Removing the petrol cap door - is this a popular thing to do?

January 6, 2012 4:01 AM

Removing the petrol cap door - is this a popular thing to do?

I keep seeing cars that have the petrol door removed, but the actual screw-in petrol cap is in place. In fact, this week alone I've seen four cars without petrol doors. During the last few months I must have seen at least thirty cars like this.

For context, many seem to be Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons driven by P-platers (ie. aged around 20 years old) but not all. And these are cars that definitely should have petrol doors - they're not designed without them - and these are relatively nice, modern cars, not old rust buckets with pieces falling off. This is in a major city in Australia.

I haven't looked close enough to see if the doors have been ripped off (in an accident) or deliberately removed.

I'm prepared to admit that this could be some confirmation bias, but I'm just so convinced that I've seen so many in the last few months, and before that I don't think I've ever seen this.

So, is this a 'thing'? Is this some sort of trend? Has anyone ever seen this?

posted by UltraFleece to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

Country town resident here (central NSW), with more than our fair share of P-platers in Dunnydoors and Falcons, and I've never seen that. Well, I've seen it maybe twice in my life, but it was on older cars and the door had broken off accidentally, never removed intentionally.

Are they all in the same area? Could it be a serial fuel thief, who pries open the door with something like a flat blade screwdriver which snaps the door off (maybe they're easier to break off on the hinge side rather than the lock side), and then siphons the fuel?

I'm no help to you but I'm intrigued, I must admit.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:20 AM on January 6, 2012

It's pretty common I suppose, my old Gemini has no fuel door because it has fallen off, which I know is really common for the model I have. I'd reckon there are many models of car that have the same problem.
posted by deadwax at 4:41 AM on January 6, 2012

I'd imagine some of them aren't deliberate (like deadwax) but for others it's a style to add a hint of race car vibe. The higher performance MINI Cooper S (the hardtop, anyway) comes standard without a door (and a bright chrome cap) and it's a factory option for the non-turbocharged models.
posted by jalexei at 5:45 AM on January 6, 2012

My theory would be that these are cars whose filler doors have remote release handles, and that they have failed at some point. Rather than drive around with the door flapping in the breeze, they tore them off.
posted by gjc at 6:17 AM on January 6, 2012

You sure it isn't a design fault? Volvo 740s and 940s had a plastic fuel door hinge that would give out and let the door fall off.
posted by narcoleptic at 7:31 AM on January 6, 2012

I've seen this with Jeeps on occasion (though, I think some of them were designed that way in the first place), but I've never seen it done on a car unless it was clearly non-intentional.
posted by asnider at 8:34 AM on January 6, 2012

Seconding design fault. The fuel flap on our VW broke off after a couple of years for no good reason and the cost of a replacement is ridiculous.
posted by N-stoff at 8:37 AM on January 6, 2012

All three of my past cars have lost their door caps (I tend to drive crappy beaters FWIW) and in every case I replaced the door, but even using junkyard parts the hinge + door combination was at least US$50, not to mention time spent painting them to match (sort of) and the occasional convoluted acrobatics to get inside the rear fender to tighten bolts and remove broken parts. I did this because I am a bit anal about my cars exterior appearance and while rust and wear don't bother me, driving around with missing bits is a line too far, but I can see a teen not feeling like taking the time and money to fix this, and instead spending the money on shiny bits or stereo components from Pep Boys or AutoZone all of which are scientifically proven to be far more of a female attractor dollar for dollar than a fuel filler door.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:39 AM on January 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also chiming in with a + for the design fault and/or broken-and-haven't-fixed-it-yet crowd. I had this happen on an old Datsun - the plastic door just crumbled one day in the cold-as-hell winter. I drove for years without one before I sold the car.

Also, if they are parked in your area, or you notice them in a parking lot, maybe take the chance to ask them if it's a "thing" or just haven't gotten it fixed yet?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 10:05 AM on January 6, 2012