X5 doesn't start

[ard]

Originally Posted by Gonda

SA called back and said the problem is "BAD GAS". I just filled up that night and the next day couldn't start. The total for clean up and change the gas pump is $4100.00. This is really expensive for just fill up the bad gas from a reputational "SHELL" station.

1. Are you crazy????

Tell him not to do any work on the car. You are getting screwed. (My opinion from here...)

Drain the tank, new gas, good to go. Maybe $300

2. Call your insurance company. They should cover this. however they will not stand for a $4100 fee.

Now, maybe you've destroyed the entire fuel system, but I doubt it.... I've never heard of a bill that high for water/crap in the fuel tank...

[Gonda]

Thank you Ard for mentioning the insurance. I just finished calling and got a claim number. So I"ll go talk to the gas station manager tomorrow. If he agrees to pay then I can drop the claim, if not then I'll have to use the insurance's coverage and pay the deductable amount, then will have to wait for the adjuster.

[JCL]

Overdosed with ethanol? That can be expensive. The dealer can test actual ethanol % (pretty simple test). If not, would be interested in what was wrong with the fuel.

[Gonda]

I got the estimate today from BMW and went to the gas station. Asked the only guy there and he said the manager is not there, but he did asked me the problems and after he looked at the estimate he just laughed off. I guessed he was the manager there. He made copied of all the paper and said he would send to the office and someone would contact me. That would take about a week.

Here is the details:

Description Qty cost hours

1 - R + I fuel tank sent out to be cleaned 1 75.00 6.1
2 - Replace fuel pump 1 397.55 .3
3 - Flush lines 1 69.95 2.0
4 - Replace leaking injectors 6 134.96 3.1
5 - Replace fouled spark plugs 6 280.85 2.6
6 - Replace contaminated oxigen sensors 4 1116.36 4.4
7 - Diposal of contaminate fuel 35.00


Total labor 18.5 @ 134.00 2479.00
Total part 1891.92
tax 156.09
tank clean, fuel disposal 110.00

Total 4637.01


The amount is 4637.01, yesterday he told me 4100.00.

At dealer, they burned the gas for me to see. they poured a little on the floor and burned it, it only burned a little, the rest was still there, looks like some kind of liquid. They can't tell if that is water or something else. they also gave me some sample to bring home.

Now I don't know what I should do. Should I wait for the gas station, it would take about a week or should I use my insurance? This way is faster, but I have to pay 500.00 deductable.

[chiefneil]

If the gas is that bad, I'm surprised there wasn't a line out the door of people complaining. If you can find contact information for Shell corporate via their website, you might want to work from that end as well.

[Gonda]

Originally Posted by chiefneil

If the gas is that bad, I'm surprised there wasn't a line out the door of people complaining. If you can find contact information for Shell corporate via their website, you might want to work from that end as well.

yes. I did talked to Shell Customer Care today and they asked me to send all the papers. But, it would take 20 days for their contaminate dept. to investigate before they can make any decisions.

[ard]

FYI:

Tesoro replacing bad gas

Bad gas at one store damages vehicles in Conway | todaysthv.com

Bad gas was 50 to 60 percent ethanol » Local News » The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Tesoro says bad gas claims nearly complete

Think you were given bad gasoline? It's not so easy to prove | Mom2MomDFW.com

Anything showing up on local news??? I bet if they ran a piece on the 5PM news, more people would come forward....

[Gonda]

Originally Posted by ard

FYI:

Tesoro replacing bad gas

Bad gas at one store damages vehicles in Conway | todaysthv.com

Bad gas was 50 to 60 percent ethanol » Local News » The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Tesoro says bad gas claims nearly complete

Think you were given bad gasoline? It's not so easy to prove | Mom2MomDFW.com

Anything showing up on local news??? I bet if they ran a piece on the 5PM news, more people would come forward....

I did pay attention, but nothing on local news.

[Gonda]

SA said another car towed in today got the same gas at the same station on the same day.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Gonda

SA said another car towed in today got the same gas at the same station on the same day.

That could be very useful information in documenting the source of the bad fuel. You might want to ask the SA to give this other person your name and phone number so he could call you.

It varies state by state, but most states, at a minimum, have an agency responsible for the accuracy of fuel pumps. Since this station apparently was pumping something other than pure fuel, it's possible that a complaint to the appropriate state agency might also help document the problem, particularly if more than one person complained.

Typically businesses pay attention if a regulatory agency gets involved, e.g., a health insurance claim that was an issue for more than a year was paid by my insurance company in two weeks after I made a formal complaint to the State agency that regulated them and they wrote a letter to the insurance company asking for information.

P.S. It might be good to get something more detailed than "Bad Gas," e.g., water, particulate, diesel mixed with gasoline, etc. Even thought they are typically color-coded, sometimes diesel gets pumped into gasoline tanks and vice versa.