If you’re looking for an easy way to track your car’s mileage, look no farther than Fuelly. I started using this application back in August, and it actually makes me look forward to putting gas in my car! Initial set up takes just a few minutes… pick the model and year of your car, give it a name, and you’re off and running. The next time you fuel up, you can quickly plug the numbers into your web-enabled phone while at the gas station, or if you have an iPhone, there’s an app that allows you to record your latest fuel-up in a matter of seconds. Otherwise just save your receipt and enter the information the next time you’re online.
After a few fuel-ups, you can view basic stats and see how your car compares to EPA estimates. Even more useful, you can compare your car to other cars of the same make and model. For example, there’s only one other 2002 Audi S4 on Fuelly right now, but we started the same week and it’s interesting to note that after 6 months, we both have the same (not great) average of 19.3 mpg. It’s also interesting to note that I filled up 6 times, and “Mayho” has filled up 21 times in between August and December 2008 – a difference of about $800 in gas money. Which makes me appreciate my walk to work all the more!
The only caveat here, is that you must, obviously, enter the data each time you fill up, and you must fill the tank completely. The tank doesn’t have to be empty when you fill it, but you do need to top it off. I screwed this up with my Jeep early on when I put $20 of gas in, mid-tank, so my stats are still recovering.
Lastly, even if you don’t track your fuel economy, this is a great tool to use when looking to purchase a used (or even new) car. If you’re trying to justify buying that new Ford Excursion though, this site is probably not for you.