Danger: Wrong fuel for your vehicle

It has emerged that several Ghanaians, including government, spend so much money on the repair of their vehicles because such cars are not designed to use the kind of fuel sold in Ghana.

This is happening because Ghana lacks standards on the type of vehicles that can be imported into the country in consonance with the type of fuel sold in the country.

Some of the affected vehicles in Ghana include Ford F 350 and Toyota Tundra, which is mostly used by the Ghana Police Service.

The Ghana Automobile Distributors Association (GADA) is, therefore, calling on government to, as a matter of urgency, promulgate a legislation that clearly stipulates fuel standards for vehicles in Ghana.

This, the association said, is critical to saving unsuspecting Ghanaians and government from buying vehicles and running them on the wrong fuel and spending so much money on frequent repairs.

Speaking to The Finder, Mr Kojo Annobil, Vice-President of GADA, said such a legislation would save the country millions of cedis in repair cost while prolonging the lifespan of vehicles.

He explained that the Research Octane Number (RON) of petrol sold in Ghana ranges between 91 and 94 while the only type of diesel sold in Ghana has higher sulphur content.

According to him, the proposed legislation should restrict the importation of vehicles, as only cars designed to use the above-mentioned fuel should be imported into the country.

Mr Annobil stated that car manufacturers only give cars designed to use the fuel in Ghana to accredited vehicle distributors, thus preventing them from importing vehicles that use other fuel not found in Ghana.

However, he said non-accredited dealers import all kinds of vehicles which use higher grade of fuel not found in Ghana.

He noted that spare parts of such vehicles are also not sold in Ghana and, therefore, owners have to order for ineffective parts from abroad.

Mr Annobil said the legislation would ensure that vehicle standards conform to the fuel available in Ghana.

The GADA Vice-President stated that the performance of a vehicle and its lifespan are directly linked to the performance of the fuel it uses.