Porsche owner slams Sainsbury's in fuel row

Dan, who did not wish for his second name to be published, bought super unleaded fuel from the Sainsbury’s petrol station on Bath Road, Chippenham, shortly before 1pm on Thursday, March 14.

Super unleaded has been available for the price of unleaded at the busy filling station since February 7, when an investigation was launched into multiple drivers reporting issues with their cars after buying the unleaded fuel.

But Dan claims he experienced similar issues to those reported a month ago, after filling his car up with the super unleaded fuel.

Sainsbury’s insists they have thoroughly investigated the fresh complaint and found no other reports of contamination of the super unleaded petrol.

The fuel drained from Dan's car (right) (Image: Dan)

Dan said: “I noticed relatively minor, but unmistakable, engine issues straight after filling up my Porsche.

“It started to judder a bit and it was like a surge and pulse feeling, the car started to jump around a bit which it wouldn’t do normally.”

Dan immediately called an engineer to his home and claims he was told there were “contaminants” in the petrol which gave it a “cloudy greenish hue.”

His tank was then drained which he says, combined with the engineer callout, has left him around £500 out of pocket.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have not received any other reports of super unleaded petrol contamination in the area and thoroughly investigated the complaint.”

Dan, whose car sustained no further damage, has been left unsatisfied after customer services informed him the retailer would not take any liability for the incident.

A Sainsbury’s employee told Dan that his problem was “isolated” and that more vehicles would have been affected if the contamination was caused by the petrol station.

Sainsbury's petrol station (Image: Newsquest)

They added that a specialist fuel team had checked the super unleaded petrol and found no contaminants.

Dan said: “I believe this is a live, ongoing matter… needless to say I felt fobbed off.

“I'm currently over £500 out of pocket from the engineer callout and replacement fuel, and I think their refusal to heed my repeat warnings defies belief.

“It’s bordering on scandalous in the circumstances of what's happened there recently.”

Dan provided receipts and invoices which showed he purchased services from Fuel Fixer Ltd on the same day he bought petrol from Sainsbury’s.

The chain is yet to reveal the results of an investigation into the incident on February 7, which affected dozens of drivers.