Mechanics have the honor of fixing the things that everyone else breaks.
While people come to mechanics for various "normal" car problems, some customers pop up with extraordinary issues, thanks to extreme vehicle neglect or unusual amateur fixes. Redditor LightsOutSpud heard some funny stories from mechanics when they asked:
"What's the dumbest thing you've seen someone do to their vehicle?"
20. You'd imagine this could work out
"Someone tried to fix their broken windshield wiper with a squeegee zip tied to the broken wiper"
19. This antifreeze mistake
"I've seen someone pour antifreeze ONTO their car radiator."
18. Just go to the gas station
"My dad messed up his Jetta cause he used Peanut oil as alternative fuel for the diesel engine. Only old diesels do that. And I now hate the people online who told him that because I love that car and planned to learn stick from it"
17. Sounds like a dealership problem
"So this guy comes into my shop in an old Jeep, and complains about the steering wheel being upside down when he was going straight, I just look in the car and see the the emblem on the steering wheel is upside down.... I spend 15 minutes trying to explain him that there is nothing wrong with the car itself, it's just the emblem on the steering wheel. The dude was so embarrassed."
16. Don't be cheap with your oil
"Used olive oil in there oil tank because they didn't want to buy regular oil"
15. Just don't mess with the brakes
"Not a mechanic, but a guy I used to know was. He used to tell us some stories.
One time a kid brought in his car. He'd just bought it from a junk yard and 'fixed' some things, including replacing all the brake lines. With copper tubing. Because it was easier to bend."
14. Don't abuse your car
Giphy"My friend is a mechanic and told me about this guy who would kick his car's front whenever he gets mad (for some reason). One time he broke the intercooler when he kicked his car. Guess he was very mad. That intercooler costed like 100$. That must have been a valuable lesson."
13. This tenacious gas tank filler
"About once a month we'll get a diesel in that somebody filled up with unleaded. Once we had a customer who put diesel in her Ford fusion, which is much more impressive. Diesel pump nozzles are bigger, to prevent exactly this. Undeterred, she got a funnel and used it to slowly fill her tank from the diesel pump."
12. It did not look more shiny
"Not a mechanic but my husband is. He says that he once had a customer put gearbox oil into the screenwash reservoir because he thought it'd make his screen look more shiny."
11. It ain't low!
"My old mechanic had a guy come in with a Ford Probe. He claimed it was 'low' on oil.
They take the dipstick out and the whole stick has oil on it. He checks again with the same result.
The guy took the oil cap off and looked into down into the hole and said see it is 'low'
He had put 3-4 CASES of oil in the motor trying to fill the entire block up"
10. That's so thoughtful of him
"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."
9. I'm no mechanic, but I'm positive they fixed that wrong
"The previous mechanic didn't know how to patch an exhaust leak, and had tried to weld a ROCKSTAR CAN around the leak. The leak caused the 2nd oxygen bank to fail, which is why they tried to patch it with the can. Not a week later the bank read a failure again."
8. Boats, cars, same difference
"Had a customer once who had their oil light come on and couldn't figure out how to top the oil up. He thought it might have worked like his boat motor so he poured a jug of oil in his fuel tank."
7. If you're going to spend that much on a car, learn how to take care of it
"Worked as a car cleaner at a dealership one summer in high school. Guy towed in a relatively new, top of the line Corvette he had bought there sometime before I started. He was mad that it had died on the road and been running poorly before that... Ranting and raving about he spent all this money and it only went X months/years before completely breaking down.
One of my work buddies got it up on a lift and started looking it over. He opens the oil drain plug and NOTHING comes out. He pulls apart the engine and the oil could now be best described as glue.
Owner talks to the guy and asks when the last time he changed the oil was. Guy had zero idea what he was talking about - he had no idea that you had to do that. He assumed you just added gas and that's the only thing you needed to do. The engine was a complete loss, which meant the car was a complete loss to him."
6. Diamond Plate Guy & Focus Bro
"Let me tell you about diamond plate guy and Focus bro. Diamond plate guy had two things he used to modify his truck: A drill and a ton of diamond plate. It was an absolute base model V6 Ram 1500 with the exhaust chopped off, which I thought was bad enough until I opened the hood. He had drilled or glued diamond plate to EVERY flat surface. Air filter box, Intake manifold, fan shroud, etc. This was 18 months ago. My eyes still haven't recovered, but this isn't the end. He had some crappy wheels that he had painted white himself. I know this because he painted the inside of the wheel where it seats to the hub, which caused them to seize to said hubs. I literally had to buy a bigger hammer to smack them off.
Focus bro: Guy had a custom straight pipe, full Sparco race seats, five point racing harnesses, lowering springs, and...a base model, automatic Ford Focus SE."
5. Don't put water in your car
"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"
4. People are reckless...
"Bad snow day, for whatever reason we were open. Guy pulls up needing a flat repair. He pulled up in a way the car could be just pulled in. Co worker goes to pull it in and can't stop, slams into his box. Wasn't going fast enough to damage anything. Car had zero brakes, say something to the customer 'oh the foot brake? That hasn't worked in years, you have to use the hand brake'
We inspect the vehicle and discover it doesn't even have brake calipers in the front. With the hoses clamped off and not an ounce of Brake fluid in the master cylinder.
And the most surprising part, they didn't want to get the brake repairs done."
3. A fabulously deadly upgrade
"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."
2. Warranty does not cover hammer damage
"Sooooo many people hammer on battery terminal ends. The types of terminals have changed with modern vehicles, but people still don't understand that batteries are lead and plastic. Don't beat and hammer on that. You WILL destroy your brand new $100+ battery. And no, there is no warranty if you smash it with a hammer!"
1. This can go wrong so fast!
Giphy"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."
A good rule of thumb to treat your vehicle like you do your body. It needs regular check ups to ensure things are running smoothly.
Do you have a car or mechanic horror story? Drop it in the comment section below!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.