Hi there, 

I'm after some advice. I've just had to have a new fuel tank fitted on my 2007 Roomie. I filled it quite full the other day and it started to spill out onto the forecourt! Anyway, under investigation, turns out a hole has been drilled into the fuel tank- a breathable bit? I'm assuming this is like an overflow. I have photos of the damage. My mechanic (a neighbour, who I trust) said it must have been done when the towbar was fitted a year ago, worse still be covered with gaffer tape!

He's taken photos for me and I've contacted the company who fitted the towbar, however, they said that you didn't need to drill anything to fit it? I've phoned another local company who said the same. I now can't remember if there was a problem when he fit it, as it was a year ago and now unsure what is true! 

Can anyone tell me if:

1. Drilling needs to take place when fitting towbars
2. Anything else that may have caused this
3. Anyone with any experience of something similar

We've now had a bill for nearly £450 and not a lot of hope of getting that back :( 

Interestingly, a similar whole on the opposite side of the car has been made too.

Thank in advance

Clare.

Some more photos...

It difficult to comment without being able to work out where the pictures are in relation to the car.

 

The fist pic in the 2nd post looks has someone drilled through the arch liner, through the body work (red in the pic in the 1st post and 2nd pic in 2nd post) and into the fuel tank?

 

I'm pretty sure that gaffer tape over a hole means that nothing other than someone with a drill has caused this

Obviously the who and when are a bit more of a challenge.

 

If you had your tow bar fitted a year ago i find it unlikely that you wouldn't have experienced an issue until now.

I know gaffer tape is good but it's not THAT good!

 

Have you had an experience of finding yourself with maybe considerably less fuel in a morning than you thought you had the night before?

 

I filled up one night on the way home, only to came out to find myself with the fuel light on in the morning.

Some lovely scallywag had drilled the tank and drained the petrol out.

Could be that's happened to you but they's thought to cover up the evidence of their work so you wouldn't realise staight away.

We did wonder this, but we rarely fill the tank up to full, and the hole is not in the main fuel bit, but the 'breathable' bit- does that make sense? The hole has gone in through the back wheel arch liner and then into the fuel tank- I have a piece of it cut off in the car.

Never found that we had less petrol, just thought it wasn't as going as far as it used to- Just thought that was to rising fuel prices and getting a feel for the car (haven't had it from new).

It's been through an MOT with our regular mechanic and a pre-paid for service at Skoda in April and it wasn't picked up then. However, our mechanic said it wouldn't have necessarily been so, because of it's location and no petrol was leaking and suspicion was not aroused :/ 

Pretty sure, also, we would've heard drilling at night as the car is parked right outside our bedroom window :/

Now thinking, would I be able to claim on insurance for vandalism? IT's clearly not right, whatever it is!

Odd. I can't think there'd be any kind of tow bar that needed drilling through the wheel arch and body to fit, let alone someone to get this wrong and hit the fuel tank.

Botched robbery attempt sounds unlikely if they haven't gone for the "meat" of the tank, and have gone through the wheel arch, AND there are holes on both sides both sides.

Which i guess leaves some botched wok of some description.

AS said i'd have though you'd have noticed sooner than now vut you can see where fuel has seeping in to the dirt on the arch liner so poor fuel economy could mean it been gently leaking for a while.

Either way you have no real come back or way of finding out.

 

Insurance wise it'll depend on your excess.

If it's more than £200 i';d probably not bother, you're noly going to get minimal money back and potentially end up spending the money you get back on an increased premium come renewal time...

I know I have protected no claims and am due a renewal soon. There's been no work there of any kind, so I am now at a complete loss for what's happened. Scary though :(

well that actually looks like half a drill bit stuck in that hole.

 

i would say that has been done a matter of weeks ago rather than a year, the surrounding metal is still clean, after a year there would be build up of surface rust from a drilled hole in a steel body panel where it is exposed to moisture and air, the edges of that are too clean for it to be a year old.. i reckon some scallywag has tried to empty your fuel tank for you

Thanks, it's pretty crap- still don't understand why there's a hole in opposite side of the car? Also, they're pretty rubbish petrol thieves, since they drilled into the overflow? And in a side where there's no petrol cap! But then I don't understand why they would bother taping it up again. My mechanic and the towbar guy are getting together next week to see if anyone could shed light on the matter. My mechanic is pretty adamant it's not thieves-he is my neighbour, also and has been here for donkey's years. It's been safely parked during the day (school secured car park) and outside our bedroom at night. Don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of it and just say bye to the money :( Worrying though, I've been driving my toddler around. Lethal. Whoever did it should be locked up :(

Agree with tom.

Perhaps this is their way of plugging it to come back for seconds?