Ask an expert

Hi, I mistakenly put petrol in a diesel car. I realised shortly after I started filling and stopped and called the dealer immediately. They were very helpful and told me not to start the car and organised a tow and cleaned the tank out. I did ask if they could simply just siphon the petrol out but was told not. Anyway when I picked the car up I was staggered to be given a $933.58 bill. Is this a normal cost for such work or would there have been a simpler way to fix the problem. The car is a Peugeot 4007.
Thanks.

Unfortunately, as efficient as they are, due to the high pressure injection system modern common rail diesel engines can not tolerate any contaminants (including petrol), and there is a high risk of destroying the engine with even a small amount of petrol in the system.
Therefore, ALL petrol must be removed, filters replaced and the fuel tank must be thoroughly cleaned out. A charge of $900+ doesn't surprise me as it is a big job.
There are devices available which can be installed in the filler neck to avoid mis-fuelling, so perhaps it would be wise to install one to avoid future problems.

Count yourself lucky - i have seen bills 20 times that due to the car being driven with wrong fuel.

The problem is petrol has no lubricating properties so when it goes through the high pressure pump and injectors, you might as well be pumping sand through them!