when bad gas is made good with marketing.

Sometime early on the morning of Christmas eve, we pulled into a gas station to fill the tank before heading into the sunrise some 300 miles down I-70. About 50 miles into the trip, the Element’s check engine light turned on. And then, it turned off 20 miles later. It continued this trend all the way to our destination, and all the way home. We took the E to the Honda dealership when we returned from our travels. That’s when we learned we had bad gas.

The fuel system was covered in sludge and the only way to assure no further damage was to clean the entire system to the tune of a bit more than $400. Then, a light bulb appeared above my head, turned on, sent a lightening bolt into my brain and reminded me that the bad gas was from QuickTrip. The mechanic said that was the best news he had heard all day. Apparently, seven or eight cars had been taken to the service department that week, and they all remembered filling up at QuickTrip before their check engine lights turned on.

Here’s the best part. QuickTrip guarantees their gas. You’ve seen the commercials. It’s a brilliant marketing plan. All we had to do was have our mechanic fill out a form, fax it into QuickTrip (which conveniently happens to be headquartered right here in JoCo) and that was it. Our check for a bit more than $400 is waiting for us to pick up. And I will continue to go to QuickTrip - bad gas and all. Because if I ever get it again, I want to know it comes with an easy cure.

I love when having bad gas doesn't hurt.