Diesel in Spain etc

[xsaab]

Last year we had a 2 week tour of part of the NW corner of Spain, it was so good that we are planning to return to the general area and go further south to Portugal.

A question left over from last year is using the pumps dispensing diesel several questions.

There were several grades of diesel at filling stations with different names, (Shell stations were not available when I wanted to fill up - only Spanish brands) so what is the name or type of diesel one should use in a XC60 (typically used to being pampered with V-Power)

On the pumps were a collection of pre-select buttons that had something to do with the quantity to be dispensed - how are they to be used - I think one can dispense fuel until full without selecting a quantity button. Is my assumption correct.

Underground hotel car parks that were designed for Fiat 500s - they teach you new tricks with an XC60 that you never would have thought possible. Sometimes you cannot get out of them until a lot of the cars have left the garage so that you can steer out of the garage.

Thanks for any thoughts or tips - I have a copy of Julian Parishes oracle on European travel but he does not answer these questions.

[NigelDay]

Can't answer your question, but Shell V-Power is not 100% available in mainland Europe. Denmark, for example, is not covered. The websites of the 'majors' should be able to locate stations with Premium diesel. In France I have used Total Excellium as Shell is a little thin on the ground.

[prc68]

Premium diesel:
Repsol will be the neotech 10e+ (gold sticker).
Cepsa will be optima diesel (IIRC red + Black).
BP will be ultimate diesel (blue + green sticker)
Galp will be evologic diesel (black + orange sticker)


Pre-selection buttons are to enter value before picking up nozel. Can't remember Spain but in portugal you'll have 3 buttons, 1£, 10€ and reset. hitting the 10€ button twice will pre select 20€ of fuel and so forth...
If you don't pre-select pump will just go until full.

I can relate to the garage issues

[tt82]

When I went to Italy there were some unattended stations and you couldn't pump to full. You had to pre-select an amount that you could be sure to fit in otherwise you simply wasted money. If there was an attendant there, you could pre-select a high amount and if you filled right up with some left over, taking the receipt to the attendant would get you a refund of the unused amount.

[Julianpms]

Thanks for your kind mention of my guide to driving in Europe, and I'm sorry I couldn't answer this exact question in the book due to reasons of space. But it looks like you've found some good information here. Btw, the guide will be available in an updated second edition this spring: I just signed off the page proofs last week.

Originally Posted by xsaab

Last year we had a 2 week tour of part of the NW corner of Spain, it was so good that we are planning to return to the general area and go further south to Portugal.

A question left over from last year is using the pumps dispensing diesel several questions.

There were several grades of diesel at filling stations with different names, (Shell stations were not available when I wanted to fill up - only Spanish brands) so what is the name or type of diesel one should use in a XC60 (typically used to being pampered with V-Power)

On the pumps were a collection of pre-select buttons that had something to do with the quantity to be dispensed - how are they to be used - I think one can dispense fuel until full without selecting a quantity button. Is my assumption correct.

Underground hotel car parks that were designed for Fiat 500s - they teach you new tricks with an XC60 that you never would have thought possible. Sometimes you cannot get out of them until a lot of the cars have left the garage so that you can steer out of the garage.

Thanks for any thoughts or tips - I have a copy of Julian Parishes oracle on European travel but he does not answer these questions.

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by Julianpms

Thanks for your kind mention of my guide to driving in Europe, and I'm sorry I couldn't answer this exact question in the book due to reasons of space. But it looks like you've found some good information here. Btw, the guide will be available in an updated second edition this spring: I just signed off the page proofs last week.

Wow!
This world never ceases to surprise me

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by tt82

When I went to Italy there were some unattended stations and you couldn't pump to full. You had to pre-select an amount that you could be sure to fit in otherwise you simply wasted money. If there was an attendant there, you could pre-select a high amount and if you filled right up with some left over, taking the receipt to the attendant would get you a refund of the unused amount.

Went to Italy 3 years. On the way back to the airport we looked to fill up the hire car as you do. First station, unmanned, I stared at the pumps, totally failed to understand how it worked. Moved to the next and next and next. I started to panic. Thankfully found a manned one 0.5 miles from the airport itself. I nearly hugged the man.

Filling up abroad is very stressful until you understand the system. In America for example you pre-pay but at least there they speak English so I could ask someone inside the station how it worked. Much harder when a different language is involved. Pre-paying actually makes sense for the station, no thefts.

[xsaab]

Thanks everybody for your help especially prc68 - your info has been stored to the Mac Notes system so will now be on all our phones and computers.

Re US gas - I have bought gas in just about every possible way, some with pre pay where you handover a credit card or $50 to brim the car, then get change or a refund sent to the credit card. Some places do not like UK credit cards when trying to pay at the pump and they want a the ZIP code (a numeric only concept in the US), some places do not accept the concept of UK credit cards for any form of payment and they are reluctant to use the PIN number security system in the US as well. Oh and the language is not always English as we know of it. We have been asked on several occasions what language we speak at home after telling them that we come from the UK.

The final challenge is that Gas pump spout is Black and the diesel pump spout is often green. But you always have to check the words on the pump.

On one occasion I had gas pump by hand from a barrel, but never from a gravity fed glass reservoir type pump.

[Whippy]

France is somewhat easier, most people fill up at the supermarche, fill up and pay at booth on exit. Usually one grade of diesel, in France it's called gasoil (pronounced gaz warle) caution needs to be taken in some rural spots as the old high sulphur diesel is still available.

[prc68]

In Portugal it is also quite simple. Low grade diesel will always be "gasoleo simples" and normally have the black sticker on pump. That is the normal grade no additive diesel. Fuels at supermarkets like supermarche, intermarche, prio will be cheaper but normally only low grade.
There are not many, but we do have some un-manned stations (normally manned during the day). These normally have a slot and keyboard to take your credit card.