Florida Man Says Foul-Smelling Fuel From Gas Station Damaged His Truck

A South Florida man wants his money back after accusing a gas station of providing bad fuel and damaging his truck. Daniel Colombo told WPLG he paid $180 to fuel up his Ford F-350 with diesel at the Shell gas station at 9489 Sheridan Street in Cooper City. The driver noticed something wasn't quite right after leaving there.

“Right away, when I went to take the nozzle out of my truck, I noticed a rotten animal smell. I knew something was wrong with the diesel fuel,” Colombo recounted. “I get about 20 miles up the road from the gas station and noticed the engine was running rough. At a point, my truck wouldn’t accelerate above 65 mph."

The driver quickly filed a complaint with the state, and an inspector visited the gas station the following day. The inspector reportedly found "high levels of sediment contamination" in the fuel and shut down that specific pump. Colombo was able to siphon some of the contaminated fuel out of his Ford, but he may have to shell out a lot of money to fix the truck.

Unfortunately, the gas station owner Guido Javier is refusing to take responsibility and cover the costs.

“He said, ‘No one else has had an issue, so I’m not covering the damage.’” Columbo alleges. “I explained to him, ‘You sold me contaminated fuel, which has now damaged my truck,’ and he said, ‘I’m not paying you a penny.’”

When WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsler confronted Javier about the issue, he claims his technician checked the fuel and determined it didn't create any damage.

“It was minimum particles,” Javier responded. “The technician told me what they find does not create any damage on any vehicle at all, so I don’t know where that is coming from.” He also dodged questions about performing regular maintenance on his pumps and gas.

You can read more about this situation on WPLG's website.