HELP Bad Diesel (BP)

MrDancer

3 weeks back had about and 1/8 of a tank of diesel left and went to put another £40 in prior to a long journey.

That afternoon went to my local mechanic (reliable and family has been taking their cars to him for 20 years) to get my car MOT'd. He did all check and work needed and went to take the car to the local testing centre. Car sounded "lumpy", did a few rev's and it conked out and would not start again.

After 3 weeks of changing parts, testing and diagnostics we finally decided to drain the tank. What was in there was certainly NOT diesel. New Diesel in and it works fine.

Called BP to confirm diesel was put in (not petrol by accident) and if there had any been any other complaints. No compliants reported.

Contacted BP customer care. reponse:

"Thank you for your phone call received in this office on 11-Mar-2013 concerning your recent visit to Milton Heights SF Connect. Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have been caused. We have now investigated the matter fully and can assure you of the following:

The relevant storage tank at the site is linked to an electronic gauging system and this will indicate the presence of water in the tank on the daily readouts that are produced. There have been no occurrences of this during the period under investigation.

In addition, we have not received any other customer complaints relating to fuel quality concerns, or reports of vehicle breakdowns, at this location. Experience has shown that if fuel were to be sold that was contaminated, we would receive a number of complaints in very quick succession, due to vehicle breakdowns, and we do not have any evidence of this being the case. Given the high throughput of fuel at the site we would have expected a considerable number of complaints if a fuel contamination had occurred.

For the reasons stated, we feel that it is highly unlikely that the problems you have experienced are attributable to either the site or the product. However, I will continue to monitor any activity relating to fuel quality concerns at this site."

What can I do as it cost me £1,200 to get the car repaired and I firmly believe it was down to the fuel.

I trust my mechanic completely

Any help would be great

thanks

greyteam1959

Presuming you have kept the fuel that you removed from your tank,
send a sample to BP & or have it independently tested & depending on the results take things on from there.
What did the suspect fuel look like then ??

muckybutt

This would be better asked on the Motoring board - i'll message a moderator to get it moved

Crabman

It may be worth letting the local press know, because they are probably best placed to collate any other reports from drivers.

You're fortunate the car was at a garage when the issues occurred & that a mechanic was driving and was able to experience the symptoms first hand.

Also, don't expect BP to put their hands up and accept liability. Even if others have reported similar issues, there's nothing to stop BP from claiming you're the only complainant to make this go away.

spacey2012

Hope the mechanic has learnt his lesson, start with the basics first.

UncleZen

Do you have the receipt to prove you put diesel in? For all we know you may a have put petrol in

arielcohen

If he had put petrol in the car would not work again by simply changing the tank to diesel after the petrol was burnt in the system.

Like the poster above said, get a sample of the 'disel' and send it to BP whilst contacting the local papers if you are sure that the mechanic is correct.

forgotmyname

arielcohen wrote: »

If he had put petrol in the car would not work again by simply changing the tank to diesel after the petrol was burnt in the system.

Like the poster above said, get a sample of the 'disel' and send it to BP whilst contacting the local papers if you are sure that the mechanic is correct.

Why? We have had plenty of cars misfuelled and just drained the tank and brimmed with fresh diesel, Pump it through the pipes and then they carry on as before.

They will tolerate a % of petrol in diesel, Most should run with 20% of petrol mixed. Not ideal but depends on the pump and injectors.

The petrol may act like a descaler though and clogs the filters up. So a filter change soon after is recommended.

breton_2

had my own experience with BP and definitely not going back to BP.

BP diesel in my own car, a full tank, drove for about 30 miles, engine started to shake then just broke down. Would not start up again, got towed to garage.

Another case was with my friend's new car. Bought about 1 month, 3rd tank filled with BP petrol. Drove about 15 mins, car went shaking like my case (within the same year) then broke down. Got towed and went to the same garage, got the same treatment, fuel problem.

Therefore, i personally reject to fuel with BP.

worried_jim

breton wrote: »

had my own experience with BP and definitely not going back to BP.

BP diesel in my own car, a full tank, drove for about 30 miles, engine started to shake then just broke down. Would not start up again, got towed to garage.

Another case was with my friend's new car. Bought about 1 month, 3rd tank filled with BP petrol. Drove about 15 mins, car went shaking like my case (within the same year) then broke down. Got towed and went to the same garage, got the same treatment, fuel problem.

Therefore, i personally reject to fuel with BP.

You do realise that all the petrol stations in your area get their fuel from the same place, be it Tesco Shell or BP. It won't make any difference where you get it from the only difference may be an additive, the logo and the price.

Buzby

Very true - the brand is immaterial. As for bad diesel, the most complaints (I've seen reported) are usually BP, with Esso second - although way behind. The complaints are always about Diesel engines conking out, not petrol - this excludes mis-filling.

For this reason, since 2007 I use She'll only, and never had an issue with this OR the tank fungal growth that is causing problems for some drivers.