‘More water than fuel’: Driver says contaminated gasoline left her stranded for hours in new car

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - A driver in South Carolina says a fill-up at an area gas station left her with more than just fuel in her tank.

The driver, who did not want to be identified, says she pumped gas at a TA gas station in Conway, but not long after, she ended up stranded on the side of the interstate for hours in the middle of the night.

The driver shared pictures of the water she says was later drained from her vehicle.

“It’s just frustrating having to deal with a random expense that should not have happened,” she said.

The driver said she had just purchased a new Subaru Forester Hybrid and was only months into her new car loan when the breakdown happened. She said she was stuck for about six hours before a tow truck arrived and took the vehicle to the dealership.

“I was broken down for about six hours, and when the tow truck finally did come, we towed the vehicle to the dealership. They told me it was more water than fuel,” she said.

After the vehicle was inspected, the dealership found water in the fuel line. A bill provided showed it cost $1,273.69 to remove the water and clean the fuel system.

“I had actually, ironically, bought my new vehicle to not have to deal with repairs and the breakdowns, and then it happened,” she said. “It was a complete let-down from the gas station … and it was frustrating having to figure out where to pull the money from.”

She says she’s now warning other drivers, especially those with older vehicles that may not shut down automatically when fuel contamination happens.

“I got lucky because my car ended up shutting itself down,” she said. “Some of the older model cars, they aren’t going to automatically shut themselves off. They’re going to keep going until you do even more damage.”

The driver’s complaint has since been taken to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, which oversees fuel quality inspections statewide.

“Any time someone has water in their fuel, it’s definitely a cause for concern,” Eva Moore, communications director for the department, said. “I think any incident of it shows the need for our testing program.”

Moore said the department runs random weekly inspections across the state and also responds to consumer complaints. If inspectors find water or sediment in fuel, she said the agency immediately issues a stop-sale order.

“The fuel that was found to be contaminated cannot be sold, and the station then has to take steps to correct the problem. We don’t let them sell fuel again until we get a clean sample,” Moore said.

According to state records, since January of last year, the department documented 132 cases where water or sediment was found in fuel at stations. For perspective, Moore said those came from more than 3,537 tests conducted over the same period.

The agency noted that not every case necessarily means a driver purchased contaminated gas, but Moore said any situation impacting a consumer is taken seriously.

“We are out there randomly testing. We will test in response to complaints, and we strongly encourage people to let us know if they think they have a problem with the fuel they’ve bought,” Moore said.

In this case, the driver says she was reimbursed for the damage to her vehicle. The department also confirmed the station’s pumps were tested again and the business was later cleared to sell fuel.

Anyone who has a similar problem with fuel at a gas station is encouraged to report it to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.