A row over a viral video claiming that E20 petrol had damaged YouTuber Manish Kashyap's Toyota Innova Hycross has now been settled, with Toyota clarifying that contaminated fuel, not the ethanol blended petrol, was behind the fault. Kashyap, who is contesting the Bihar assembly elections on a Jan Suraj Party ticket, had posted a video alleging that his Innova Hycross developed a technical problem because of E20 petrol, and that the company had flatly refused to offer warranty service for the damage.
Toyota Points To The Real Cause
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement on Saturday that the fault seen in the Toyota Hycross car featured in the video circulating on social media was not caused by ethanol blended (E20) petrol, but by contaminated fuel. The company clarified that the Innova Hycross is fully compatible with E20 petrol and has been designed, tested and certified specifically for use with E20 fuel, meaning the model is not expected to run into technical trouble simply from being filled with E20 petrol.
What The Technical Inspection Found
According to Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a detailed technical inspection of the vehicle found that the problem had occurred because of contaminated petrol. The inspection also confirmed that no part of the vehicle or its fuel system had suffered any damage. As part of its service process, the fuel tank and fuel line were completely drained and cleaned, after which the vehicle was filled with standard E20 petrol. The car was then tested again, found to be in normal working condition, and handed back to the customer. The company reiterated that the fault had nothing to do with the use of E20 petrol and was caused purely by non-standard, contaminated fuel.
Toyota's Appeal To Customers
Toyota urged customers to always fill petrol and diesel only at authorised and reputed fuel stations in order to reduce the risk of fuel adulteration or contamination, since such contaminated fuel can adversely affect a vehicle's performance. The company also asked customers to rely only on scientifically grounded information available through official sources. It added that customers with any questions or concerns should get in touch with their nearest authorised Toyota dealership or customer care centre.
