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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The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
