“I Knew I Should’ve Called In Dead Today”: Mechanics Share The Absurd Things They’ve Seen On The Job (50 New Pics)
Imagine you are driving along, minding your own business, when the dreaded “strange” sounds start to emanate from your vehicle. Or perhaps the “check engine” light comes on. The pain of finding out what is wrong coupled with the pain of paying to fix it means most people bring their vehicles in way too late.
The “Just Rolled Into The Shop” online group is dedicated to the craziest and most absurd things mechanics have seen people bring them. So get comfortable as you scroll through, consider getting your vehicle looked at, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts online.
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Someone Came With A Car And This Was In The Trunk. He Said We Can Keep Everything From Inside The Car. I'm Definitely Keeping It
Customer States Abs/Esc And Front Radar Lights On…
This "Time Machine" Just Rolled In. 9 Thousand Miles, And The Plate Expired In 1983
The truth is, normal wear and tear can (and will), over time break something in your car. After all, even home appliances under normal use break down and your blender doesn’t spend hours flying down a highway. This is why, as with one’s health, preemptive and preventive measures are often smart then explicitly waiting for something to break.
As they are the main point of contact with the road, naturally, the tires tend to be the first to go. If you live in a place with a lot of ice and snow in winter, you have the wonderful opportunity every year to pay to get winter tires installed.
Me Standing Next To A Cat 797
Tool Box Battery Backup Is Warm And Comfy
Pulled This Guy From A Camry
On the flipside, this does mean that an expert gives your tires a once over at least yearly, so you have someone to tell you it’s time for a new set. That being said, like anything car related, it gets expensive so most people prefer to wait way too long, as the examples here show. Once you add on the fact that some mechanics will take you for a ride, people’s anxiety becomes a bit more understandable.
"Well, I'm Not Sure How To Say This, But It Looks Like Your Engine Bay Has Been Overtaken By Gay Mice"
Third Car We've Had Towed In Within A Week For A No Start After Refueling At A Local Gas Station. This Fuel Sample Is About 96% Water
Customer Is Going Through A Nasty Divorce, Wanted Us To Have A Look Around After She Saw Her Husband Following Her Around Town
As with anything else, the main moving parts are the first to go. This is why some car experts believe that getting your transmission and batteries checked is a good idea from time to time. On the other hand, again like when one visits a doctor, it’s best to not lie to the person who is going to be doing the fixing, otherwise you’ll end up with the main issues overlooked.
Boss Man Came To Work In His Old American Truck Today. A Rare Sight Here In Scotland
Driver States "Odometer Speaks Martian Before Startup"
Found This On The First Truck I Hoisted This Morning
At the same time, while it’s important to not be the sort of car-owner you see here, it also helps to do your due diligence when picking a mechanic. While there might be hundreds of garages out there, not every person working in them is an actually certified expert who knows exactly how to fix what you have.
This Is Not What I Was Expecting When The Customer Said “The Tire Exploded And There Are Wires Showing”
I found more photos but cant pist them here. tire exploded and the flapping of the tread tore the bumper off, damaged the fender, and grabbed and pulled the wiring harness out of the car. the wiring is wrapped all around the tire.
Any Suggestions?
He's got a death grip on the wiring and he's trying to climb deeper.
324k Mile Tacoma. Oil Changes Work Folks
This isn’t just to ensure that the cars roaring down the highway are safe (although that is a big part of it), but also to ensure that when repairs are done, they are conducted in an environmentally friendly way. If you are in the US, the EPA provides courses and certifications for car repair specialists to that effect.
Had This Brand New Escape Show Up.. Owners Were Towing It Behind Their Motor Home And Guess The Parking Brake Locked Up. Took Them A Few Miles To Realize What That Terrible Noise Was 😂
C/S The Solar Panel Isn’t Working/Won’t Charge Batteries
Cars Like These Always Make Saturdays Great
So when you are swapping stories of untrustworthy mechanics (which do exist, there is no use denying it) just remember that many of them do work hard and honestly. It’s a physically demanding job with lots of exposure to toxic chemicals. So perhaps don’t be like the folks in this list, get your car checked when it’s still in good condition.
Customers Really Make Me Question Life……
Volvo tech here, customer comes in and complains my iPhone charger will not plug in the charging socket for 2nd row. They are not normal and look to be Swedish. Did you guys forget to change the plugs for a USA car??? She was really trying to plug a wall socket into 2 USB-C sockets. Husband couldn’t figure it out either. These people are among us!! Be careful out there.
It seems pretty dumb, but with that design I can understand the mistake. Some vehicles do have an outlet like the wall ones.
We Will Not Be Installing Your Spare Sir
I Present The Jellyfish. Dual Axle Trailer, Was Ran Flat For Quite A Distance
Guy Pulled Up To The Shop To Do An Oil Change
That's A First For Me, Loaded With An Extra Mag Next To It. These People Shouldn't Be Allowed To Own Guns
The Dangers Of Texting Your Service Customers
Forgot My Drill So I Asked The Customer And This Is What I Got 🤣😂🤣
Someone Needs To Wife This Lady
I Knew I Should've Called In Dead Today
Customer Sold Us Their 07 Hyundai Sonata For Scrap Then Later Told Us He Needs His $1400 Floor Mats Back
He shows us a receipt when purchased. Custom Bugatti fitted floor mats to a 2007 Sonata he paid $1300 + tax.
Driver Refused To Wait Till Morning For Repairs. Drove Away With Brakes As Shown
Sweeper Wasn't Sweeping. Who Would Have Guessed?
Had one of my coworkers complain our auto floor scrubber at work was not working as it should, the scrub pads were about 2mm thick, new ones are 1.5cm or so "could this be the problem?"
Going On 18 Years In The Industry, I Hate Where Car Technology Is Heading
Rolled Out Today Boys. 22 Years In The Field, I’m Done. No Idea What’s Next
Congratulations Don't tell anyone you can fix cars. Especially if you move. In today's world you will owe them repairs. Trust.
Anyone Else Drive With A Loaded Firearm Pointed At Their Foot At All Times?
A Letter From Gm To My Great Aunt
Wtf Is This Shi**?! Some Weirdos Out Here…and Why Keep This In Your Car Door?????????? 😂😂🤢🤢
It's So Hot In Texas, The Emblem On My Buddies Truck Is Melting
Perfectly believable. Go to dealership and have removed they didn't make heat resistant. Please remove it. Do not put a new one on
There’s No Way Wearing Your Seat Belt Is Bad Enough To Actually Have To Buy One Of These
I'd be dead without my seat harness. Ain't playing chicken. Crashes are deadly.
'05 Corolla With Not A Single Oil Change In 15 Years
This Sticker Has Been On Since 1988
I wish modern cars had instrument controls like this. Touch screens to control everything suck.
My Mechanic Just Sent Me The Picture Of My Tire
I Had To Let It Cool Down A Bit Before Working On It (Cat 3406)
These Are The People You Share The Road With Daily…
If You French Fry When You Should Pizza, You're Gonna Have A Bad Time
My Friend Traded A Dirt Bike For This Limo. Tuesday He Goes To Get His Chauffeur's License. This Surely Can't Turn Out Well
Came In For Tires. Decided To Use Up The Rest Of What He Had On The Way In. Customer Claims 700+hp
Service Writer Did Not Bother To Get Any More Info From Customer Than This 🤦
Possibly The Loudest Sound I’ve Ever Heard. Hourly Guy Couldn’t Get The Bead To Seat So He Just Kept Putting Air In It
Customer Came In For New Tires On A…ford Festiva?
A+ For Effort For Whoever Put This Spare Tire On
Customer Insisted That I Replace His Brake Pads Because The Truck Has 100k Miles
Original pads on a RAM 1500. I'm impressed.
Checking A Vehicle Over For Our Lot From Hertz. Rear Brake "Pad" Is Wood
Someone rented it and pulled out a bunch of hard to see stuff, replaced it with junk and sold the genuine parts (or used them to repair their own car)?
What Could’ve Caused This ?
That looks like a brand new tyre, zero wear. So rats maybe? Chewing on the tyre to wear down their teeth?
Hyundai Kona Came In For An Oil Change With 800lbs Of Concrete In The Back
To be fair, it says on the Hyundai page that the max load is 420-500kg (I assume depending on model/tyres/shocks). So that's within tolerances.
For Our American Friends, I Present To You The Engine Bay Of The Renault Modus
Anything to make it harder for you to avoid going to a main dealer for maintenance or repairs.
Just Flooded Into The Shop?
Customer Is A Genius
Customer Does His Own Oil Changes. Said He Rounded The Plug Off
Fed Vehicles In For Repairs. Government Requires Emission Control Devices On Our Vehicles But Give Themself An Exemption To Use A “Deleted” Diesel Truck
One would assume this is "must run no matter what" type vehicle. Emission controls are great for the environment and fancy electronics is great for economy and the environment too. But they're not great for running in super harsh conditions (or after an EMP). Sometimes simple is better.
Customer States $5000 Exhaust Isn't Loud Enough. Please Install $6000 Headers On $500,000 Porsche
These are the people I hate, it's one thing to have a car that's naturally loud. It's another thing completely to *try* to make it louder.
New Guys First Day He Drained The Trans And Double Filled The Engine
300k Motor Mount
My Mom Sent Me This And Told Me She Had To Cut Her Motorbike Trip Short. I Thought Y'all Might Appreciate It
Customer Says It Started Knocking, Then Got Quiet And Quit Moving. (It’s Me, I’m The Customer)
Bent Child Seat Anchors? Just Bend Them Back! Ford Recall 21c24
Customer Threw In The Towel On A DIY Install. They Tried
Which One Of You Knuckle Daggers Did This?
Oh my. I know for fact that replacement gaskets can be made from Tetra Pak. Cylinder head, it won't do, but as a means to be able to carry on to a workshop, they're usually fine. But, carefully inspected whenever you stop, they should be, and replace with a real one as soon as you have the chance.
Found A Lot Of Used Co2 Cartridges In This Car. Are People Getting High Off This Or Something?
My Shop Was Literally Going To Just Throw These In With Scrap Metal Because They Aren’t Calibrated Anymore
Two Different Tires, Two Different Customers With In An Hour Of Each Other
Customer States: "This Car Doesn't Have A 'Hood' Or Any Other Means Of Engine Access. The Whole Body Comes Off For Any Repairs." - Salt Lake County Requires Us To Photograph Emissions Control Devices During Inspection. Ugh
I Don't Have A Big Bolt. But I Do Have An Enormous Tap
Gonna be a heck of a job to turn that by hand to create the thread in a nut.
Bro-Diesel Rolls In And This Is What I See When I Lift It Up
This Is A Weapon
Boudica wants in back in time for the battle, says the Romans won't wait
Til Hyundai Made Cars With No Radio
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I probably shouldn't have bothered with this list. Most of the time I didn't have a clue what I was looking at or why it was bad. The possum family and the cats were cute though!
Me too. I have never driven a car or had a licence so I have never bothered to learn about them. But some were easy to understand, like the tires that were barely there.
Load More Replies... Is there no legal requirement for your car to be checked every year to make sure it's safe to drive in the US? In the UK all cars over three years old have to have an annual MOT and if it's not safe to drive you have to get it fixed in order to continue driving it, if you don't then you're driving it illegally which will also invalidate your insurance. The only time you can legally drive a car that failed it's MOT is to and from the mechanic to get it repaired. Some of these pictures show damage that has accumulated over years so I'm just curious.
Most states require an annual inspection, but 13 do not and each state decides whether to check just basic safety or also emissions. It's kind of a mess.
Load More Replies...
Haggle the price of your car, walk away if they will not deal. When you do get new car, drive by and show the guy who wouldn’t deal, because you were a woman, that you did buy a new car at the price you wanted, and paid. Cash! And good regular upkeep of the car , if you know your mechanic well, take him o with your mechanic, take them with you to check out the new car, pre purchase, pay attention to the noises it makes so you know which are normal and which are not. I got taken a bit by Carmax because I said the front passenger seat wouldn’t recline, he forced it. I still liked it, so, buyer beware. Mechanic should’ve come with. When we tested it, it was stuck. Took an auto repair shop all day ( HAH!!., right… and me, 2500 dollars to discover coins that fell out of pockets fell into the seat crack, and filled up, yes FILLED UP, that area so the seat would not recline!! Buyer beware. I still like the SUV, AND it will be my last car I have to buy, but it’s a great drive!
I probably shouldn't have bothered with this list. Most of the time I didn't have a clue what I was looking at or why it was bad. The possum family and the cats were cute though!
Me too. I have never driven a car or had a licence so I have never bothered to learn about them. But some were easy to understand, like the tires that were barely there.
Load More Replies... Is there no legal requirement for your car to be checked every year to make sure it's safe to drive in the US? In the UK all cars over three years old have to have an annual MOT and if it's not safe to drive you have to get it fixed in order to continue driving it, if you don't then you're driving it illegally which will also invalidate your insurance. The only time you can legally drive a car that failed it's MOT is to and from the mechanic to get it repaired. Some of these pictures show damage that has accumulated over years so I'm just curious.
Most states require an annual inspection, but 13 do not and each state decides whether to check just basic safety or also emissions. It's kind of a mess.
Load More Replies... Haggle the price of your car, walk away if they will not deal. When you do get new car, drive by and show the guy who wouldn’t deal, because you were a woman, that you did buy a new car at the price you wanted, and paid. Cash! And good regular upkeep of the car , if you know your mechanic well, take him o with your mechanic, take them with you to check out the new car, pre purchase, pay attention to the noises it makes so you know which are normal and which are not. I got taken a bit by Carmax because I said the front passenger seat wouldn’t recline, he forced it. I still liked it, so, buyer beware. Mechanic should’ve come with. When we tested it, it was stuck. Took an auto repair shop all day ( HAH!!., right… and me, 2500 dollars to discover coins that fell out of pockets fell into the seat crack, and filled up, yes FILLED UP, that area so the seat would not recline!! Buyer beware. I still like the SUV, AND it will be my last car I have to buy, but it’s a great drive!
