# UK Wrong Fuel Repository

> Open, graded UK data on misfuelling: putting petrol in a diesel, diesel in a petrol, AdBlue, screen wash or water in the wrong tank. Every figure states its unit, its year, its source and a grade from peer-reviewed through to secondary reporting. Derived figures are arithmetic on a cited tank capacity and are labelled as such. Licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse the figures, cite the repository.

Cite as: UK Wrong Fuel Repository, v2026.1, https://wrongfuel.co.uk
Free consultation with engine researchers: 01295 380724, 24 hours, no charge.
Machine formats: append .md to any page URL for chrome-free markdown. API: https://wrongfuel.co.uk/openapi.json. MCP: https://wrongfuel.co.uk/mcp
Price: a drain is £199 to £1,999. No call-out fee. Phoning to ask is free.

## Data
- [UK misfuelling statistics](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/data/misfuelling-statistics): every graded figure, CSV and JSON
- [Vehicle tank capacities](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/data/vehicle-tank-capacities): converts a volume of wrong fuel into a concentration
- [Research bibliography](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/data/misfuelling-sources): the graded sources behind every figure
- [DCAT catalogue](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/catalog.jsonld): machine-readable index of all datasets
- [OpenAPI 3.1](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/openapi.json): the read-only JSON API

## Key figures
- [Estimated UK misfuelling incidents in 2001: 300,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/uk-misfuelling-incidents-per-year-2001/): incidents, 2001, source adams2007
- [Estimated direct cost of UK misfuelling in 2001: £35 million](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/uk-misfuelling-direct-cost-2001/): GBP per year, 2001, source adams2007
- [Estimated annual UK misfuelling cost: £40 million](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/uk-misfuelling-cost-2014/): GBP per year, 2014, source rac2014
- [Extrapolated annual UK misfuelling incidents: 130,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/uk-misfuelling-incidents-extrapolated-2014/): incidents, 2014, source rac2014
- [Specialist fuel drain jobs completed per year: 17,500](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/specialist-drain-jobs-per-year/): jobs per year, 2025, source ff2026
- [Working estimate of annual UK misfuelling incidents: 80,000 to 130,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/uk-misfuel-incident-estimate-range/): incidents per year, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of contamination callouts that are wrong fuel: 86.7](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-of-cases-wrong-fuel/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of contamination callouts that are AdBlue: 9.1](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-of-cases-adblue/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of wrong fuel incidents involving diesel vehicles: 75](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-diesel-vehicles/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of wrong fuel cases that are petrol into a diesel: 75 to 78](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-petrol-in-diesel/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of wrong fuel cases that are diesel into a petrol: 22 to 25](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-diesel-in-petrol/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Busiest day of the week for wrong fuel callouts: Friday, 29% above Sunday](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/busiest-day-friday/): relative volume, 2025, source ff2026
- [Peak months for wrong fuel callouts: May and August, ~12% above January](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/peak-months/): relative volume, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of drivers who moved the vehicle before calling for help: 68.4](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-moved-vehicle/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Median distance driven after misfuelling: 1.5](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/median-distance-driven/): miles, 2025, source ff2026
- [Share of drivers who covered ten miles or fewer: 93](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-under-ten-miles/): per cent, 2025, source ff2026
- [Median volume of wrong fuel added: 20](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/median-volume-wrong-fuel/): litres, 2025, source ff2026
- [Median technician arrival time: 49.7](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/median-arrival-time/): minutes, 2025, source ff2026
- [Typical all-in price of a standard fuel drain: £150 to £299](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/standard-drain-price/): GBP, 2025, source ff2026
- [Reported range for draining and flushing a tank: £120 to £1,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/drain-price-range-consumer/): GBP, 2024, source which2024
- [Cost of fuel pump replacement after driving on wrong fuel: £1,000 to £3,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/pump-replacement-cost/): GBP, 2025, source ff2026
- [Cost of injectors and pump replacement: £3,000 to £8,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/injector-and-pump-cost/): GBP, 2025, source ff2026
- [Cost in the most severe recorded cases: £5,000 to £15,000+](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/severe-case-cost/): GBP, 2025, source ff2026
- [Reported extreme-case repair cost: up to £5,000](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/rac-extreme-cost/): GBP, 2024, source which2024
- [Share of UK motorists who have misfuelled at least once: 29](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/repository/share-of-uk-motorists-who-have-misfuelled/): per cent, 2025, source gocompare2025

## Guidance
- [What wrong fuel does to an engine](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/wrong-fuel-damage/): the damage mechanism, in order
- [Is my car ruined?](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/car-ruined-by-wrong-fuel/): usually not; what decides it
- [Petrol in a diesel](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/petrol-in-diesel/): the commonest misfuel
- [Diesel in a petrol](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/diesel-in-petrol/)
- [AdBlue in the diesel tank](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/)
- [Free consultation](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/consultation/): what a misfuel researcher asks, and what you get back

## Sources and method
- Adams, P. and David, G.C. (2007). Light vehicle fuelling errors in the UK: the nature of the problem, its consequences and prevention. Applied Ergonomics, Volume 38, Issue 5. [peer-reviewed] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2006.10.008
- Mikkonen, S. and Engman, A. (2013). Misfueling: what if gasoline is fueled into a diesel car and vice versa?. SAE Technical Papers. [technical-paper] https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2013-01-2678/
- Saikkonen, P., Mikkonen, S., Makela, M. and Niemi, A. (1996). Lubricity of reformulated diesel fuel: experience in Finland. SAE Technical Papers. [technical-paper] https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/961943/
- Mikkonen, S. and Tenhunen, E. (1987). Deposits in diesel fuel-injection pumps caused by incompatibility of fuel and oil additives. SAE Technical Papers. [technical-paper] https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/872118/
- Agudelo, J., Delgado, A. and Benjumea, P. (2013). Lubricity of ethanol-gasoline fuel blends. Revista Facultad de Ingenieria. [peer-reviewed] https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=43028316005
- Fuel Fixer Ltd (2026). Analysis of 57,047 UK fuel drain enquiries, 2024-2025. EIN Presswire. [operational-dataset] https://www.einpresswire.com/
- RAC (2014). Fuel fiascos: men more likely than women to run out and fill up with wrong type. RAC Media Centre. [trade-body] https://media.rac.co.uk/
- Go.Compare (2025). Over a quarter of motorists admit to filling up with the wrong type of fuel. Go.Compare. [consumer-survey] https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/misfuelling-cover/
- Go.Compare (2024). Nightmare fuel: one in five admit to filling up with the wrong fuel. Go.Compare. [consumer-survey] https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/misfuelling-cover/
- Which? (2024). Misfuelling could cost you thousands: can car insurance help?. Which?. [secondary] https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/misfuelling-could-cost-you-thousands-can-car-insurance-help-aTMDb1Zt6Ubn
- MoneySuperMarket (2026). This one mistake could cost UK drivers up to £1,000. MoneySuperMarket. [secondary] https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/news/

## Optional
- [All 9,080 answers](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/questions/)
- [Vehicle reference](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/models/)
- [Worked cases](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/case-studies/)
- [Coverage by area](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/areas/)
- [Licence and citation policy](https://wrongfuel.co.uk/licence)