Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Well a very 'eventful' first time for us in Sunny Queensland.

I got up early to give the '8 a good clean on the outside. No sooner had I finished and it was time to leave home, and a mini monsoon went through. 5 mins form home, and the road wasn't even wet...

Met up with other forumers 'sco' (red '8 M6) and his mate (blue '6 sports M5), 'haddock' (black '8 M6 leather) and better half. While waiting to leave, a silver '8 drove in and we all thought "wow, an unexpected one". But he drove straight by and ignored us totally. Weird...

And just as we were about to leave, this "unusual" looking, rare machine turned up. It had an extra rotor under the bonnet, plus some turbos. It was a '94 Eunos Cosmo. More interest to us than our own cars. Anyway, "Cosmo" only came to say g'day, and didn't come for the cruise. I think he had a problem with he T/C as the poor dear had a bit of truble keeping it in a staight line out of the carpark and up the road. (joke, d'oh)

Any way, not long into the cruise, my '8 showed the engine light halfway up Mt. Nebo. Wouldn't rev past 3 or 4. Engine light was intermimttent. We stopped at Jolly's Lookout for a bit of a break and to ponder the problem. Oil level was OK, and the pressures/temps where fine. I remembered just before the cruise I topped the tank up with about $20 of fuel. I noticed the bit that overflowed in the filler looked a bit milky, but thought it was my eyes or a dull day or something. Then the penny dropped. I reckon it has a dose of **** fuel. Kept going in limp mode for another 10km or so, being fairly kind on it. Sometimes the engine light was off, and it reved, but I could tell it was down on power. Eventually the light came on permanently, so I pulled over, and called roadside assist as I finally got back into GSM coverage. 30m later the contractor arrived, and we decided to get a tow home, and I would limp to Mazda in the morning for them to diagnose the trouble code from the PCM.

Back home, I looked in the filler again, and there was 1 globule of water sitting there...

I won't publish the details of where I got the fuel, or the brand etc, until I know for sure that is the problem, and I have given them a chance to "redeem" themselves.

Anyway, Haddock and better half could play for long, and they headed home from my departure point, and "sco and co" (hehe) carried on for the rest of the cruise following my directions of where I was going to take them.

So guys - this is the place to give us your review of the cruise!

Cheers,
Hymee.

PS - Some pics to follow...

Kev

Hope that suspect fuel hasn't caused any serious problems. I'd be a little concerned about the injectors, etc.

Sorry to hear about that.

Was it a regular fill point for you?


Just to console you (you're not on your own with problems :D), I stuck my hand up behind the passenger side head light washer to see if I could tell why it's not working properly after the egg damage repairs and I pulled something loose. Damn it's tight up there and now I'll have to pull the bumper off

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

It was not my regular fuelling station.

Bumper is easy to take off. I had my on and off 3 or 4 time last night working on the fitment of my mesh stone grill.

See here for my details instructions, and sco's subsequent pictures:

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.p...941#post137373

Cheers,
Hymee

sco

We got off to a good start... and a nice surprise to see Hostile's Cosmo. Hymee headed off in front with me watching the back door .. seeing we both had a radio and we could make sure both ends of the convoy could communicate. It was great watching everyone in front.

Got to say I love Haddock's black '8 ... first time I've seen one outside of the showroom... looked great. E's blue Mazda 6 looked great too ... it has similar mica finish to the '8s which looks great in the sunlight.. and I must say I prefer his shade of blue to the RX-8's Winning Blue. Hymee's shiny red... well ... what can I say, seeing our cars are identical.... it looked almost as good as mine

We were cruising up from The Gap up towards Mt Nebo then all of a sudden I thought Hymee had transformed into a granny... he slowed down and then went to pull off the road... so I got on the radio... "What's happening"... Hymee says "Engine Light came on"

Tried to keep going, but alas, Hymee's car was up the proverbial without a paddle. Hymee limps off and we keep going... Haddock peels off just before Mt Glorius... and E and I keep going.

Stopped at Mt Glorious for a pit stop (human) and I'm about the take off and this guy comes running down to the front of the car... "Can you show me the doors!"... so I jump out and show him the doors and get smiles all round from him and his mates.

We head down towards Somerset Dam,... some nice straight open roads... past Somerset, through Kilcoy, Woodville, some more twisties around Mt Mee (though half was under roadwords ) , Dayboro, Samford then home.

Had fun... would have been better if Hymee hadn't had probs... looking forward to the next one! Hopefully we'll get some more along.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Pictures from today, as promised:









What is wrong with this picture?:


Cheers,
Hymee.

sco

Nice shots... 'cept the last two. Great donk on the cosmo Cosmo.

Kev

Excellent, thankyou all concerned.

Kev.

Lock & Load

HYMEE

sorry to hear the news i hope you get your wheels back soon , keep us posted .

sferrett

I've seen that at a gas station in Hastings Point (on the coast just south of the NSW border - I think it was an Ampol station but I can't remember - it was a couple of years ago) - it was just after a heavy rain storm and there were a bunch of cars which were having issues because of water in the petrol.

Simon.
Pottsville Beach native.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Just a short note.

It was DEFINATLEY CONTAMINATED FUEL.

I'll post some pictures soon, but we pumped some directly from the fuel line into a bottle to start with.

You know how fuel is normally transparent with a tint of colour?

Well imagine a glass of lemon cordial or Mellow Yellow with a tablespoon of milk mixed in. Then there was the water sitting on the bottom.

I'll posts pics and full details soon.

Bill to diagnose and rectify - about $300. I don't care how much it is as I will be recovering all costs involved from the fuel company.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Ampol - mmm, that is an interesting comment from an independent source

sco

Hymee... glad it was an easy fix.

Hope you get more than just what it cost you out of pocket... you deserve something for your time and trouble.

rpm_pwr

Shame I couldnt make it

Hymee, sorry to hear you've had more woes. Having said that though, it's a credit to the car that it saved itself. I hope you will be reporting it, as there must be a lot of other people out there that have/will suffered worse than you have.

-pete

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Pics of the bad fuel...




Cheers,
Hymee.

hostile

Yeah traction control is placing a brick under the accelerator pedal on my car:D
Sorry to hear about your bad fuel make the bastards pay.

Kev

Oh Hymee,

That's disgusting!!! Did you get your entire fuel system flushed? Are your injectors going to suffer down the track?

Man, you Queenslanders have gotta learn, you can run a car on cow's milk!!!

Funny, you taste a $~20 bottle of wine, but you put $50+ of petrol in your take time after time and you don't even look at it.

Dez

I gotta say it..

Oh man those cars look great all sitting in a row - very pretty indeed..

I can't wait for the chance to park my little 8 in a row somewhere in a "fly in" soon..

Most envious now that I've seen these pics..

++dez;

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Which reminds me.....

I got a letter from Caltex Australia's insurance/loss adjusters, offering to cover my costs, and sign a disclaimer for future claims related to this matter, AND to sign a secrecy clause.

I crossed out the secrecy clause and returned it signed. They sent it back again with the secrecy clause in tact for me to re-sign. I also re-worded the no future claims nonsense. What sort of lame duck do they think I am?

I have not signed it yet so I am letting you all know. I have given them enough of a chance for them to appease me.

Cheers,
Hymee.

PS. Next step - Place a "water in petrol - get yours here" sign outside the site. :p

Dez

Sad thing is that in law, it's never who is most right, it's who is most rich..

I don't see any grounds for them to slap you with either gag or future claims clauses.. It's standard practice against dummies - thats what you pay lawyers for..

But even a 2 bit lawyer will beat you over the head for considering either..

What was the final outcome in costs?

You won't get a cent for your time or the like, the law in Australia is all based on "damages", and time lost is not considered a form of damage.

****, if your car gets stolen and driven for a week, if the theif is caught but filled your tank up with gass, they will get but a slap on the wrist if the car is in perfect order.. As you would be considered to have gotten your car back and potentially in better order than it left if you got a full tank of gas as a result!

I've had staff "borrow" computer equipment, engaged the police, found the stuff in the respective "home" - recoverd the gear, and no fines were handed out - we couldn't even fire the basterd - had to give a "1st of 3" warnings ( the 2nd and 3rd followed closely on the heals of the first mind you * grin * ).

I'd probably write to them with "your requirements in clear consice english", including a date by which you require payment in full for your loss in monitary value [ due to having had to fork out the funds already as a result of their faulty fuel ].

And make it clear that if they do not:

1 - pay your costs in full

2 - pay by the date you set in the manner you choose

3 - remove the gag clause from any document

4 - remove the future claims order from any document

then "they" would have given "you" no other option than to "take the matter further" with regret.

make it really clear to them that "all you want is to cover your costs and get on with your life" as you were happily doing before "their" faulty fuel product caused it difficult to do so given the damage to your car.

I'd be interested in what if anything Mazda had to say on if they have had other incidences, there may be a precident in some form that could aid your case. Mazda legal would prolly not comment formally but surely would have some advice to profer for free.

If you've financed the car, or have it on a hire purchase, lease or such, then the finance firm will indeed have legal support you should be able to call upon for advice if nothing else, for the car is legally owned by the finance company, so it woudl be their property that had been damaged of course. But that's if you financed it.

If you did it through a bank - they won't give a **** - I'd be amazed if they even took your phone call on the matter if you did finance through a bank and wanted help claiming on damages from Caltex.

I'd also be curious about what the appropriate consumer law, fuel commision, and state law contacts might have to say on the issue as a whole.

I'd be amazed if they didn't just pay and move on, if you made it clear that if they don't pay by the date you require the funds you've been forced to expend ( by Caltex's faulty fuel product ) back in your bank account where it shoudl have been the whole while earning interest, if you enquired with then what they thought the result of an open letter to Caltex via the general press and in particular motor publications etc would have on their company's fuel sales.

You wouldn't have to threaten them - just innocently ask - enquire - you're not to know what the effect would be are you? It's not like you're a billion dollar firm with buildings full of lawers at your beck and call.

Ask them - as a result of their recalcitrent responce to date - if they would prefer you wrote to them via an open letter via trade press etc - in light of the fact that you don't feel that your communication is reaching them clearly at this point and you're at a loss as to what they require from you to get their appropriate attention?

I'd avoid the "water in your petrol" signes like the plague - thats another whole can of worms right there that you don't need. Plus - the petrol station may just be run by dumb innocent "we don't test the water that often" type folk - who knows.

It's always best to just keep feeding out rope till the appropriate level of taughtness is applied by the other party - they tend to do it eventually - and a self hanging is always more interesting and righeous!

Whatever you do - don't ever mention that you've discussed the matter online on the internet in any way - that really freaks the **** out of legal folk - they know the dangers of an internet multiplier factor and that just makes them clamp up more.

And if nothing esle, remember, Shakespere himself once said "first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers!"

Oh - keep copies of everything - and make notes and diary date / note every phone call, email, or letter, and anything they say or such - write it down, note it - and keep every detail as it all goes to your case in the end.

can't wait to hear you've won!

++dez;

Dez

Reading this over again - and noting that I didn't mention this in my first post:

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SIGN A BLOODY THING TO THEIR [ CALTEX ] FAVOUR!

You're the one seeking to recover costs on damages due to the faulty nature of the batch of fuel they sold to the gass station who in turn sold it to you.

I just don't see why you should have to sign anything other than perhaps a receipt of some form confirming you recived payment in full and are satisfied that they [ Caltex ] have paid you to the full amount you have had to expect due to the damages their fuel caused you.

I'd seriously advice you not to sign any letter of any sort - it's just not necessary on your part and frankly is curious in the big picture for what other stuff are they perhaps now trying to cover up - how many others are gettign gag and secrecy letters from Caltex due to crummy fuel?

Hymee - don't sign anything more legally binding than a receipt of payment for the money that you're seeking for your repair costs - there's just no grounds for it!

If they start playing hard ball - go lawyer up - fast ( you don't have any pal's doing a law degree do you? ).

++dez;

Dez

How ironic that the Moderator of the Australian RX8 Forum is seeking costs for damages to his car from a fuel company - god they really struck out this time didn't they?

**** - 5,403 people including yourself could be influenced to NOT buy anything from Caltex as a result - Caltex really lucked out this time.

If I were you, I'd be getting 5,403 people from the rx8forum to write to Caltex informing them that if they don't antie up with your payment toot suit then "they" [ the 5,403 members ] will black list any purchases from Caltex and do the old tell ten people who will tell ten people thing - it only takes ten levels deep and you end up with what.. 10,000,000,000 people ( ten billion - hmm - there isn't that many of us on the planet - yet ) who'd know that Caltex burned you!?

++dez;

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Since my other "condition" is a ls1.com.au forum junkie, and Caltex is an Aussie company, I am also interested in seeing how 4144 members on that Aussie forum would freak them.

Like I said - I did protect their identity whilst I gave them a chance to redeem themselves. But I could only give them so much slack.

I have a Lawyer friend who is now a teacher. I also have a journalist friend (on a couple of current affairs shows). I have kept them out of it so far.

I contacted my leasing/financing company and there were very happy to give me advice such as crossing out the bullshit parts and sending back. But they did not have a legal team I could lean on.

I also spoke to my service manager, and although the chances of consequential damage was low, he could not garantee that Mazda would not lay blame on such consequnial damages at Caltex.

Interesting. I also have a relative who is on the Caltex franchise owners board or something like that...

Cheers,
Hymee.

Anyway, another chapter will unfold upon my return.

rpm_pwr

Translation:
It's cheaper to pay out the few people who do realize it's the bad fuel, than it is to replace the tanks at our ageing servo's.

Good luck, Hymee.

-pete

Dez

I for one an now driving past Caltex stations regardless - I hate to admit it but I drove as close as I've been so far to an empty tank on the way to Newcastle the other day to get to a Shell outlet to get Optimax [ and to avoid Caltex if only on principal - sorry dear franchisee's ]..

So cound me as one of say 5,000+ [ in this forum ] and your 4,000+ [ in that "other" forum ] - that's 9,000+ folk you as a moderator have access to .. at my average of $50 per fill, that's a potential $450,000 worth of gass you could cost them a week min if you really really tried * grin *

Oh can you feeeeeeel the power!

++dez;