Dozens of car owners say their vehicles died after filling up at a Richboro Wawa

Last week Connor Lenahan stopped at the Richboro Wawa to fill up his 2016 Jeep Cherokee.

The gas cost him $53. The repairs his car needed after filling up are more than $3,000, his mother, Joan Lenahan said.

If social media is any indication, Lenahan isn’t the only car owner hit with a four-digit repair bill this week after filling up at the Wawa in the 800 block of Second Street Pike near Bustleton Pike.

As of Tuesday morning, more than two dozen people had reached out to Joan Lenahan through Facebook after she posted about her son’s car experience on several Northampton Township community pages, she said.

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Wawa acknowledges problem at Richboro fuel pumps

Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce said there was an issue with the fuel equipment on one tank at the Richboro store and that once the company was made aware immediate action was taken to correct it. Bruce provided no details on what the problem involved.

"We are working with our fuel equipment manufacturer to investigate and understand the issue including the timing of any potential impact," Bruce said in a written statement. "At this time, we believe that this was an isolated incident that may have affected a limited number of customers."

Bruce added that the company has a "quality fuel guarantee" and customers who experienced mechanical problems can submit a claim online.

On Tuesday the Bucks County Consumer Protection Department opened an investigation into the incident, Director Michael Bannon said.

More than 100 comments appear under her posts and others from people who claim they got gas at the Richboro Wawa on July 17 or July 18 and almost immediately their cars experienced mechanical problems including damage to engine, fuel injector, and knock sensors.

“I filled my car up on Wednesday the 17th at the Richboro Wawa a few miles down the road my engine light went on,” wrote one woman. “We ran a diagnostic test. It’s the catalytic converter.”

“My car died on 7/17. Just barely got home at 10 mph and now I can’t drive it.”

“Got gas the 18th at 7pm and car died on Friday afternoon after driving 6 toal (sic) miles. Said misfire in cylinders 4 and 5,” wrote someone else.

In Lenahan's son’s case, he had about a quarter-tank left when he filled up Thursday with regular-grade gas. The next day his Jeep started bucking before the check engine light came on and the car stopped running, Lenahan said.

She called the family mechanic, who after looking at the car on Monday, had a question: When was the last time it was filled with gas, and where?

Mechanics busy in Richboro after Wawa customers get gas

After she answered, the mechanic said her car was the seventh one that came into his shop that day with the same problems after getting gas at the Richboro Wawa.

On Tuesday, Lenahan’s mechanic, Greg Millevoi, said his shop took 10 calls before 11 a.m. from people reporting car problems who got gas at the Richboro Wawa last week.

The seven cars at his business, Millevoi Brothers Richboro Automotive, are experiencing the same problems with fuel pumps, fuel injectors, spark plugs, multiple cylinder misfires and some cars that need ignition coils replaced, Millevoi said.

At least two other Richboro area garages were also seeing customers with the same issues who said they got gas at the Richboro Wawa around the same time.

With Lenahan’s Jeep, Millevoi said he had to replace spark plugs, coils, injectors, drain the fuel and blow out all the fuel lines, he said.

On Tuesday, it was running great again, but the repair bill was more than $3,000, he said.

On social media sites, the popular theory about what happened revolved around speculation involving delivery mix ups with diesel and regular gas or water contamination in storage tanks.

Richboro Wawa custormers should save gas samples

It is important car owners have mechanics save samples of the gas removed from the cars so it can be tested, said Bannon, of the county’s consumer protection department.

Gas stations typically have computer systems that monitor gas deliveries and water contamination, so if the gas is the culprit it should be traceable, Bannon added.

In his experience, Bannon said, Wawa is a good company to deal with when it comes to reimbursement.

Meanwhile, Millevoi said he cannot speculate if the damages he was seeing were directly related to the Wawa gas, but in his 30 years in the automotive repair business he has never seen such a coincidence.

“For this to happen it's crazy,” he said. “It's a nightmare.”

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com