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30 Times Mechanics Were Left Speechless By The Condition Of A Customer’s Car, As Shared In This Online Group (New Pics)
While it’s not for everyone, driving can be a blast, with your favorite tunes on the stereo, the sensation of speed and freedom. Then that dreaded shift, as something begins to whine or crunch. Like an unhappy patient, a car finds its way to communicate that it absolutely is in need of some repair. And most car owners might already be feeling that secondhand dread of popping the hood and seeing just how bad it is.
The “just rolled into the shop” online group documents the silliness that mechanics sometimes have to deal with. Preventative maintenance is not often in the vocabulary of most car owners, so the vehicles they encounter can range from “How does it even drive?” to “We need a priest, not a mechanic.” So upvote your favorites and be sure to comment your own stories below.
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Getting Real Tired Of These
It's A Bit Cold Out This Morning
C/S Thanks For Understanding, Nerds
As a time-honored profession, the role of the mechanic goes back multiple decades. So far back even, that some of the US regulations about the job actually still use terminology like “any person who repairs or services a motor vehicle for payment or bartering,” as if you can just drive up to your local shop with a trunk full of lemons and hope for the best.
Paradoxically, as cars have gotten more complex, the role has become more specialized and rare. In the early 20th century, filling stations, what we would now call gas stations, also used to offer a mechanic service. While per capita, there were fewer cars, the vehicles actually on the road were significantly simpler. Over time, the cost of keeping mechanics around rose, and, furthermore, having a section for groceries was just better for the bottom line.
You Had One Job
I've Never Seen A Car That Failed A Home Inspection Before
Customer States Replace Drivers Rear Seat Belt Buckle, Technician States Go F**k Yourself
Nevertheless, this abundance of mechanical skill did benefit the US during the Second World War. American troops who had some experience working with internal combustion engines were able to keep Sherman tanks and various utility vehicles maintained and operational in the field. This is in contrast to the German army, which still maintained over a million horses in 1945. At least in wartime, one had an excuse for why what they “just rolled into the shop” with was completely messed up.
When A Carpenter Does His Own Repairs…
It’s Raining For The First Time In A While In Los Angeles. This Is The Trash Can Outside Autozone
I was 40 when I first thought to start checking my wiper blades during the dry season.
Local Shop - 40+ Year Old Phones And All
When it comes to cars as a consumer conveyance, most people know about Henry Ford, the Model T, and early assembly lines. But it’s vital to remember that these cars were entering a world designed for horses and pedestrians. It would be a while until real car infrastructure was set up. For example, the first traffic light went up in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914. As one can imagine, before that, you would simply enter an intersection and hope for the best.
Didn’t Want To Wait For A Tow So Had His Buddy Drag It To Us 4 Miles
Shop Dog? How About A Shop Chicken?
I love the shop chicken! Where is this place? My truck threw a tie rod and I need to get it into a shop. I would love to hang out with the shop chicken while I wait.
Kachow
Only a decade later, in 1925, were the first turn signals implemented. While most of us might think of the late 80s as the golden age of driving, the pre-war world also seemed like a perfect place for the car enthusiast. Drivers of the time seemed unrestricted by rules, lights, and even the need to indicate when and where they might turn. It almost sounds like the streets of the time were similar to a game of Mario Kart.
First Time Seeing Hello Kitty Exhaust Tips
Just Got My Christmas Present
The Insurance Companies Love This Maneuver
Of course, the cars of the time had few conveniences. Air conditioning would only show up in 1939 in limited quantities and cruise control only came about in 1948. What may shock you is that cruise control was invented by a blind man named Ralph Teetor. Despite his affliction, he managed to receive a Master’s Degree in Engineering and, among other things, invented a powered lawn mower.
Whoever Did This Alignment Pls Let Me Buy U A Drink
Customer States : Heard A Loud Noise And Lost All Gears
Can someone please explain what the hell is happening here?
I've Been Maintaining This Thing From Around 150k Miles. Definitely The Highest Mileage Customer I Have
Of course, all these invasions also mean that mechanics need to have more and more advanced knowledge of how to actually fix things. Despite that, industry standards are still to design cars that will last a long time. The predicted “life” of a car built in 2020 is supposed to be around 16 years. Unfortunately, these predictions don’t cover the potential number of owners, but analysts do think this should equal roughly 2 million km, which equals about 444 oil changes if the owners take good care of it. If you want to see more cars where that probably didn't happen, click here and here.
Hell Hath No Fury
If you want revenge on a cheating EX, use clingly wrap on their wheels. it will make the car undriveable but wont cause damage. or tie the car to a tree using many knots.
So How's Your Morning Going?
Just Rolled In: My New Tool Box After 5 Years Of Window Shopping. Feels Good When You Do It By Yourself. Cheers!
Coolant Light Is Still On After Customer Topped It Up
In For A Key Cut And Program. Bet I Know Where The Lost One Is
Had To Pull The Rear Seats Out Of A 2012 F250 For Some Bodywork, And Found A Second Gen iPhone Solidly Wedged Behind It! Wonder How Long It's Been There
Obligatory "If it were a Nokia, it would still work" comment here. (And it WOULD work, too.)
Reminder: You Share A Road With These People
So My Pads Have How Much Life Left? Uh… Yes
Can’t Believe They Haven’t Been Forced To Do A Total Recall
Customer Came Back After We Did An Oil Change On A Subaru, Stating It Had Problems, New Guy Drained The Transmission
Yes I’m The Tech Who Didn’t Take The Seltzer
3rd One We Have Had This Happen Too!
Final and initial un/tightenining should not be done with a power tool
This Is My Kind Of Customer
Been In The Parts And Service Business For 30 Years, Wish I Had All The Pictures Saved I Have Taken. Here’s My First Post
Happy Friday The 13th. Air Hammer Set Off All The Side Curtain Airbags
F**k You I Win
Head Gaskets On Audi A7 Tfsi. I’m Regretting Not Just Pulling The Engine
Pulling the front facia like that is called the service position and is fairly easy and common for Audi.
One Car. Four Different Brands Of Tire
Customer Rolled Into The Air Check Because Their Car Felt Funny. They Were Genuinely Confused Why I Couldn’t Check Their Right Rear
UPS Mechanics Are Gonna Be Very Upset When They Find Out 30 Trucks Had Their Catalytic Converters Cut Off During The Weekend
My grandfather owns a shop with a bunch of old cars, and he had all the catalytic converters stolen from them in one night.
Ordered Lkq Glass Panels For The Roof. Instead Of Removing The Panels And Shipping Them They Just Cut The Whole Roof Off And Sent It
This Might Just The The Absolute Dumbest Thing I’ve Ever Seen, And I’ve Worked At A Collision Shop For 15 Years…
This where you get everyone together and take bets on how much balance weight it needs.
Undercoated Wrench Found Welded Into In A Fully Boxed Section Of A New Frame For A T1 Escalade... Someone Got Fired At The Start Of A Shift
She Drove In On This... Tow Truck Driver Who Put In The Spare Didn't Know It Was Supposed To Be Inflated Too
Neat
I Assure You Audi, The Ignition Is Indeed On
F*ck this. Mo' electronics, Mo' problems. Old school ALL THE WAY BAAAAAABY!!!
Don’t Bring Bombs Into The Shop Please
Reminds me of a story about someone trying to use a self inflator at a gas station and getting mad because they could never get the tires up to 100% because it's psi and not % you know.
I’m A Service Manager Who Has Seen Better Days
Found A Tracking Device In A Customers Car…
I live between two states. California law prevents tracking unless you own or lease the vehicle. Hawaii says you can only track with written consent of driver, regardless of ownership. This translates to needing permission to track your own car in the instances you allow someone else to drive it. I can’t imagine having a tracker on one’s own car, but imagine having to get written consent from a family member to allow them to borrow it.
This Is What Happens When You Lend Your Manual Transmission Car To A Friend Who “Knows How To Drive Stick”
Customer Wanted To Use This As Balance Beads So He Doesn'thave To Pay For A Balance. Says They Did It All The Time Where He Worked In Oklahoma
I'm Not A Mechanic. What Did The Technician Do To My Car, And Did They Buy It Dinner First?
Found 2 Cupcakes Under The Splash Shield Of A ‘21 Toyota Rav4…. So Many Questions
This Customer Must Have Pissed Someone Off, Because They Filled The 6.0l In His Dump Truck With Sand, And Did The Same Thing To The Engines In His Other Dump Truck, His Skid Steer, And His Feller Buncher
I would consider suspending their dumb a**es upside down over the lathe, and slowly working their body parts into it.
These Honesty Tests Are Getting Out Of Hand
The Trailer Breaker Was Burnt, So I Traced The Wires And Found This. Which One Would You Assume Is The Positive Wire?
Truck Driver Bringing In Our New Volvo Stock Struck A Bridge On His Way In
Welp, I'm Done With Tuesday
I’ve Become The Very Person I Swore To Destroy
Guess This Could Have Gone Bad
Customer Says He Wants His Exhaust Up The Side
C/S “Something Is Rattling In The Back”
My Shop Calls Me The Doodler... Already Have Some Active On The Roads. Be Warned Lol
Passed This Rust Repair For A State Inspection Because Honestly? I’m Impressed With The Paint Match
I like it! You pay enough for plates.. make them work for you when they expire!
For All Of Those Struggling With Reaching Wheel Torque, Have You Tried A Longer Pipe? 650 Ft Lbs Doesn't Come Easy For Me 😅
Archimedes: "Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the earth."
Im Not Looking For The Wheel Lock Key!
C/S They're On Probation And They Took His Gun
Lets Go!!!
2022 911s 7 Speed Manual
C/S Couldn't Goto Work This Morning, Going Through Messy Divorce
C/S No Heat... This May Be The Worst I've Seen
Told The Younger Kids On Night Shift They Couldn’t Get The Axle Out Without A Press…
No Comment
In For An Oil Change Because Our Local Valvoline “Couldn’t Get The Drain Plug Out”
Had an oil change place try that one with me..." YOU have been doing my oil changes...REPLACE IT!"
Any Other Lucky Fellas Get The Privilege Of Taking A Quick Look At Their Families Cars When They’re Home For The Holidays? Anyways, I’ve Drained About 10 Quarts Out Of My Sister’s 06 Honda Crv…
Just Alabama Things You Find In Tires…
I'd say it's very American but I believe that's a russian cartridge
Xmas Rolled In From The Boss
Wonder How Long That Would Last
Yesterday Had To Reissue Stickers For A Kid Who Just Bought A Car From Us. Cop Accused Him Of Using Counterfeit Stickers And Ripped One Off
Customer Had Their Prius Towed In Because It Wouldn't Start After Installing Dynamats
Oh for god's sake. The hybrid battery lives under the package tray right in front of the spare tire well.
Someone Please Explain Why A Person Would Do Such A Thing?
Co-Workers Uncle Has A Tendency To Overheat And Blow Head Gaskets. His Solution Was To Wire In A Universal Temp Switch To A Horn In The Dash. If It Goes Over 200f, The Horn Goes Off
C/S "My Son Said The Police Man Helped Him Put On The Spare" They Were Barely More Than Finger Tight
Customer Says Brakes Started Making Noise
Customer Says “Had To Figure Out A Way To Get It Over Here To The Shop! Can I Get My Wrenches Back?”
You need to have a set of open lug nuts in the glovebox in case you need to put the spare on (Steel wheels are thinner overall than alloys and the closed-end lug nuts wouldn't thread all the way on).
Bugatti Veyron Spark Plug And Ignition Coil Replacement
2023 Stingray With 103 Miles. Luckily No Injuries
Gas Quality Around Michigan
*sweats Nervously*
If Anyone Is Curious, A 21 Hemi Will Last 32,682 Miles If You Don’t Change The Oil On It
My Dad Spent Several Weeks Changing The Clutch On His 2003 Mini Cooper S Jcw. He Doesn't Trust The Dealer To Do It Properly. This Is What The Bell Housing Looked Like Before It Went Back On
Rear Tires Kept Locking Up Trying To Get It In The Shop
C/S They Changed The Head Gasket Themselves. 100km Later This Is The Coolant. Customer Is Me
Operator Said, We Do This In India All The Time
I can vouch for that. Smaller farmers need the tractors and don't necessarily have money for proper repairs all the time
My Tech Is A Miracle Worker
Unsure Why My Customer Spray Foamed Their Vehicle
I can tell you why, one of those pieces of heat shield was rattling and they couldn't figure out which one.
I Think The Quick Lube May Have Overfilled My Friends Car A Little
Can Someone Tell Me What This Tray Is Actually For?? (Bmw X5)
The Air Flows Better On The Outside Of The Hood
Customer Left A Helpful Note…
Samurai Disc
How Often Do You See A Manual Transmission 2010 Camry? It Certainly Caught Me Off Guard
Working On The Sales Side Of The House Gets You Emails Like This
The Worst Decal I’ve Ever Installed. For So Many Reasons
Cylinder Head Repair, Most Steps
Anti-Corrosion Protection Of The Car Body. This Is My Job
Snap On Got Nothing On These Bad Boys
Whats Yall Opinion About These Kinds Of Lifts?
I Just Hit The Jackpot. Can You See It?
When You Trust A Newer Advisor A Little Too Much…
Customer “Worked For Goodyear For 25 Years And Said This Is How You Get Max Performance”
If by "performance" they mean fuel efficiency, they might be right, but by every other metric, including safety, not so much.
I Wonder Who This Guy Pissed Off
Price Jump
I will NEVER in my life, pay some arbitrary "market adjustment" on anything, ever.
Department Of Agriculture Came In For An Annual Inspection.... Now Why Do They Need This Much Fire Power??
This Months Snap On Flyer. Brass Tire Pressure Gauge And Maple Box Only $96
I'm Pretty Amazed By This
Customer Just Traded This In On A $105k Bmw 840. In Addition To A Years Worth Of Takeout Trash There Were About 50 Roaches Left In The Car
The Day Before Snow Comes In
Considering they're track tires, I imagine he's heading somewhere warm and fun.
Kudos To You, If You Can Tell Me What This Big Silver Thing Is!
31x12.5r24. Just... Why?
Customer Complaint? "It Steers Funny"
Are Angry Texts From Customers Allowed? I Think I’m Gonna Frame This One
I understood about 5% of these. Not even sure why I read the whole article. I hate school.
If you really want to see some horrific car stuff, go to YouTube and type in "Customer States"
I understood about 5% of these. Not even sure why I read the whole article. I hate school.
If you really want to see some horrific car stuff, go to YouTube and type in "Customer States"
