Furnace oil...

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by Dieselmech2

Ben, what do you mean by" spot checks crush road vehicles using it " are you say literally? If so, that's really vindictive, nannystate government control! A fine or even prison time.. but crush a vehicle? That's really petty and vidictive.

I think he means that when fuel prices peaked, people started using red diesel, an agricultural mix with red dye in it. Obviously it has much lower tax for off road use only, and yes in some circumstances, if found in a road vehicle, it could be seized and if the fines weren't paid, crushed.

[benlovesgoddess]

Yes. Police and hm revenue & customs I think. Set up on the roadside and stopping vehicles. Pretty rare but I saw such a set up at least twice (though years ago).
It was widely accepted if your tank was dipped and you were using red diesel (dyed agricultural diesel).

[benlovesgoddess]

Sorry glitch with my phone - yeah, if you were caught with red diesel in a regular car van or lorry, goodbye, its getting crushed! I used to risk it in my old nissan till the garage that sold it you in jerry cans started taking your registration, then I stopped. My car cost £150, at the time I would have been saving about £15 a week...I delivered pizzas!

[Dieselmech2]

Wow...think how rediculous that is...you didn't pay your land taxes, ok we'll burn your barn. In California I saw something about that a year or two ago, guys caught street racing were getting their ****box imports crushed (civic's and crap like that) I'm thinking WTF??? That just sounds so ex-wife vindictive to me.

[Draigflag]

You have to understand, it's usually the same people that dodge taxes and use farm fuel that also drive without driving licences, or road tax, or MOT, or insurance, and as a result cause a fatal collision. Not always, but it's usually criminals that are responsible, or penny-pinching farmers who accidentally put a bit of red in their Land Rover ha!

[Dieselmech2]

I guess we look at things differently. I say the people make the rules and the gov enforces them, therefore if the rules are unjust or arbitrarily made by the government, people who are otherwise law abiding are made into criminals. Prohibition proved this. Is it wrong to use it? Yes. So what should the punishment be for breaking a just law? What people decree, fines/jail/hanging..but when it becomes almost personal, it is now(like Cali) a minority with an axe to grind making laws for the majority.
Just cause I run furnace oil doesn't change the fact that I pay my taxes or otherwise never break the law. (I know you didn't mean me, just throwing that out there)

Destroy a vehicle as retribution..very childish, petty and vindictive. That has nannystate written all over it.

[trollbait]

It is also a state with a higher amount of fuel tax. So cheating should have a higher penalty.

Immediate crushing is vindictive, and so is seizing a car for a personal use amount of pot, but impounding until fines and back taxes are paid wouldn't be depending on how high those are is not. Same with selling the car at auction if they aren't paid. The IRS can put liens on your income, and states seize homes for the same offense; skipping on taxes.

Remember, not paying fuel tax means not paying for your share for using the road. In many states, the fuel tax is already too low to completely cover the costs of maintaining the roads.

Don't want to pay fuel tax, make your own biodiesel. A certain amount is tax free for personal use.

[Draigflag]

Yea the car is only crushed if it's not worth selling at auction. People have plenty of time to bail the car if they so wish, but as mentioned before, it's usually criminals in very cheap low cost vehicles doing this kind of thing. Coincidentally, I nearly ran dry tonight on my way to the destruction Derby, one local suggested getting some red diesel from one of the many tractors there. I declined and laughed!

I wouldn't over analyse the law, the law is the law, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime as they say.

[benlovesgoddess]

Back to heating oil - can it be dipped? No dye, but is it chemically different enough from regular pump diesel to be identified? Will the car be impounded and crushed if caught?
Even though red diesel has less tax, it must have some, as it is still more expensive than heating oil!
I doubt I'd use it again, as my new car warranty states it is invalidated if run on heating oil...
I wonder how widespread it is? We have been looking at buying a house and viewed dozens of properties. Wherever the man of the house has been showing us round and mentioned oil central heating I have said we both drive diesels and jokingly winked - never to be greeted by a blank stare or puzzled expression!
I think for both fuel types, the chances of getting caught are very slim.
I wonder if there are published figures for how many people are caught each year with untaxed fuel?

[trollbait]

I don't know what the specifications are in the UK, but in the US, diesel, heating oil, and off road, should all be ULSD by now. The last two are both dyed.

If your undyed heating oil still has sulfur levels equal to what ours used to be, your emission controls won't last long. Sulfur poisons the catalyst used in NOx controls, and the higher the sulfur, the more particulates produced for the DPF to catch.