Mechanic wins claim that car was damaged by contaminated diesel

AWARDING a damage claim against Corrib Oil, Tuam, brought by a mechanic who argued he had purchased contaminated diesel at the garage, Judge Geoffrey Browne stated that he wanted to make it very clear that there was no suggestion whatsoever of marked or washed fuel being involved or any inappropriate behaviour engaged in. The mystery of how only one car was damaged by contaminated fuel from a garage storage tank while the norm in the industry, if such a mishap occurs, is to see a pattern of complaints from customers, was threshed out during the hearing but was not resolved by the Court [private] William Mannion told the Court that he filled up his wife's Toyota car with €72 worth of diesel on December 12 last. Later, while driving through Ahascragh, the engine 'shut off' and the car came to an abrupt halt. He had it towed back to Parson's garage in Tuam, where he worked as a mechanic, and had it checked. A problem with the injectors was identified and contaminated diesel was suspected. Samples of diesel from the car were placed in four Coke bottles. Two samples were sent by him for analysis and two were provided to Corrib Oil director Tom Connolly. The car had had its NCT the week before and no problems with emissions were highlighted. Mr Mannion said he serviced the car himself and kept it in good running order. Corrib Oil's solicitor put it to Mr Mannion that the company had no other complaints arising from diesel sales on the day in question and they had contacted several customers using their credit card details to check. When Corrib had the samples provided to them analysed, they passed. He added that it was company policy to compensate customers on the rare occasion they had a problem with contaminated fuel. The defence suggested that the car in question was a 2004 model and as the tank was practically empty before the refill, sediment from the bottom of the tank could have been stirred up and caused the problems with the injectors. Mr Mannion said it was very unusual for all four injectors to go together. Usually they went one at a time, over a period. The defence argued that by the time they were made aware of the issue, the car had been repaired and the injectors disposed of. Mr Mannion insisted that he had informed Corrib Oil of the problem soon after it happened and that manager Tommy Ronan assured him they would take care of it. He took the case because he hadn't heard back from him or the company. A diesel injection specialist from Corray Engineering appeared as a expert witness for the Mannions. He testified that he examined the damaged injectors and found a great deal of rust. This was consistent with water passing through the injectors and also consistent with contaminated diesel. However, he admitted he could not state specifically what had caused the damage. There were differing accounts presented by the parties as to the timescale of events after December 12 when the fuel was purchased. These aspects were threshed out at length throughout the case. Corrib Oil Tuam manager Tommy Ronan said the tank Mr Mannion's fill came from could hold 40,000 litres and he had checked with other customers and there were no problems reported. Frank Parsons from Parsons' Garage, and Mr Mannion's employer, called to Corrib Oil and told Mr Ronan that the diesel from the car they checked appeared to have a funny smell. They both checked a couple of samples from the tank and there was no smell at the time. Corrib Oil Director Tom Connolly said it was company policy to deal with any problems immediately. In this case he was perplexed as in the fuel business, if there was a problem with fuel, it wouldn't happen in isolation but there would be several complaints. Problems arise from time to time, he said, but one had never occurred in Tuam. He said he knew Mr Mannion personally and had regular dealings with Parsons. In fact he buys hin own cars there. He could not understand why this could have not been sorted out between them before it got to this stage. He acknowledged receiving a complaint from Mrs Mannion but said he couldn't just agree to pay over €3,000 over the phone without properly looking into the matter. 'I did what I could when it was brought to my notice,' he said, adding that Frank Parsons had checked the diesel at Corrib Oil and nothing was wrong with it. He argued that he had had the samples provided by the Mannions analysed and they had been cleared and had checked to see if there were other complaints. He said he did all he could in the circumstances. Corrib Oil's expert witness, Motor Assessor Mr Sweeney, gave evidence that a full fill could stir up sediment but there was no evidence presented as to the condition of the tank. He also said that if fuel was contaminated it would result in a pattern of faults in vehicles, not just one, and questioned the integrity of the preservation of the injectors after they were removed. He stressed that the lab tests indicated that there was no evidence or marked or laundered diesel involved. Judge Browne said this point was very important to stress, just in case it got out 'around the village' as this could cause unwarranted difficulties for the company. Giving his verdict he said it had not been proved beyond doubt that sediment in the car tank had been responsible for the damage. In addition, he could not see any financial advantage to the Mannions in this case. They were only looking for the damage to the car to be compensated for. He added that if they had made major claims, suspicion might be raised, but they had not. He was satisfied that their claim was valid so awarded them their claim of €3,866 plus costs against Corrib Oil.[/private]