December 29. Just two days left to go in 2012. We’ve had a piece of cake travel year. I flew on 41 individual flights, visited 25 countries, stayed in 35 hotels and apartments, 3 castles, and on 1 cruise ship. We had not a single delayed flight, no lost luggage, and not a bad room this year. Just when we thought we were in the clear, our biggest travel mishap of 2012 struck.
Landing in Iceland
We were so excited as we made our descent into Iceland, both peering out the window at the vast whiteness. We met the representative from SADCars, a rental car company in Iceland we rented with on our last trip to Iceland and who has generously sponsored us with a Toyota Landcruiser to drive around Iceland over the next week, got all the paperwork squared away, and went on our way. About one mile from the rental place, we stopped to fill up and get a few groceries to stock our apartment.
I was blissfully filling my basket with Skyr when Tim came in and said “We’ve got a problem.” I thought he was going to tell me that the machine wasn’t accepting our debit or credit cards. No, this was a much bigger problem. Our Toyota Landcruiser took diesel and we had just filled it up with around $100 of gasoline. F%#$!
We are dumbasses.
Plain and simple. We didn’t ask what type of fuel the Landcruiser took at SADCars and we missed it on the gas cap in our haste to get out of the sideways sleet. It wasn’t until Tim was screwing the gas cap back on that he noticed it said the Landcruiser was diesel.
Our Toyota Landcruiser getting towed away
Luckily, SADCars has emergency roadside assistance available 24/7 and one easy phone call (boy did I feel stupid explaining why I needed emergency roadside assistance just 20 minutes after picking up our rental) and help was on the way. We didn’t have to wait long and a tow truck showed up to tow our Landcruiser to a nearby garage where the gasoline could be drained.
Draining the gasoline out
After draining all the gasoline from the Landcruiser, the garage towed us back to the nearest gas station, made sure we filled up with diesel this time, and waited to see that everything was in running order before sending us on our way.
$100 of gasoline down the drain (literally) and a $150 tow later, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We should have made sure we asked what type of fuel the Landcruiser ran on. At least we did the smart thing and didn’t try to drive it anywhere; the lesson could have been a much more expensive one.
Never leave the car rental counter without asking what type of fuel the car runs on.
Thank you to SADCars for providing us with a Toyota Landcruiser for our Icelandic adventure (and for not taking it back tonight!) As always, all opinions are our own.
Jennifer Dombrowski
Jennifer Dombrowski is a location independent globe trotter and bases herself in Prata di Pordenone, Italy. She works as a social media and innovation strategist in higher education and is a regular contributor on johnnyjet.com. Her website, jdombstravels.com, is the 2012 Destinology Travel Bloggy Best Newcomer award winner. Google+
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We’re Jennifer and Tim and we love traveling! We are just one ordinary couple who have found that travel brought us closer together, taught us patience, the art of compromise, and how to truly appreciate the diversity of this extraordinary world. So far, we've visited 37 countries, lived in the United States and Italy, and Tim has lived in Korea. And we do it all while both holding down full time jobs. 
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The Drifters' Blog
December 31, 2012 at 7:00 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
I totally did the once years ago. Thankfully it was just my dad's new work truck.
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Sonja Leysen Key
January 1, 2013 at 3:10 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
That's a very good warning to all foreign travelers, as many foreign rentals run on diesel! Bummer for the waste of money!
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Salva - Trip We Love
January 2, 2013 at 4:07 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
It looks like you had a great 2012 traveling. Your biggest mishap seems a small one compared to all the beautiful things you were able to experience through out the year. All the best wishes for 2013!
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:24 pm
Definitely agree, Salva! It really stunk at the moment, but we quickly got over it and didn’t let it ruin the rest of our trip.
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Kiefer
January 2, 2013 at 8:15 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
aww i hope its worth it!
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:23 pm
Our mishap was definitely worth the amazing road trip we just had around Iceland!
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Ali
January 3, 2013 at 3:15 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
I cringed when I saw you posting about this on FB. It never would’ve occurred to me to ask about the type of fuel! I totally would’ve assumed gasoline too. So sorry you had to deal with such a headache right at the beginning of your trip, but I’m glad you realized before you started driving and got it all worked out, even if it was expensive.
Ali recently posted..6 Countries for New Travelers
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Catherine Sweeney
January 4, 2013 at 6:08 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Bummer, but it worked out OK! Nice that the roadside assistance came through for you. Lesson learned.
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Yes, thank goodness for the roadside assistance and that we were in a town when it happened. We may have had a much longer wait had we been filling up in some of the more remote areas we visited on the rest of our trip. As you said, Cathy, lesson learned!
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D.J. - The World of Deej
January 4, 2013 at 2:06 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
They make the diesel pumps now with a bigger nozzle so they don’t fit into a standard automobile intake, but I’ve never wondered what if it happened the other way around! Just one of those stories you’ll laugh at years down the road:)
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Top of the Rock – A Billion Dollar View – Picture of the Week
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:19 pm
We’re already laughing, D.J.! That was the joke on the rest of the road trip – be sure we put in DIESEL.
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Andrea
January 4, 2013 at 5:56 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Oh no!! And I’m always worried about accidentally doing the opposite…
Andrea recently posted..At Home In London: The Capital Hotel, Knightsbridge
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
All we can do is look back and laugh at ourselves. Lesson learned!
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Sonja @ The Happy Travel Bug
January 6, 2013 at 12:59 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Oh my goodness! That looks like something I would do! But how lucky you were to make it all the way to December 29 with no disasters. You were also lucky with being in an area with roadside service. We weren’t so lucky on our trip to the Badlands. http://happyhoyt.blogspot.com/search/label/Badlands%20National%20Park
Sonja @ The Happy Travel Bug recently posted..Wild West Road Trip: Old Faithful Inn
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
That’s too bad, Sonja. Yes, we were very lucky to not only go nearly a full year with no big travel mishaps and to also have this one be as small as it really was. Thankfully we noticed right away and there was a lesson to be learned here.
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Deb
January 6, 2013 at 6:33 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
That sucks. I used to be a huge fan of the Amazing Race and I watched many a participant make that same mistake. Because of that, we always check the tank. I’m paranoid about it. But if I didn’t watch the Amazing Race, I probably never would have thought about it and would have done the same thing at some point. I’m glad you had road side assistance. If you didn’t have the insurance, I’m sure it would have been a huge expense. Great advice for everyone and thanks for sharing what you learned. We all make mistakes traveling and when we share when things go wrong, we can keep others from doing the same. All the best for 2013.
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Jennifer Dombrowski
January 7, 2013 at 3:09 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Thanks, Deb! You are right. It definitely could have been worse and more expensive had we not realized when we did. As you said, it was a lesson learned and now an important tip we can share.
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It Wasn't Funny Then...(Our Most Embarassing Travel Moments) - Jdomb's Travels
April 9, 2013 at 7:51 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
[...] got on our way. SADCars policy is you fill up the rental when you pick it up and return it empty. Tim pumped it full of $100 worth of gasoline before realizing it actually took diesel. I was mortified when I had to call SADCars roadside [...]