Gasoline and diesel fuel mix up sends driver to Foley repair shop

Foley, Alabama (WKRGMore) — Talk about pain at the pump. Drivers in and around Foley spend hundreds to thousands of dollars fixing their vehicles after pulling up on premium unleaded gas pumps and filling tanks with diesel fuel.

It’s safe to say that Regan Palmer really likes the 2012 Mustang GT Premium.

“I love that car,” said Palmer. “I mean, I’ve had it for 10 years and it’s been a great car.”

On Sunday night she refueled with a Foley Thumb Tom’s Pump No. 8. Not long after she left, she realized something was wrong.

“When I hit the gear that was supposed to take off, it slowed down really dramatically,” Palmer said. “I was like, oh, that was weird.”

It stopped working the next day. She started seeing her media posts on social. “It was diesel fuel, not gasoline.”

Her prized possessions are now in the shop, as is Aimee Esposito’s 2018 BMW X2. “I saw white smoke coming out of the car and it smelled so toxic that I could barely splash it across the roadway.”

Tom Thumb’s pumps have been shut down by order of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry. We are monitoring and inspecting gas pumps after tests revealed diesel fuel in the tank that should have held an unleaded premium.

“It can seriously damage the car,” says Paul Doering of Doering Tires. He’s seen this sort of thing before. “Don’t even start the car. Have a shop tow it, remove all gas from the car, remove all diesel fuel, and replace or clean the fuel filter.”

Repairs can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, making it a very expensive trip to the pump. “It costs $1,200 plus rental fees, which makes it even more inconvenient,” he says.

Attempts to get an answer from Tom Thumb headquarters have been unsuccessful. Tom Thumb has until his April 27th to fix the problem or be penalized.