Costly mistakes fuelling frustration at the pumps

It’s every motorist’s worst nightmare: filling your car with the wrong type of fuel. Misfuelling affects nearly 150,000 people annually according to a report by the AA, wasting enough fuel to fill 150 petrol tankers every year. Repairs can be costly, and in the worst case, requires the engine to be changed.

A recent survey conducted by Motorpoint, the UK’s largest car supermarket, echoed this disturbing national trend with 70% of people admitting to having put the wrong type fuel into their vehicle. At the heart of this common mistake, is the fact that most cars are manufactured with fuel nozzles that are capable of accepting either petrol, diesel or even E85 bio-ethanol fuel, which is available at a growing number of petrol stations. When not paying attention, this makes it very easy to make the wrong choice.

Help is at hand, as Motorpoint will be the first car supermarket in the UK to retail the newly-launched Ford Mondeo, which featured in the recent James Bond film ‘Casino Royale’. The new model, available this summer, is fitted with a sealed fuel filler cap which replaces the conventional screw-on cap. The filler neck also comes complete with a mechanism that can recognise whether the nozzle is supplying petrol or diesel to prevent incorrect filling.

Commenting on the findings, David Shelton, Managing Director of Motorpoint explains: “Most people know someone that has been in a rush, and made the error in their selection of fuel. With the introduction of more sophisticated fuelling systems, this will help prevent motorists to avoid motorists incurring unnecessary costs. We are always therefore looking for models, such as the new Ford Mondeo, that will provide customers with the best value and very latest technology, and this is just one of many examples.”