INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Filling up the car with gas is something many people do once a week.
Generally, you probably don't think much about it, until maybe gas prices are on the rise. But a Noblesville woman is now thinking a lot about her last gas station trip.
When Liz Taylor pulled her new Toyota Highlander into Ed Martin Toyota, she had no idea what was wrong with it.
She was even more baffled when mechanics told her the problem.
"I was like 'bad gas? What is bad gas?' I've never heard of bad gas before," Taylor said.
It began Wednesday morning when she filled up at the Circle K Shell station at 96th and Meridian, then drove on to her office. An hour later, she discovered a problem as she was heading out to an appointment.
"It wouldn't start. I was like 'I just bought this car May 2nd, there's no way something is wrong.'"
She said she eventually got it started, but it was acting "funny. I tried to accelerate and the car wouldn't move. That's when I called the dealer."
When Ryan Burton, the assistant service manager at Ed Martin, looked at the spark plugs, he knew it was bad.
"This is what came out of her car," he said holding a discolored spark plug. "A 5,000 mile vehicle shouldn't look like that." He then held up a bright, shiny one. "This is a brand new one. It's much closer to what you'd see out of a 5,000 mile vehicle. This is definitely not good."
That's when they tested the fuel.
"It showed immediately," Burton said. "What we found out was there was bad fuel contamination."
Taylor said she called the Shell station and was told, "someone else just called us and I said, 'well, clearly there's a problem.'"
She said she followed up with Circle K's corporate office and said they "started the claims process," but added "when I called back today, they said because now they have over three people having issues from the sample complaint, we will have to take it to Travelers Insurance, which is third party claims."
The spokesman for the City of Indianapolis Division of Weights and Measures said they were aware of the contaminated fuel and that the state's Department of Weighs and Measures was the agency contacted. We reached out to them for more information but haven't heard back.
But two tanker trucks were parked at the station late Thursday afternoon, one with markings from Environmental Remediation Services, Fort Wayne. There were also signs at the pumps noting "premium fuel only at regular unleaded price."
One customer who uses premium saw the sign and called it "a heck of a deal." He said he was probably saving about $15. He was unaware of why there was no unleaded and why he and other customers were getting a big discount.
As for Taylor's Highlander, "Luckily for her, we were able to drain the tank, replace (the spark plugs) and run fresh fuel through it, so it's good to go," Burton said, stressing when you're dealing with bad fuel, you need to get it fixed quickly.
"That's the biggest thing. The longer it sits, the more damage there is," he said.
Taylor's repair bill was nearly $2,000, which she's counting on Circle K to pay, but she said she worries about others who filled up with contaminated gas, have an older car and may attribute the problems to some other issue.
"Luckily, I was able to take care of it and obviously I'm hoping they reimburse me, but I'm just thinking of all the people out there who have damaged their vehicle and who knows what the price will be for them?" she said.
The clerks at the Circle K Shell station provided a number for the Circle K corporate office. We left two messages but were still waiting to hear back as of Thursday night.
If you filled up at that station and are having any issues, Burton told us it would be best to have your vehicle checked. He adds to be sure to go to a place that has the diagnostic equipment to test for contaminated fuel.
Circle K issued a response to Eyewitness News on Friday about the tainted gas:
“Circle K takes such events very seriously and stands by the quality of its fuel. The issue encountered by this customer was caused by an inadvertent drop of diesel products in a fuel tank by our fuel carrier. As soon as we became aware of the situation, we closed down all fuel pumps at this location and called a specialized environmental team to pump all the diesel out and clean the fuel tanks. The store has now resumed its normal activities. At Circle K, we deeply care about our customers and ask them to contact our claims department with any concerns about this situation.”