contaminated fuel

jg1959

Im wondering if anyone has had the same problem as me
I filled up my brand new car with unleaded petrol at Morrisons, Boroughbridge ,North Yorkshire on 17th December, the following day it would not start properly and warning message said contact workshop,the AA were called and it could not be fixed on my drive, the technicians report said the fuel should be drained and new fuel put in as he couldnt find anything wrong with the car itself.
the car was towed away the following day and Audi confirmed that the fuel was contaminated with water and it would cost me in excess of £1200 to get it back.
Ive contacted Morrisons on several occasions, they refuse to accept any responsibility saying they have done all checks and all was ok on that day I filled up and are keen to point out that no one else has been affected so the contamination was not from them and were at a loss to how it happened.
My insurance has told me I can claim on my policy but it would cost me my excess and increased premium on renewal, so I dont want to do this, when I feel Ive done nothing wrong and the water could have only come from petrol pump at Morrisons.
Any thoughts or suggestions please?

KimJongUn88

If it was indeed a brand new car, maybe there was a lot of condensation in the fuel tank which mixed with the fuel you put in and caused the problems. 

VFR

Yes like Kim has mentioned it could well be the car & not Morrisons as if it were them then surely it would have effected many more cars ?
Have you done a google search for say bad fuel from ......... ?

Browntoa

I've just done a "Morrisons contaminated fuel " 2020 search and zilch 

AdrianC

How many other cars filled from that tank (not just that pump - the tanks are shared between multiple pumps) at that filling station on that day? Hundreds.

How many others had the same problem...? Either Morrisons are lying, or the answer is none. If Morrisons were lying, do you not think there would be a lot of local coverage?

You say the car was "brand new" - this was the first time you'd filled it up since getting it? And it was absolutely brand-spankin', not just pre-reg or new-to-you or only a year and 10k old or...?

HansOndabush

Why does it cost £1200? Draining the tank and refilling should be more like £200.

AdrianC

HansOndabush said:

Why does it cost £1200? Draining the tank and refilling should be more like £200.

New car under warranty. Apart from the cost of parts and labour at full dealer rates, the warranty will probably require replacement of the tank and pump as well - obvs - as the filter on the basis that they've been contaminated.

Misfuelling a diesel can easily be a five-figure bill, with warranty insisting on replacement of every single part of the fuel system.

Over the top? Yes, probably. But...

mattyprice4004

HansOndabush said:

Why does it cost £1200? Draining the tank and refilling should be more like £200.

Because it's not just about getting the fuel out - notice the part where the car wouldn't run properly. 
It's not a 1960s Ford you can just re-fuel and it'll be fine again. 

[Deleted User]

If it was brand new and failed at the first fuelling I'd be looking for the dealer to cover it. They should have made sure there wasn't water in the tank before delivery.

facade

How much water are we talking about?

When I bought some petrol on Saturday, the pump jumped straight to 14p as soon as I lifted up the hose.  I assume that when the garage is closed, someone goes round with a can and drains all the hoses, and I was the first to use that hose (14p was around 100mL, 100mL per hose isn't worth it to me, but you won't believe how hard some people will work at something illegal)

It would be a wizzard jape to pour something into the hose after you've drained as much petrol out as you can, and it would only affect the first car to use that pump.

Again you won't believe how much effort some people will go to to cause misery to others.