Gas tank issue. Please help!!!!

[Athikerguy4life]

So today my gas tank was completely empty, like I drove till the needle was below E. I filled up and I came across a slight issue. AS I understand it, the versa's gas tank is 13.2 gallons. Today I put in 10.3 gallons to get it completely full to the top. I have com up with a couple possible reasons:

1. There something in the gas tank that is taking up 3 gallons worth of space that I am unaware of
2. Nissan mislabeled the volume of the tank
3. Nissan wanted to ensure that we never drive it empty, so they made sure it would reach E with 3 gallons left in the bottom
4. The pump is broken and gave me 3 gallons of extra gas without charging me for it
5. At some point my tank was replaced with a smaller tank

a 10 gallon tank makes sense since I drive about 250 miles a week (mostly city) and go through an entire tank of gas in that time. 25 mpg would work out perfectly as that is what the car is supposed to get in the city. Igf I went through 13 gallons in 250 miles i'd be getting more like 19 mpg, which would be attrocious. wasn't sure where to post it, so I'm also gonna put it up in engine drivetrain and tuning. Someone please help me!

[boxcarbill]

My '07 hatch ALWAYS kicks the auto pump handle lever off with AT LEAST 1 gallon still to fit in. I have to goose the last gallon in with multi clicks of the lever to do it.
You'll have to average your mileage over a few tankfulls. If you are getting below 3o mpg (not stop and go traffic) something's wrong.

[Andrews Chalmers]

If you are getting below 3o mpg (not stop and go traffic) something's wrong

I don't see how mpg has anything to do with how much fuel the tank is taking. When calculating mpg - you determine the distance you drove since the last fill up, divided by the amount of fuel you pump at the present fill up.

If the tank is not taking a full tank, it won't show up on the mpg because it'll consistently take less fuel.

[Athikerguy4life]

I have been calculating mpg for the last few weeks. I'm averaging like 28 mpg with about a quarter of the miles being highway.

[kc5f]

The two Versa's I've had are quite different in when the low fuel light comes on. My first one would come on with about a gallon left in the tank, and my current one when there are about three gallons left. And I know for a fact that the tank holds at least 13.2 gallons, because on one trip we had trouble finding a gas station in the middle of nowhere and I ended up putting 13.2 gallons in it!

[Athikerguy4life]

Thanks, I guess they really just wanted the Versa to be "granny-proof". You can go between 75 and 90 miles on those last 3 gallons, I just find it weird that they would leave so much gas below E. Thats close to 1/4 of the entire tank sitting there.

[Andrews Chalmers]

The fuel pump sits in the tank and relies on the gasoline for cooling. So car manufacturers increasingly have larger reserves in the tank.

[Athikerguy4life]

The fuel pump sits in the tank and relies on the gasoline for cooling. So car manufacturers increasingly have larger reserves in the tank.

I guess that makes sense. Thanks for the help everyone!