Hundreds of metro Denver motorists who filled their vehicles up with gasoline contaminated with diesel last week are scrambling to get them fixed, renting cars, and taking ride shares.

They are also figuring out how to get reimbursed.

Some service shops are grappling with a dozen or more cars towed, as state regulators seek to manage the mess that began on Jan. 7.

A class-action lawsuit has already been filed.

“You should be able to trust the gas you get at the gas station,” said Sally Smith of Parker. The truck of her husband, Matt, got contaminated. “It’s affected our work, our life — it’s affected everything.”

The Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety officials have been working with affected consumers, while getting the full list of gas stations impacted from the distributor, HF Sinclair. The list includes 48 stations stretching from a Colorado Springs Costco to a Safeway in Fort Collins.

HF Sinclair said in a statement Tuesday evening to 9NEWS that it has provided “a thoroughly vetted list of affected retail locations” to the state for publication.

A request for comment from HF Sinclair by The Denver Gazette was not immediately answered.

“As of today, we’ve received over 600 complaints,” Cher Roybal Haavind, chief communications officer for the state division, said at a Wednesday news conference. “They are still coming in, reports from consumers who experienced a variety of engine issues after receiving gas last week.”

Zach Hope, a program manager at the office, added: “This is an unprecedented event, and we’ve had the whole team working on it.”

Hope said officials believe all the contaminated gas has been located and recovered.

“We have received word from Sinclair that all contaminated fuel has been recovered and returned to them and new fuel is in place,” Hope said.

The chain of events started that Wednesday afternoon and was discovered early Thursday.

Hope said one of the distributors noticed the fuel “wasn’t the bright color of gasoline.” Sinclair, at that point, started notifying stations to stop selling the tainted gasoline.

Lindsey DeHart of Castle Rock filled up her Subaru on Thursday morning at a King Soopers in Castle Rock and made the short drive home. The DeHarts started seeing news reports about the contamination on Thursday night.

“We tried to start it Friday morning and it showed the symptoms they talked about with the chugging, like coughing,” she said.

They towed it to the dealership.

David Takacs, service manager for Extreme Auto Repair in Parker, said the cars began arriving on Friday and they’ve had a dozen come in since then with issues caused by the contaminated gas.

“They can be sluggish, or won’t even start,” Takacs said. “Sometimes, you’ll see white smoke out of the tailpipe. These engines were not made to run on diesel.”

Mechanics have to flush the tanks, put conditioner into the fuel injectors and check the spark plugs. The costs can reach thousands of dollars.

“We’re just trying to get them all back on the road,” he said.

While the DeHarts are using their insurance, the Smiths have been relying on Murphy’s Express — where the truck was fueled — to help pay bills with the claim they made.

“Murphy’s gave us a number and we filed a claim,” Sally Smith said, adding the repair shop would use the claim to get paid.

She’s been using Uber to get to work, while Matt Smith uses the couple’s second car. Repairs weren’t done by Thursday — almost a week later.

“The most important thing for consumers to know is they should return to the point of purchase of the fuel,” Haavind said. “If they have receipts or anything that they can demonstrate they did purchase from that location, that’d be great.”

“Unfortunately, the Division of Oil and Public Safety is not involved in that reimbursement process,” she said.

Haavind said division officials are “making sure that the smaller owners are aware they do have an obligation to receive the complaint.”

Class action lawsuit filed

A class-action lawsuit has already been filed by Berger Montague PC, a California-based firm, on behalf of Charlene Franklin and “all others similarly situated.”

It names defendants HF Sinclair Corp. and Dillon Companies LLC doing business as King Soopers Fuel Centers. It alleges negligence, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and a violation of Colorado’s Consumer Protection Act.

“This action arises from the Defendants’ negligent, reckless and unsafe distribution and sale of motor fuel that was represented as unleaded gasoline but was, in fact, contaminated with diesel fuel, therefore causing widespread and immediate economic damages to consumers throughout the State of Colorado,” the lawsuit says.

It states up to 400,000 gallons of fuel may have been affected.

“This was terrible and disproportionately impacted people who can’t afford to have this happen now,” said Alexandra Piazza, a shareholder with Berger Montague. “We can’t tell the whole scope yet, but we believe it’s far greater than the 600 who have filed complaints with the division.”

Complaints can be filed with the division by downloading the complaint form or calling (303) 866-4967.

The investigation to determine the cause could take two to three weeks, Sinclair told division officials.

The state has the statutory ability to fine the company, Hope said.

“Here, obviously, a big mistake was made. But it’s an unprecedented one that is still under investigation,” Hope said. “The results of that will inform our fine amounts, if they exist.”