wow...never noticed those arrows before and never had an issue putting gas! learn something new everyday

 

I think if you own the car and have driven it at least a few times, you shouldn't need an arrow to tell you which side the filler is. Even if you have multiple cars, it shouldn't be too difficult to remember which side the filler is on each car.

 

My wife and I have 3 British cars two have filler on left and one has filler on the right. I had the car with the filler on the right first so I assumed that the Brits did that way. Who knows how they decide this. Also we have had a couple of German cars and they both had fillers on the right.

 

It's true that an owner doesn't need an arrow (though a renter DOES; I rent a lot of cars; alas, no minis) - but some of us are so obsessive about our Minis that we don't want any flaws! This is about as minor a flaw as possible, but nevertheless....

 

Hmm, makes me wonder what the MA would do if you returned it! It *is* a defect!

I'm just KIDDING people!

 

I've always thought the filler is always on the opposite side of the exhaust for safety reason, but now most cars are built with dual exhaust so that theory went out the door.

 

That's silly. One trip around the car and you can usually spot the gas door. At least on the second time around.

 

This confused me for a while. I rent a lot of rental cars and this is a handy and consistent way of finding the correct side. On my Mini, the gas handle is on the incorrect side, but an arrow within the pump icon (but isn't clear it's really an arrow) does points the correct way.
I drive a number of different cars, and I disagree that a person should automatically know which side it is on in a particular car. Jeez, my memory is not the steel trap that I would like it to be.
Fortunately The car is small enough I can usually reach the tank regardless of what side I pull into the pump on. Except in Oregon, where you are forced to use an uninspired gas attendant to pump your gas. They will not pump gas if the filler is on the opposite side.

 

Really? They do it down here all the time. You must be going to the wrong station, or it's because you have foreign plates.

 

Ditto to this. If you've got your mirror set so you can see part of your car as a reference point, just look outside. Some cars you're not lucky enough to be able to do this.

 

Or you could drive away with the nozzle still in the filler so next time you can clearly see which side the filler is.

 

Well it's better then driving a KIA like in those TV commercials where no one remembers which side the fuel door is on.

 

Last weekend while filling up my Mini, the driver on the other side of the pump did just that. The quick release hose popped right off. It went back together with no problems.

 

Since your post is, in fact, your opinion, there is no need to state "I think", no matter how arrogant you may or may not be about your opinion.

 

This thread reminds me of an interesting fact.
You may have to walk around a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air a number of times
before you figure out which side the gas cap is on, or for that matter,
where the hell it even is.

 

In the taillight assembly. I believe the left one, but going from memory here and not sure.

 

^ My friend's Wrangler has it behind the license plate. The first time he went to fill it he couldn't find it and had to leave!

 

A lot of cars had them there in the 70's (?). The idea was to prevent gas spills down the side of the car, but the spring-loaded license brackets would frequently break.

 

My 68 Mustang had it in the back too.. that was a hard transition when I sold it-- having to actually pick the correct side of the car! hehhe

 

I just stumbled across this image in a photo critique thread from NAM user 'motor on' (nice shot, BTW). You can see the arrow pointing to the correct side...

 

Yes indeed it is for safety reasons.

 

In my '02 MCS, it shows the arrow inside the pump icon.