Anyone ever had gas stolen from their car parked at cruise parking facility?

We just returned from a cruise earlier this month for which we had used the Cruise Parking Advantage at the Port Everglades Cruise Port to park our car for the 7 days/nights of the cruise. When I originally booked this a few months ago it was indicated that our car would be parked at their own secure parking facility but about a week or 2 before the departure date they emailed us to say that because of "construction" or whatever at their own facility that they had contracted with the Rodeway Inn & Suites @ 2440 W. State Rd. 84 to provide the parking for our car and shuttle service to/from the cruise port.

So the parking and the shuttle to & from the port went pretty well (a little too long of a wait for a shuttle back from the port to the hotel but other than that, no big problems). But after getting our car and leaving the hotel parking lot I went to a gas station to fill up my tank (it had been about half full or so when parked at the hotel) and when I calculated my MPG it came up lower than usual by about 5-6 MPG! So I did a reverse calculation figuring how many gallons it SHOULD have taken to get my normal MPG (always a steady, consistent 25-26 MPG highway rate) and it came out that I was "missing" about 3-4 gallons of gas! And let me say that I had filled up my tank in the Orlando area just prior to driving to Ft. Lauderdale so ALL of the driving was normal highway driving (no city stop and go driving) for which I get that consistent 25-26 MPG. Yet on this tank fill up after the cruise parking at the hotel I only got a little over 21 MPG!

Of course I can't prove anything .. nor am I attempting to lay any blame on either Cruise Parking Advantage or Rodeway Inn & Suites ... but I just feel very sure that SOMEONE siphoned about 3-4 gallons of gas out of my tank sometime while our car was parked at the (unsecured) Rodeway Inn cruise parking lot. So I am just asking the question here if anyone else has ever noticed gas missing when parking their car at this or any other cruise port parking facility?

I wonder if this isn't a common thing with thieves stealing a moderate amount of gas from lots or all of cars parked for cruises ... enough from each car to be worth it but not enough for car owners to notice or, even if they do, to try to do anything about it? In my case, with gas around $2/gallon I was "only" out about $6-8 which wasn't enough to justify my taking time to file a complaint with anyone including, most importantly, the police. Most cruisers are usually just wanting to get their cars and get on the road to their post-cruise destinations and wouldn't bother to go back and file a complaint with anyone ... not for $10 or less. But the thieves could steal a considerable amount of gas since there are a LOT of cars parked in lots like the one we were parked at.

Of course, the best thing people can do to protect themselves from having gas stolen from their parked cars is to invest in a locking gas cap ... something that I will definitely be doing before parking our car at any such cruise parking facility in the future. But just be aware that this is a possibility when using these cruise parking facilities (and for airline parking facilities too of course).

Leaving a car parked for days and days is always chancey.

The Web site says they are partners with Rodeway with no mention of a private lot. There are complaints against other discount parking companies. Makes one think harder about leaving their car with these low cost sites.

Glad you shared. Go online and review the company.

never had a problem at hotels

I never leave my keys with any hotel parking & my gas tank locks when I lock the car

We have left our car at ES in Miami for at least 30 days on 2 occasions without any problems

I'm not sure why your gas mileage estimates are so far off, but the old days of siphoning gas are almost a thing of the past now.

I say almost, because while it's still technically possible, most modern vehicles have baffles and/or check-valves (designed to prevent spills or surges) that make it extremely difficult to get a tube or hose down the filler neck far enough to reach into the tank.

Unfortunately, thieves quickly discovered a work-around for this obstacle to their career, and simply began punching a hole into the bottom of the gas tank and letting it drain into a waiting can. However, if this had happened to your car, you would certainly already know, since you would have run out of gas.

So, while it's possible that somebody did have the time, patience and expertise to fish a small diameter tube past these obstructions this time, it's really not very likely.

Still, I understand your concern and if it were me, I would probably never leave my vehicle with these folks again, just out of an abundance of caution.

I'm not sure why your gas mileage estimates are so far off, but the old days of siphoning gas are almost a thing of the past now.

 

I say almost, because while it's still technically possible, most modern vehicles have baffles and/or check-valves (designed to prevent spills or surges) that make it extremely difficult to get a tube or hose down the filler neck far enough to reach into the tank.

 

Unfortunately, thieves quickly discovered a work-around for this obstacle to their career, and simply began punching a hole into the bottom of the gas tank and letting it drain into a waiting can. However, if this had happened to your car, you would certainly already know, since you would have run out of gas.

 

So, while it's possible that somebody did have the time, patience and expertise to fish a small diameter tube past these obstructions this time, it's really not very likely.

 

Still, I understand your concern and if it were me, I would probably never leave my vehicle with these folks again, just out of an abundance of caution.

Thanks for your reply. Just one bit of clarification ... my gas mileage numbers were calculations, not estimates, so that's why I am so sure that I had 3-4 gallons of gas stolen. Since I filled up in Orlando and drove directly to Ft. Lauderdale and went straight to the parking facility I should have gotten the 25-26 (highway) MPG that I always get. Since after filling up after leaving the parking facility I only got about 21 MPG (calculated) that's what clued me in to the fact that I must have had those 3-4 gallons of gas stolen.

As for what you are saying about new cars having baffles and such that prevent or hinder siphoning, I will have to take your word for it since I don't know anything about that. But apparently (obviously?) someone DID figure out a way to do that because numbers don't lie and I am 99.9999% sure that I had 3-4 gallons of gas just "disappear" while my car was sitting at the Rodeway Inn hotel cruise parking lot sometime during those 7 days/nights.

And because of that, I agree with you 100% that I will never park my car at this hotel and/or with the parking company that I used this time. Again, I am not accusing or blaming the hotel or the company for my missing gas but just that I will seek out a more secure facility the next time we park our car for a cruise. And not JUST because I fear missing $10 or less in gas but more importantly because my loss COULD have been a break-in of my car ... or it could have even been stolen since obviously the security wasn't very good. Yes, I saved a little in parking fees (I think it was only about $6 per day to park there) but I lost $6-8 in gas and could have lost a lot more. So yes, the reason I posted this was a "cautionary tale" to let fellow cruisers know that they should consider things like this when choosing where to leave their car when cruising. Next time I will certainly seek out a more safe and secure facility/site even if the daily parking rate is higher. In fact, I may just choose to use the cruise port parking facilities for the safety, security and convenience (in and out a lot faster!) even if it costs $15/day or so. Like the old saying goes ... "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."!

Have you considered the possibility that the gas station may have had some watered down gas (more ethanol) and the gas burnt faster?

We do many drives from Canada to Florida stopping at multiple gas stations in different states and sometimes our mileage fluctuates a lot where it is really noticeable that we lost many gallons. Especially those flying j and racetrack (or wtv they are called) gas stations for some reason. Only thing we could think of is "cheap gas". Our last trip we used shells the entire way and mileage per tank was pretty much identical at each fillup.

Did you also factor in air conditioning?

Just a thought......

Have you considered the possibility that the gas station may have had some watered down gas (more ethanol) and the gas burnt faster?

 

We do many drives from Canada to Florida stopping at multiple gas stations in different states and sometimes our mileage fluctuates a lot where it is really noticeable that we lost many gallons. Especially those flying j and racetrack (or wtv they are called) gas stations for some reason. Only thing we could think of is "cheap gas". Our last trip we used shells the entire way and mileage per tank was pretty much identical at each fillup.

 

Did you also factor in air conditioning?

 

Just a thought......

Appreciate your thoughts/inputs. However, the gas I was using (that I filled up with in Orlando) was from a Sam's Club. Not to say that the gas COULDN'T have been bad but if it was it would be the first bad gas I have ever gotten from a Sam's Club .. and I buy most of my gas at Sam's.

And as far as air conditioning .. no .. didn't even have it on the whole way between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. In fact, we actually had the heater on for about half the trip as it was a cool morning and only barely warmed up to about 70 degrees for a high that day!

So no, it absolutely could NOT have been air conditioning and very likely not "bad" gas. Believe me, I went through all those possible reasons in my mind too before coming to the conclusion that I had probably been the victim of a gas thief(ieves). I didn't want to think that that could have happened but there is almost no doubt that it did. But like I said earlier, I am glad that it was ONLY just 3-4 gallons of gas ... as the lesson I learned was to be a lot more prudent and careful about where I leave my car for a week (or more) outside of my control. And that lesson only cost me about $8 max. It could have been a lot worse.

Have you considered the possibility that the gas station may have had some watered down gas (more ethanol) and the gas burnt faster?

 

We do many drives from Canada to Florida stopping at multiple gas stations in different states and sometimes our mileage fluctuates a lot where it is really noticeable that we lost many gallons. Especially those flying j and racetrack (or wtv they are called) gas stations for some reason. Only thing we could think of is "cheap gas". Our last trip we used shells the entire way and mileage per tank was pretty much identical at each fillup.

 

Did you also factor in air conditioning?

 

Just a thought......

Very good point ..

We have never had anyone steal our gas or have had any other problems while parked in the FLL cruise terminal parking. :)

I'm raising the "BS" flag on this one.

I have two fords, its just about impossible to siphon gas from them.

The filler tube is around three feet long.:p