Melvin Reyes (@romo.reyes) encountered an issue with his car while stopping to get fuel. The car owner recorded himself experiencing difficulty in attempting to get his car’s gas lid cover open.
Usually, all he needs to do is unlock his car and press down on the lid for it to pop loose. However, although he says his car was in fact unlocked, the gas cover stayed locked in place. He took to TikTok for suggestions, but numerous folks couldn’t understand why he didn’t simply search online for a solution.
The social media user’s clip amassed a whopping 4.6 million views on the popular video sharing application.
Stranded?
Reyes begins his video by recording his red Alfa Romeo Giulia that’s parked in front of a gas station pump. “I might be cooked,” he states at the top of the video as he attempts to pop open the gas tank cover. He presses into it, but it won’t open up. Next, he pans his camera up to reveal that his car door is open.
“Car’s unlocked—this junk is still not opening,” he says, panning back to the gas cover. “I got 40 miles to the tank. Yeah, I’m cooked, a’ight.” Following this, his video transitions to the car’s interior. Beneath the dash, he looks for an alternate way to disengage the gas cover. “There’s no latch for the gas, so, not gonna lie, I think I’m stranded here.”
Exploring further options, he checks another area of the car. “Someone said there’s like an emergency latch over here.” It appears he’s inspecting the area directly behind the gas cover. This way, he can see if there’s an alternate way to crack it open. “I have no idea. I’m not emptying out my entire car in a gas station, so.”
As he steps away from the trunk, he reveals that it’s filled with various bags and a red and white cooler. “Yeah, I might be cooked. So, if someone’s got solutions, please comment.”
The TikToker summarizes this frustrating incident as what it’s like “owning an Italian vehicle.”
Other complaints
As it turns out, Reyes isn’t the only Alfa Romeo owner who’s experienced this type of issue. In the Alfa Romeo Giulia Forum, at least one other driver with the same model vehicle said they had this problem. “Gas lid door won’t open,” was the title of their post. Similarly to Reyes, they had parked the car, ensured all of the doors were unlocked, but the lid was stuck.
They had asked if anyone else experienced a similar problem. One person on the forum penned that they, too, have had this issue pop up during their fueling sessions. According to them, it takes around “20 attempts until it eventually pops” open.
Another commenter replied who also had this problem. However, their fix was a simple one: They simply forgot to ensure the car was completely unlocked. In the case of OP, like Reyes, they were sure their vehicle’s doors were indeed not locked.
Emergency cord
Someone else on the AlfaOwner forum reported the same problem: “fuel cover not opening,” they wrote. Furthermore, someone else referenced the “emergency open cord” in the trunk. They said the vehicle’s “previous owner” had yanked on this mechanism, which indicates that they, too, may’ve had difficulties in disengaging the gas lid cover.
One user in the forum attributed their stuck gas cover to a “little black plunger thingy.” This mechanism, they said, “holds the cover closed at the back of the opening.” Moreover, they stated what happens is that this plunger moves when the lid cover is pressed inward.
Upon inspecting their own stuck lid cover, they saw that this plunger was, in fact, in the locked position. This is despite depressing it several times to open the cover. And it appears other Alfa Romeo models may suffer from this problem as well. Stelvio drivers in this forum mentioned they had a similar issue with their own gas lid covers.
@romo.reyes how do i get gas? #alfaromeo #alfaromeogiulia #fypシ #cartiktok #carguy #florida #bmw #carsontiktok #audi #mercedes #carcommunity #viral ♬ Bluest Flame – Selena Gomez & benny blanco
Google it?
Several folks who responded to Reyes’ video wondered why he didn’t just search online for an answer to his issue. “Google…how open fuel cap of Alfa Romeo Giulia?” one person replied.
Someone else said, “Dude you have an OWNERS MANUAL IN THE FRICKIN GLOVE BOX.”
Another remarked, “If only there was a kind of manual you could read BEFORE you drive a car.”
“Too bad you don’t have some sort of device where you could look for that information,” one viewer sarcastically penned.
However, Reyes replied that the video he made was “satire.” In a follow-up clip, it seems that he finally did get to the root of the issue. He records himself tapping the unlock button on his car’s key fob three times, which allows him to pop open the gas cap cover with ease.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Alfa Romeo via email and Reyes via Instagram direct message for further comment.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
