Who's to blame?

[Keyan]

Ok, so I'm at work (I work in the prep department of a local automall...)

and I'm told to go gas up this 05 Jeep Liberty.

so I run down to the gas station with it, A/C blasting cause it's like 95+ degrees outside, pull up to the pump, and the gas guys have an account with us so when they see the front plate they just fill it up without me having to say anything.

They do that, putting 16.7 gallons of 87 octane in.

I start 'er up and start to pull away when one of the managers who works there DIVES infront of the car. "wait a minute wait a minute!!" he listens for a couple of seconds and then says the worst thing i've heard in a long time.
It's a deisel.

****.


I ask him what the heck I should do, and he says I should go back, tell my boss what happened, and get a hose and start syphoning it out.

(turns out the gas attendant was just hired, but it even said DIESEL ONLY on the GREEN gas cap AND on the fuel door)

So I go back, tell my boss, who runs over to service to ask if they can do him a favor and flush the tank...

well the service manager is a dick. he says if he does it he will write my boss a bill.
****.

so my boss tells another guy to pull the CRD in the bay so we can put it on the lift...

it takes 2 cranks but it starts up. good.
he pulls it into the bay. good.
3 seconds after it pulls into the bay the engine dies.
****.

we then pushed it out by manpower into an empty parking spot and serive will have to flush and replace whatever they have to, to get it working again.

The managers up front in sales and stuff say i'm to blame and i'll have to pay for it, up to $1000.

who is to blame? :(

[paki]

not you. you didnt know it was a diesel. its the gas guy's fault. they should have known that it was a diesel. i'm pretty sure it says SOMEWHERE near the gas cap to only fill diesel in it.

[jh0n]

I dunno.. DId you tell the guy to fill it with gasoline? That would be my arguement, he took it on himself to fill it with gas. As long as like, there was a diesel thing there at the pump. That could be a snag, if the pumps you pulled up at were gas only. Still, I`d be amazed if there was`nt a `DIESEL ONLY! sticker right beside the hole as Paki has suggested. And usually its in a couple languages.

[HatchetMan]

Whom ever told you to "gas" it up. You and the gas attendant were only doing your job. Let management take responsibility.

[paki]

I dunno.. DId you tell habib to fill it with gasoline?

thats kind of racial dude.. im not offended but other people might be (although im from that part of the world)

[BlackElantraGT]

Isn't NJ one of those states where an service attendant has to pump your gas? If that's his job, I'm sure the first thing he is supposed to ask his customer is what type of gas they need to put in. They can't just assume that every car needs 87 octane gasonline unless otherwise told so.

[jh0n]

thats kind of racial dude.. im not offended but other people might be (although im from that part of the world) Note I changed it, I didnt intend to racially vileify anyone, it is a common stereotype, this doesnt make it okay, but was meant in a light hearted manner...

[tharptroy]

when you realized that the vehicle was using the wrong gas, you needed to immediately cut the engine off, and have it towed to the shop and pushed into the bay.

a gasoline engine will not be destroyed by diesel fuel, it just wont run. on the contrary, you can turn a diesel engine into scrap metal by using the wrong fuel.

I honestly think that the only fair way to do it would be to split the damages between you, your boss, and the gas station, as you all played an equal role in killing the vehicle.

[04GTboySC]

yea NJ is one of those weird states that fill up the tank without you getting out or anything, i got yelled at for sticking my head out the window of my car, you didnt realize it was diesel and there shold be somewhere on the vehicle says diesel only

[VTElantra]

My dad does recon for a jeep/chevy dealer, and he says your a moron for driving it. All you had to do was syphon the tank and you would have been fine but you ran it till it died so it is your fault or the person who told you to drive it back to the dealer.

[ilanpro]

Thats why Business are insured, you dont have to pay Jack, but you are probably going to loose your job

[paki]

Note I changed it, I didnt intend to racially vileify anyone, it is a common stereotype, this doesnt make it okay, but was meant in a light hearted manner...

yeah i know.. i just wanted to point it out because even though some people (like me) can take the joke, others cant. so just watchin out for them too :D thanks for changin it bro

[ArunSenior04]

Thats weird. i knda feel it was 50/50, or maybe even your fault. I dont mean to be harsh or target you so please dont take any offence.

It was your responsibility to get gas for the car. I dont feel it would be right to blame the guy for putting non-diesel fuel in the jeep. It was your responsibility, the least you could have done is told him it was a diesel car. Not many cars you use diesel still, so he prolly didnt even think about it.

[evan938]

a lot of big suv/trucks use turbo diesel engines still, due to the fact that the torque makes it very easy to tow things, which is what a big *** vehicle should be used for

[paki]

im gonna defend Keyan here, as he did say the following:

(turns out the gas attendant was just hired, but it even said DIESEL ONLY on the GREEN gas cap AND on the fuel door)

so even if Keyan didn't know, the gas attendant should have at LEAST asked him or checked the gas cap.

[tharptroy]

whoah...its absolutely the attendants fault for putting the wrong fuel in there, there is no way around that. a man not thinking at his job isnt a man who needs a job....

if you called your boss, and he told you to DRIVE it back to the dealer, then he honestly needs to be fired for his stupidity. the reason there are bosses are to keep laymen from screwing their jobs up.

but if you didnt call, then you're SOL.

[BlackElantraGT]

it seems like everyone is partially to blame for this incident. You never told the attendant that diesel was needed. From what you've said it seems like you yourself didn't know that the car needed Diesel fuel until the guy caught his mistake.

I don't live in NJ or Oregon so I don't know how it works when someone else fuels your car for you, but I would assume that the first thing they would do is ask for what type of fuel you want for your car. If that's the case then the service attendant is more to blame, especially when it says diesel fuel only on the cap, but at the same time they should still be reminded because most cars on the road doesn't use diesel.

[ArunSenior04]

Exactly. It seems like at least he would have at asked you what octane to use. It seems like you didnt know the Jeep used diesel. Because if he had asked you what octane of fuel to use, you would have told him diesel, not 87 or whatever. Sorry man.

[jh0n]

Deisel has a lubricant in it. There are rubber or neoprene seals in the injector pump and gasoline being a `dry` fuel will whip thru them PDQ. I would have thought it might take longer than a couple a minutes, who knows maybe there something in the jeeps management to pick up on this sorta thing. The deisels I have had experience with cant be described as high tech. Basically Keyan, there will be a decision made by the powers that be: your boss, the gas station ppl and also, the poor hapless slob who owns the jeep. There will probably be no mitigation allowed on your part. I really hope it goes okay for you man, its just dumb luck in my opinion.

[4mynikka]

I say it's nobody's/both people's fault... BOTH parties had no Idea it was diesel. SO 50/50. It sucks but Sh*t happens, I'm pretty sure your place of employment is more understanding than that. I hope you don't lose your job, it was an honest mistake.

[ricerrx7]

They cannot legally make you pay for it. It was the attendents fault for filling it up with the wrong fuel. BUT, it would have been a really easy fix if you hadn't driven it.

[A&F 01 GLS]

what kind of liberty uses diesel?! that's crazy... I never heard of a little SUV using diesel..

[johnblaze94]

The way I understand NJ laws, it is illeagle for you to pump your own fuel. That being noted, it is the attendant's responcibility to insure that the proper fuel is being added to your vehicle. It's the attendant's fault.

[Seinster]

I voted 50/50.
It's a very sticky situation. *south park* :D

Over here, diesel pumps can't fit in unleaded vehicles and vice versa (I think). At least I know that you can't fit a leaded trigger into an unleaded hole.
It makes sense when they only allow the correct pumps to fit the correct holes. :)

Strange that the gas station attendent didn't notice the warning label though...I hope you get out of this nasty mess without your pockets getting lighter. ;)