Car Salesman Warns "Don't Top Off Your Gas Tank" in New Video
While it may save you money upfront, the damages can cost hundreds to fix.
Being a car owner means having to juggle loan payments, registration fees, insurance, maintenance and repair costs, and other financial woes. But what if you could avoid some of these cash-guzzling expenses? A Toyota salesman has issued an important gas tip that could save car owners hundreds if not thousands of dollars, depending on a vehicle's make and model.
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While the cost of gas ebbs and flows due to a myriad of factors, it seems that today, most customers can't fill up their tank for less than $70. According to AAA, the average price of gas currently sits at $3.67 per gallon—that's 21 cents more than it was a month ago.
To get the most bang for their buck, drivers will sometimes "top off" their tanks by clicking the gas nozzle a few extra times after the machine says it's done. As gas prices continue to soar, customers are more inclined to top off for "free gas." However, a car salesman on TikTok warns that doing so may result in severe repercussions to your vehicle and, consequently, a bigger hit to your wallet.
"I made a mistake, and I'm not afraid to admit," said Kudos, a product advisor at Toyota.
In his TikTok video, Kudos admitted that he, too, is guilty of "gassing up" or topping off cars at the gas station. Kudos said he wasn't aware that "filling up the [tank] a little bit more" could damage certain parts of the vehicle.
"What I learned was that overfilling the gas tank can actually damage your EVAP system," he shared.
A car's evaporative emissions control system, or EVAP for short, is "a sealed system designed to trap fuel vapors before they can escape into the atmosphere. The EVAP system draws in fresh air, gathers up unburned vaporized hydrocarbons and delivers them to the intake system to be re-burned in the engine," explains Auto Care Plus.
It's harmless if done infrequently, but consistently topping off the gas tank can harm the environment and your vehicle.
"The more you overfill your gas tank, the more you will fill up your charcoal canister," Kudos warned. "If the charcoal gets too wet, and the charcoal canister does not perform correctly anymore, you will need to replace it."
"When you're filling up gas, normally there's going to be a couple of [air] bubbles that are in there and that's what is going to allow you to do that one extra click cause the bubbles have cleared out," he explained. "Anything more than that where it starts to overflow…that bleeds straight into the EVAP system."
Kudos warned followers that a new charcoal canister can cost Toyota customers upwards of $1,200 to get replaced. The repair cost is decided by a number of factors, including the make and model of a car and where the service is performed. The average cost of canister replacement typically runs between $453 and $507, Repair Pal reports.
Kudos' warning surprised TikTokers, many of whom admitted to regularly topping off their gas tanks. "I learned the hard way. 7 gas leaks later," one person commented.
Another added: "Had no clue, but my Mercedes says in the gas flap not to over fill so sounds about right."
"I did a top off once and my engine light came on for a week! It was not my cap being loose. Never will do it again," a third shared.
Meanwhile, others were skeptical about Kudos' claims. "I top up and let it click atleast 15 xs more and I'm fine," reads a comment.
Someone quipped, "I've done this for 10 years and I do multiple top ups at each visit."
