My mom's Corolla died in the middle of the road, she took it to the dealer and was told that there was too much fuel in some kind of "reserve or overflow" container next to the fuel tank. They said this was caused by topping off the fuel too much. Can anyone confirm this, or was the dealer just making an excuse?
He told me not to top off my GS3 as well. Your thoughts please.

There is a vapor recovery system in all modern cars ...collects fumes and redirects them back into the gas tank. (empties into the gas tank near the top)

When you fill gas and the gas hose nozzle detects the back pressure and releases the filler, one should stop. It is a bad practice to keep filling and shaking the car to add yet more.

Salim

yup, i also heard that it's very bad if you top off the car often

but it just happened today (rare, sometimes it happens too), when i fill it up, it stops, but when i pull out the nozzle it leaks more out.... is that normal?

When the pump stops, I just take it out!! I hate when the full serveice guys just keep clicking and clicking the damn nozzle!! The more they do it, the car is just gonna spit up fuel, and how nice is that for pearl paint?? or ANY paint for that matter

full service? they still have that?

also, is 'topping off ' just filling the tank to the brim?

YES full service is available in NJ...i think only in a couple of other states as well.

I don't mind...its kindda cold outside these days...

we got some full service in cali too =D
oooh so thtas what topping off was,i thought when they said topping off they meant dont try to round out the cents so you pay like XX.95 instead of xx.92

Thanks for the helpful advice. I've always topped of the gas all the way up, but not anymore. Hope this can help others as well.

yup, as a matter of fact, in New Jersey, its ILLEGAL to pump your own gas!! They have to pump it for you, funny huh?

WHA? pumping gas is not a rocket science....

Rominl- dont take my word for it, drive down the NJ Turnpike, stop for gas, and attempt to get out. They will tackle you like ur a Taliban member!!!

Another good reason to not top off. On one of my other vehicles [ahem, a minivan] long since gone, they had a recall that was a direct result of material failure due to topping off. Some part of the vapor recovery system did not like being drenched in fuel and had a tendency to fall apart. Could lead to a vehicle fire.

Personally, I don't top off because of the occasional gas on the paint mistake [Doooooohh, I hate it when that happens!].

Wow! I never knew topping off was bad. My whole family does it. I guess I better go ahead and tell the folks!

defintely just let the pump click by itself and stop...I have friends in the oil/gas industry and they say the same thing...there is no point to continually "clicking" in more gas while the pump is fully inserted into your car...because your car is actually not getting any more gas...you're just paying for nothing...now when you pull back the "sleeve" and put extra gas it (with the nozzle pulled out a little bit), you are adding more gas but at the risk of topping off...

WHAT????? ...manaray...did you start drinking?