Tesco Fuel Again?

[ernie]

Problem is that there is dissolved water in all fuel and it drops out in storage due to the temperature of the tanks. Provision is made to remove it but also to use an alternative higher draw off above the oil/water interface. I suspect that the supermarkets are less diligent at checking the interface, which also harbours other contaminants as well as water.

Supermarket and branded fuels come from the same tank in the storage facility, but the additive recipe can be different. However it is untrue to say that there are no additives in supermarket fuel!

Ialways keep my receipts until I am sure the car is going to be OK because it's too easy for them to blame misfuelling.

Ernie

 

[elisetype25]

Having a Mercedes which lasts for years with enduring value and reliability is one of the best bargains for the economy minded , especially when other makes need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily , or give Lots Of Trouble , Usually Serious

While I completely agree with your comment regarding Mercedes (135k miles in just over 5 years, and the car drives and looks new), I would also like to add that in the 15 years of ownership I only had to replace the alternator on my Lotus.

Although I have just SORN it in order to give it new suspension, clutch, full service, sort the cooling system out, fix the heater and a few other bits and bobs. All of which is no Trouble at all!

It's still the best value for smiles per mile, and residual value.

Regards, Neil
PS I never use supermarket fuel.
PPS Merry Christmas, hope you all have a good one and Mr C brings you everything you wish for

 

[John]

A guy round my way had an Esprit for a while - mid 90s job.

One day I walked out of my house to find a very angry chap trying to get the thing in gear for ages.

I did chuckle to myself as it's usually me that ends up with grief like that so it is refreshing change for someone else to experience it with cars.

It disappeared not long after.

 

[brucemillar]

I would have thought that a few customers with proofs of purchase could have raised small claims actions and taken ASDA to court , citing each others claims and press coverage as corroboration - as a civil action I'm sure the judge would have agreed the balance of probability was that the fuel was at fault and ordered them to pay up .

One instance proves nothing ( unless an engineer's report confirms it , along with a fuel sample analysis ) , two instances are a big coincidence , and three or more would be damning .

Derek

In this instance I did have a sample analysed (£25). That showed a mixture of Diesel, Water & Petrol along with some unknown "detergent" . The thinking being that the Petrol Station Tank may have been flushed at some point immediately before my wife filled up.

The pump in the car was actually siezed and the filter was 100% blocked , leading to fuel starvation. What came out looked like tar with mayo blobs in it. There was no trace upstream from the filter. We were lucky as it appears that the filter did its job. We did have to have the tank flushed and new pump and filter (circa £700)

I did speak to my solicitor friend who advised that ASDA would claim (as they had) miss-fueling. We had a receipt that showed petrol only. But that is not on it's own considered proof as the miss-fuel could have occurred either before or after the fill up in ASDA.

There have been many high profile cases almost identical where motorists have lost in court and many where they have won. It does seem that the weight of evidence falls on you to provide. This we found when we contacted (via the newspaper) some of the other drivers affected, who were not wiling to go to court.

I do not think that there is anything inherently wrong with Supermarket Fuel. I think that statistically it is more likely to appear so due to the Supermarkets selling more fuel than any other individual outlet. I have read of Shell Stations having issues like this.

I would have hoped that ASDA would have looked at our case sympathetically as (a) we were up until that day "good customers" of their store and petrol station (b) the facts all pointed at this being their mistake.

The issue is that ASDA is not a person it is a huge corporate that probaly only views £ revenue and not Mr & Mrs average.

 

[E55BOF]

I do not think that there is anything inherently wrong with Supermarket Fuel. I think that statistically it is more likely to appear so due to the Supermarkets selling more fuel than any other individual outlet.

Finally, somebody actually introducing some common sense on this issue. The dopes who 'would never use supermarket fuel because it's inferior' won't change their minds, but does anybody apart from them actually believe that no other garages have problems with fuel contamination? The difference is that when it happens to a supermarket chain it's more newsworthy, especially when (rightly or wrongly) that chain denies liability - David against Goliath is always news (of a sort).

 

[Meldrew2]

Having a Mercedes which lasts for years with enduring value and reliability is one of the best bargains for the economy minded , especially when other makes need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily , or give Lots Of Trouble , Usually Serious

But Mine Works...

 

[geraldrobins]

Finally, somebody actually introducing some common sense on this issue. The dopes who 'would never use supermarket fuel because it's inferior' won't change their minds, but does anybody apart from them actually believe that no other garages have problems with fuel contamination? The difference is that when it happens to a supermarket chain it's more newsworthy, especially when (rightly or wrongly) that chain denies liability - David against Goliath is always news (of a sort).

I think the reference to 'dopes' is uncalled for, although I disagree with them myself.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Are these stories created by the big fuel players to deter people from using supermarket fuel?

Tesco by me always has a quene 3 or 4 deep every day of the week yet my local shell (of which there is only one left) is always dead.

I have never had any issues with any of my cars with Supermarket fuel, nor do I notice any difference with branded fuel.

 

[BTB 500]

The news stories I've seen in the last 5 years or so have always involved the supermarket accepting liability. There have been quite a few ... the biggest was obviously the silicon contamination one, which affected Asda, Tesco and Morrisons:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_Kingdom_petrol_contamination

Tesco do seem to be a frequent offender and whilst it's true that statistically the chance of being affected is small I choose to fill up elsewhere myself. I'm not aware of any incidents affecting Sainsbury (who also have a large market share) and do use them sometimes as they are the closest. Normally I use Shell though as the pump price is generally the same anyway.

 

[BTB 500]

Are these stories created by the big fuel plays to deter people from using supermarket fuel?

No - if you Google you will turn up plenty where the supermarket has admitted the problem. Quite a few threads here with links too.

 

[E55BOF]

I think the reference to 'dopes' is uncalled for, although I disagree with them myself.

You may be right; in my defence, though, I started with f******s, then went through idiots to dopes...

Maybe I should have used 'bozos'; imho that's even milder.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

You may be right; in my defence, though, I started with f******s, then went through idiots to dopes...

Maybe I should have used 'bozos'; imho that's even milder.

It's a car forum, you should have used dipstick!

 

[John]

My local Shell is always 5p or 6p a litre more expensive, and as they are exactly the same distance from me - I used Momentum and have done for 8 years now without issue.

It's not so much the money that narks me as the principle of being shafted by a company who think they can get away with it.

 

[whitenemesis]

Since getting the CLS I only use V-Power. My local Shell is less than a mile from my door and I have my own parking space and personalised pump....

 

[BTB 500]

My local Shell is always 5p or 6p a litre more expensive, and as they are exactly the same distance from me - I used Momentum and have done for 8 years now without issue.

It's not so much the money that narks me as the principle of being shafted by a company who think they can get away with it.

Cheapest diesel round here at the moment is Shell at 104.9. The local Tesco and Sainsburys are both 105.9.

AFAIK all branded forecourts can choose what price they sell at, depending on local competition. So obviously it will vary from area to area, but Shell is consistently pretty good here.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

No - if you Google you will turn up plenty where the supermarket has admitted the problem. Quite a few threads here with links too.

Yes, but the number of litres sold by supermarkets must dwarf branded fuel by a great deal these days. Im not sure about other towns but in the last 15 years Cambridge has gone from around 10 Branded stations to 3!

These issues must be a tiny percentage over how many transactions take place?

 

[BTB 500]

Yes, but the number of litres sold by supermarkets must dwarf branded fuel by a great deal these days. Im not sure about other towns but in the last 15 years Cambridge has gone from around 10 Branded stations to 3!

These issues must be a tiny percentage over how many transactions take place?

The top five fuel retailers in the UK (2015 market share, based on litres sold) are:

Tesco: 16.5%
BP: 14.9 %
Shell: 13.2 %
Esso: 10.9%
Sainsburys: 10.3%

So based on volume you would expect the number of contamination incidents to be broadly similar across them, but it's not.

 

[Sheffield Col]

How does the RAC man know this, does he supervise the buying, has he any proof, or is he just listening to hearsay, ? I suspect the latter. I have used supermarket fuel more often than not for at least 15 yrs. without any problems, just because it's "Shell or BP" dosent mean the filling stations tanks cannot leak or let water in to contaminate the fuel.

 

[geraldrobins]

The top five fuel retailers in the UK (2015 market share, based on litres sold) are:

Tesco: 16.5%
BP: 14.9 %
Shell: 13.2 %
Esso: 10.9%
Sainsburys: 10.3%

So based on volume you would expect the number of contamination incidents to be broadly similar across them, but it's not.

Do you have the figures for contamination incidents against retailer, to justify that statement please?

 

[tanuie]

I don't use anything else , unless running low : my local BP want 107.9 for ordinary unleaded and Tesco just down the road are 99.7 for the same or 104.9 for Momentum super unleaded .

While one reads these stories every so often , the chances of getting contaminated fuel are minuscule .

My SL idles poorly on ordinary unleaded ( from any supplier ) although there is no noticeable difference when driving , but idles smoothly on super unleaded as well as getting better mileage .

My other cars have never shown any difference and always got the cheap stuff .

I used supermarket fuel once and the car just didn't like it, filled it up from a petrol station and it was fine, after that I just don't have any faith in supermarket fuel.