ON-RAMP : Fill-Up Faux Pas

You’re pulling out of the gas station and your mind is on the road when suddenly a loud ka-thunk alerts you that the nozzle has been yanked out of your tank and is whipping through the air. Suddenly, that $14 tank of gas skyrockets into three figures. I know more than I’d like to about this subject.

When I did this a few months ago, I got out and checked out the hose; it looked just fine, and the attendant was unable to demonstrate that it had been damaged. But he took an accident report, and three months later a bill arrived from Shell Oil Co.--$504. That’s about average if the damage is restricted to the hose, says Gardena-based C&S; Maintenance, one of about two dozen Southern California pump-repair firms.

But if you damage both the hose and the pump, repairs might run $2,000 to $3,000 and up. The worst-case scenario is driving off and taking the whole $10,000 pump with you. One unlucky driver in Marina del Rey recently did this, and after noticing what he’d done, kept right on going, dragging the pump all the way to the street.

Oh sure, you think, it won’t happen to me. But regional pump maintenance companies get from two to six calls a day about these incidents. On one recent weekend, one firm got 40 calls to repair drive-off damage in San Diego County alone. Chris Lanz, manager of a Manhattan Beach Mobil station, says that at times he’s had drive-offs every day for a week. A Chevron representative says California has more accidental drive-offs than any other part of the country, and Los Angeles has the highest incident rate of all. Chevron is conducting a study to find out why.

Gasoline companies are also taking some steps to prevent big damage. Some hoses now possess a “breakaway” feature that allows the hose to snap off, shuts off the flow of gas and keeps the pump from being uprooted.

These hoses, naturally, are the most expensive of all to replace.