Finding you’ve filled your car with watered-down fuel is a rare discovery but one more than 30 people reportedly made in Redcliffe this week.

Listener Neil contacted Spencer Howson after a friend’s car broke down moments after she refueled at a service station on Tuesday.

Her tow truck driver revealed she wasn’t alone and that he’d attended around 30 callers experiencing the same car troubles.

“The cause of all the breakdowns was petrol diluted with water and all had purchased fuel from that same servo,” Neil wrote.

Meanwhile, posts to Facebook tell the same story.

Luckily, RACQ Principal Technical Researcher Andrew Kirk says there’s a few avenues for recourse affected drivers can take.

“Get in contact with the head office of the fuel company responsible and keep any records of repairs from your mechanic, a sample of the fuel,” he told Spencer Howson.

“If you don’t have any luck with the fuel company, then you can make a complaint to the Queensland Office of Fair Trading or the Commonwealth National Measurement Institute.”

Mr Kirk said it’s unlikely fuel stations will deliberately water down fuel in an attempt to boost profits.

“Contaminated fuel is rare and fuel sites are designed to cope with heavy rain and flash flooding,” he continued.

“It comes down to sometimes maintenance or a faulty seal or something like that.

“There would be no fuel stations that would do it deliberately because they are liable for any damage to any vehicles for selling contaminated fuel.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty