Misfuelling

An estimated 120,000 UK drivers each year discover how expensive it is to put the wrong fuel in a car's fuel tank and are paying up to £3,000 to get their vehicles back on the road.

The AA Motoring Trust has already had some success in getting the major oil companies to agree to standardise the colour of nozzles and hoses for unleaded and diesel fuel and to review nozzle adverts to reduce potential customer confusion at the point of delivery.

AA Trust campaign

Now, the AA Trust and petrol retailers are launching an information campaign to tackle the problem. From February, petrol nozzles at selected petrol retailers will carry messages alerting drivers to the issue, while cards carrying the warning will be distributed to AA members through three million copies of the AA Magazine.

Later this year, petrol stations across the UK will distribute millions more cards with petrol receipts. The campaign is being supported by the UK Petroleum Industry Association, the Petrol Retailers' Association, the Association of UK Oil Independents and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association.

In 2003, the AA breakdown service was called to 43,000 vehicles which had broken down because the wrong fuel had been put into the tank.

John Stubbs, Head of Technical Policy for The AA Motoring Trust, says: "Drivers need to think before putting the nozzle in the filler. While the estimated 120,000 misfuellings each year are only a tiny percentage of the total number of visits to the pumps – estimated to be four million a day – the disruption to those who are unlucky enough to do it is considerable.

Repair costs

The cost of repairing the damage done by misfuelling depends on whether the vehicle has been driven before the mistake is noticed and ranges from about £80 upwards. If it has not been started, the tank usually only needs to be drained. If the car has been driven, major repairs may be needed, which can cost as much as £3,000.

The contaminated fuel drained from the car presents an environmental hazard too and has to be disposed of at special disposal centres, which just adds to the cost for the driver.

At the pumps

• If you do misfuel, don't start the engine
• Double check you're holding the right nozzle – read the pump label.
• Make sure it's the right fuel for the car – check the markings on the filler neck.
• Never force a larger nozzle into a smaller filler neck. It will be the wrong fuel.

Date posted: 19-02-2004