Petrol in a diesel car

[ETAF]

I have an issue - where I filled up with Diesel (24L ) at my local sainsbury store - I always check I use the Diesel pump and also kept the receipts which has diesel on it.

drove 1.5 miles home - next time I started - it would not run properly, no revs

got towed to the garage
they checked pressures etc all OK
and removed fuel filter and smelt petrol and evaporated on hands so they
also put some into a cap and ignited the fuel - which proves its petrol.

so now I must have put Petrol into the car

they have all 70L (or whatever a full tank is ) at the garage
cost me £205 for the fix
also lost a full tank of fuel @ £70

But sainsbury have no reported problems - and i would expect any cars that filled up from empty - would not have started or all stopped a few yards down the road

Any ideas - As I am 100% certain i did not do this. the receipt says I did not do it.
The last time I filled up was on 4th Oct with 43.22L - again to FULL
and that has run OK upto the 18th Oct when I filled up again with 24.68L

I have spoken to Trading Standards and will be writing
But what I cant explain is why sainsbury are not saying they had loads of issues OR why cars that had used the pump from empty did not start

I understand that I drove the 1.5miles OK because the fuel was still mixing
but when standing Petrol is heavy then Diesel and so it goes to the bottom of tank and is then pulled into the engine

anyone any ideas please....

 

[Mursal]

Ask for the security camera footage of you filling up with diesel and ask the garage for all the fuel they drained from your car.

 

[Dave54]

If you're sure you put diesel in and the receipt says "Diesel" and no one else has had problems then the only way to prove there was petrol in there is to have what came out of the tank properly analysed I'd have thought.

If you think about it though, looking at it from Sainsbury's POV if they really haven't had problems then they could say the petrol had come from somewhere else.

As Mursal says video footage would help.

Good luck with it hope you get it sorted.

 

[ETAF]

Thanks for the replies
I have discussed with some legal advice and it would appear this is a difficult one , as i have to prove it was their fuel thats contaminated !!!
and not the fuel I already had in the car .

I will write to them and ask for maintenance records and also complaint records

so we start to get into a lot of costs which may not be recouped.....

thanks for the speedy replies

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You could check any local facebook group pages etc as these things often get mentioned there.

 

[ETAF]

great idea

local facebook group pages

i'm on facebook - how would i do that ?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Find any local groups of facebook pages specific for your area/town/village. I guess I would start at google and see what comes up, search for 'XXXXXX facebook page' or similar.

 

[Stivino]

Petrol and diesel mix instantly, there is no dropping to the bottom of either fuel.

 

[ETAF]

Petrol and diesel mix instantly, there is no dropping to the bottom of either fuel.

Thanks good to know - so in theory then - i should not have been able to drive perfectly well for 3.84 miles
used rac route planner to get the exact miles

and then after standing for 2 days it wont run

cant find anything on facebook yet

 

[Mursal]

Has the problem returned? If so, I doubt very much it was fuel related in the first place.

 

[ETAF]

Has the problem returned? If so, I doubt very much it was fuel related in the first place.

No I have only driven half a mile back from the garage and put some fuel into it

will be out and about tomorrow

 

[mfarrow]

There will be fuel in the fuel lines and therefore driving a few miles is perfectly reasonable.

Either:

- You put petrol in it by accident.
- The garage is lying to get a tank of diesel out of you.
- Sainsbury's is lying and there have actually been breakdowns galore.

It sounds like you're OK as you have a receipt however for the other two you have no evidence to back up either right now.

 

[mfarrow]

also put some into a cap and ignited the fuel - which proves its petrol.

Also FFS who does that? It smells like petrol, it evaporates like petrol, it has consistency of petrol. I know, let's prove it by getting our finger hairs burned off by lighting it!

 

[ETAF]

- The garage is lying to get a tank of diesel out of you.

possibly , But the breakdown guy - also thought it was fuel or pressure and towed to garage

Garage tried on deisel before emptying the tank

They had nowhere to put it - so its in a OLD car thats due to be scrapped and showed me the car - which was empty to start with

Happy to also give me a sample

Cars driven today like a dream - and they did nothing else other than change the fuel filter and put a couple of gallons in the car

- Sainsbury's is lying and there have actually been breakdowns galore.

Thats my issue - someone is lying

dont see what the garage has to gain - as they had a car that would not run and could have said anything .... and charged for some parts - EGR maybe @ £160 for the parts etc - so they would have better ways to make money

still at a loss