tesco fuel scam maybe?

rob_da_bank

Im a mechanic and I have a theory about tesco fuel, me and my fellow workmates dont use tesco fuel anymore neither my sister and a few of my friends.

The reason for this is i think they screw around with the fuel and the issue with the 02 sensor was a result of them getting the mixtures wrong in the fuel.basicly I think they are "watering" down the fuel with silicone or something that wont harm the engine or the engine management with the right mixture but maybe they slipped up,thus causeing all them problems last year

I had a fiat punto 1.2 which was fine, l i filled it up at a large tesco motorway. my car usually does about 400ish miles to the tank. in this case it did 175.

took it to my garage looked for leaks,knew it was running correctly no faults found with it. I cant think of any other logical reason other than the fuel to have been at fault, since then I have never used them for petrol I use BP or any other proper filling station.

also I my gilfriend and my sis have said about poor consuption from their fuel,my sis doesnt use them but my girlfriend still does,because of the clubcard points she gets lol

Wig

I can't see what you say being true. I don't know why they put silicone into the fuel and I don't know if other (BP esso etc) do it aswell. If the others don't do it then Tesco needs to explain why it put it in there in the first place. But the amount they put in is nothing in terms of % . There's no way they are watering down the petrol, I don't believe that for a minute.

Why your car did 175 instead of 400. I can only guess it was human error, i.e. you did something which you have not accounted for.

Burlesque_Babe

i've read online before about supermarket petrol being a 'mix' which means they can sell it cheaper because it is 'watered down' (in some technical sense) although they do have mainstream suppliers - ie BP?

custardy

seemingly the silicone is added in small quantites as a lubricant

taxiphil

It's ethanol (made from sugar) that they water it down with.

It's only Tesco and Morrisons that do this via their exclusive supplier Greenergy.

All the main petrol retailers, Shell, BP, Total, Texaco, Esso, etc, refuse to dilute their fuels with ethanol, which tells me a lot.

pandas66

If he was a mechanic and had such a difference in consumption did he inform Trading standards?

He would surely have some left in his tank to drain off and send for analysis?

phill79

I noticed 5 years ago that I wasn't getting as good economy with Tesco fuel compared to the other station I used - Jet. Have never used it since, especially now that it is so much more expensive compared to Shell/Asda/Morrisons.

Conor_3

keren29 wrote: »

i've read online before about supermarket petrol being a 'mix' which means they can sell it cheaper because it is 'watered down' (in some technical sense) although they do have mainstream suppliers - ie BP?

So how does it get watered down when the tankers are filling up at exactly the same refineries as all the other tankers supplying all the other branded stations?

Here's a clue. What's on the tanker or the garage forecourt doesn't mean it came from that companies refinery.

taxiphil

Conor wrote: »

So how does it get watered down when the tankers are filling up at exactly the same refineries as all the other tankers supplying all the other branded stations?

Here's a clue. What's on the tanker or the garage forecourt doesn't mean it came from that companies refinery.

Tesco fuel doesn't come from the same tankers/refineries as the other branded stations! See my post above. Tesco use Greenergy as their supplier, which has nothing to do with the major oil companies.

Anyway, even the supermarkets who do use fuel from the major oil companies, like Sainsburys, don't have the same quality of detergent additive put in the fuel, which has a major effect on fuel economy and engine wear over the long term.

Wig

taxiphil wrote: »

Anyway, even the supermarkets who do use fuel from the major oil companies, like Sainsburys, don't have the same quality of detergent additive put in the fuel, which has a major effect on fuel economy and engine wear over the long term.

Sorry but I just don't believe it any percieved difference is down to variables beyond your control.

tomstickland

Conor wrote: »

So how does it get watered down when the tankers are filling up at exactly the same refineries as all the other tankers supplying all the other branded stations?

So Becks and Stella Artois are the same thing because they both come from the same (crap) "brewery"? Actually, refinery is probably a better name for the production facility for bad lager.