Vehicle Misfuelling

[HowardD]

Charge the company car driver for the repairs they will never do it more than once. The company I used to work for had the following policy on misfuelling.

The employees cost centre would be charged the cost of repairs and this would be recovered from the employee by monthly payment over 12 months.

If you put diesel in a petrol or vice versa then your IQ must be lower than that of a goldfish IMHO

Our firm doesn't take such a hard line - our legal counsel are more cautious as, unless the employee gave their written consent, it could be seen as an unlawful deduction from wages.

And, of course its inevitable that it happened to a handful of senior people.

It's not intelligence but concentration, and external distractions that can make a split second wrong decision - kind of like being involved in an RTA, and our firm would not normally recover accident damage from employees.

One or two of our culprits have been international assignees who may not be as familiar with the UK definitions of fuel types when they pick up the keys from Terminal 1...

 

[Rory]

And, of course its inevitable that it happened to a handful of senior people.

It's always funny when very senior people get their laptop nicked from their cars or leave then on planes.

In my last large company job many people mis-fueled their cars, and it must have happened lots of times that I don't know about. Some people (always women, I have to say) did it several times, but they rarely told anyone officially and just got the tank drained. I'm not aware that we ever had any issues (these were BMWs and Audis) and the cars were run to 3yrs/90K miles.

 

[219]

You can't put diesel in a petrol as the nozzle won't fit

Not always . As I mentioned earlier , some 'unleaded only' cars have a tiny filler neck , but many don't .

Unleaded pumps usually have a slimmer nozzle to accomodate these cars , but what puzzles me is how this mechanical device can prevent the slim nozzle going in . Then again - leaded and LRP nozzles may be the same size as Diesel ones .

 

[Dieselman]

but what puzzles me is how this mechanical device can prevent the slim nozzle going in . .

I think it's covered in the makers literature, but it has two rings of different sizes.
If the nozzle only makes the inner ring it blocks when pushed, if it makes the outer one it's allowed in.

 

[crockers]

My car has a bright red cap...with some weird word DIESEL emblazoned on it ..plus a sticker inside the flap.......still not happy to let Mrs C fill it though...

 

[jdrrco]

If you put diesel in a petrol or vice versa then your IQ must be lower than that of a goldfish IMHO

Wayne Rooney, Lancashire Police and AA / RAC recovery drivers have all been victims.

'nuff said!

 

[st4]

My car has a bright red cap...with some weird word DIESEL emblazoned on it ..plus a sticker inside the flap.......still not happy to let Mrs C fill it though...

as does mine, so if you miss that then you're to dumb to own a car

 

[flango]

You can't put diesel in a petrol as the nozzle won't fit.

.

You can in Vauxhall Vectra C's ask my brother

 

[flango]

Our firm doesn't take such a hard line - our legal counsel are more cautious as, unless the employee gave their written consent, it could be seen as an unlawful deduction from wages.

...

It's covered in the terms and conditions of employment, any employee was responsible for the costs arising out of the misfuelling of a company car and would be recovered by 12 monthly deductions. So signed and agreed to as part of the contract.

 

[3 phase]

I nearly did it once (but didn't) as I used to have a petrol car along with my trusty Renault Trafic diesel van. Now many Repsol and Campsa garages here have an automated voice that asks you (in Español) when you remove the holster, are you sure you want unleaded or diesel. Tends to have the desired effect and you see many people take out one holster and hastily replace it and take out the other one. Trend is now for pre paying more and more and you have to specify the fuel you want to the cashier before you pay, then only the specified nozzle will work. This comes off the back of a number of fill up and bugger off without paying merchants, but also by hire companies request to the petrol companies. The key ring has the fuel type on it as well as the fuel flap, so when the tourist goes in to pre pay he shouldn't really get it wrong................................in theory.

 

[219]

How does that work ? You can't know how much your car is going to take until you fill it . Card payment at the pump works best to combat fraud , apart from Tesco which only allows something like £69 one one transaction ; Morrisons is better with a limit of £100 .

 

[Rory]

but also by hire companies request to the petrol companies. The key ring has the fuel type on it as well as the fuel flap, so when the tourist goes in to pre pay he shouldn't really get it wrong................................in theory.

Now that *is* a good idea - it's often uncertain which type and grade of fuel to use if you're in a strange land with a hire car (I usually just pick the cheapest!).

 

[fuzzer]

i do the diesel,diesel,diesel a good few times .

once at the pump , once at the nozzle and once at the filler on the car.

then check the pump has come up with the diesel price. I can understand how someone could easilly lift the wrong one.

 

[ringway]

After taking the micky out of a distant relative for misfueling I, erm... actually did the unthinkable in our Sprinter.

I was bursting for a pee and didn't know whether to go home and use the loo or get some fill with diesel. Decided on the latter, stood at the pump cross-legged and then that smell.. unleaded.. NO!

Luckily, I managed to get just £20 worth in the tank (holds £100 in the bad times) before realising.

Made sure I didn't start the engine, and when the Shell tanker driver came to replenish stocks and TOLD me to move it I told him to move it with me, We agreed on Pushing.

Van towed in via RAC to garage 30 miles away - "others" were in the waiting room, and apparently the garage does 10 misfuellers a day.
One guy was at level pegging with his wife (1-1) and was hacked off when he had gone (2-1 up).


ps. The urge to empty my bladder completely disappeared when I realised my mistake and returned about half an hour later.

 

[coupe deville]

Ive done it, its easy when you're daydreaming 50 litres unleaded in a Focus TDCi, luckily I realised before any damage done, first little splutter and the penny dropped, switched off, RAC recovered to Hartshead Moor services westbound from Tesco Barnsley, took an hour, recovery Co. their on a nice little earner, half a day wasted, had to go in for a b0ll0cking

 

[ringway]

I actually bought a couple of the misfuelling devices from the guys featured on Dragons Den = Named DDN (Diesel Do Nicely).

I, erm.. haven't fitted these yet after having them for months.. Yeah, I know...

 

[219]

If you realise you've put petrol in a Diesel vehicle before you get too far , you can just top up with Diesel and all will be fine .

We used to run our trucks ( my dad was a haulage contractor ) as high as 50:50 mixture petrol:diesel in the cold weather to stop the diesel waxing up . There's not the same need for it now due to modern additives in winter diesel , but if you've only put £10 or £20 of petrol in a large-ish diesel tank then just fill up the rest of the way with the correct fuel and it'll be fine .

The other way does not work though , diesel in a petrol tank will gum up the works pretty good !

 

[ringway]

In the fuel shortage of approx 8 years ago we had to run and OLD LDV (Sherpa Van) on paraffin
Only did 60 -80 miles in it over a few days but she coped well (although I was told later I should have added a little oil to the tank to aid lubricity) and was seen for years after we sold flying around at a rate of knots

 

[eazyrider]

I've bought SoloDiesel and it works perfectly, especially for my wife . Hope I can post link here otherwise admins please delete it.

Misfuelling - SoloDiesel -- Misfuelling Prevention Cap