Refueling Nightmare

Published Date: 25th Jan 2012

Putting the wrong fuel into your Car.

At the garage the other day I saw a guy with his head in his hands as he had just put unleaded petrol in his diesel car, the good news was that he had not started the car and driven off as that would have been a complete disaster as petrol would strip the diesel engine of the lubricant required to keep the engine components safe and most likely destroy the engine completely.

The incident made me think about just how many people misfuel their vehicles on a daily basis, according to the RAC and AA the figures run into hundreds of people every day making this expensive mistake.

Ten or fifteen years ago the difference between petrol and diesel cars vwas easier to spot as the Diesel car was always noisy, dirty and took time to warm up so the drivers experience of a diesel car was always a bit more engaging and less refined. Modern diesel cars are as quiet and smooth as the petrol equivalent so the driver could be forgiven for mistaking a diesel for petrol and vice versa.

At my BP garage the pumps for diesel cars are less obvious and are now on the same row as the petrol equivalent so this makes it harder for customers to differentiate between the fuel types as you no longer have to make the conscious effort to park next to a diesel pump like you had to many years ago.

At uk car discount the diesel car is the choice of many customers as the price of petrol has increased so much in recent years it makes sense for customers doing over 12,000 miles per annum to pay the additional cost to purchase the diesel vehicle, although Fords EcoBoost petrol enginesare certainly catching up in the race for maximum miles per tank of fuel. 

Ford also have the Easyfuel system which stops customers putting the wrong fuel into their car as the wrong nozzle will simply not fit and it also has the added benefit of no longer having a fuel cap that you have to handle when refuelling.

The other thing that several of our customers have discovered when they put the wrong fuel into their vehicle is that they are not covered by their insurance company so they are liable for any damage caused.

It is so important that you do not start your engine if you fill your Diesel car up with unleaded Petrol as this could save you huge repair costs as all that you will need to do is ask the AA or RAC breakdown guy to drain the fuel tank rather than do an engine flush on your vehicle.

Uk car discount cannot stop this happening but we can certainly supply you with a new car that can make this easier to avoid so if you are in the market for a new car visit www.uk-car-discount.co.uk or call us on 0161 946 3500 and we will be happy to talk to you.