Woman fills up with premium gas at Costco. It stops working. Then her mechanic reveals what was inside all along

A Southern California woman put $180 of premium gas into her SUV at Costco, and less than a mile from home it started to shake. She made it to the driveway, but the car wouldn't start again. A few hours after it was towed to the dealership, a service advisor called with the diagnosis: the sample they'd pulled from the tank was “all water.”

Her husband, Ryan Clark (@ry.clark), a Los Angeles actor and producer, recently shared the story on TikTok. It's been viewed more than 1.2 million times. “This story involves Costco, and we love Costco,” he says. “I'm just genuinely curious if this has happened to anybody else.”

‘We Took A Sample From Your Gas Tank, And It's All Water'

About a month earlier, Clark says, his wife stopped at Costco, filled up and kept the receipt. “That's the important part,” he says.

About a mile from home, “her check engine light comes on and the car starts to shake,” he says. “Leading up to this, going to Costco, there was no issues at all.” Neither Clark nor AAA could get it running. The car was a certified pre-owned purchase with an extended warranty, so he had it towed to the dealership.

His wife had seen a TikTok from a woman whose mechanic found water in her tank after a Costco fill-up. Clark thought “that would be crazy.”

Then the advisor called. “He said, ‘I was with the mechanic, and we took a sample from your gas tank, and it's all water,'” Clark says. Draining the fuel, cleaning the lines and checking the engine would start at about five hours of labor, or “about 1,200 bucks.” He shows the photo the shop sent: a glass of cloudy, brownish liquid.

His wife filed an incident report at Costco, where an employee on the phone “was not very friendly,” Clark says. She also filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures. She did so “because they handle gas pump issues,” and he opened an insurance claim.

What Inspectors Found At Pump 10

In a second video, Clark says a third-party representative for Costco told his wife the store's logs were normal. About 7,000 to 9,000 gallons of 91 premium had been pumped each day, he says, with no other complaints, so Costco wasn't accepting liability and wouldn't refund the gas.

The same day, a county inspector called. According to Clark, the county had tested samples from pump 10, found “water and sediment in the fuel” and shut down the pumps for two days, and its report showed “a clear, clear violation.” An adjuster from his insurer also found water and sediment at the shop. The insurer treated it as comprehensive damage, leaving the family with a $750 deductible.

A Month To Fix

The car spent 29 days in the shop, and the repairs came to about $4,000. Between the deductible, a dead battery from sitting, two tanks of gas and a rental car, Clark says the family paid about $1,700. In a third video, he says the gas was $6.59 a gallon. He also said the family's large, older SUV has a 30-gallon tank.

Motor vehicle fuel should “be free from water, sediment, and other contaminates,” according to state guidance from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Fuel that “is hazy, contains water droplets or has a layer of water, and/or contains sediment” is “not fit for use as a motor fuel,” the guidance says. Los Angeles County's fuel pump complaint form asks for the pump number and says, “All complaints are investigated.”

Water can reach a station's underground tanks through rain and condensation, according to NATSO, the trade group for travel plazas and truck stops, which advises operators to “periodically pull samples from the dead bottom of the tank.” In the third video, Clark suggests the water may have reached their engine first because his wife's tank was nearly empty. “I'm not suggesting that Costco is, like, nefariously putting water in their gasoline,” he says. “If you purchase a product from a retailer and it's not what was advertised, or it was a bad product, that retailer should help and get involved to make it right.”

‘Never Buy Gas From Sam's Or Costco'

“I'm sorry, did you say $180 worth of gas?” asked yuja525, in the top comment with more than 9,500 likes. “My mechanic told me never to buy gas from Sam's or Costco. He has had many people come in with problems due to them,” wrote mellyg65. “I've been buying almost solely Costco gas for a decade now because it's less than 3 miles from me. Zero problems,” wrote user8669542665.

“We had an issue where diesel was accidentally mixed in with gasoline at Costco. Costco paid for rental cars and repairs,” wrote 1sarahbearcare1. In January, Costco stations in Sheridan and Superior, Colorado, were among those that sold gasoline contaminated with diesel, CBS News Colorado reported, citing the state's Division of Oil and Public Safety.

Others asked the question Clark says he hears most. “How come more cars didn't have water in their gas?” wrote lindalu1955. “Weights and measures doesn't [expletive] around,” wrote neverender1. “Definitely talk to a lawyer and contact Costco's corporate customer service.” In the third video, Clark says two lawyers told the family they had little case because nobody was hurt, though that was before the county's findings came back.

Subplot News reached out to Clark via Instagram direct message and to Costco via its media request form for comment. We'll be sure to update this if they respond.

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