red diesel

[neil palmer]

 can you run a motor vehicle on red diesel without it damaging it

[MC HP]

yes. the only damage will be stained tank and lines, but apparently this can be sorted. one of my more dodgy mates has run his escort on red diesel for ages and says his car runs perfectly. at a tenner for 25 litres I can see why he does.

[im3dia]

Apparently there is no difference between the "red" diesel and the regular one except that the red one is tax free...and would be illegal for personal use :)

[peanut]

actually being in the construction profession i know that the difference between red (off road diesel) and regular (on road diesel) is that there is lead in the red and it is illegal for on road use. at least here in the U.S.

[flanker]

Time to come clean - my old man is a farmer, and I have run my car on red diesel for years: the amount of tax on fuel in this country is obscene, and borders on extortion, and therefore I simply refuse to line Brown's pocket.

[tomd]

Filled up with red diesel during the fuel shortage last year or so, not had any problems.

[New Forester]

Neil -- The only damage will be to your police record.

 

Flanker -- You've obviously been lucky so far.  The revenue can detect the smallest trace of the red dye in your tank, so fingers crossed...

 

The cost of fuel is:

 

• The cost of getting it out of the ground, refining it, distributing it etc (small).
• The profit (often tiny).
• The tax (smallish, and none on red diesel or air fuel).
• The cost of destroying the environment (enormously huge).

 

We only pay the first three of these.  We do not pay the last at all -- yet.  Therefore we all use fuel with little hesitation (I'm as guilty as anyone).  We run our lives around cheap fuel -- for example we live miles from work, we buy guzzling vehicles, we distribute goods by road and air, etc etc.  We are spending the family silver, and loading the cost on our descendents.  Fair play on the environment?

 

If you can think of another way to stop people wasting fuel, then you would be entirely justified in complaining about what is in fact a very small amount of tax (a criminally small amount in countries like the US).

 

Another point is that tax does not "belong" to the Treasury -- one way or the other eventually it comes back to us, the taxpayers.  It's still our money while Gordon has it.  For example, it enormously subsidises construction and maintenance of roads -- especially for heavy vehicles, which damage the road surface thousands of times as much as smaller ones.

[slimfandango]

Flanker,

Just to make things clear: next time we both get run down by a car, need the police, ambulance, emergency open heart surgery, hospital bed, invalidity care for 8 months, protection from catastrophe/invasion by foreign hostiles/terrorists, supply of near-free education, infrastucture, transport, arts and entertainment then I GET ACCESS TO IT BEFORE YOU AND MORE OF IT WHEN I DO, BECAUSE I'M PREPARED TO PAY MY FAIR SHARE FOR IT AND YOU'RE NOT?

[UsAndStuff]

To all those who think it's acceptable to run a car on Red Diesel. If you can't accept that the cost of fuel is a normal part of running a vehicle, then stop running the vehicle. People get sick of scroungers who cheat the system while they pay their way as they should. Nobody likes paying more tax than they have to but the honest people put up with it. To the cheaters, let's all hope you get caught soon!

[Bangkok]

Customs have Road Fuel Testing Units that can check the diesel filters.  Any trace of red diesel, they will seize your car.  For a first time offence, if they feel generous, you can buy your car back at their determination of its current value.