You have just misfuelled at a servo somewhere in Adelaide. You have two choices. Get the car towed to a workshop and let them sort it out, or call a mobile drain service to come to you. Most drivers do not know the difference, so servos and roadside assistance default to the tow. Here is the honest comparison.
Path one, the tow to a workshop
You call your roadside cover or a tow company. A truck comes out, loads the vehicle, and delivers it to a workshop. The workshop books it in when they can. They drop the tank, drain it, refill it, and hand it back. You collect it, hopefully with the same tow allowance covering the trip home, but often paying for an Uber.
Ballpark cost, once the tow, the tank work, and the labour are all invoiced, it adds up quickly. Time on the road can take one to three days depending on the workshop queue. You may also need a hire car if you rely on the vehicle for work.
Path two, the mobile drain
You call us. We quote a fixed price on the phone before we move. We come directly to you at the servo, kerbside, or wherever the vehicle stopped. We drain the tank, flush the fuel lines, put in enough clean fuel to get you moving, and hand you the paperwork. You drive away.
Ballpark cost, we quote you in full over the phone before we move, based on your location and vehicle. Time on the road is usually under an hour and a half from your first phone call to driving off. No hire car, no next day pickup, and no queue.
Real cost comparison for the same job
Take a HiLux with 40 litres of unleaded in a diesel tank, caught at the pump before the engine ran, in a metro Adelaide servo.
- Tow path. The tow itself, then the workshop drain on top, plus time off work. By the time the invoice is written it is a costly day, and you are out a work day on top.
- Mobile path. A flat rate quoted on the phone before we head out, and you can see how it works on our pricing page. You are back on the road the same hour, with an invoice printed on the spot for insurance or your fleet manager.
When a tow is actually the right call
There is one scenario where we tell customers to get towed instead. When there is mechanical damage on top of the misfuel. That means the vehicle drove far enough to start throwing warning lights, ran rough enough that the pump might be shedding metal, or has already refused to restart. At that point a mobile drain will get the fuel out, but the vehicle still needs a workshop to check what got hurt. In that case the honest advice is skip the middle step and tow straight to a diesel specialist. We can help you pick one.
For everything else, a kerbside drain wins on time and on price.
What roadside assistance actually covers
Worth knowing before you call. Most roadside plans will tow a wrong fuel vehicle to a workshop, but they will not drain it themselves. If your cover has a set kilometre limit, they tow to the nearest workshop, then the ride home is on you. If your cover is unlimited, this changes the maths a bit, but you still lose the day. We have a full breakdown on our roadside assistance post.
The short version
If the engine has not run, or has run for less than a couple of minutes, call us on (08) 7083 9699 before you call anyone else. We quote before we leave, come to you 24/7, and get you back on the road on the spot. The tow path is real, and sometimes necessary, but rarely the cheaper or faster one. If you are on a forecourt right now, hands off the key, one phone call.
