NEW ORLEANS, LA — A Louisiana woman says an ordinary stop for premium fuel turned into a stressful repair-shop mystery after her car began acting strangely the next morning. Ashley shared the experience on TikTok and said she had filled up at the Costco on Dublin Street in New Orleans the day before.
She said she has used that station regularly for about two and a half years and described herself as a “creature of habit.” According to her account, she used the same pump she often chooses, drove home, and then noticed something was off when her vehicle started pulling while she was out driving the next day.
What Ashley says the mechanic found after the car started pulling
After noticing the problem, Ashley said she went straight to a repair shop. She said a mechanic first replaced a sensor, but that did not fix the issue. When he kept checking the car, she said he began draining the fuel system and found something alarming.
Ashley claimed that the liquid coming out of the car was water, not gasoline. In her words, “Nothing but water is coming out my car,” and “The gas in my car is water.” She posted a short clip from the shop showing a mechanic holding a clear bottle near the engine as a clear liquid was drawn from a line into it. The footage itself does not prove what the liquid was.
Why the TikTok clip spread so quickly
Her post drew a fast reaction from viewers who were shocked by the possibility that water had entered a fuel tank. Several commenters said the situation sounded frightening and urged her to save the liquid, have it tested, and consider legal action. Some also encouraged her to file a complaint with Louisiana agriculture officials.
Others focused on their own experiences at the same Costco location. One viewer said they also regularly buy gas there, while another claimed their car had a similar issue after filling up at the same store. Those comments did not confirm a broader problem, but they helped push the video into wider attention.
Some fuel workers said water can enter gas by accident
Not everyone who commented assumed the station knowingly sold contaminated fuel. Some viewers who said they worked around fuel suggested there are accidental ways water can end up in a storage system. One pointed to heavy rain as a possible cause if water reached the tanks.
Another said a missing gasket could potentially allow water inside, while a different commenter raised the possibility that water was already in a delivery trailer if it was not properly drained before loading. Those explanations were only theories shared online, but they show why contamination claims usually need testing before anyone can know exactly what happened.
A second driver also asked about the same New Orleans station
Ashley is not the only person who recently questioned fuel from that Costco. Earlier in September, another driver posted on Reddit that their vehicle began misfiring after getting gas and that a mechanic found bad fuel with water in it. That driver specifically asked whether anyone else had run into trouble after filling up at the Dublin Street location.
That earlier post does not prove the two problems were connected, and it does not establish that Costco fuel caused either vehicle issue. Still, it added to the concern around the station and made Ashley’s claim feel less isolated to some readers following the discussion online.
What Louisiana agriculture officials can do next
There is a formal way to check complaints about fuel contamination in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry investigates reports involving water or other contaminants in motor fuel and can collect suspected fuel samples for laboratory testing.
If testing confirms contamination, the department says the fuel can be “red tagged,” which stops further sales of that product. For now, though, there is no publicly available test result showing that Ashley’s Costco purchase contained water. Ashley said she returned to the store after learning what allegedly happened and filed a claim.
Why the story resonated with drivers
The reaction to Ashley’s post showed how quickly a fuel problem can become a bigger worry for everyday drivers. A bad tank of gas can mean more than an inconvenient breakdown; it can raise concerns about repair costs, missed work, and the challenge of proving what happened after the fact.
For now, the account remains Ashley’s personal claim, supported by the video she filmed at the repair shop and by the online conversations that followed. The available evidence has not established the cause of the problem, but it has left many New Orleans drivers paying closer attention to where they fuel up and what their cars do afterward.
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