According to this message, the little fuel pump icon displayed on your car's fuel gauge harbours a handy secret. The message explains that, if the fuel pump handle is on the left of the icon, your fuel tank filler is located on the left of the vehicle, and, conversely, if the handle is on the right, your filler will be on the right. This knowledge could be quite useful if you just got a new car or were driving an unfamiliar car such as a rental.
The problem is, the "secret" simply is not true for many kinds of car. My own experience, and that of a great many others who have commented on the issue, reveals that the fuel pump icon handle quite often has no correlation with the location of the fuel filler.
An old Ford I own has an icon with the handle on the right. However, the fuel filler is actually located at the rear of the vehicle behind the number plate. My other vehicle, a new Kia, has an icon with the handle on the right, when in fact, the fuel filler is on the left side. Given that there are only two choices, the fuel pump handle is sure to point in the right direction sometimes. But even when the "secret" works out to be true, it is more likely due to random chance rather than any sort of conscious decision by car manufacturers.
In any case, a trick such as this would only be of value if it were true for all, or at least almost all, kinds of car. As it is, the position of the gas pump handle may or may not indicate the position of the filler. Some have suggested that the meaning attached to the icon is perhaps reversed. For example, if your filler door was located on the left of the vehicle, then you would also choose a pump on the left, and extend the pump hose out to the right to fill your tank. Thus, some commentators postulate that an icon with the handle on the right indicates that the filler is on the left and vice-versa. Again, however, this theory does not hold up in all cases.
Clearly, if you are driving an unfamiliar vehicle, you may still end up "embarrassed" at the fuel station, regardless of what the little icon might seem to be telling you.
Thus, this "secret" really needs to be filed under "completely useless information."
That said, many modern cars do have an indicator incorporated into the fuel gauge that shows which side the filler is on. However, this indicator is generally a small arrow and has nothing to do with the position of the pump handle.
