Filling up a van - petrol or diesel?

Are hire vans petrol or diesel?

Filling up a van - petrol or diesel?

Should you be putting petrol or diesel in your hire van?

Diesel has got a lot of bad press over the last year. If you’ve been following the latest new car sales data, you’ll know that 220,000 fewer diesel cars were sold in 2017 than in 2016.

In fact, falling sales of diesel cars accounted for the entire reduction in new car sales last year.

So if you’re driving a new car — or even hiring one — it’s increasingly likely to be a petrol model.

Are hire vans petrol or diesel?

Although van manufacturers are now starting to offer more petrol models, the vast majority* of van hire fleets are still 100% diesel.

We may see van rental companies starting to offer more petrol models over the next few years, especially in the smaller models such as small and medium vans. However, petrol vans are still rare. For now, almost all rental vans use diesel.

Most rental vehicles have the fuel filler cap labelled with the correct type of fuel, so there should be no reason to get it wrong. But if you are unsure, make sure you ask when you pick up the van, and double-check each time you fill it up.

What if I fill up my van with the wrong fuel?

If you put the wrong fuel into any car or van, the golden rule is to stop instantly. Stop filling and stop driving if it’s safe to do so.

Don’t even put the key in the ignition if you can avoid it. Many modern vehicles prime their fuel pumps with fuel when you put the key in, before you start the engine. Driving a diesel van with petrol in the tank can cause a lot of damage, especially to the (expensive) fuel pump.

In a hire vehicle, you should phone the number provided for breakdown assistance. The breakdown provider will probably send someone out to pump the tank for you. Both the AA and RAC have special misfuelling patrol vans fitted with tanks and pumps to do this safely.

Unfortunately you should expect to pay for this service, as it’s your fault — it’s not a mechanical failure that might be covered by breakdown protection.

*There are a few exceptions, especially in London. Tighter emissions rules and problems with diesel particulate filters on vans used for short journeys are making diesel increasingly unattractive. Car-sharing firm Zipcar recently added 10 Volkswagen Transporter vans with petrol engines to its London fleet, but this is a drop in the ocean and is very much an exception to the rule.

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