17 of the Dumbest Things Seen by Mechanics

‘A guy hung an air freshener from the exhaust pipe’
17 of the Dumbest Things Seen by Mechanics

You may think that owning a car requires you to be a responsible driver — and adult. Wrong. Knowing how to take care of an automobile is not a prerequisite for buying one, and Reddit’s finest mechanics can attest to this fact. Over the years, they’ve seen decisions ranging from the questionable, like hanging an air freshener from the exhaust pipe, to the dangerous as hell, like pouring a jug of oil in the fuel tank. 

Drivers new and old can learn a lot from these cautionary tales, not just for safety reasons, but to at least make sure the mechanics aren’t laughing at you after you leave the body shop. 

zerogear5 . . 4y This probably won't be the worst one in this thread. I used to know a 30 year old who would put the car air freshener duct taped outside the exhaust, kind of just dangling in front of the opening. His logic was it makes the exhaust smell better for pedestrians. ... 7.4k
1y Old lady brought her car in on Xmas Eve 2007. Dash lights didn't work. Dimmer was turned all the way down. I showed her, she came back that night and gave me a Xmas gift basket of badass homemade cookies, peanut brittle, all the good shit. ... Reply 163
manbearpig1991 . . 4y A customer brought there vehicle to the dealership I used to work, for an airbag recall. They had bedazzled everything on the interior dash, including the covers for the airbags on the steering wheel and on the passenger side. I'm not sure she understand the fact that airbags have enough power to turn ANYTHING into shrapnel. ... 1.6k
Bdaawg977 . 1y Client bought a gasoline jetta after owning several diesels, 2 days into owning it i got called to a local gas station because its running funny... she filled the tank from half with diesel ... Reply 75
kangarooninjadonuts . . 4y My mom filled the oil fill with water when the car was overheating. She said that she knew it said oil but she didn't know where else to put the water. ... 2.5k
400 crispyjones. 1y Had a customer want us to look at their new car because it drove by itself. They had only ever driven stick and had never experienced the idle creep of an automatic. Talked to them for 10 minutes, pretty sure they didn't believe a word I said. ... Reply 76
1y One of my customers told me his transmission failed on his forklift. I showed up and he had it stuck in a pot hole in the parking lot. I pushed it out with another forklift. Billed him 2 hours and called him an idiot. ... Reply 115
LegitimateSailor • 1y Lady bought a brand new Yukon from my dealership and towed it in like 3 days later for a no start. Turns out she put the new weather tech floor mats over the gas pedal and the suv won't start if the gas pedal is pressed. ... Reply 66
Tedstor . 1y I'm going to sound old here....but customer brought a car in because the tape deck wouldn't accept their cassette. There was already a cassette in the tape deck. Fix- press eject. Insert new cassette. ... Reply 273
Speed33m3 . 4y Lady had a brand new at the time Subaru and was complaining about horrible gas mileage. People complain about gas mileage all the time and it's usually because of driving habits. I get the car in and it looked like she hit something in the road and ripped a big hole in the gas tank and all the fuel she put in poured right out onto the pavement. It was in fact a valid poor fuel economy complaint after all. ... 588
31nigrhcdrh . . 4y Lady stated that her car said low coolant, so she filled up the coolant. She made it about a mile and the car started running terrible and cut off, shop rollback picked it up. She filled up the coolant by removing the oil cap and topping the motor off with water ... 208
ThePointlsMoo 0 4y My dad once poured wiper fluid into where the brake fluid goes. It was my relatively new car so he wasn't familiar with it and also clearly not paying attention. Не tried to tell me it was probably fine but I made him take it to a mechanic and pay to have it drained and fixed properly. I bet the mechanic had a good laugh that day. And my dad learned a fairly costly lesson about paying attention. ... 668
Filwathen . 4y Completely fill their engine with oil and wonder why it's smoking and then locked up. ... 3.3k
gogozrx . 4y Guy was CONVINCED his tires were different sizes because they rotating at different rates. like, he jacked up each wheel and put the valve stem at the top. Went for a drive, and they were not lined up anymore. I had to explain it with chalk and string in the parking lot. ... 339
AtwaterKent 1y Body shop- young woman brings her car in and says there's something wrong with her heat. Owner is talking to her and tells her we're a body shop, but to be nice we could try and help her out. She says her heat doesn't blow hot right away. Turns out she didn't know a car has to warm up before the heat would blow hot. ... Reply 46
idonthavefleas . 4y Not a mechanic, but while sitting in the shop waiting for my own car to have work completed I witnessed a customer and their mechanic talking about the customers car needing suspension repair. The customer had tried (unsuccessfully) to do the repair himself. The mechanic asked him why some lug nuts were missing and others were loose. The customer replied how he thought he would be helping the mechanic by loosening the tire for him. The customer had driven 20 minutes to get to the shop with a tire held on by a few loose lug nuts.
Ejgee . 4y Had a customer once who had their oil light come on and couldn't figure out how to top the oil up. Не thought it might have worked like his boat motor so he poured a jug of oil in his fuel tank. ... 21.9k

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