I reported here, a few weeks ago, that the local newspaper had an article saying that many of the gas stations in this area have failed weight-and-measure tests. I was getting a huge difference between the MPG numbers displayed by the car and the MPG numbers that I computed from the number-of-gallons displayed by the gas pump.

I have an update on that...

The gas station that I had been using was visited by the state weight-and-measure enforcement guy. I see the new stickers on the pumps. I also see more than half the pumps shut down with state seals on them, and yellow tape around them, and orange cones in front of them. Seems the pumps really were dispensing less fuel than they were charging for.

When I filled up at one of the other pumps, the calculated MPGs (from the pump gallons) agreed with the car displayed MPGs, within one percent.

My guess is that the state people took exception to the newspaper report and actually started enforcing the law. I don't expect them to keep it up, but it is welcome while it lasts.

I suspect the MPGs displayed by the cars may actually be accurate. At least, I think mine is. In the future, when a pump tells me a number-of-gallons that calculates a very low MPG figure, I plan on complaining to the state regulator. In Florida, the contact to file a complaint is at http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/standar...o/contact.html
I expect most states have contact information for their weight-and-measure regulator on the web, if you go looking for it.