This is my first post for quite some time now (years!), and it?s a question that I?ve asked before but I?m still unclear about the answer.
On my past trips to France I stuck to using branded diesel (Shell V-Power & BP Ultimate) because I was unsure if I was able to use Gazole, the opinon from the Forum was that it was OK to use and that it was the same as regular diesel here in the UK.
Now I?m about to go on holiday to France again and was going to fill up with Gazole while I was out there, BUT when I filled up at my local station yesterday I noticed (for the first time!) that on the fuel filler-flap it states that I should NOT use Bio-diesel or Gazole.
I?m now confused as to whether I can or can?t use it, I have a VW Golf 2.0 TDI (2006) which I thought would have been setup to accept this kind of fuel.
I?m sure other BR?s are running this type of engine so should I ignore the info on the flap or not?
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I thought Gazole was French for diesel and l'essence French for petrol - at least that's what we learned at school.
Does it say "No Gas Oil" inside the flap, which is a high-sulphur off-road diesel in the UK.
Edited by Hamsafar on 16/05/2008 at 11:22
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Definitely says Gazole.
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Similar to Spanish - gasóleo = diesel, as opposed to gasolina = petrol. You have to listen carefully to the talking fuel pumps to check you've used the correct nozzle.
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Gazole is French DERV (diesel). I used it often enough in my Passat TDI.
In some areas you have a choice of ordinary Gazole or more expensive low sulphur Gazole. I always used the considerably cheaper stuff.
Check with VW if you are unsure what the warning means.
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Gazole = french for diesel. It's fine in your Golf and any other diesel-engined car.
I believe Biodiesel to have only 5% mix in Europe. The VW caution against Biodiesel is for blends of 35% which are common in some other parts of the world, n'est pas?
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I'm in France and it's common now to see it called simply "diesel"
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Pedant mode on:-
"The VW caution against Biodiesel is for blends of 35% which are common in some other parts of the world, n'est pas?"
Should be "...n'est-ce pas?"
Pedant mode off.
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I thought Gazole was French for diesel and l'essence French for petrol - at least that's what we learned at school.
This is perfectly correct, the only thing I would add is that the quality of branded diesel versus supermarket diesel in France can be much greater than in the UK, I always found that I got poor MPG on the cheapest supermarket stuff.
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the only thing I would add is that the quality of branded diesel versus supermarket diesel in France can be much greater than in the UK
I find that quite interesting from a country whose domestic manufacturers were first on the common rail bandwagon. PSA had common rails in their range best part of a decade ago, with Renault very soon after.
Considering how many common rail problems here are blamed by the manufacturers on poor quality fuel, I wonder what the experience in France is where, by the sounds of it, fuel quality is far more variable? Do they see the same rate of failure of things like pumps and injectors?
Cheers
DP
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Called me paranoid and maybe I should be on the 'Conspiracy theory' thread but it's difficult to find out 'the truth' in France. The motoring press/car magazines are pro-French biased to the extent that they must be financed by the French car industry. Maybe they saw what happened to the English one when freedom of information, independent reporting and market forces all combined. I read car websites/magazines in English/French and occasionally German and they all come up with different conclusions, but the French ones are something else. What I'm saying is if there was information which would damage the French industry, they wouldn't exactly cover it up but would make it very discrete.
A good example is the JD Power Survey (in France). French cars don't come out well but French consumers don't know this - it's seriously downplayed. Even official breakdown statisitics are (I translate and quote ".....a jealously guarded secret...". I recently read that in Autoplus magazine.
It wasn't that long ago I read "Citroen Zara, still the car to buy in the mid-sized sector.." years after the Focus had been around.
There are whole magazines entitled "..Which Clio to buy.."
I am probably exagerating a bit, but not much.
Ps mental block, Friday evening and can't think how to spell Zara...
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You aren't exaggerating, sadly.
French car magazines are enough to make you weep.
And, indeed, major problems go more or less unreported because motorists here are used to being treated like carp by the major manufacturers.
Part of the problem is that 'customer service' has very little meaning in France, where there are virtually no consumer protection organisations, or only one that I can think of. If after-sales service isn't covered in the Code Civile dreamed up by Napoleon Bonaparte then it doesn't exist.
By coincidence, a couple of days ago I was in a hospital clinic waiting room and spotted a nearly-current motor mag which I picked up because on the front it plugged a piece on the new Renault Laguna GT - I just wanted to make sure they didn't claim its 'revolutionary' 4-wheel steering as a Renault 'first'. (To be fair, they didn't!).
But further on in the mag was a comparative test between a Laguna and a 3-series BMW. I don't have to tell you what came out on top...
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Just to confirm the actual words on my fuel filler flap -
DIESEL / NOT FOR BIODIESEL GAZOLE / PAS POUR LE BIODIESEL
I'll check the handbook to see if it gives any figures for percentages of mixes, but how would I tell the biodiesel content at the pump? From the warning above it sounds like there may be a pump marked 'Biodiesel Gazole' rather than the standard 'Gazole'.
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I think there's a misunderstanding here.
The way I interpret it is that the message on RD's fuel filler flap is in two parts, the first in English and the second part a translation into French. Thus:
Diesel/not for biodiesel (meaning use standard diesel, not biodiesel)
Gazole/pas pour le biodiesel (exactly the same meaning, but in French).
Edited by ChrisPeugeot on 16/05/2008 at 19:51
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Thanks CP, that makes perfect sense.
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>Just to confirm the actual words on my fuel filler flap -
>DIESEL / NOT FOR BIODIESEL GAZOLE / PAS POUR LE BIODIESEL
That's strange - my MkV Tdi Golf only has the word Biodiesel, in a red circle, crossed out. Perhaps fate knew that yours was destined for holidays to France!
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Mike, the good news is that cars which are denigrated (eg Fords) or ignored (e.g Hondas) are often cheaper than their inferior French rivals (as you no doubt know). So 'Vive la France', let them live in ignorance while you enjoy your Honda...
Have a nice weekend...
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In France Gazole and Diesel are one and the same;however, don't use Gasoil in the UK,it's another name for tax-free red diesel-illegal for cars used on the public highway.
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