Non-Driver fault mis-fuel

reyals_yffub

Bare with me on this one
Wife filled up the car (Auris Hybrid) at the local Tesco fuel station as normal.
Drives off and a couple of minutes later, error on the dash and loses all power. Call out TheAA as we're members and he confirms suspicion that the car has been filled with Diesel.
Wife checks her receipt which confirms she paid for Unleaded.
Calls Tesco who check CCTV and confirm she has picked up the Unleaded fuel pump.
However upon checking later in the day no other customers have called in saying that they've had issues so doesn't look like the old case of wrong fuel in the pump per se.

Firstly we have no idea how this is possible, any ideas? the above statements appear to contradict each other.

Secondly as we've dealt with this through TheAA who took the car to Toyota Garage nearby we've had no need to speak to Insurance etc. However Toytota are now saying it's going to be well in excess of £1000 due to the car being actually run on the wrong fuel so it's all in the system etc. It may be significantly more if that has then done further damage on the way through. I therefore think the best bet is to go through Insurance now, but will they have an issue with not being contacted straight away? And given the situation will they be able to make a claim against Tesco or are they going to sting us with a fault claim?

stator

Does your car insurance cover mis-fueling? Most don't cover it.


Get the car towed to an independent garage, they will fix it for less than the rip-off main dealer.

reyals_yffub

It doesn't say one way or the other whether it's covered. I'd assume therefore it must be covered under the generic "damage" clauses.

I still feel if another garage fixed it the other questions apply and given the car is less than a year old I'd rather it was fixed by the dealer...

[Deleted User]

Your insurance policy probably requires you to inform them anyway, even if you don't want to make a claim.

How long has passed? It's probably fine unless it's months.

Have you asked Tesco to cover the cost? You have the receipt and they confirmed the right pump with CCTV.

If they refuse then you might want to escalate it to a claim with your insurer, although if you can afford it then maybe doing it privately is the way to go. Pay for the repair and then send Tesco a letter stating you will take them to Small Claims Court if they don't pay, and then do so if they don't play ball. It's cheap and easy to do so, no lawyer needed.

I'd ask them for a copy of the CCTV in the mean time too, they should charge no more than £10 for it.

reyals_yffub

This happened on Wednesday so 2 days ago.

Yes but the correct manager is on leave so we're waiting for her to get back. I'm preempting a challenge since it's only us affected in this weird scenario. But they may well just agree to pay for it we hope.

Yes we've got a request in for the CCTV, has to go to Head Office for approval apparently.

System

It would have been a good idea to have gone back to the pump and filled a can as evidence. Still might not be too late - there might be analysable traces of diesel.

macman

Since diesel nozzles are bigger, it would not be easy to refuel a petrol car with diesel. The majority of misfuelling incidents are when diesel cars are filled with petrol.
If the bulk petrol tank had mistakenly got some diesel added, this would sink to the bottom, being much denser, and the pump, being near the bottom of the tank, would pick it up fairly quickly. So it would be interesting to know if the bulk tank had recently been refilled?

angrycrow

A garage in Buckinghamshire put diesel in the petrol reservoir about 10 to 15 years ago. Proved very expensive for them with all the post cars in the area.

forgotmyname

Local (ish) Morrisons have had the wrong fuel in the the tanks at least twice.

I avoid that place at all costs.