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Hire van with AdBlue

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PrincessB
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Hire van with AdBlue

#213364

Postby PrincessB » April 7th, 2019, 3:27 pm

We had to move lots of #1Daughter's stuff this weekend and the hire van turned out to be a Mercedes Sprinter (which as a first for me) had an AdBlue tank.

Got the usual chat about returning the van with a full tank of diesel or be charged about £300 for them to fill it for you. Not a word was said about the AdBlue level which was at about 50% on taking the van.

300 miles later, the tank is now full of diesel while the gauge monitoring the AdBlue level is down to around the 25% mark.

Van goes back tomorrow morning, would I be expected to top up the Adblue as well? I would not expect to top up the engine oil, so I'll assume not, but I'm just curious.

Regards,

B.

Spet0789
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213386

Postby Spet0789 » April 7th, 2019, 4:48 pm

PrincessB wrote:We had to move lots of #1Daughter's stuff this weekend and the hire van turned out to be a Mercedes Sprinter (which as a first for me) had an AdBlue tank.

Got the usual chat about returning the van with a full tank of diesel or be charged about £300 for them to fill it for you. Not a word was said about the AdBlue level which was at about 50% on taking the van.

300 miles later, the tank is now full of diesel while the gauge monitoring the AdBlue level is down to around the 25% mark.

Van goes back tomorrow morning, would I be expected to top up the Adblue as well? I would not expect to top up the engine oil, so I'll assume not, but I'm just curious.

Regards,

B.


An Adblue tank usually lasts for 5-8k miles so I’m amazed you’ve put a dent in the amount over the course of a few days hire.

If it’s not on the contract, no obligation to refill it. As you say, you don’t have to top up the oil, windscreen washer fluid or anything else.

doug2500
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213421

Postby doug2500 » April 7th, 2019, 7:07 pm

I don't know, but I doubt you would be expected to fill it. As mentioned you won't have used 25% of the tank even if the gauge implies that.

Even if you had used 1/4 of a tank it would only equate to few liters costing about 20p/L assuming they buy in bulk.

PrincessB
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213629

Postby PrincessB » April 8th, 2019, 2:21 pm

Van returned - No charges.

An older chap I spoke to, said it was just another thing they have to keep an eye on.

One issue would be the electronic dash going into meltdown when the Adblue level dropped to 50%. My car does a fuel warning at 30 miles remaining, not 4,000 - It messed up the dash to the point I could not find what I wanted to see, in this case a clock.

As advice for those who might wish to hire a van for more than a weekend, checking the Adblue level is worthwhile. From some research, the speed it is used depends more on driving style than odometer readings. A van that gets thrashed down A roads half the time and idles in London Traffic for the rest is going to suck that tank dry faster than you would expect.

Add to that the fun of the engine refusing to start if you run out. In the context of a really long trip, you could be searching for a top up in the middle of nowhere in winter.

Cheers all,

B.

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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213677

Postby richlist » April 8th, 2019, 5:40 pm

Not all cars have a facility to check ad blue levels. My Range Rover just tells me when it needs a top up with a large safety margin. So, wait for the 'top up required' light to illuminate and top up sometime over the next 500 miles.

Spet0789
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213712

Postby Spet0789 » April 8th, 2019, 8:16 pm

PrincessB wrote:Van returned - No charges.

An older chap I spoke to, said it was just another thing they have to keep an eye on.

One issue would be the electronic dash going into meltdown when the Adblue level dropped to 50%. My car does a fuel warning at 30 miles remaining, not 4,000 - It messed up the dash to the point I could not find what I wanted to see, in this case a clock.

As advice for those who might wish to hire a van for more than a weekend, checking the Adblue level is worthwhile. From some research, the speed it is used depends more on driving style than odometer readings. A van that gets thrashed down A roads half the time and idles in London Traffic for the rest is going to suck that tank dry faster than you would expect.

Add to that the fun of the engine refusing to start if you run out. In the context of a really long trip, you could be searching for a top up in the middle of nowhere in winter.

Cheers all,

B.


You can pee into the Adblue tank if you’re really struggling. It’s a urea solution. Do at your own risk!

sg31
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#213804

Postby sg31 » April 9th, 2019, 9:36 am

Spet0789 wrote:
You can pee into the Adblue tank if you’re really struggling. It’s a urea solution. Do at your own risk!



Fine in theory but might not be so good in practice. My car uses AdBlue and let's me know when it has enough for 1500 miles left. It doesn't register the top up unless it is in excess of 6.5 litres. Even on a good day that would be a stretch.

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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#214484

Postby stooz » April 11th, 2019, 8:28 pm

what the hell is adblue? and why are we now building cars that need addatives? shirley, it should be in the fuel from the pump??

Spet0789
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Re: Hire van with AdBlue

#214486

Postby Spet0789 » April 11th, 2019, 8:44 pm

It’s a urea solution. It’s injected into the exhaust to reduce NOx emissions. So you can’t just add it to the fuel. It’s been used in trucks for many years but more recently has been required for diesel cars and vans too.


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