Water in gas causes couple’s vehicle to break down; What to do if this happens to you

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR) — FOX31 Problem Solvers are investigating what officials are calling contaminated gas sold here in the Denver metro area.

A viewer posted his story on social media about a breakdown after a fill-up at the Valero gas station on Belleview Avenue in Littleton.

The owner of the station told FOX31 he believes the water entered the underground storage tank likely due to the snowstorm we had a few weeks back.

While part of the problem has been resolved, the owner said he hopes all fuel should be fully operational by next week.

“When you go to a gas station you expect you’re filling up with fuel, not something like water that’s going to damage your engine,” Mark Trinquero told FOX31.

It wasn’t the case for his wife Dyllin Trinquero last Saturday when she stopped to to fill up with premium fuel.

“In less than probably two miles down the road her car completely stopped working in the middle of the road,” Trinquero said.

Luckily a bystander helped push it out of harm’s way.

“Very shortly after they came back and told us they have never seen that much water in someone’s fuel tank,” Trinquero said.

His wife showed FOX31 the amount of water her mechanic pumped out of her fuel tank

The next day the couple called a tow truck to get it towed into a shop, costing them around $200. Trinquero called a state inspector who came out the next day to inspect the tanks at the gas station.

The report showed 11.5 inches of water was found in the premium tank, and a half inch was found in the diesel fuel.

The owner says he put up ‘Out of Service’ signs, but they were blown off during the wind storm last weekend.

“I have a little bit of concern with that twofold. One, if you willingly know if your fuel is contaminated, you need to shut off the pump. A sign is nice but we also have confirmed by the state inspector that those signs blew off in that massive amount of wind we had last Saturday,” Trinquero said. “So, there were no signs, so as a consumer you don’t know.”

“Our mechanic made a really good point. It was negligent that they didn’t have the covers over the pumps itself, bags over the pumps, they’re supposed to do that,” Dyllin Trinquero said.

A real pain at the pump for the Trinqueros, who now have to pay hundreds of dollars in repairs.

“Still waiting for a final total but it’s looking at least upwards of $600 to $700 worth of damage, not including the towing bill,” Trinquero said. “I saw on Google reviews we’re not alone. I’ve seen at least one other person posts about water in the tank from this location.”

Now the couple is awaiting answers to see if the station owner will compensate them for the repairs.

“I asked the inspector, he says the best route to go is to work with the store owner. He says more often than not that’s what they are willing to do but unfortunately, we haven’t had any progress on that front,” Trinquero said. “The end goal here is nothing more than to help reimburse us for these costs that we accrued and the damage done to her vehicle.”

Right now the gas station can only sell regular and diesel fuel. The Division of Oil and Public Safety has to obtain new samples that pass in the laboratory before premium gas can be sold again.

State officials say if this happens to you, it’s a good idea to keep a copy of your gas receipt, and receipts for towing and repairs, that way you can have all that information when dealing with the store owner directly.