Who is responsible for causing 'fuel gloop' in my Hyundai i40?

My 14-month-old Hyundai i40 'died' on my way to work on 17 January. There followed a long saga of recovery and the problem was finally diagnosed as frozen water content in the fuel, which turned the diesel to gloop and blocked the fuel filter. My dealer says this is a fuel related problem so not covered by my warranty. I am not sure whether to complain to Tesco for selling diesel containing water, or Hyundai for fitting a car with a filter that cannot be used in the winter. The bill was £109 and I am now worried about driving the car if it becomes very cold again. Your advice?

Asked on 2 March 2013 by SR, Colchester

Answered by Honest John
Nothing to do with the car and everything to do with the fuel. We had been having a mild winter so some fuel companies did not bother adding anti waxing to diesel.
Similar questions
My 20,000 mile Grand C-Max 1.6TDCI, after several transient episodes, recently went into permanent 'limp home' mode. The dealer reported that the fault was due to a partially blocked fuel filter, and...
The night before last I drove, with a friend, to a meeting about 10 miles away in my recently-purchased Citroen 2008 C5 2.0 HDI 138 Automatic, 61,000 miles on the clock. Three hours later, when I switched...
Having given my local Skoda garage £370 to flush contaminated diesel from my Superb estate, a serious cold-start knocking issue persists as bad as ever, disappearing once the engine is just a little warm....
Related models
Quality look and feel inside. Neatly styled. Low CO2 engines. Well equipped and good value.
 

Value my car

Save £75 on Warranty using code HJ75

with MotorEasy

Get a warranty quote

Save 12% on GAP Insurance

Use HJ21 to save on an ALA policy

See offer