flamingo

Does anyone know how easy it is to buy Red Diesel in the Chiclana area?

Do you need a licence?

Is it freely available from petrol stations?

Many thanks

Mitzyboy

I've never seen it sold. Red Diesel is so cheap in the UK because its for agricultural use and bears no duty. If you can get it here, I'm not so sure there will be much difference in price as the fuel prices over here are not so loaded with tax afaik.

I used to work on the Road Fuel Testing Unit in the UK many years ago and we used to find no end of people in rural areas using it on the roads.

rugbymatt

I used to be able to use it, we had a Landrover used almost all the time in forestry work, so it was allowed, but we were only allowed to drive from site to site, well sometimes the pub was on the wat to or from a site, but I always fretted I would be caught.

I know someone who used to use it all the time, he got caught on the A3 north of Guildford, they didnt even bother testing his tank, just took the diesel filter off!


Lots of trouble, court case and had to pay a lot of money back in "lost" duty!

I know you can get it in some Marinas but not sure if it is available elsewhere, I do know its illegal for you to sell it on if that helps?

jandy44

When I used to drive down to Spain you could buy it easily,a lot of HGV owner drivers would have what they called belly tanks hidden under the trailers,they would fill up with red to help keep the running costs down,it was very common practice,God help you if you got caught,the police used to do randem checks,dip the tank,massive fines if caught,mind you a lot of the police were bent,they would pull you over to do any checks and most of the time they would ask for cigs. or take something from the load,ie: fruit ect.

I am not sure if this still happens,I would be surprised if it dosent,because the price of fuel is so high,immangine doing a round trip of several hundred miles , a HGV vehicle at eight miles per gallon uses a lot of fuel , so it was common practice.

steve in pago

Hi Flamingo
I've been trying to find it over there to run the genny on, if you find out anywhere could you PM & like wise if i find anywhere Thnk it may be like the heating oil not sure will investigate, am sure if i'm wrong someone will tell me
cheers steve

big wheels

All the tractors in our town fill up at the same pump as everyone else. There is no Red diesel as far as I'm aware.
Whether or not they pay the same price I don't know, I will ask my neighbour

terryandsandra

We get red diesel in Catalunya, for generators and tractors,although you have to get a card from the bank to pay for it.No cash payments

poollounger

Guys if you log into www.ybw.com go to forums and scroll down to the MB red diesel campaign there is a lot of info about red diesel in the UK, but also pertaining to the EEC regs to end the preferential duty. It may help.
I know in Wales they used to go to the cattle markets and check on the farmers vehicles. The red tint takes ages to disappear once you have used it. My only experience of using it on a boat was from a garage in Swanscombe in Kent. The hoses were really old and I ended up with bits of peished rubber that stalled the engine on the way to Ostend. Unless you are really using huge amounts and there is a marked price difference, better to use the stuff from a garage. Tends to be fresher and have more detergents to keep things clean.

finca steve

In order to use gasoleo 'B' or red diesel you will need a card from your bank. This is a credit card and works the same but only for diesel 'b'. I simply went in and asked for one and it came shortly after. The price per litre is about 0.65 € and is we get it from our local garage near Ayamonte.

We use it for our genset and agricultural plant but as in the UK absolutely not in our landrover.

It is primarily intended for commercial vehicles and as poollounger says available in harbours for commercial vessels such as fishing boats or coded charter yachts.

As the transaction goes through on a credit card payment it presumably can be tracked by the authorities so even though no one has checked up on us yet I am awaiting a visit in due course.

steve in pago

Cheers steve most helpful that will look into it
thanks again

billgates

We fill our jerry cans with red diesel from the local filling station near Almunecar and just pay cash. It's about 0.65€ a litre. We only use it for our genny and our car is an extremely thirsty petrol 4x4 so we couldn't use it for that even if we were so inclined.

Never heard of this credit card thing to pay for it though. We've just been paying cash (same as our neighbours) for the last couple of years now.

EsuriJohn

Hi finca steve,

Nice to hear from you, we now own the plot but have not yet got a builder to start the build. Did you ever manage to do the transfer you hoped for between that old steel hull being refitted at San Lucar and your boat. We will be out mid May but I expect it will be frantic just like it was in February so may not be able to see you but we often mention you and Ann and the log cabin when we talk about our trips to Ayamonte.

Warmest regards,

John and Kath.

finca steve

Hi John and Kath,

Good to hear from you again. We often read your comments on this forum on the CE thread (???more like a very long rope!).

So pleased to hear things are progressing on the plot presumable Fadesa have been able to give you all the data you needed to get you going.

We have sold Siesta Key our lovely old schooner and she is currently being refitted by the new owners in the boat yard Vila Real. We now have a Jeanneau Sunlight 30 footer which is much better for sailing in the river and goes like a witch upwind. We even took part in the Guadiana regatta from Vila Real to Sanlucar last August which was great fun.

Re the guest house, very good of you to promote us and yes things are still going well. So well in fact we have had to add an extra room in the form of a timber garden house to cater for two separate couples or a family. Other wise the land never changes although we seem to spend loads of time gardening, planting trees, cutting weeds and grass but at this time of the year it looks really lovely. So it is all worth it.

Currently in the UK hellping our daughter plan her wedding for next April 2007 but cant wait to get back at the weekend.

Let us know when you are next over and we must try to get together and repay your hospitality.

BTW if you need help with finding a builder let me know and I will do what I can to assist we now have a few more contacts in the business.