Drivers in North Park are dealing with a new and damaging method of gas theft- one that’s leaving vehicles in the shop and car owners with hefty repair bills.
Instead of siphoning fuel from the cap, thieves are going underneath cars and drilling straight into the gas tank.
That’s what happened to Marco, Friday morning in his North Park neighborhood.
“I turned on the car, I noticed my vehicle dashboard say zero miles to empty, which is strange,” He said. “I looked under the car and I saw some shavings. I started to smell gas, and I saw a drilled hole in the gas tank.”
His car has now been out of service for nearly a week, causing major disruptions to his daily life.
“It’s been extremely inconvenient not having the vehicle for taking the kids to school, I’ve missed four days of work now,” Marco said.
The cost of the damage is also piling up fast.
“Towing fees, gas fees, diagnostic fees,” he said. “The insurance deductible now is 500, but they’ve shown the repairs to be in the few thousands.”
Marco said he isn’t alone; others in his neighborhood had been targeted as well.
“It happened to a neighbor of mine about two months ago,” Marco said. “I recently posted it on the Nextdoor app, and I found it happened to someone about two blocks away in March and last week as well on our same street.”
North Park mechanics are noticing the trend, too.
Advantec Auto Repair
said they see this type of damage at least once a month.
Luis Aviles, a technician at Advantec, said repairing a drilled gas tank isn’t something that can be done quickly or cheaply.
“You have to replace the whole fuel tank. It’s not like we could just patch it up and let you go on your way, just a safety concern. So we have to replace the whole fuel tank, drop it and then put a new one,” he explained.
A new fuel tank can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000, depending on the vehicle. Trucks and SUVs seem to be targeted more often because their height makes them easier to crawl under, and their tanks are usually larger.
“I feel like right now it should be a little more concerning, just because fuel prices do keep going up,” Luis said.
The San Diego Police Department said gas theft is a crime and will be fully investigated. Having video of the incident is helpful, as well as a good witness.
Marco is now looking into additional ways to protect his vehicle from being hit again.
“I’m looking into cameras outside of the complex, definitely an alarm system or the in-dash cams now that detect motion,” he said.
SDPD recommends parking in a secure area or a garage if possible. If your car is targeted, report it to the police and contact your insurance provider.
“Even though you know they may steal 20 bucks of gas, I don’t want to go through insurance and thousands of dollars in repairs again,” Marco said.
