Is there anything i can do apart from get an apology, Faulty Hire car??

bbear69

Well we have got a Motability car and during our travel for a weekend away with the car it started pulling back so rang RAC who where amazing, had our car towed back to our local garage which was in Exeter from Kent,
Anyway he did his best to get us a hire car which would take our daughters wheelchair and with alot of calls to motability and a hire company we got sent a converted citroen dispatch. The man that delivered it to us said that he had filled up the car and to make sure it was full when we gave it back. So we are all happy and decide it would be best to drive in the night so the kids can sleep in the car, So We left Kent at 8 to avoid traffic, Driving home we didn't think to look at the gauge as it was ment to be a full tank of deisel which would get us home easily, So about 30 miles out of exeter the light comes on saying the tank needs fuel, as its so late all the garages we pass are closed, 10 miles later the car just stopped, thankfully my husband got it as close to the side of the road as possible but it was so scary being stuck there with 3 small children in the car one of which is disabled and in a wheelchair! thinking whenever a car came close it wouldn't see up and go into the car! We where lucky there grandma was 30minutes from us so she came and took the children to her house, i was another 20 til the aa turned up
Now is there anything we can do over the matter or do we just accept an appology
I would be ok if it was a engine fault but they must have known they didn't fill the car up!

I am so angry right now so sorry if my spelling is bad

hewhoisnotintheknow

bbear69 wrote: »

Well we have got a Motability car and during our travel for a weekend away with the car it started pulling back so rang RAC who where amazing, had our car towed back to our local garage which was in Exeter from Kent,
Anyway he did his best to get us a hire car which would take our daughters wheelchair and with alot of calls to motability and a hire company we got sent a converted citroen dispatch. The man that delivered it to us said that he had filled up the car and to make sure it was full when we gave it back. So we are all happy and decide it would be best to drive in the night so the kids can sleep in the car, So We left Kent at 8 to avoid traffic, Driving home we didn't think to look at the gauge as it was ment to be a full tank of deisel which would get us home easily, So about 30 miles out of exeter the light comes on saying the tank needs fuel, as its so late all the garages we pass are closed, 10 miles later the car just stopped, thankfully my husband got it as close to the side of the road as possible but it was so scary being stuck there with 3 small children in the car one of which is disabled and in a wheelchair! thinking whenever a car came close it wouldn't see up and go into the car! We where lucky there grandma was 30minutes from us so she came and took the children to her house, i was another 20 til the aa turned up
Now is there anything we can do over the matter or do we just accept an appology
I would be ok if it was a engine fault but they must have known they didn't fill the car up!

I am so angry right now so sorry if my spelling is bad

i think an apology is all you might get, the light would of been on for longer than 10 minutes too i would of thought

bbear69

Nope it came on and hubbie was a bit stumped, even if it was longer although didn't seem that long there where no petrol stations open as it was 12.30pm

I have asked for an apology which i still haven't got!

Although i don't think they should ring right now as i am livid that they put my families lives at risk!

hewhoisnotintheknow

so how many miles did you do on this tank of fuel?

Mark_Hewitt

"Didn't think to look at the gauge" are you serious? It's right there in front of you, next to the speedo etc. It's not like you have to do anything special other than glance in the direction of it.

It's a fairly fundamental part of driving that you monitor your fuel levels AT ALL TIMES. Running out of fuel is entirely the fault of the driver, nobody else.

So, apology? No chance, you might get sympathetic looks when you take the car back, but they'll be laughing at you as soon as you leave.

Depending on what route you take and where you've started from it's around 200 miles to Exeter from Kent, you did at least 250 before the car ran out of fuel. Depending on many factors such as the size of the fuel tank, it's entirely possible you could have used a full tank of diesel in that time.

Certainly a return trip will be in excess of 400 miles, and for many cars, mine included, you would not expect to do that entire trip without refuelling.

Although i don't think they should ring right now as i am livid that they put my families lives at risk!

No, your husband did that.

bbear69

Maybe i didn't explain myself, the gauge was saying there was still half a tank in there, it was a smaller car than ours which with our own car i can fill it right up and get from exeter to dover and drive around on a few errends, this one was only going tunbridge to exeter so a full tank would have easily got us there!

Quentin

bbear69 wrote: »

Now is there anything we can do over the matter....

Learn the Highway Code:

(Especially rule 97)

Before setting off you should ensure that..........

you have sufficient fuel before commencing your journey, especially if it includes motorway driving. It can be dangerous to lose power when driving in traffic

Mark_Hewitt

bbear69 wrote: »

Maybe i didn't explain myself, the gauge was saying there was still half a tank in there, it was a smaller car than ours which with our own car i can fill it right up and get from exeter to dover and drive around on a few errends, this one was only going tunbridge to exeter so a full tank would have easily got us there!

Was the gauge reading half full when the car stopped? That seems to be contrary to what you said about the fuel light being on?

Cars have different sized fuel tanks so your own car is irrelevant here.

bbear69

Quentin wrote: »

Learn the Highway Code:

(Especially rule 97)

thanks for that, if you read my post correctly it said the hire care company told us it was FULL of diesel, the guage said it was FULL

When it stopped it was still saying there was Half a tank!!!

bbear69

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

Was the gauge reading half full when the car stopped? That seems to be contrary to what you said about the fuel light being on?

Cars have different sized fuel tanks so your own car is irrelevant here.

Yes it was still saying half full when the light came on.

Mark_Hewitt

bbear69 wrote: »

Yes it was still saying half full when the light came on.

Now that is very strange indeed. Normally the fuel light will only come on when the tank is into the red zone. Or in the case of my car when it estimates there are less than 50 miles remaining.

Sounds like a faulty gauge i.e. went half way and then got stuck.

That being the case you have every right to be rather miffed..