Comments on: The latest car rental scam? Oops, I flooded the engine

By: Rick Damiani

Rick Damiani — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:35 +0000

Clive is right – you cannot ‘flood’ any automobile – gas or diesel – built after the mid-eighties. They all have fuel injectors and don’t have accelerator pumps. Accelerator pumps were the part in a carb that squirted fuel into the manifold when you mashed on the go pedal. Pumping the gas with the engine off in a modern car accomplishes nothing.

If the return agent actually did run the car forwards and backwards with the starter motor untll the battery ran down, he did far more damage to the drive train than the renter did.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:41:10 +0000

I rented a car in Italy, picked it up in Rome and dropped it off two weeks later on Venice. That was at the end of April 2008. A charge of 300 Euros appeared on my credit card statement in Sept. I called the travel agent and checked if my rental was pre-paid and indeed it was. So I reversed the charges and reported credit card fraud and got a new card. I then recieved a letter this month (October) from the car rental company in Italy stating that I owed the money becasue of damage to the front left door. This was B>S>.. . When I dropped the car off it was perfect.. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop– I am insisting that my agent get to the bottom of this– I suggest photos of the car should be taken before and after you drive the car with a dated newspaper inf the foreground

By: Clive

Clive — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:52:57 +0000

Sadly, the answer to the question ‘How could a user refuel a diesel car from the wrong nozzle?’ is ‘Quite easily’. A few makers (including Ford) now fit a device to prevent a petrol / gasoline nozzle from fitting into the mouth of the filler, but this is still the exception.

If the aggressive lot manager was trying to suggest the car had been misfuelled, then ironically he undermined his own case by asking for too little. Most modern diesel cars use high-pressure ‘common rail’ fuel pumps that rely on the oiliness of the diesel fuel for lubrication, and even a small amount of petrol in the system can cause damage that a thousand euros would not begin to cover.

One last thing – I doubt the engine was ‘flooded’. That problem disappeared with the carburettor – and diesel engines never had those anyway. But many modern cars have engine control computers that will temporarily disable the engine after it has been started and stopped in quick succession, to prevent unburnt fuel running from the cylinders to the exhaust, where it can damage the emissions control equipment. It may be that the lot manager inadvertently created this situation himself, and then saw an opportunity to cover his mistake.

By: GG

GG — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:18:56 +0000

One detail that is not mentioned is where the incident took place. In most of western Europe, especially Scandinavia, they take consumer rights seriously. I would recommend sending a letter to the concerned Embassy and also send one to the local consumer agency.

The behaviour of the lot manager was nothing but threatening and fraudulent. I assume that Ms. Cameron is a US citizen; so I also suggest sending a letter to the Department of State. If nothing else, this might result in a travel warning for the corresponding country.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:37:41 +0000

Something’s got me wondering here…
“renters sometimes fill the tanks with the wrong gas”, referring to diesel vs gasoline…
How does this happen? In Europe, the nozzles are different sizes (and slightly different shapes) to keep this from happening. I know that the gasoline nozzle won’t fit in a diesel car over there, but I don’t know if the reverse is true.

I’ve noticed that the rental agencies in Europe tend to be a LOT pickier than the ones in the US. I’ve had Avis in Germany demand damages for a quarter-inch scrape on a bumper that I could barely see (and was probably there when I picked up the car!)…