that way.
posted by pb February 4 at 7:38 PM
Need a stat for gallons consumed this month
If you go to your vehicle profile page while you're logged in you'll see something called "mini-stats" under the "Basic Stats" section. Click that, and you'll be able to add specific statistics for specific timeframes. For example, you can add "Avg MPG" for the "Last Month". We don't have an option for "Previous Month", but depending on how often you fuel-up, it should be pretty easy to eyeball in your Log Book.
We also show a chart that gives you an average MPG/month once you have at least three months of data. That should give you a quick visual indicator of how your vehicle performs per month.
If you need something beyond these you could always take a look at our export feature and build your own graphs or calculations in Excel or Google Spreadsheets.
posted by pb February 4 at 7:28 PM
Need separate option for Cruze Eco
We don't like to get into tracking the various trim levels that manufacturers offer. Often those are marketing distinctions rather than meaningful distinctions. We're trying to keep things very simple so that someone who doesn't know the distinctions between all of these different options can just find Chevy Cruze. We talk a little more about it here: Why don't you track more vehicle details?
posted by pb February 3 at 3:20 PM
Can we have a 'top cars by mpg' section?
Yeah, DTMAce has it. You're not alone, this is a frequent request. (Why don't you list everything in order of best fuel economy?)
We don't want to turn Fuelly into a game to be won. Once we do that there's an incentive to cheat by putting in bad numbers. So we'd rather make it a little harder on the browsing side to help improve accuracy on the reporting side.
posted by pb February 3 at 8:26 AM
Color bars based on fuel
It's true that people can enter whatever they'd like about their vehicle. And people often get it wrong. We don't want to force people into specific choices because managing every possible correct combination of options across all models would be too much hand-holding for our small operation. So yes, a couple folks put Diesel L4 which doesn't exist, but what's the harm? They're not included in a particular sort.
Let's give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they have a very good reason to choose Diesel L4. Maybe they have a modified engine with an extra cylinder. In that case you wouldn't want them grouped together with the other Diesel engines because it's significantly different.
Keep in mind we're looking at a specific case here of a specific model. When you get to something with more people reporting, like the Jetta, the number of wrong entries is very small compared with the majority. We need to design for the majority of cases—and I'm not sure fuel-type alone is useful without also including the engine type.
posted by pb February 1 at 8:31 AM
It doesn't have to be mixed by other fuels right now. Have you seen the filter controls at the top of the page? They look like this. Use those controls to limit the bar chart and listing of vehicles to the specific properties you're interested in.
posted by pb January 31 at 9:39 AM
Cost/km calculation error:
I'm taking a look at the banner for your car in km/L here. Right now that banner shows 13.4 km/L. Your vehicle profile is here. That also shows 13.4 km/L. Are you seeing different numbers?
posted by pb January 30 at 8:12 AM
Color bars based on fuel
We already have filter controls at the top of the page. Look for "Filter to:" under the page headline. Color coding is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure enough people are interested in seeing the distribution of fuel types. And if they are it's easy to use the filter controls.
We combine fuel and engine types into the same filter to make things easier. I think most often folks are interested in a particular version of a car, not necessarily a particular fuel type across different engines. I definitely can see how that would be neat in very specific circumstances, but we're designing for a large audience and we have to keep ease-of-use in mind. It'd be more complicated to choose three different options whenever you want to filter the list.
posted by pb January 30 at 8:08 AM
Numberpad on iPhone
nah, I think the extra taps required to move over to a separate field are worse than having a few extra keys on the keyboard.
posted by pb January 29 at 8:15 PM
Currency conversion
No, sorry, we don't have any sort of currency conversion mechanism. You'll need to either convert to Euros before you enter (I like to use Google for that) or you can skip the price for those fuel-ups.
posted by pb January 27 at 7:09 AM
Kia Soul mileage is terrible
You only have two fuel-ups right now—I'd give yourself some time to track before you start making changes based on the numbers you see here at Fuelly. We've found that vehicles with less than three fuel-ups are either extremely high or extremely low so we don't even show them in public browsing.
Once you have a good number of full fuel-ups you'll have a better sense of where you're at.
posted by pb January 26 at 4:55 PM
No Alfa 145/146?
Sure, I just approved them.
I notice you have '145 Cloverleaf' as your model. We don't like to approve the model nicknames like that. So 145 and 146 are now available for people to choose. If people want to choose 'Other' from the list of models and add 'Cloverleaf' or 'Ti', that's fine, but we won't approve them for public browsing. Folks can always include those in the vehicle name or description if they want.
posted by pb January 24 at 3:21 PM
iphone mobile broken
I added some cookie-detection code to the login process, so you should get a friendlier error message now if you try to log in with cookies disabled.
posted by pb January 22 at 3:02 PM