Bad Gas

[whiterubicon]

My daughter has a 2018 VW Jetta. She is stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. She called me yesterday morning saying that she thought her battery died on the way to work and that she was stopped waiting for a tow truck to two her to the dealership. Well, I found it odd that a battery would die while you are driving it, but I figured I would wait for the dealership to figure out what was wrong. The dealership informed her that she had bad gas in it. My daughter had just filled up that AM. They said the gas would not fully burn down, and that their was residue in the line. I did talk to her fiancé - and he informed me the car would run to about 1,000rpms - but then sputter. So, the bad gas thing does make since. They gave her a sample of the gas the report they ran to take back to the service station.

My question is what kind of success is he going to have trying to the get the service station top pay for this? Is there somewhere she can have the gas tested at that is a non-biased third party? The repair is going to cost about $679 - so it is definitely worth fighting for. What about going back to that pump (she does remember the station and the pump) and getting some gas in a container and having it tested as well?

Hope this all makes sense.

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[Steve JLUR]

My daughter has a 2018 VW Jetta. She is stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. She called me yesterday morning saying that she thought her battery died on the way to work and that she was stopped waiting for a tow truck to two her to the dealership. Well, I found it odd that a battery would die while you are driving it, but I figured I would wait for the dealership to figure out what was wrong. The dealership informed her that she had bad gas in it. My daughter had just filled up that AM. They said the gas would not fully burn down, and that their was residue in the line. I did talk to her fiancé - and he informed me the car would run to about 1,000rpms - but then sputter. So, the bad gas thing does make since. They gave her a sample of the gas the report they ran to take back to the service station.

My question is what kind of success is he going to have trying to the get the service station top pay for this? Is there somewhere she can have the gas tested at that is a non-biased third party? The repair is going to cost about $679 - so it is definitely worth fighting for. What about going back to that pump (she does remember the station and the pump) and getting some gas in a container and having it tested as well?

Hope this all makes sense.

That is horrible. I hope your daughter gets satisfaction from the gas station.
Not to distract from your daughter’s situation, but my wife had a 2004 VW Passat that in stop and go freeway traffic died. It was the battery. No signs of issues with the battery leading to to failure.

 

[noquartergiven]

These are tough things to prove/disprove. I would think the gas station will argue she got gas somewhere else which lead to the failure. You can try and test the gas from a container but without the proper controls what is it worth? If your daughter gets gas to test and does not inform the station, they will argue she added water when no one else was around. What about reporting to a State authority? Or keeping an ear out for others who encounter the same problem from the same station?

 

[whiterubicon]

These are tough things to prove/disprove. I would think the gas station will argue she got gas somewhere else which lead to the failure. You can try and test the gas from a container but without the proper controls what is it worth? If your daughter gets gas to test and does not inform the station, they will argue she added water when no one else was around. What about reporting to a State authority? Or keeping an ear out for others who encounter the same problem from the same station?

Thank you - some really good ideas there. She did pay with a a credit card - so she can prove there was a purchase there that morning. Would be a good idea to let them know that she is going to test the gas before she does - so that they at least have a heads up. I will have her get in contact with whichever government agency would handle this.

 

[MrGneissGuy]

Just out of curiosity, what did they mean by "bad gas". Did they mean there was water in the gas, sediment in the gas, old gas that has broken down, too low octane? If it's sediment, that's something that I believe takes a build up over time to affect the car. I'm not sure I would expect gas to be old enough to break down unless the station was out in the middle of no where and does very little business. Which leaves low octane or water. I'll assume they were buying the appropriate octane for their engine, which I guess leaves water.

You said they gave her a sample of the gas and a report on it (which I would hope would provide more info than just "bad gas"). Have them take a close look at the sample (assuming it's in a clear container), to see if there is any water in it.

A gas station owner should want to know if they have water in their tank(s), because this means their tank(s) are leaking, and they are losing gas and therefore losing profits (and also contaminating the soil and/or groundwater). This should eventually show up in their leak detection systems, which would typically require reporting the issue to the regulatory agency that oversees underground storage tank compliance. I do not know about North Carolina, but where I am, in Indiana, this is overseen by the department of environmental management. And they have what they call the virtual file cabinet where all documents for various facilities can be searched and viewed by anybody. If North Carolina has something similar, it may be worth a look to see if that station has reported any issues or if recent inspections have shown issues, which could support their case. Even if there is no smoking gun there, if the station is out of compliance with their equipment, maintenance, reporting requirements, it could be beneficial in a case.

 

[areuriding]

Go through your insurance keep the gas receipt and have the dealership verify water in fuel and be detailed in writing the service report. It's not considered an accident so it won't affect your rates.

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