Bought a 2015 Roomster in July. We have filled it with petrol 4 times so far (to first click of petrol pump) and each time there is a very strong smell of petrol for a day or so. I am fairly sure we haven't spilt the petrol.

 

Has anyone else had a similar issue?

 

Can't find anything about it on the forum.

 

Thanks.

Have you checked in the engine bay and under the car for any signs of a petrol leak?

 

There is a system that takes the fumes from the tank into the engine bay and through a charcoal filter before it gets burnt by the engine. There could be a problem with this or a loose pipe somewhere if you are smelling petrol.

 

 

 

 

 

@oscarl - Based on Superb's statement, I'm wondering if your tank breather or over-flow might be slightly loose.

Thank you both. Have done the obvious looking underneath but no signs of leaks. Will investigate the filter, overflow, etc.

Petrol will evaporate very quickly.

You might need to look for the leak when you fill up.

As noted above the tank breather, the overflow pipe and on top of the fuel tank.

I had a leak once and only found it by removing the rear seat cushion and inspection plate underneath.

I could then see the top of the tank.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Got it! 

 

No sign of a leak at all underneath the car this morning. Looked under the rear seat cushion - thanks AG Falco - and removed the inspection plate. Bone dry. Probably touched the pipes but didn't do anything much...

 

Went away for some hours, came back and looked again.

 

A mark on the garage floor under the fuel tank. A drip hanging down from the bottom of the fuel tank. And fuel covering the blue plastic cover that houses the overflow pipe and fuel level gauge - see photo! If we press down lightly on the blue plastic then fuel wells up. Maybe there's a problem with the gasket or the black plastic lock ring isn't tight enough? 

 

I bought it from a dealer and it's got a year's warranty. Hopefully it's covered. Closed now so will call them first thing tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Eek!

Most dangerous thing I've see in a while. Don't smoke in that car whatever you do.

No chance of that, we don't smoke! 

Good move.

Get it looked at asap though, and check it after it's fixed to make sure it really is. (The lack of smell will probably be all you need to tell that it is fixed TBH.)

 

If the dealer tries to charge you anything for rectifying this, I'd be disappointed, given how deadly this could have been. Print that photo out and take it with you.

Edited 22 September, 20187 yr by Wino

Rang local dealership this morning. Disappointed by their response as this is worrying me now - "you need to ring back tomorrow, we don't have access to the system to book you in". No "oh dear, sorry to hear that", just rather abrupt.

aa

Edited 24 September, 20187 yr by KenONeill
Dangerous statement withdrawn

4 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@oscarl - Well, my advice is to never repeat never fill the tank above about 3/4 until this is fixed.

 

 Not even that. It looks like a leak from the pump itself or piping. It is dangerous to drive as it is. Especially as the petrol is splashing around an electrical connector!!

Get it recovered into the dealer.

 

 

9 minutes ago, xman said:

 Not even that. It looks like a leak from the pump itself or piping. It is dangerous to drive as it is. Especially as the petrol is splashing around an electrical connector!!

Also @Tech1e  Ah yes OK. I'd thought that was the level sender and not the fuel pump.

Rang the dealer early this morning. After a miscommunication (they didn't ring me back as promised), they advised me to ring Skoda Assistance, who were efficient. A technician came out this afternoon and had a look. He said it needed recovering to the dealer and a flatbed truck came to get it shortly after. Awaiting call about replacement vehicle.

I'll give a quick update in case it ever helps anyone.

 

Skoda Roadside Assistance told us not to drive the Roomster as it was "highly dangerous".

 

It was recovered to local dealer DM Keith in Bradford. They reckoned the car, which I'd bought from Simpsons Skoda in Preston 6 weeks earlier, had been "misfuelled" and this must have led to a split in the seal of the fuel tank. This meant it wasn't covered by the year's Skoda warranty. They conceded they had never seen anything like it before but ruled out that it could be a faulty part.

 

Since the car had only had one previous owner in 3 years it seems unlikely to me that they misfuelled it with diesel.

 

Simpsons said all the right things but didn't/couldn't really help. I found DM Keith rude and unhelpful and spent hours calling them because they never returned my calls. Skoda UK were helpful to begin with but in the end wouldn't budge or pay out. No courtesy car was provided by any party even though this is our only car. It was a highly stressful, deeply unsatisfactory experience which left us with no faith in the dealership or Skoda UK. We paid £120 to have it fixed so we could have our car back after 10 days.

This is so wrong on many levels. It is absolutely impossible to misfuel a petrol car as a diesel nozzle will not fit in a petrol filler! (Only the other way round is possible). Also Consumer Rights act applied in this case. The fault was reported within 6 months and it doesn't matter what the previous owner did or did not do or what any dealer thinks about the fault, the supplying dealer is responsible for fixing unless he can prove the fault did not exist at point of sale.

 

DM Keith were plain Iying and fobbing you off! Complain in writing to all concerned and report them to Skoda UK and demand compensation! Small claims court will get your money back.

19 minutes ago, oscarl said:

It was a highly stressful, deeply unsatisfactory experience which left us with no faith in the dealership or Skoda UK

What a disgraceful state of affairs.

I imagine you're tempted to migrate away from the brand? I think I would be.