Ran Out of Gas in Buffalo, NY — How Much Fuel Gets Delivered and What It Costs

Short answer: Out of gas in Buffalo? Here is how fuel delivery works, how much you actually get, what it costs, and the one thing a diesel owner needs to know before calling.

What Actually Arrives

Enough fuel to get you to a station, not a full tank. Fuel delivery in Buffalo brings a couple of gallons of the right fuel, puts it in, and makes sure the car starts. The point is to get a stranded car moving again at the lowest cost, not to replace the trip to the pump. It is $129 plus the fuel, booking fee included.

Gas Versus Diesel

A gasoline car that has run dry starts as soon as fuel is in the tank. A diesel is different. Running a diesel dry pulls air into the fuel lines and many need the system primed before they will fire again. Some do it themselves with a few key cycles. Others need the lines bled, which is a shop job. Tell us it is a diesel when you call so we can tell you honestly whether fuel alone will get you going.

When It Is Not the Fuel

A gauge that reads empty on a car that stalled is not proof of an empty tank. A failed fuel pump stalls a car the same way, and so does a bad crank sensor. If the tank is genuinely dry, the car starts with fuel in it. If it does not, the next step is a tow to a shop at $160 plus $7 a mile, and we will say that on the spot rather than sell you a second delivery.

Where It Happens

Mostly on the long stretches between stations, and in the cold, because a nearly empty tank in a Buffalo winter also invites condensation and fuel line freezing. Keep the tank above a quarter from December to March. If you do run dry on a town road in Orchard Park or a side street in Riverside, pull as far off the travel lane as you can, put the hazards on, and call with your cross streets.

The Numbers This Guide Uses

• Tow: $50 booking fee + $110 hook-up fee + $7 per loaded mile. $160 before mileage; $195 on five miles; $300 on twenty. Flatbed and wheel-lift cost the same.
• Jump start $129, car lockout $129, flat tire change $169, fuel delivery $129 plus the fuel, battery replacement $199 plus the battery. Flat, booking fee included, no mileage.
• Winch-out and recovery: $199 to book plus $150 an hour from when the driver arrives. How far off the pavement, what the truck can anchor to and whether the car rolls decide how long it takes.
• No after-hours, weekend or holiday rate. Quoted before the truck is sent; paid when the job is done.

Every number is on the pricing page with a calculator, and the questions page has the short answers.

Where This Comes Up Most

The question this guide answers gets asked from every part of Buffalo and Erie County, and each area has its own page with the streets, the places and the prices from there: towing and roadside assistance in Amherst, towing and roadside assistance in Tonawanda, towing and roadside assistance in Kenmore and towing and roadside assistance in West Seneca. The same service, fuel delivery, has its own page in each of them too: fuel delivery in Amherst, fuel delivery in Tonawanda, fuel delivery in Kenmore and fuel delivery in West Seneca. The areas page has all 72.

Read Next

Can't Afford a Tow Truck in Buffalo? Real Options and Roadside Assistance vs AAA in Buffalo — When Each Wins. The service page is fuel delivery in Buffalo, and the blog write-up covers the part most people get wrong.