Johannesburg - Over the past few years we’ve been on the receiving end of many an angry letter from rental car customers claiming to have been overcharged for petrol top-ups after handing back their hire vehicles.
The claims almost all follow the same basic premise, and almost all involve rentals of Volkswagen Polo Vivos. The stories go as follows: Customer hires a Polo Vivo, and as per the rental agreement fills the car with petrol before returning the vehicle. Customer is then reimbursed his or her security deposit, minus an amount for additional petrol put in after the vehicle is returned. Customer is adamant the car was returned with a full tank, and disputes the additional fuel charge.
We covered the issue last year when a First Car Rental customer accused the company of either not putting the fuel which he was charged for into the car, or the depot responsible for the top-up of stealing the fuel for themselves. The amount was for 13 litres.
Recently we received another reader complaint from a Eurocar customer with similar accusations. The missing petrol also amounted to 13 litres. Was it pure coincidence, or a downright scam employed by more than one company?
ALL IN THE AIRLOCK
We put the complaints to the respective rental agencies, and both came back with the same response: the mystery fuel was soaked up by an air lock in the Vivo’s refuelling system, and when customers refuel to the first “click”, there’s still an extra air pocket which can be filled by slowly trickling fuel into the tank.
Turns out the Vivo’s airlock is well-known, and according to numerous Volkswagen club sites, owners can often squeeze 58 litres into their 45 litre tanks.
We queried this with Volkswagen South Africa, which confirmed that as per European standards the Vivo’s tank is designed with an amount of expansion capacity. This extra chamber allows for expansion of petrol on hot days, in turn preventing petrol vapours from escaping to the atmosphere. The design is a legal anti-pollution requirement in Europe.
However, VWSA also said that the correct filling procedure is to stop at the first pressure cut out point, or “click”, and not to continue pumping after that. The refuelling procedure is explained clearly in the car owner’s manual.
GUILTY OF MISUSE
So, if rental agencies or their respective refuelling depots are forcing up to 13 litres of extra petrol into Vivo tanks, they are actually guilty of misuse, and are risking damage to the vehicle in the same way as filling too much oil or coolant.
Europcar’s Peter Retief notes that a returned rental car is topped up with fuel as a courtesy to the next renter, and that if this fill equates to less than R25 the previous renter is not charged.
He also says that it is very difficult to control how customers and depots refuel Europcar’s enormous fleet, but that the company would consider more obvious signage inside its cars’ filler flaps.
SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Since we cannot advocate the overfilling of a car’s fuel tank to prevent later charges, our advice to car (and especially Vivo) renters is to make special mention of the filling procedure when returning a vehicle at its respective agency.
Make it known that you’re aware of the first pressure cut out point, and that you’ve refuelled to the “first click” in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. It’s also advisable to keep all garage receipts, and even record odometer and fuel level readings with a cell phone camera.
The more evidence you have, the easier recourse will be if there’s a dispute later on.
The Southern African Vehicle Renting & Leasing Association is an umbrella body for most of the biggest players in the car-rental industry. Customers who have unresolved issues with SAVRALA members can log a query with the association on its www.savrala.co.za website under the “Contact Us” tab.
Star Motoring