Do I have any recourse for getting a tank of bad gas? (Sewickley: rental car, rental)

[IcedCoffee]

I filled up my brand new pickup (just purchased in March) at the BP on Rt 65 in Sewickley last weekend.

Drove the car home and the next time I tried to start it, it took a few seconds to start, geared low and then sputtered out about 10 seconds later. I wasn't able to get the truck started despite multiple attempts on a few different days. I had to get the truck towed to the dealer. The service manager said that it is bad gas, it didn't even smell like gas, and was mostly water. The entire fuel system had to be drained and the fuel filter was also ruined and had to be replaced.

The problem happened after I put $80 worth of gas in from the BP on 65.

Do I have any recourse here? I didn't get a receipt at the pump but the charge is on my credit card.

Thanks for your advice!

[gg]

Probably got a bad pickup. Is it an American made one? That will probably be the issue. I run BP in my European Sports Sedan all the time and it is great fuel. Might want to take the truck back to the dealer and get your money back.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by IcedCoffee

I filled up my brand new pickup (just purchased in March) at the BP on Rt 65 in Sewickley last weekend.

Drove the car home and the next time I tried to start it, it took a few seconds to start, geared low and then sputtered out about 10 seconds later. I wasn't able to get the truck started despite multiple attempts on a few different days. I had to get the truck towed to the dealer. The service manager said that it is bad gas, it didn't even smell like gas, and was mostly water. The entire fuel system had to be drained and the fuel filter was also ruined and had to be replaced.

The problem happened after I put $80 worth of gas in from the BP on 65.

Do I have any recourse here? I didn't get a receipt at the pump but the charge is on my credit card.

Thanks for your advice!

How much did it cost you? Unless the dealer really screwed you over on labor charges, a fuel filter is like $20.

If it was truly bad gas yea that stinks, but proving it was bad gas and getting something back from BP would not be worth the cost of doing so.

[IcedCoffee]

Originally Posted by UKyank

How much did it cost you? Unless the dealer really screwed you over on labor charges, a fuel filter is like $20.

We paid $200 for the whole repair. We figured we were probably getting ripped off but when the truck won't start, getting it towed to a different shop probably would have cost more than it was worth.

Originally Posted by UKyank

If it was truly bad gas yea that stinks, but proving it was bad gas and getting something back from BP would not be worth the cost of doing so.

That's kind of what I was thinking, unfortunately, but figured I would ask.

[greg42]

If it was bad gas it should have happened to others at that station.

Unless you can find some indication of that, it seems more likely the car dealer is ripping you off.

Gonna be hard to prove it's bad gas I think unless there are some other victims.

[ditchdigger]

If it was bad gas it should have happened to others at that station.

I'd agree with that, but unless you complain, you'll probably never know.

Also, with the recent torrential downpours, it wouldn't be too far fetched for some water to have found its way into an underground tank through a defective inlet or something. This may very well have heppened to others from the same station in that timeframe. I'd take the time to look into it...

[IcedCoffee]

Oops - just looked at my receipt again. They replaced the fuel PUMP!

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Water is heavier than gas, so when it's in the fuel tanks, it sits at the bottom of the tank. Sometimes if you're at a gas station early in the morning, you'll see an employee going out to the fill caps with a long stick. To test for water, you smear a mustard-colored paste on the last few inches of the stick, dip it in the tank, and if the paste turns red, you've got water in the tank. Then (as a store employee) you notify the corporate office and they send a truck out to pump the water out. Some stations have newer systems that will monitor the fuel tanks for water and shut off the pumps if the water level gets too high.

Usually you won't get water in your gas even if there's water in the tank, because the water is heavier and it sits down there at the bottom. It can get stirred up during a delivery. (Never a good idea to fill up while the station is getting a delivery, for that reason) If the level in the tank drops low enough, then you'll get water in your vehicle's tank.

You're not the only customer that happened to that day, if there was that much water in your tank. Take the repair bill and the receipt for the gas (or print off a copy of your credit card statement showing the purchase) to the station and ask for the manager. Explain what happened and tell them you expect the company to pay for your repair and also for the tank of gas. If you had to get a rental car for the days your truck was being repaired, take that receipt in too. They probably will have already heard about the problem from other customers and won't be too surprised.

All of the gas stations I ever worked for paid for repairs like that, if they ended up with water in the gas. Even the smaller, cheaper companies paid for repairs. If the manager gives you trouble about it, call their corporate office. It shouldn't be a big deal.

As for how the water got into their tanks, it's pretty common after heavy rains.

[Benzman66]

Call Team 4 or Target 11 and see if anyone else has reported the problem that day.

[Craziaskowboi]

Actually, gasoline has a heavier atomic weight than water, but it's less dense. The density is why gasoline rises and water sinks.