thanks again for all your suggestions and comments! basically one day i got out of the car to look for a nail in the tire and noticed the smell of gasoline. i looked around to see if i was near a gas station, i wasnt. ever since then as soon as the car is started if you get out and walk around it you can smell gasoline. also, after i shut the car off and walk around you can also still smell it. we dont have a garage so thankfully the smell doesnt build up, it just dissipates. im going to take it to another garage, this time an AAA “owned” rather than AAA “approved”. im not too cheap to have it repaired, but i am too cheap to pay hundreds of dollars for tests that may or may not find the problem.
thanks again!!