Avoid Tesco Diesel

hunnybunny86

I’m not sure whether we are seeing a repeat of 2007 but it's best to avoid filling up with diesel at Tesco at the moment.

My diesel car had recently developed a clutch problem so took it for repairs. However, after driving the car back from the garage yesterday it was seriously under powered and juddering when cruising and then the engine packed up this morning (fortunately whilst at the garage!).

After taking it back to the garage they eventually took a sample of fuel after looking at the other obvious causes. Stone me....it smelt just like petrol, which they had suggested shortly before sampling!

"You fool.....you filled a diesel car with petrol" I hear you say. On the contrary, my fuel receipt definitely says Diesel when last filling on the 24th Feb, which Tesco had confirmed from their records when I had phoned them. I trust the garage not to tamper with my fuel (they had no reason too and I have been using them for over 20 years!) and there was no evidence to suggest my fuel cap had been tampered with so I am putting in a claim against Tesco to recover the costs (this currently stands at over £100 for draining but is likely to rise to nearly £3000 if permanent damage is found when they investigate Monday!!!).

Tesco totally denied that petrol could ever get into the diesel line despite the fact I will be obtaining written proof from the garage AND a physical sample of the diesel/petrol mix. They apparently have not had any other customers complain so therefore they practically said that I legally don't have a leg to stand on as I can't prove that the diesel was contaminated. How wrong they are....

Would you not expect to get a refund if you bought a £50 DVD player and it didn't work! Why should this be any different!? I'd like to hear other people’s experiences of contaminated diesel (Tesco's, Somerfield etc) and the effect it's had on their cars so that I can at least feel a little better about being screwed over by Tesco!

I am considering contacting the local press and the OFT about this one! Any other helpful advice is most welcome!

PLEASE TAKE NOTE: BEWARE OF THE CURRENT DIESEL QUALITY AT TESCO IN GREAT NOTLEY, ESSEX.

natlol

I don't quite understand. You filled the car up... drove it around and it was fine. Took it to the garage for work on the clutch. They give it back to you and instantly its juddering and not running correctly? Could the car have been filled up at the garage by them? Are there any discrepancies in the mileage and how long did you drive the car around for before you took it for repair? Its also interesting how they made an accurate diagnosis....

To be honest it will depend on the engine and how long you have driven it for that will determine possible damage. Ideally draining the tank, fuel lines, new fuel filter should get it going fine although there is the potential that the fuel pump could be damaged due to lack of lubrication but this depends I suppose on the length of time it was driven for.

If you start getting large estimates get a second opinion!!

hunnybunny86

natlol wrote: »

I don't quite understand. You filled the car up... drove it around and it was fine. Took it to the garage for work on the clutch. They give it back to you and instantly its juddering and not running correctly? Could the car have been filled up at the garage by them? Are there any discrepancies in the mileage and how long did you drive the car around for before you took it for repair? Its also interesting how they made an accurate diagnosis....

To be honest it will depend on the engine and how long you have driven it for that will determine possible damage. Ideally draining the tank, fuel lines, new fuel filter should get it going fine although there is the potential that the fuel pump could be damaged due to lack of lubrication but this depends I suppose on the length of time it was driven for.

If you start getting large estimates get a second opinion!!

To be honest the car juddered but with no noticable loss in power, the night BEFORE taking into the repair garage (nearly 48 hours since filling up from Tesco) but I was hoping this was related to the clutch problem and therefore disappear once it had been changed.

The car fuel tank was literally more than 95% full when it went for initial repairs as I had filled up the car completely as a full tank full so there is no reason why fuel should be added! It took the repair garage over an hour to suspect the fuel after trying all other avenues, I watched from afar. It had been driven for 30 miles before going in for repairs but I had noticed the juddering after only 6 miles (travelling only from Tesco fuel station to home to repair garage).

I had already inspected the gearbox whilst it was being repaired and the work had been correctly done.

I know the difference between diesel and petrol smells. I work in the petrochemicals industry and after witnessing the first fuel sample I can truthfully say that there was definitely a significant amount of petrol sitting with the diesel. Unless Paul Daniels was working as a mechanic behind my car I can't see why not to suspect Tesco!

This is why I strongly suspect Tesco is at fault!:(

anewman

If you make £20k a year on top of your wage, how come you're asking Tesco to fix it?

(Lazy way of saying the site in the sig is BS).

natlol

From your additional notes I am inclined to agree with you then. The 6 or so miles you did after the fill up allowed the fuel already in the lines and bottom of the tank to be used before the petrol fully mixed. I am still inclined to say that you may just be lucky with it. I had a similar problem many years ago with an old fiat. I filled up at a large supermarket and the car started judering after not many miles. The supermarket used the exact same excuse as yours,,,, unknown to them...the local garage I used to repair the car had more than one car in with the same problem that had been filled up at the same place. What is the vehicle anyway?

exup

until you find more drivers with a similar problem it is doubtful tesco will accept responsibility for this, even with scores of drivers having the same problem with their last fuel contamination issue it took a great deal of effort for them to admit anything.

darich

anewman wrote: »

If you make £20k a year on top of your wage, how come you're asking Tesco to fix it?

(Lazy way of saying the site in the sig is BS).

Whilst I agree with you in that the site in the OP's sig is most likely a bs story or scam, if someone else causes damage to your property, then regardless of your salary or income, the person/company who caused the damage should pay to repair it.

I bought fuel at sainsbury's recently and was charged for the wrong pump. I put unleaded in but paid for another pump. it was spotted and rectified at the time but my receipt would have been for someone else's fuel had it gone unnoticed. same could have happened to OP. Put the wrong fuel in and paid for wrong pump leading to the arguement "my receipt says diesel".
On the other hand, it gives good ammunition to pursue Tesco for any damage since you have evidence, provided by them, that you filled with diesel, even if you didn't

jeannieblue

Interesting info OP - am in that county and there have been some problems - but would need to find out on Monday as to where said vehicles filled up...

BillTrac

anewman wrote: »

If you make £20k a year on top of your wage, how come you're asking Tesco to fix it?

(Lazy way of saying the site in the sig is BS).

Have you noticed that when you see a car with a sign saying 'increase your income', the car is always a heap of c**p?

LandyAndy

I'll continue to avoid Tesco fuel for no better reason than that it is always 2-3p per litre more expensive than everywhere else.

CHR15

Have you seen the tacky website the OP is :spam:ming??

Makes my eyes go doolally trying to read it. Looks like a 3yr old made it.

Reported to Abuse.

hunnybunny86 wrote: »

Any other helpful advice is most welcome!

Yes, Stop spamming your crap!!