Is it better to fill up at the half way mark or to wait until empty?

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

bringing the fuel too low will wear out the fuel pump faster. Most pumps actually use the fuel in the tank to keep the pump cool and lubricated.

Agreed, The fuel pump in my GMC died prematurely at 140,000 miles due to my habit of running it down to fumes before filling. Since then I try to fill at 1/4 tank, leaving enough to cool the pump but not having to drag around the weight of a full tank all the time.

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

That's only because the gauge is not linear. It doesn't mean you're getting better mileage. Almost all cars read above half for the majority of the time.

That's so annoying. I've observed it on vehicles from many manufacturers. Any guesses why they do that? It's not like you'll notice on a test drive that you're down to half a tank and have gone 250 miles.