Drivers in Montreal’s Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough are facing expensive car repairs after they unknowingly filling up with gas contaminated with water at an Ultramar station in the area.
Christina Barron stopped at the station on Gouin Boulevard last week to put $20 of gas in her vehicle on her way home from work. When she was behind the wheel later that evening, her car’s speed could not exceed more than 30 kilometres/hour.
“When this happened, it was kind of a bit of a shock,” she said.
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After the car wouldn’t start the next morning, Barron had to get it towed to her mechanic. She said he removed eight litres of water from her gas tank — but the damage ending up costing her $676 in repairs.
“You don’t think twice about putting gas in the car,” she said.
Ultramar spokesperson Pierre Tessier said the company partially stopped service at the location on Gouin Boulevard to fix the problem. The gas station is expected to be completely reopen by Friday.
The company is inviting customers affected by the contamination to contact the gas station directly to be reimbursed for the damage to their cars.
“We sincerely apologize to our affected customers for this regrettable incident,” he said.
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Andrew Hislop is among drivers who filled up with a bad batch of gas. After doing so, his car wouldn’t start when he was trying to get to work the next morning.
However, he said the Ultramar gas station and garage fixed his car free of charge and covered towing costs as well.
“I was quite happy,” he said. “They paid for everything.”
While 15 customers have received free repairs and they were reimbursed for the gas at the station, Barron said she has filed an incident report with Ultramar and she is waiting to hear back.
She hopes Ultramar will refund her as well.
“I’m just somebody who wants to get reimbursed for that hefty bill,” she said.
— With files from Global News’ Brayden Jagger Haines
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