I am currently going through a nightmare with my 2014 Oct Vrs, my wife filled it up with £40 worth of diesel at Sainburys Basingstoke. The following day after a 40 mile journey to work the engine developed a knock similar to a pinking petrol engine. I called out assist who recovered the car to a dealer. Then it started, they drained out the fuel fitted new filters refilled it knock still present. Fuel tested on basic machine shows contaminated frowny face very basic test. Then they deemed it an injector issue, sent them away one deemed defective, replacement fitted knock still present. I am now told they need to take the head off and check for mechanical damage. The fuel initially put in the car was diesel no problem there the dealer says supermarket fuel is poor quality. I'm at a loss here any thoughts. The car was serviced 8 days prior to this happening.

Suspicious it was serviced a few days before, what did they break??

 

Well its still under warranty, and you have had it serviced, so unless they can prove its dodgy fuel, then Skoda are responsible to fix it.

First, report it to the supermarket, just in case others have had issues as well, at least you may have some cover if it is fuel related.

As Octyal says, ask the supermarket if they have other reports of drivers with issues.

Its always possible the fuel might have been contaminated (e.g. with water after heavy rain) or there was the big petrol "refinery" problems a few years back.

 

However, do not accept "supermarket fuel is low quality" as an excuse.

Supermarket fuel fully conforms to BS/EN standards for fuel quality.

The UK has good quality fuel compared with other countries where the Octavia is sold & manufacturers don't do all their validation running Shell V-power, they use basic fuel conforming to the market standard.

 

 

As Glosrich says, I would be highly suspicious that the car was serviced 8 days before.

I would ask for everything in writing so that they can't cover up something they've done themselves & keep a written record of all of your conversations with them.

Edited 30 June, 20169 yr by Gabbo

the dealer says supermarket fuel is poor quality

I'd ask the dealer to elaborate on that statement and if not, suggest he keep his thoughts to himself. Tool.

Garages are fairly honest when it comes to reports of batches of faulty fuel but it's pretty rare. I understand they do tests on each tank before they deposit it underground in the storage tanks. Definitely ask them if they've had reports, but until the dealer confirms this, it's purely speculation and clutching at straws to absolve themselves of responsibility.

Edited 30 June, 20169 yr by Mallettsmallett

I would have thought any water or particals would have been filtered, isent that what a fuel filters for. Obviously if it was very hevaly contaminated there would be a problem. My bet is it could be related to the service, or random failure. I dont see how a garage can determine how contaminated fuel is, i would not have thought they have the equipment.

Also supermarket fuel is the same Base as shell vpower or bp equivelent just not the additive pack.

I had an engine management light come on and the car go into limp home mode the day after a Mercedes dealer had serviced it (back when I had an A class) The dealer told me it needed a new coilpack at something ridiculous like £300 +VAT + labour. I told the service manager to f*&k off and fix whatever they had left loose when it was serviced. Not even 15 minutes later he reappears and tells me they'd double checked and it was just a faulty HT lead which they've replaced it FOC as a goodwill gesture. The older A class Mercs had a dodgy setup with the plugs at the rear of the engine - I'm guessing they just hadn't managed to plug on of them in properly.

 

Enough of my rambling, don't let the dealer off the hook on this one and don't be fobbed off by 'supermarket fuel is crap.' It may or may not be as good as Shell et al but it meets minimum standards to be sold in the UK.

Got the car back, engine was damaged, needed new engine and fuel system from the tank forward including pipes and pumps over £10000 worth of repairs, at least Direct Line picked up the bill, i will never chance supermarket fuel again. 

Did Skoda manage to prove that it was contaminated/bad fuel that was the cause of the engine failure? If so why have your insurance had to pay and not Sainsburys?

 

Or, if it isn't bad fuel, why haven't Skoda picked up the bill under warranty?

Why would Direct Line pay for an engine fault?

It should have been done under warranty, or if it was proven to be caused by contaminated fuel, the garage should pay.

What was the actual failure?

Saying supermarket fuel is poor quality is plainly nonsense.

Personally I would not be taking the insurance claim hit on that either way, it is either Sainsburys or Skoda, it is up to one to prove/disprove the other.

 

I do not know how applicable it is today but cheap diesel used to cause us issue a few decades ago on our fleet. Some of our machines were not good with bad fuel. We were told the main players take the fuel from the top of any delivery/transport system and pay a premium for it. The later/lower stuff is more prone to sediment and contamination.

 

Whilst it all conforms, you can be just unlucky to get a concentration of the bad stuff in one tank that would not flag up on a tanker load. Had to purge a whole fuel system and jet wash tanks out etc. etc. a couple of times. Only happened when we had to use a load of cheaper stuff for whatever reason.

 

Again don't know how applicable that is today and whether the same applies to branded/supermarket but it did happen then and colours my opinion now.

 

If diesel is bad it can do a lot of engine damage if it causes a hydrolock in the cylinder it can bend the con rods. Had this myself

 

If Skoda are not doing this under warranty, I would be wanting an analysis on the fuel showing why. Then take that to Sainsburys. No way this is your problem

 

Unless there is £10 of petrol at the bottom (top) of the £40 of diesel??

Edited 10 September, 20169 yr by flybynite

All I see from what you have said is there was an engine fault that would fall under warranty. They have provided nothing to suggest otherwise. A dealer saying supermarket fuel is crap is not any form of proof. Lab report? Documentation from Skoda saying Sainsburys fuel is unsuitable? What was the actual fault with the engine?

I'm not sure what your insurer has to do with it as its not remotely related.

Just a thought you could quite cheaply register a site called badfuel.co.uk or something like that, similar to this one, but obviously this is just skoda specific so less audience

Or maybe facebook page ?

There does not seem to be such a site. It could have a few ads on it to pay for the site ?

 

( Of course farcebook make their own money leaching off everyone elses content maybe a separate site is better)

 

The idea being like a forum where on a given date you report your fuel issues, everyone else does too, or possibly geomapping, so its possible to draw a better wider conclusion of failures based on experiences.

 

This would be in the interest of all in situations like yours

( and obviously easy buy in, for anyone having unknown issues with fuel of course they want to go to such a site !)

Of course if I filled up at same place, in XXX at XXX I have no way of knowing if it could have potential of problems but this could help draw better conclusions.

Just take a look at the duff clutch thread and fight your corner. 

I was told by a Mazda dealer a few years ago that a particular Sainsbury garage had water in the diesel due to a river beside overflowing.

Water never affected the petrol and the tank vent pipes were about 20 - 25 feet in the air! He was using the same lame excuse to try and avoid a warranty claim on injectors.

I asked for it in writing that Sainsbury fuel was the cause of the problem and they refused. I then said that I would contact Sainsbury to tell them that the dealer was blaming their fuel for the damage.

They also had serviced the car several weeks prior.... and all was sorted under warranty.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/396706-vrs-tsi-clutch-slip-replacement-after-17k-miles-skoda-reluctantly-pays-out-after-proof-of-defect/

Got the car back, engine was damaged, needed new engine and fuel system from the tank forward including pipes and pumps over £10000 worth of repairs, at least Direct Line picked up the bill, i will never chance supermarket fuel again. 

 

Insurance won't cover engine failures such as those you are describing.

 

What's your agenda?

Got the car back, engine was damaged, needed new engine and fuel system from the tank forward including pipes and pumps over £10000 worth of repairs, at least Direct Line picked up the bill, i will never chance supermarket fuel again. 

 

There is no way supermarket fuel would destroy a complete engine & fuel system in just on one car. There would be similar reports from lots of other people from the same garage.

99% its something they did at the service & kept quiet and when they realised you had insurance they milked the insurance company for every penny they could.

 

I'm assuming you don't use any "additives" or "cleaner" which you put into the tank?

 

How did you get the insurance company to pay for the repairs?

I would have thought they are would only pay for a real "accident"..??

I suspect this has nothing to do with fuel, more likely the OP or his wife over-reved on a down shift or they let it run out of oil.....

Direct Line ? Insurance paying ? Under warranty ? £10000.00p to fix ?

 

All seems a bit odd to me.

I suspect this has nothing to do with fuel, more likely the OP or his wife over-reved on a down shift or they let it run out of oil.....

That's quite an accusation with very little evidence behind it..

How would that damage fuel system components exactly?

And how can you "let it run out of oil" just 8 days after a service?? If it's a lack of oil issue it's more likely the garage did something wrong, or it's a parts or manufacturing fault with that engine.

That's quite an accusation with very little evidence behind it..

How would that damage fuel system components exactly?

And how can you "let it run out of oil" just 8 days after a service?? If it's a lack of oil issue it's more likely the garage did something wrong, or it's a parts or manufacturing fault with that engine.

 

Because nothing the OP says makes any sense, for some strange reason he's not telling the whole story, truthfully...

Because nothing the OP says makes any sense, for some strange reason he's not telling the whole story, truthfully...

 

Sounds more likely (IF the OP or his relative is at fault) to be a misfuelling error rather than anything else, as that would damage both the engine and fuel system.

The local Tesco to me was delivered contaminated fuel. I along with a few hundred others filled up there. My car (BMW E60 520d) showed no symptoms (almost empty tank, filled to the brim with the fuel) until after around 300 miles of driving.

 

The engine started 'pinking' as described by the OP. Engine management light came on for a while but turned off after a few mins. Took it to get the fault codes read, and the garage noticed unusual fuel pressure readings in the system. They though there must be an issue with the high pressure fuel pump, but said this should be impossible as they should never go wrong, that's why BMW put them at the back of the engine.

 

Took the car away as it was still driving ok, and the garage said the worst that could happen would be you would stop... and I did the next day! Recovered by the RAC who took a sample of fuel from the low pressure pump to see if fuel was flowing and noticed it looked a bit 'funny' but said there was probably something in the bottle he collected the fuel in.

 

The next day the RAC man called me to ask if I had filled up at the tesco fuel station as there had been lots of reports of issued.

 

It turns out that every car that got diesel that day had the contaminated  fuel, it was only discovered the next day when the stations fuel pumps broke down due to the contaminated fuel. Tesco admitted full liability that day, they even contacted everyone who used a club card, and wrote to everyone else (I guess using the number plate from CCTV). Not sure how many cars were effected but the BMW dealer had 40 cars in (mix of bmw and mini). Tesco even had to remove and replace the underground storage tanks! My car was written off (new engine and complete fuel system change needed). But I was given a E class hire car whilst everything was sorted and I got a replacement car.

 

So anyway the point is it's highly unlikely only one car would be effected, and supermarkets normally hold their hands up when it is their fault. http://www.heart.co.uk/dorset/news/local/drivers-complain-problems-branksome-tescos-diesel/ 

Sounds more likely (IF the OP or his relative is at fault) to be a misfuelling error rather than anything else, as that would damage both the engine and fuel system.

 

Could well be but without the OP being honest I really don't know why he even bothered posting at all....

Runs a petrol station ???

... issue with the high pressure fuel pump, but said this should be impossible as they should never go wrong, that's why BMW put them at the back of the engine.

 

 

LOL ah thank you for that it gave me a good chuckle      :clap: