A couple of days ago, my wife called me and said the low fuel warning light had come on on my car as she set out to take the kids swimming (a 25 mile round trip). “No worries”, I said, “you’ve got enough to get home – I’ll fill it up later”. Fast forward to today, when I drove to the filling station only to find that the cover on the fuel filler cap (controlled by the central locking) wouldn’t open.  Thankfully, I was close to home, so I went back (fuel range now showing as 5 miles!) and called the lease company’s breakdown service, who said I might have to wait up to 90 minutes for a technician. Not great, but acceptable – and at least I was home.

A few minutes later I got a call from Volkswagen/Audi Assistance and 15 minutes after that the technician was on site (the RAC provide the Volkswagen/Audi Assistance service – but with dedicated technicians, so a different queue).

I explained the problem and he tried (and failed) to open the fuel cover the same way that I did… then he popped open the boot, removed a cover and pulled on a wire – which promptly opened the offending fuel door.  Result! If only I’d known about it at the petrol station an hour earlier. (For reference, the car is a 2009 Audi A4 Avant – the B8 model – but I wouldn’t be surprised if the A5 has a similar mechanism.)

So full marks to VW/Audi Assistance – both for the rapid response and for following me to the filling station in case I ran out of diesel on the way.

And, for anyone else with a fuel cover that’s linked to the central locking on the car, it might be worth checking if there is an emergency release…