On another forum I use, people are suggesting running cars on red diesel to save money. I know this is a big “no-no” as far as Customs & Excise are concerned and I do not know anyone who has ever used it in a truck.
I do want to point out the possible problems that would be caused if they were caught, does anyone know anybody who has been nicked for running on it, and if so what was the penalty?
I used to work for a recovery company picking up impounded vehicles for Customs and Excise for red diesel, They were sold off by C&E . So penaltys are quite severe! There was a wide range of vehicles too!
customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPort … _CL_000164
5.1 on that page
your vehicle (or engine) being seized and forfeited.
in teresting one.
the way the world is today, with bankers, m.p’s, the cost of living, immigration etc, i could see why people would be prepared to risk it maybe, just a big gamble if you get caught. we all know, that currently, if your an honest, legal hard working uk citizen, everyone and everything seems to be stacked against you, you can kind of see why people would be tempted, bloody hell, even i would.
mind you, red diesel, in my petrol owered m5, is prob a bad idea.
chilistrucker:
in teresting one.mind you, red diesel, in my petrol owered m5, is prob a bad idea.
People on that thread are also discussing using household LPG heating fuel to power LPG cars. Perhaps there’s your answer!
Being the eternal pessimist, I just want to point out possible problems. However, I agree with everything they are saying, which are pretty much the same as your comments.
i only really use the car as a weekend toy, so its no big deal. mind you, quite scary to see the price of a litre at the mo. when i was 17, i worked at a tescos petrol station, part time, whilst still at school, it was £1.57 back then, approx 1987/88, to think we are not far off this now per litre 
everything does seem to be a sorry state of affairs at the mo, i feel for the guys that have been brave enough to give it a go as an owner driver/get a small company up and running, the costs involved, must make it murder at the mo, and it seems at the mo, the harder you try, the harder it gets.
i think the great, has now long gone, from what was once, great britain.
chilistrucker:
i only really use the car as a weekend toy, so its no big deal. mind you, quite scary to see the price of a litre at the mo. when i was 17, i worked at a tescos petrol station, part time, whilst still at school, it was £1.57 back then, approx 1987/88, to think we are not far off this now per litre
I could fill my Hillman Super Minx up for a tenner when I was 17, and I paid £72 to insure it while I was still on L-plates… I remember that in the same week I took home £68, and I was only washing up pots and pans in a hospital…
I’m not surprised that people are looking to save money though.
Currently it costs me £145 to fill my car up with petrol. And for that I get around 300 miles round town or 400 on a long runî˜
ha,ha, perhaps it was the good old days.
my daughter lives in stoke now, and i’m in basildon, popped up and stayed with her, the other weekend, thought i’d take the m5 for a good run. £120 quid to fill it up to the brim, then after abit of a spirited run, across the a50, coming back, had to stick another £50 in 
take the other halfs clio next time.
it seems that at the mo, everything is going up at a frightening rate, bar rates and wages 
Harry Monk:
On another forum I use, people are suggesting running cars on red diesel to save money. I know this is a big “no-no” as far as Customs & Excise are concerned and I do not know anyone who has ever used it in a truck.I do want to point out the possible problems that would be caused if they were caught, does anyone know anybody who has been nicked for running on it, and if so what was the penalty?
we have 3 pumps,2 for trucks,1 for trailer[fridge],amazing how many non-fridge drivers use any of the 3 
Harry Monk:
On another forum I use, people are suggesting running cars on red diesel to save money. I know this is a big “no-no” as far as Customs & Excise are concerned and I do not know anyone who has ever used it in a truck.
I don’t know anyone who’s used red diesel in a lorry but I have been stopped by customs & Excise and had the tank checked in years gone by, so I assume that the C&E still go round dipping vehicle tanks from time to time (C&E not ■■■■■■, we know they do )
Just a heads up for anyone who may think you can’t get caught
my daughter wants to change her car,shes after a fiesta zetec-s,she wants the 1.6 petrol at £6998 as its lime green with a black chequred roof,
tax 85.25 -6 moths
30 mpg ish
mates selling a zetec-s 1.6 tdci for £4,000,silver
tax-£30 per year
60 mpg ish
ive tried to explain how much cheaper a diesel would cost to run,but lime green seems to be winning over silver,lovely to be young and no worries about money,theres always dad if im short 
Harry Monk:
On another forum I use, people are suggesting running cars on red diesel to save money. I know this is a big “no-no” as far as Customs & Excise are concerned and I do not know anyone who has ever used it in a truck.I do want to point out the possible problems that would be caused if they were caught, does anyone know anybody who has been nicked for running on it, and if so what was the penalty?
i was hauling stone ,making forestry rds around 1983ish ,C&E came in forest and checked our vehicles .they found the jcb drivers granada was on red deisel,they sent a truck in to pull car away and police charged /fined him…we recconed it was a phoned in job…
also had C&E at my door 2004 to dip my car tank (only had diesel car 6mnths!) ,seems they blitzed the area (lived in the country),my next door neighbour had a lpg vectra? and had a lpg tank for heating the house …he got a friendly warning not to think about it or Big fine,car gone…
Turbo:
I used to work for a recovery company picking up impounded vehicles for Customs and Excise for red diesel, They were sold off by C&E . So penaltys are quite severe! There was a wide range of vehicles too!
I used to do that, & we collected them from all over the UK to drop them at a top secret C&E place near Doncaster (whoops, not so top secret now).
The biggest demand I heard of was £20k+, that didn’t include the fines, that was just the repayment for the ‘estimated’ lost duty.
There’d be 20-30 cars/vans & 5-10 trucks at any one time I visited, all parked up waiting for the next auction.
I thought there is a 2500 litre exemption on personal veggy oil use, so why bother running red and the risk of a severe rogering from the HMRC?
The chances of being caught are quite small unless you drive a van /land rover or similar. I speak with some authority . Also some older diesels will run perfectly well on a mixture of red and vegetable oil, also L.P.G purchased as a domestic fuel has a much lower rate of V.A.T and can be easily pumped into your car. Central heating oil works well too.
If you really want motoring on the cheap go round all the local chip shops collect all their waste oil, filter out the moisture and particles, add an organic solvent (thinner) declare the V.A.T (they will never know how much you actually use) and off you go. With all the government spending cuts the chances of falling foul are more remote than ever 
mike68:
Central heating oil works well too.
Until the injector pump seizes up. Diesel, both red and white, contains lubricants to stop that happening.
i do 42 miles roundtrip PER DAY to and from work and only spend £30 a week on petrol, get payed monthly and still have plenty for myself and aint payed a great deal mind it does help driving a 1.0 litre JUST corsa lol
I run my landrover on 50/50 diesel and veg oil, or did when it saved me a decent amount (off the shelf). You can now run a certain amount without declaring it (50ltrs a week iirc).
My 2.5 vectra (petrol) was costing me enough to rent a house nearer work but I’ve now bought a corsa 1.3cdti which costs about a third to run.
a mate of mine has been mixing his own form of diesal for years,he mixes heating fuel,redex and something else,hes bought 2 brand new diesal cars in the last ten years,drove them off the forecourt,straight to his house and filled the tank up with his own mix,not once has he ever had a problem with either car.hes just bought a smart car in diesal to tow behind his motor home and done the same with that.i dont know the full mix or ratios etc but hes never had any problems.just keeps ontop of the oil an filter changes