Bad gas! Northeast Ohio gas station customers out thousands in repairs, and the problem just got worse

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Scott Bauchmoyer, of Avon, knew there was something wrong when he tried to start his 2022 Jeep Wagoneer Monday morning.

“I jumped in the car to start it up, and it just started sputtering. Lights started flashing, and there was a giant puff of white smoke,” Bauchmoyer said.

Bauchmoyer had his Jeep towed to the dealership, and he told 19 News he was shocked when the mechanic called to see when he had gotten gas last.

“In the back of my mind I thought to myself, ‘Oh God what happened?’“ Bauchmoyer said.

Bauchmoyer relayed that he had gotten gas Sunday morning from the Circle K at 36071 Chester Rd. in Avon.

The mechanic told Bauchmoyer there was diesel in his gas tank and fuel lines.

“My immediate reaction was no way. I’ve gotten gas, I’ve been driving for 26 years, I’ve gotten gas thousands of times. I couldn’t be that absent-minded,” Bauchmoyer said.

Bauchmoyer’s repairs cost him $1,100, plus the cost of renting a car and the tow. He says he wants to be made whole by Circle K.

He claims he contacted Circle K corporate, and they asked for detailed information, but he has not heard back.

Circle K has now confirmed to 19 News that diesel fuel was inadvertently delivered and pumped into the unleaded fuel storage tanks.

But it gets worse.

After seeing our story, 19 News took a call from the driver of a Ford F350, which runs on diesel.

Wanting to remain anonymous, he told us he was also at the same Circle K on Sunday to fill up, and now his truck is in the repair shop because it was filled with unleaded gas.

Circle K has confirmed this was a case of what’s known as a “cross drop,” where diesel was put into the unleaded storage tanks, and unleaded was put into the diesel storage tanks.

When we called the gas station itself, the manager told us they have no comment on the issue. They would not provide any information for corporate officials or the franchise owner and hung up the phone.

The Lorain County Weights and Measures Supervisor confirmed to 19 News he visited the Circle K, where they admitted to him they had a problem with their gas.

In the state of Ohio, Weights and Measures departments are only allowed to make sure the amount of gas coming out of the pump is accurate.

They are not allowed to test what’s in the gas itself, so the Lorain County supervisor could only speculate the Circle K was given a bad delivery.

The question now is how long was the bad gas dispensed?

Circles K claims it was just on Sunday, Jan. 19, and they are currently fielding claims from 14 customers.

We also spoke with Annie’s Auto in Avon which has already repaired one vehicle that apparently also filled up with the bad gas.

The mechanic in that case said it was a fairly simple repair of flushing out the gas tank, the lines, replacing spark plugs and running cleaner through the car.

That vehicle is running fine now. The cost of this repair, though, is about $1,200.

While that was a “simple repair,” running diesel in an engine could impact more parts, including a catalytic converter.

Repairs could cost $3,000 or more.

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