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Yesterday evening when my partner had finished work, and because of the many road diversions here, he had to take another 20 kilometers to get home, he noticed that the fuel gauge was quite low. Because he was driving past the gas station here in the village, he thought, let me fill up right away. He has been driving a car for 35 years, so a normal routine job, nothing special you would think. But as soon as he drove away, that simple fuel stop turned into a technical drama. It took barely 5 or 6 seconds for our car to decide that the dashboard needed some more lighting, a light started to burn bright yellow. Now it is almost December and time for festive lighting, but our car does not have to participate in that. That was not the only thing, where the car still had its normal power before the fill-up, which had also suddenly disappeared. Our faithful Suzuki Alto, which is always reliable, suddenly looked more like a stubborn moped car with stuttering complaints.
Before that fill-up, our car had never shown any problems, strange noises, weird warnings, or sudden Christmas lights, just nothing wrong. But now, he had to drive home stuttering with that brightly burning engine light. He had a theory: it could be the brake fluid. Well, top up the brake fluid then. The light went out, and he thought the problem was solved. Optimism is always nice.
But this morning, unfortunately, it was different. Quite soon after starting, there was that light again, shiny and bright. And when driving away, he noticed it immediately, very surprisingly, the car was still stuttering just as cheerfully as yesterday. The power when accelerating had not suddenly returned either, and now it was clear that this light did not want to get us in the Christmas spirit, but this light simply shouted ‘engine problems’! You get the idea, not the start of a beautiful day…
Instead of driving to work, he turned the car on the first side street and drove back home. Called work to say he wasn't coming and then waited until we could call the garage. "He immediately suspected that it was a fuel problem. Great. Well, let's check: did he even use the right hose? Because imagine... But a quick look at the receipt? Oh wait, we didn't keep that of course! After a phone call to the gas station, it turns out that he did indeed use the right hose. Phew. But now there is still a possibility that the underground tank of the gas station was filled up incorrectly. And that makes us happy: because if that is the case, we will probably have a lot of hassle getting the costs reimbursed. A wonderful prospect.
But anyway, the car just has to work. So, the next thing, we had to start it again and stutter to the garage. There it is now, it has to be read out anyway, and then we have to wait for "The Diagnosis" of our stuttering patient. A cautious first diagnosis is that the tank probably has to be emptied. New spark plugs have to be put in, fresh, real petrol has to be put in, and hopefully that will solve the problem. At least, that's what we hope... because it could very well be that the catalytic converter has also suffered a blow. And that joke would cost us a few extra euros. Well, something you don't want to hear, especially not at the end of the year.
And what about those costs? It remains to be seen whether we will be reimbursed at all. If the problem is in the fuel, proving an incorrect underground tank filling is no piece of cake, especially not without a receipt. If the problem is somewhere else, the costs will definitely be 100% for ourselves. For now, it is not entirely clear, and we are still waiting to see what the problem is. So while the mechanic is bending over our car and we are preparing ourselves for a hefty bill, only one question remains: could we have prevented this? Probably not, but that unfortunately does not make the painful bill any less.
In any case, the whole adventure has made it clear that refueling will be a completely different ritual in the future. Keep your receipt safe. Check. Are you 100% sure you're getting the right hose? Double check. And hope this will pass quickly without too much pain in the wallet, because of the misery of this pit stop, we weren't waiting for that.
