Giant new Tesco on Spital Hill / Saville Street.

[paris59]

just wondered if anyone has had problems with fuel from the new tesco on savile street? i filled up there yesterday with unleaded and it could be just coincidence but straight after my car is running like a complete pig, under powered and pinking and running like its only 3 cylinders. i wondered if i had got some duff fuel or as i say it could be a complete coincidence.

Have you had your car looked by a garage who have told you it was tesco fuel ?

[damophoto]

anywhere can end up with a bad batch of fuel so not necerserelly their fault

 

A tanker holds just under 40,000 litres of fuel. The drivers fill the tanker up at the refinery under controlled conditions. The same 'bad batch' at the refinery would be delivered to many forecourts depending who the refinery supplies. However, refineries I'm sure will have processes and procedures to eliminate this possibility such as the regular testing of product.

 

If there was a problem at a specific site, such as this particular Tesco site, then it suggests that the fuel has somehow been contaminated. However, the tanks that hold the fuel hold between 20,000 and 50,000 litres. They will get regular deliveries...maybe 1 per day. Given the number of customers they probably have....at a guess i'd say they could sell anywhere between 2,000-4,000 litres per day from that particular tank, maybe more. Most forecourts have 8 tanks. If fuel was contaminated or poor quality, there would be more than just a few of customers with problems.

 

I'm not defending them, I'm going on my knowledge of the industry. I've personally dealt with issues such as this before and (as I mentioned previously) not one [that went to independent testing] proved that the fuel was at fault.

[Bambeano]

It may just be the bottom of the tank when there is an issue due to water and fuel displacement. When new tanks are installed they are washed to get rid of any inpuraties before there is a delivery of fuel.

 

As said above, bad batches of fuel can happen at any station, we recently filled up in a well known big branded fuel station in a village in South Wales. 5 miles later the car is eating fuel at double what it should do, lacking power and not sounding too healthy. Luckly it was only £10 to get us to somewhere where fuel is reasonably priced. Again filled up with the same companies fuel this time half a tank old fuel runs out and the car behaves how it should. Its luck of the draw!

 

However, I cannot comment as to the quality of the Petrol, however, we have been told by our car dealer that our warrenty would be void on the fuel system/ injectors etc if they traced supermarket fuel in the system.

 

Most manuals and manufacturers state that more than 5% bio diesel is outside their recommendations. This recommendation comes from the makers of most injector manufacturers e.g. Bosh to the dealers.

 

Poorer fuels also cause problems on modern cars with EGR systems as the extra soot and causes these to get coked up and fail, leading to a nice bill.

 

People need to be aware of the bio-diesel content of diesel and if their car is under warrenty what / if any fuels invalidate the same. We were shocked to find this out from our dealer. We have noticed that at a few dealers (we have moved a few times) that there are signs up behind the service desk saying supermarket fuel invalidates the warrenty. As for the full reasons I do not know.

 

Yes it is a pain when fuel is 2 - 3p less than the branded fuels and we get handed one of those lovely money off vouchers after shopping, however, we cannot afford a big repair bill just becase we invalidated the warrenty, so we choose not to use them out of a just incase.

[RutlandFlyer]

I worked for Sainsbury's back in 2004, dealing with most things to do with their filling stations. I was there shortly after the BP deal was struck and I can confirm that they used both BP's petrol and diesel. I'm not sure what they do now, but it's standard practice for supermarkets to buy the same petrol as the main retailers. The only difference is that the retailers may use additives that the supermarkets don't so it's possible that the earlier poster's observation that his cars sounded a bit louder at tickover on supermarket fuel, if the branded fuel he normally uses includes an anti-knocking agent, for example.

 

Supermarket fuels are certainly no dirtier though, so any increase in soot emission is likely due to how the car has been driven on that tank (cars can't burn soot unless the exhaust is good and hot, so they'll often dump a load if they've been driven at low revs or in traffic and then speed up). There are so many variables that affect driving it's very hard to say whether a perceived reduction in fuel economy. Tyre pressures, temperature, wind, traffic and especially hills all have a significant effect, so unless you do the exact same journey every day at the same times, travel at the same speeds, check your pressures at least weekly and always carry the same amount of passengers and cargo, there's just no way of knowing. Instinctively I'd say the branded fuel is slightly better, but only marginally so and probably not enough to justify the higher cost.

 

Other things to consider are the time of year, especially if you drive a diesel vehicle. While it's true that fuel is more dense when its cold, this is more than balanced by the additives they put in at the refinery during the winter months to stop the diesel freezing inside the car. You should always experience a drop in fuel economy during the winter months because of this. Also, some car manufacturers' fuel filters are more sensitive than others and while a little bit of water won't affect some cars, others will run rough. For example, Honda filters in general and Honda diesels in particular are very sensitive and don't deal well with winter diesel. High-mileage Accord drivers seem to go through a fuel filter a year on average.

 

Finally, and I think most significantly, is the public perception of supermarket fuels. It seems that a lot of people feel that the reason supermarket fuels are cheaper is because they are inferior. There is barely any truth to this (see additives, above). The real reason supermarket fuel is cheaper is because they aren't really in the business of selling fuel at all. Not for profit, anyway. The main fuel retailers exist to sell fuel for profit, supermarket filling stations exist to bring people to supermarkets (with the exception of the orphaned Sainsbury's one at Meadowhall, anyhow). Esso are trying to make the bulk of their profit from the fuel, so their prices reflect that. They'll try and supplement that by selling some stuff in the shop, but their business model is dependent on them making a good return on fuel. Supermarkets, on the other hand, only seek to make a negligible profit on their fuel. If you buy fuel and shop somewhere else, they haven't lost anything. If you buy fuel and swing by the store for a loaf of bread and some milk, they're likely making more profit on those transactions combined than Esso would've on the same volume of fuel at a higher price. If you drive to the supermarket once a week, fill the car up and do your weekly shop, then they're laughing all the way to the bank. Additives may up the price of branded fuel a little (and their advertising a bit more), but really supermarkets are in the business of selling groceries, not petrol. And think about it - if the big fuel brands could get a sample of supermarket fuel and perform chemical analysis on it to prove it was inferior to theirs, don't you think it would be splashed all over their advertising?

[RutlandFlyer]

However, I cannot comment as to the quality of the Petrol, however, we have been told by our car dealer that our warrenty would be void on the fuel system/ injectors etc if they traced supermarket fuel in the system.

 

Most manuals and manufacturers state that more than 5% bio diesel is outside their recommendations. This recommendation comes from the makers of most injector manufacturers e.g. Bosh to the dealers.

 

Poorer fuels also cause problems on modern cars with EGR systems as the extra soot and causes these to get coked up and fail, leading to a nice bill.

 

A few points to address here, just in case I hadn't written enough already

 

To me, that sounds like dealership bluster to pre-emptively fob you off. You would be very hard pressed to devise a test that could prove someone had been using supermarket fuel, as it starts out the same as branded. You could look for the additives, but the main retailers use different ones and they're only present in very low concentrations. If your dealer ever tells you that, call their bluff!

 

Admittedly it's been a few years since I worked in the industry, but wasn't there a government mandate a few years ago that all fuels sold in the UK had to include a minimum amount of bio-fuel? Last I heard they were trying to repeal it, as bio-fuels are driving up food prices, but that may explain the bio-diesel/ethanol labelling on some pumps.

 

While it's true that poorer quality fuels will generate more soot, it's unlikely you'd see a significant difference between UK sellers due to the small number of refineries supplying them all. There may be a slight improvement if the seller has added something to make the soot easier to burn away, but probably not enough to make a significant difference to component life.

 

One other thing: anyone who likes to use the 'high-performance' fuels like BP Ultimate - check that your car can actually use a higher RON fuel! I drive a reasonably powerful 'warm hatch' and it doesn't actually generate enough compression to make use of the higher octane. Any extra money I spent on BP Ultimate would be a complete waste!

[Yorky-Paul]

Never had problems with any tesco or asda fuels but since i moved to sheffield i only use shell but thats only because its the closest to me and probably the cheapest in a few mile radius too

[*RTC*]

I've been filling up here since it opened and all has been fine up until two weeks ago when my car has started to judder like its about to cut out/misfiring when accelerating. I'm booking it in to have checked out next week as think it is an engine problem but reading this has made me a bit concerned now that it's to do with the fuel.

 

Just had it fixed and it was the coil pack so nothing to do with any problem with the fuel from Tesco.

[mrgk2012]

I know a couple of people who.have had problems/repairs for water in the fuel system after filling up here!

[serelle]

Does anyone know which bus is best to catch from the city centre to the new Tesco on Savile Street please?

[SILLY]

Well I know that the 52 stops there .