Edgefield drivers cope with car problems after pumping bad gas

EDGEFIELD, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A tank full of bad gas left a woman in Edgefield County stuck with a $1,600 bill after her car broke down.

Some Edgefield residents stopped by a local gas station for their normal fill-up but didn’t realize the gas they put in their cars was bad.

“I was getting a traction control light. I was getting a check engine light. I could push the pedal all the way down to the floor, and RPMs just kind of stayed in right under 1000 and wouldn’t give it any more power than that,” said Brittany Jolicoeur, Edgefield resident.

The South Carolina Department of Agriculture tested it and showed the gas had water or sediment.

She says it caused her new truck to break down.

“It was kind of scary. I had both of my kids in the car. They were freaking out. They didn’t know what was going on. Obviously, I was upset,” she said.

She works in an auto parts store, and she found out her car wasn’t the only one.

“Several of my mechanics were coming in telling me they’re replacing fuel pumps. They’re having to flush systems. They’re dropping gas tanks. They are doing all of these things due to the bad fuel that everybody got from the same fuel station,” said Jolicoeur.

She says insurance told her they wouldn’t cover the costs.

She says the station bagged the pump, and she saw changes being made. The gas station owner is paying for her damage.

After a three-week battle with pumping bad gas, it makes her question every time she fills up.

“I’m scared to get gas anywhere because I even said to the insurance company, you know, I was quite upset. This is my main means of transportation and when they started speaking on negligence I said, ‘what am I supposed to do? Test the gas before I put it on my vehicle,” she asked.

We spoke with the owner of this gas station, and he says he recently bought this station, and once he heard of the problem, he fixed it. The Department of Agriculture was on site Tuesday and they confirmed fixes have been made.

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