Around 150,000 British drivers make the same mistake every year, don’t panic, there are solutions. Here we explain any prospective damage and run through your options, so you know exactly what to do next.

What to do after putting the wrong fuel in your car

Have you turned the ignition on yet? If not, don’t!

The most serious damage from missfuelling your vehicle occurs after turning the engine on, so if you realise you’ve put the wrong fuel in your car before starting your engine, you’re in luck. Here’s what you should do next:

• Leave your engine switched off and avoid putting your key in the ignition.
• Let staff at the petrol station know what’s happened.
• Put the car in neutral.
• Push the car to a safe place.
• Call breakdown cover (if you have it) to drain and flush your fuel system.
• Call your insurance provider to see if you are covered.

Already started your engine after missfuelling?

Here is what you should do next:

• Turn off the engine immediately if it’s safe to do so. If not, pull over to a safe spot.
• Put the vehicle in neutral.
• Call breakdown cover (if you have it) to drain and flush your fuel system.
• Call your insurance provider to see if you are covered.

ymtoms

If you’ve used petrol in a diesel car you might notice:

• A loud knocking sound while accelerating.
• Excessive smoke coming from your exhaust.
• Slower than usual acceleration.
• The engine warning light illuminating.
• The engine stopping altogether.
• Your car struggling to restart.

If you’ve used diesel in a petrol car you might notice:

• Your engine misfiring.
• Excessive smoke from your exhaust.
• Your engine cutting out.
• Your engine failing to restart.

Whether it’s putting diesel in a petrol car or vice versa, this common mistake happens around once every three minutes in the UK and is easily done when not paying full attention at the pumps. The unfortunate reality is the error can end up proving rather costly, as fuel systems may need to be completely replaced. But that’s not always the case.

Fixing your car after adding the wrong fuel to your car

You will need to get your tank and fuel lines drained down and add the correct fuel, you can get this done by your local trusted garage or there are many other national garages offering a service (RAC's wrong fuel recovery service drains the tank and fuel system of contaminated fuel and provides you with enough clean fuel to start moving again for around £300 and if you are an RAC member you may be entitled to a discount of around £50).