Can Anyone Possibly Spend 200$ in Gas in 13 Days or Is *Gas* Really *Crack* ?

Based on the driving you suggest they are likely doing, then unless someone is stealing it (syphoning it off) then I'd be suspicious. I used to spend that fairly easily, when I was transporting my kids to and from school 30 miles away 5 days a week... so 120/day every day, plus after school stuff... I averaged 800 miles or more a week... and my vehicle gets about 20mpg. 40 gallons of gas per week at $3.50/gallon is $140 per week. So... yeah... in 13 days, I could spend that. But not driving ANY kind of car 6 miles to town daily.

well actually, that is ver possibe.... i have a huge gas user, it cost me atleast 20 in gas to go anwhere and thats ONE trip..... so if i plan on going somewhere everyday then i would be looking at 100 a week and that just locally...... have a little more faith.........

Hope they don't have a leak?
They should go to the mechanic.
Maybe they have more of a social life, than you know?

$200 in gas in 10 days.
We don't even do that.
And we drive around like a normal family with 2 kids.

What kind of car, do they have?

Your miles per gallon drop dramatically the less you drive because the engine never heats up to the right temperature for it to burn efficiently. Do they take A LOT of short trips to town?

I think gas is crack!

I have a Chevy Suburban and it takes $80 to fill up and it lasts us a week...so the most I can get to is $160 in 2 weeks with my gas-guzzling, squirrel-squashing machine!

Uh ya!! It takes $75 to fill my tank. I at least once fill up during the week and occasionally have to fill up on the weekends too depending on how much I am out and about. In the summer it is worse! We own a cabin an hour away and summers guarentee me 2 fill ups a week at about $75 a tank.

But if they are only going 6 miles I have no idea then? MAybe it is crack then?

Well, let's see....gas here in VA is $3.45 per gallon. My car takes 17 gallons of gas...when I drive around town - don't let my car heat up - my gas mileage can suck hind tit....12 miles per gallon...

When I was younger - I had a car that was sucking gas like it was a sponge - turned out my carburetor was bad...God was certainly looking out for me...that can be dangerous. If they smell gas...that's a bad thing.

Also depends upon the car they have...how fast they drive...do they do "California stops"? do they only drive a few miles? I don't know...there are so many factors that we don't know....

Just curious. Why is this your concern? Are they asking for a handout to help with their problems, or are they part of your household, making it your concern? As I said, just curious.

I had a gas leak once. Cost me a TON!

my BIL was caught siphoning gas out of my car at night. I thought I had a tank leak.

Odd, that's for sure.

Does this affect you directly? Are they asking you for gas money?

It's possible but not probable.

FYI, if you do suspect a drug problem, don't give them cash, OR a gift card for gas (they'll sell it for the cash).....if ANYTHING, take the vehicle yourself and put gas in it FOR them.

I think the mere fact that you suspect something else is going on with these particular relatives, might very well speak volumes about what is going on...

Well I am only getting 7 miles to the gallon and it stinks. BUT, I only drive about 50-75 miles per week MAX. I go to 2 schools that are 2 miles away each and only do the morning school runs. I go to the bank which is 5 miles away and I do my best to hit the stores on the way to and from the bank or school trips. It's possible. I put 10 dollars in yesterday and went to the church and already need to get gas in the morning or I will run out between the schools. It's a good thing one of the schools is next to gas station.

What kind of car?
What's the gas mileage?
How many miles do they drive a day?

Here's our typical gas bill.
I have a full size conversion van with a 28 gallon tank. I drive three kids around to band, piano, the pool, church. In 4 days I will put 300 miles on the car, I get 12 mpg. For 25 gallons of gas, at 3.09 (this week) it is $77.25, top off $78 --every 4 days. In 12 days that's $234.
So it is possible, but not practical, since I doubt they drive a Behemoth.

Is it crack? I wouldnt' automatically suspect them. Maybe there is a fuel leak.

The only time we had our car eat fuel like that we found out a neighbor was siphoning gas out...

If they has q drug problem in the past though I would likely suspect thawt though.

My cars all use gas more sparingly, though my husbands truck gets 8 to the gallon so... Yea it could happen if they were the defacto "hey, I need a pick up" friend...

I have an old chevy suburban I drive 40 miles per day back and forth to work. I spend $75 to $100 per week in gas.
I call B.S.
Good luck!
D.

Where is the car parked, normally? If it's parked on the street, and the tank isn't locked, it could be possible that the gas is being stolen.

What kind of car? If it's an SUV, or gas guzzler then it's entirely possible.

I am not sure what you mean by gas being crack, though. You need gas to keep your vehicle running.

Based on the info you've provided, in this case I would say no. However, I do know people that spend over $100 per week, but that's because they drive to work, run errands, social events, visit parents, etc.

You didn't mention what kind of car they drive.

Sounds shifty. Is there a leak? Do they have a lock on their gas cap?

Otherwise something does not sound right.

They need to start documenting their miles per tank..

what was the context this came up in? Were they asking to borrow $$ from you? Were you asking for $$ from them?
If they truly drive as little as you say, then no, $200 is not possible. I probably spend that in two weeks, but I work 30 miles round trip and do lots of running around with kids to and from practices, games, etc.

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i spend way more then that. I gassed up on my way home from an event saturday night. I'm going back over in that direction to register for classes and will fill up again today. And I am sure I will fill once more at least before 13 days is up. That will put me spending between 150-180 in that timeframe at least. Even more with the second car.
Now I drive a lot. I am on town 12 miles away at least 3 days a week. The bank was about 15 away in the other direction and that is generally once a week. Not driving to campus for the next few weeks and that is 35 minutes away. I am at the highschool 2-3 times a week and that is almost 30 minutes away again.
One the mileage you are talking about not likely.

If you're that concerned, ask for receipts or force them to pay by credit card so you have some proof.

Hmmm, at $3 per gallon that is about 66 gallons of gas. Say 15 gallon tank - then about 4 full tanks of gas.

I work 4 miles from my office and run errands once a week in town (about 10 miles total) - even when I add in about 40 miles a week for work related driving - I can use less than a tank of gas per week. I have about a 20 gallon tank.

So, um, yeah - either serious auto problems or something else is weird.

Our jeep can go through that in a WEEK if we're driving a couple hours a day. When it's running well.

$80 to fill the tank to start with

TERRIBLE milage adds to the problem

Filling twice a week @ $160 is pretty "normal".

The sedan, driving as much doesn't even need a 2nd tank of gas, and it's "only" $45 to fill it.

Now lets jump into a car leaking gas, or an old truck, suv, van? Oh yeah. Burning through 2 miles per GALLON is far from unheard of, although 10mi per gallon is running "well". And we're talking $80-120 to fill those monster tank from back in the day before emissions and fuel cost less than a dollar a gallon.

Could they be telling the truth? Absolutley.

Could they be lying, because it's a totally plausible lie? Sure.

sounds like a bit of bull to me....

my husband does (hence why i read your post) BUT he is a courier in the city and drives ALL DAY LONG. our budget is $600 in gas for him per month. luckily we write it all off :)

of course he drives a little mazda protege. NOT a giant gas guzzling monster. if he didn't have the mazda then it would be way worse. fairly certain if we were having to put gas in something bigger he wouldn't have this job long. i couldn't stomach that.

Yep, I'd be suspicious.

well my husband's commute is an hour and a half long, one way... so yeah we spend about $400/month just on gas...

BUT 6 miles? Unless the car was a model A or something I would seriously have it taken to a mechanic! That sounds like gas is pouring out of the car!

If it isn't gas... then the must be driving a lot more than they realize! They don't wander around town for hours do they?

-M.

-M.

If they are driving around a lot it could happen.
Where is it parked at night?
Do they have a locking gas cap?
Because someone might be siphoning their tank at night to steal gas.
A leak in the gas tank/ gas line you would smell and is very dangerous especially in a garage.
It's a hazmat situation because fumes can ignite easily with a spark - just turning on a light switch could cause it to explode..
A friend of mine had a leak in her fuel line (it was parked in her garage) and had to evacuate her house until the fire department gave her the ok to return.

If the O2 sensor went out on our truck it would almost instantly go to about 5 miles per gallon. Once it was fixed it would go back to being really good mileage again.

They need to have someone professional look at it if they can afford it.

Why are you jumping to assuming it's being spent on crack instead of gas? If someone asked to borrow money from you or whatever and claims that the money they used was on gas suppose they spent it on Christmas gifts or something? It is sort of that time of year...