Bad gas leaves damaged cars, angry drivers

[Capt_Picard 0]

Bad gas leaves damaged cars, angry drivers

Story Published: May 25, 2008 at 10:34 PM PDT

Story Updated: May 25, 2008 at 11:16 PM PDT

By KOMO Staff

Watch the story

 

SEATTLE -- Three gas stations were shut down temporarily on Sunday after at least 11 vehicles were damaged by bad gas the drivers had just pumped.

 

"I filled the tank up and as soon as I pulled away from the pump my car died," said Mary Anne Trengove, who stopped at the Shell station on 2nd Street in Snohomish.

 

"When I got out of the car there was a gentleman who was putting gas in his lawnmower and noticed the gas was brown," she said. "The guy right next to him had just filled up his motorhome and the motorhome did the same thing -- started but didn't pull away.

 

"While we were there people just kept wandering up to the station and saying their car had broken down."

 

Officials said tanker trucks that filled up at the Shell Terminal on Harbor Island in Seattle at about 5 p.m. Sunday received a sludgy gas that may have been mixed with water.

 

 

The gasoline was delivered to several Puget Sound area Shell and Safeway gas stations.

 

At the Safeway station at 26916 Maple Valley Road at least nine vehicles made it only feet after filling up.

 

A Safeway station at 21401 Pacific Highway South in Des Moines got word of the problem and shut down before any customers were able to pump the bad gas.

 

It was not immediately known if other stations were affected.

 

Drivers at Safeway were given their money back and offered a rental car, and a Safeway spokeswoman said Shell Oil will reimburse the drivers for damage to their engines.

 

Trengove, whose car was damaged at the Snohomish Shell station, said she was given a phone number to call to report the damage, and she was told she would have to pay to have her car towed and repaired before the company would pay her back.

 

Shell spokesman Shaun Wiggins issued a brief written statement late Sunday that said the company stopped making deliveries from the Seattle terminal after being made aware of the problem and expected to resume operations by 10 p.m.

 

"Shell is very protective of the quality of its gasoline and we are actively investigating the incident," the statement said.

 

Duane Devall's car was one of the many that came to a halt, but his vehicle made it a ways from the station before it stalled and he was left stranded.

 

"I paid over $4 a gallon for premium, and that's painful enough," he said. "And then when they ruin your car. I'm not a happy puppy."

 

This isn't the first time bad gas has caused problems in the Northwest.

 

In February, bad gasoline in the Salem, Oregon area put dozens of cars out of commission.

 

And three years ago, 14 counties in Washington saw bad gas deliveries.

 

Fixing the damage from those incidents averaged about $500 for the cost of towing the vehicle, draining the bad gas, and cleaning the filter, lines and fuel tank.

[Gummy 0]

I'm pretty picky about where I gas up.

 

And I would be mad as hell if this happened to me.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Thing is you least expect this from a brand name like Shell than cheap gas (okay no such thing) stations.