Petrol in diesel car

Brodick

Put petrol in my diesel car yesterday. Not a good idea.
Does anyone know what the likely outcome is in terms of damage to the car and repair options?
It's a brand new Range Rover Evoque with only 800 miles on the clock.

ION08

Hate that!

Is it the first time you filled it!?

Kerryfootball

I'm no expert but if you didn't leave the forecourt you shouldnt have done to much damage.
A lot of garages will just come out and pump it out for you.
Bought a new diesel myself I was afraid I'd go the same thing.

Bpmull

How much diesel was in the tank roughly when you filled up roughly. How much petrol did you put in ? It's all about ratios. Bit in such a new modern Diesel engine anymore than a few percent petrol and your in trouble. Has the car actually stopped or how did you realise your mistake?

Noccy_Mondy

How much petrol did you put in?

Liamalone

Depends how much you put in I think, a mate stuck about 10 litres in his micra and was told to fill it to the brim with diesel to dilute it, drive it and to keep topping it up with diesel.

On a new engine it may be different though.

MuppetCheck

Did you drive the car afterwards?

roadsmart

Petrol in a modern diesel can do serious damage. Do NOT drive it. This crowd are worth a call;
http://www.motoserve.ie/our-price.298.html?gclid=CMz_t6329LwCFSVz2wod2mgATA

Not cheap, but how much is fixing an range rover engine?

colm_mcm

roadsmart wrote: »

Petrol in a modern diesel can do serious damage. Do NOT drive it. This crowd are worth a call;
http://www.motoserve.ie/our-price.298.html?gclid=CMz_t6329LwCFSVz2wod2mgATA

Not cheap, but how much is fixing an range rover engine?

From the looks of it on another thread, the aa were called and the car broke down.

I'd imagine its gone to the main dealer?

L-M

Ouch, that's an unlucky one!

Brodick

Yeh drove off without realising my error.
Only copped on when the engine started misfiring.
The tank was nearly empty and I put in 50euro so the ratios are as bad as they could be.

roadsmart

Ah feck it, sorry to hear that.

L-M

Brodick wrote: »

Yeh drove off without realising my error.
Only copped on when the engine started misfiring.
The tank was nearly empty and I put in 50euro so the ratios are as bad as they could be.

Keep us updated!

Aside from that, how do you find it? I passed my first new one today.

anewme

Brodick wrote: »

Yeh drove off without realising my error.
Only copped on when the engine started misfiring.
The tank was nearly empty and I put in 50euro so the ratios are as bad as they could be.

Try not to worry about it.....I've done it twice and more or less the same as you, brand new motors and drove away.

People scared me to death, engine will be seized you will have to get a new engine (new engines cant cope but older ones would be better etc etc ) but in both cases once the cars were drained there was zero damage (apart from the 250 to the AA)

Maybe I was just lucky, but I think the horror stories you hear are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Try not to worry, wait till you get a proper diagnosis and update us.

Brodick

The real problem is that it's my wife's new car.
She always bought petrol before so it's really her fault.
She's been very good about it but has banished me from the marital bed.
Must go now.
Don’t want to wake the cats when I stumble into the garage carrying my hot water bottle.

michael999999

Brodick wrote: »

The real problem is that it's my wife's new car.
She always bought petrol before so it's really her fault.
She's been very good about it but has banished me from the marital bed.
Must go now.
Don’t want to wake the cats when I stumble into the garage carrying my hot water bottle.

Make sure you don't put milk in the hot water bottle!

L-M

Brodick wrote: »

The real problem is that it's my wife's new car.
She always bought petrol before so it's really her fault.
She's been very good about it but has banished me from the marital bed.
Must go now.
Don’t want to wake the cats when I stumble into the garage carrying my hot water bottle.

LOL

ION08

Brodick wrote: »

The real problem is that it's my wife's new car.
She always bought petrol before so it's really her fault.
She's been very good about it but has banished me from the marital bed.
Must go now.
Don’t want to wake the cats when I stumble into the garage carrying my hot water bottle.

"The "garage"? Well la-de-da Mr French man!"

jca

ION08 wrote: »

"The "garage"? Well la-de-da Mr French man!"

New term for the dog house. :pac:

ION08

jca wrote: »

New term for the dog house. :pac:

I prefer to call it a car-hole

R.O.R

Does the Evoque not have the mis-fuel prevention system on it?

Barr

OP , if there is engine damage your insurance will cover it. I assume you have comprehensive cover on a car like that

djimi

Barr wrote: »

OP , if there is engine damage your insurance will cover it. I assume you have comprehensive cover on a car like that

You sure about that? Insurance doesnt usually cover mechanical failings.

blade1

R.O.R wrote: »

Does the Evoque not have the mis-fuel prevention system on it?

Mustn't have or else it's a pretty shoite one!

Barr

djimi wrote: »

You sure about that? Insurance doesnt usually cover mechanical failings.

Yeah ,it’s not a mechanical failing its accidental damage which is covered under comp.

dilallio

djimi wrote: »

You sure about that? Insurance doesnt usually cover mechanical failings.

My buddy's diesel engine got destroyed by fake diesel. His insurance paid for a replacement. They did insist on getting an official test on the diesel first to confirm that it was the cause.

tomdempsey200

why can't they sort out the pumps and cars so this doesn't happen?

it's crazy

Barr

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

why can't they sort out the pumps and cars so this doesn't happen?

it's crazy

Dragons Den think they have the answer

http://www.misfuellingprevention.co.uk/index.asp

djimi

Barr wrote: »

Yeah ,it’s not a mechanical failing its accidental damage which is covered under comp.

Id say just check the policy, because from looking online it seems that some insurers will cover this and others wont. Its not accidental damage; it is damage that has been caused through owner negligence (not dissimilar to someone requiring a new engine due to oil starvation from inadequate servicing), and as such they might not cover the damage if the policy does not specifically make allowances for it.

Barr

djimi wrote: »

Id say just check the policy, because from looking online it seems that some insurers will cover this and others wont. Its not accidental damage; it is damage that has been caused through owner negligence (not dissimilar to someone requiring a new engine due to oil starvation from inadequate servicing), and as such they might not cover the damage if the policy does not specifically make allowances for it.

It is accidental damage, you accidentally put the wrong type fuel in your car and it causes damage. Your insurer will tell you the exact same thing.

djimi

Barr wrote: »

It is accidental damage, you accidentally put the wrong type fuel in your car and it causes damage. Your insurer will tell you the exact same thing.

I would disagree with this (as I said, its not accidental, it is negligence), however its up to the insurer how they wish to define it. From what Im reading online, I dont think every insurer would agree with you, but some do seem to take this situation into account.

tomdempsey200

Barr wrote: »

It is accidental damage, you accidentally put the wrong type fuel in your car and it causes damage. Your insurer will tell you the exact same thing.

ya if you followed that logic

you could say traffic accidents are negligence too

which they mostly are..

blade1

It's his wife's car.
Does his wife's insurance or his cover this?
If his, I'd imagine it's only third party?
Not sure how it works though.

SleeperService

Barr wrote: »

It is accidental damage, you accidentally put the wrong type fuel in your car and it causes damage. Your insurer will tell you the exact same thing.

Not saying some policies don't cover this but doubt they all would.
Would they cover putting washer fluid in through oil cap? Oil in radiator? Battery terminals misconnected? Suppose they should if they cover driving like a clown and wrecking your car and a wall or something.

Worth a shot but I'm dubious about it being covered as a general thing.

TL/DR insurance is weird.

Barr

blade1 wrote: »

It's his wife's car.
Does his wife's insurance or his cover this?
If his, I'd imagine it's only third party?
Not sure how it works though.

It would be dealt with under the policy that the car is covered. There would be no third party element to the claim.

Barr

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

ya if you followed that logic

you could say traffic accidents are negligence too

which they mostly are..

Sorry I don't understand what you are saying here.

tomdempsey200

Barr wrote: »

Sorry I don't understand what you are saying here.

i'm saying traffic accidents are mostly down to negligence

but they're still covered by insurance

djimi

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

i'm saying traffic accidents are mostly down to negligence

but they're still covered by insurance

Its not quite the same. If you damage your car through mechanical negligence (ie not servicing it and the engine seizes through lack of oil) then most insurers will not cover this. As far as I can see, using the incorrect fuel very much falls into this category, however some insurers will make an allowance for it and specify in a policy that such an occurrence is covered. If it is not specified in the policy however, I would not take it as a given that it is going to be covered.

Barr

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

i'm saying traffic accidents are mostly down to negligence

but they're still covered by insurance

Yip I’d agree with this. For a motor accident to happen there has to be negligence on some party. Your Insurance will then cover your negligence if you are the liable party.

Barr

djimi wrote: »

Its not quite the same. If you damage your car through mechanical negligence (ie not servicing it and the engine seizes through lack of oil) then most insurers will not cover this. As far as I can see, using the incorrect fuel very much falls into this category, however some insurers will make an allowance for it and specify in a policy that such an occurrence is covered. If it is not specified in the policy however, I would not take it as a given that it is going to be covered.

I can’t see how you would think putting the wrong fuel in a car would be considered mechanical negligence. It was accidental. The op accidentally put the wrong fuel in the car.This is why there is cover.

djimi

Barr wrote: »

I can’t see how you would think putting the wrong fuel in a car would be considered mechanical negligence. It was accidental. The op accidentally put the wrong fuel in the car.This is why there is cover.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negligence

failure to take the care that a responsible person usually takes : lack of normal care or attention

Accidental and negligent dont have to be mutually exclusive, however it would be down to the insurance company how they choose to view it. Im not disagreeing that this damage might be covered by insurance, as there are some companies who do allow for this in their policies. My point is that do not take it as a given that they automatically will, as from doing some reading online it appears that not all insurance companies are willing to cover such an occurrence.

We can go round and round about this all day; ultimately it doesnt matter a toss what we think. Bottom line is that the OP should contact their insurer to see if they cover this eventuality; that is the only thing that matters.

martingriff

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

why can't they sort out the pumps and cars so this doesn't happen?

it's crazy

big

R.O.R

martingriff wrote: »

I think the other way around it is. I am almost certain that if you have a petrol the diesel nozzle is 2 small

A diesel nozzle is too big to fit in to a petrol filler, but a petrol nozzle will fit in to a diesel filler.

New Ford's and Jaguar's have an mis-fuel prevention system that apparently stops you putting petrol in a diesel. As LandRover used to be part of the Ford group when this was introduced, I'd be surprised it if hasn't been carried over to new models.

I know one of our drivers somehow managed to get Petrol in to his XF I tried to get Diesel in to a Mondeo one day that ran out of fuel here, and without the special funnel, it started to leak down the inside of the wheel arch from the gerry can, so kind of worked.

martingriff

R.O.R wrote: »

A diesel nozzle is too big to fit in to a petrol filler, but a petrol nozzle will fit in to a diesel filler.

New Ford's and Jaguar's have an mis-fuel prevention system that apparently stops you putting petrol in a diesel. As LandRover used to be part of the Ford group when this was introduced, I'd be surprised it if hasn't been carried over to new models.

I know one of our drivers somehow managed to get Petrol in to his XF I tried to get Diesel in to a Mondeo one day that ran out of fuel here, and without the special funnel, it started to leak down the inside of the wheel arch from the gerry can, so kind of worked.

Ya big I meant thanks for that

Brodick

Thanks guys for all your comments.

I'm waiting to hear from the insurance company.

As I put petrol in my wife's car which is insured in her name the "lack of reasonable care" exclusion shouldn't apply.

I've yet to speak to Range Rover about the handbrake problem or the failure of any mis-fuel system.

I'll update this thread tomorrow.

ednwireland

Barr wrote: »

Dragons Den think they have the answer

http://www.misfuellingprevention.co.uk/index.asp

dont use one on a pug 407 it has a sensor the fuel filler to put in the dpf fluid (apparently) not sure about other cars

cruizer101

Just renewing my insurance at the moment and was looking through the policy wording on 25plus.ie as they gave good quote but wanted to see what was covered, in their policy document under list of what is not covered:

•Loss or damage arising from your car being filled
with the wrong fuel

http://www.25plus.ie/files/25_Plus_Policy_Wording.pdf
page 6 bit past halfway down the list

Not saying some insurers won't cover it but just when I saw it it reminded me of this thread so thought I'd post it.

numbernine

don't mean to hijack this thread, but didn't think it was worth starting a new one!

if one was to accidentally put about 10c of diesel into a petrol car that already had just less than half a tank, then fill the tank with 30€ petrol.. would it be okay?

MuppetCheck

10 cents? I wouldn't worry about it.

numbernine

lol just making sure!