Actual Odometer Reading Vs. Excel Total

[Doogals]

Does anyone know why I would see a difference between the actual odometer reading in my car and the running total in the Excel spreadsheet I use to track my fuel consumption?

The more entries I add the larger the difference is getting, right now my spreadsheet shows 7km less than the reading displayed on my car's odometer. Which is more accurate?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Its the fractions that aren't displayed that's throwing you off.

[Doogals]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Its the fractions that aren't displayed that's throwing you off.

Not sure I understand, could you expand on this pls?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Well, say for instance you pulled up to the pump to fill up with gas, and your odometer read 300.0 miles. However, in reality you traveled 300.08999 miles. In reality, you have traveled 469.92 feet farther than you're recording. Over the course of a couple of tanks, this is not noticeable. However, over many fill ups these odd amounts add up.

[Doogals]

So using the trip meter instead of the odometer will get me another decimal place of accuracy, BUT the total km on my spreadsheet will never match the odometer reading in my car.

So my odometer reading is more accurate to real life because will include these small fractions of km.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by Doogals

So using the trip meter instead of the odometer will get me another decimal place of accuracy, BUT the total km on my spreadsheet will never match the odometer reading in my car.

So my odometer reading is more accurate to real life because will include these small fractions of km.

Yes. total odometer reading is more accurate, but in reality even though your distance traveled is slightly off, its only by a small fraction of a percent.

[Doogals]

Is there any formula I can use to account for this in my spreadsheet? So that it matches my actual odometer, I'm wondering? Looks like I'm about 2% off after 93 fill-ups.

[Jay2TheRescue]

The only way to account for it is to use actual odometer readings instead of using the trip odometer. This way if you skip recording 500 feet on one fillup, they're picked up on the next tank. This variance can vary each time you fillup, so there's no set formula to account for it.

[theholycow]

There is a funny movie based on the same premise...except with fractions of a cent instead of fractions of a mile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Space

[GasSavers_BEEF]

... did you steal my stapler?