Misfuelings and Warranty

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Wed 10 Mar 2004 09:47
Misfuelings and Warranty - Cocky
I drove 50 miles in a diesel after refueling with £15 of unleaded, does anybody know if this can be fixed under warranty or is it out of my wallet?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 10:05
Misfuelings and Warranty - Blue {P}
I'll be stunned if any warranty covers that, fair enough it seems to be a common enough mistake, but no company in their right mind would include negligence in a warranty, otherwise people would claim for all sorts. :-)

Blue
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 10:57
Misfuelings and Warranty - Sooty Tailpipes
Claim for what?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 11:06
Misfuelings and Warranty - OldPeculiar
You won't get it fixed under warranty, fortunatly putting petrol in a diesel is a lot easier and cheaper to fix than the other way round. What I would be more concerned about is whether a mistake like that would invalidate the warranty - I could see a dealer turning round and saying that you have to pay to get something fixed as 'it could have been caused by you putting the wrong fuel in, see paragraph xxx.yyy in the agreement you signed'
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 13:09
Misfuelings and Warranty - Blue {P}
Erm, I meant a warranty claim. :-)

Things like - "Well I allowed the oil to run low and now the engine's broken, can I have a new one please?"

These are the kind of negligence warranty claims that manufacturers aren't exactly falling over themselves to pay out on AFAIK.

Blue
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 16:20
Misfuelings and Warranty - keo-the-dog
I drove 50 miles in a diesel after refueling with £15
of unleaded, does anybody know if this can be fixed under
warranty or is it out of my wallet?

afraid its out of your wallet but whats the problem if its running ok, top it up with more diesel to dilute the petrol percentage in the tank and carry on its not the end of the world some manufacturers recommend a bit of petrol in the diesel, my mate used to do it every third fill on his disco two gallons of unleaded to a tank of diesel he swore by it.
your vehicle may not like it very much but i am sure it wont do any lasting damage and dont tell the dealer as regards warranty because they will try anything as a get-out.(usually).
...cheers...keo
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 17:05
Misfuelings and Warranty - Altea Ego
Well the honest man in me would say:

"Dear Mr Dealer. I put petrol in my diesel. Please accept this braclaycard, drain the tank out, change the filter, clean the system, and stamp my cars record "Warranty now invalid""

The unhonest man would say:
"Damn, I will top it up with diesel run it and see how it goes. If anything goes wrong later I wont tell them why and demand a new engine - they will never know what caused it in another 1500 miles"

The chances are that if the petrol was mixed with a good quantity of diesel, nothing will go wrong.

What car was it?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 11 Mar 2004 15:12
Misfuelings and Warranty - Cocky
It was a fiesta.

The only problem with the unhonest answer is that I hadn't realised what I had done until the dealer called to say that there were traces of unleaded in the tank. It was only when I'd checked the receipt that I realised.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 19:15
Misfuelings and Warranty - Civic8
No warranty wont cover that.But if assuming you put the fuel in around the quarter/half tank.all you will suffer is slight loss of power nothing too drastic.if you did top up at that level fill up with diesel and that will reduce any problems.your not the first to do it and wont be the last.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Mar 2004 19:37
Misfuelings and Warranty - Sooty Tailpipes
Years ago, I remember a man was driving home from the Audi dealer in his new A4, and it ground to a sudden halt. The dealer came and took it away on a truck. It transpired that it had been filled from epty with petrol.
At first they tried to blame him, but he easily convinced them that it was delivered full and had only done 22 miles. The engine was scrap, and he had to have another car. He said the engine ran perfectly OK on the 99% petrol.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link