Driving can be extremely relaxing and liberating.
Being out on the open road, blasting your favorite music, ideally with a dreamy final destination.
But driving still comes with its share of stress and frustrations.
Namely other drivers, and the irritating, sometimes reckless and dangerous behavior they exhibit on the road.
Redditor xplorerex was curious to hear the things people hate most that drivers ahead of them or behind them do on the road, leading them to ask:
"What is the most annoying thing other road users do that irritates you?"
Is Anyone In That Big A Hurry?
"People that pass you and then turn in at the very next road."
"Like they couldn't wait five more seconds."- p38-lightning
We Can See You Coming From A Mile Away!
"High beams on while driving towards oncoming traffic."- AteTooMuchBoneMarrow
Slow And Steady Doesn't Always Win The Race...
"Not using the on ramp to get up to speed or close to what the traffic is going at."- yankstraveler
lowrider drive slow GIF by Off The JacksGiphyBetween A Rock And A Hard Place
"Being stuck behind someone doing 10 under the speed limit, AND THEN another dude ON YOUR @SS trying to get you to speed up like there ISN'T A F*CKING CAR IN FRONT OF ME!"
"Whew I guess I needed to get that one out."- sorvis
A Heads Up Would Be Nice!
"Not indicating, just pulling in front, turning etc without indicating, it's bad driving and lack of consideration."- mazdanc
Make Up Your Mind!!!
'Speed up when I'm trying to pass when just before they were going 10 under."
"Makes me hate humanity sometimes."- darkmauveshore
See Goodwood Festival Of Speed GIFGiphySome People Shouldn't Be Behind The Wheel
"Not one thing specifically, but just overall awareness, and the willingness to BE aware."
"Stop driving like dumba**es, get off your phones, pay attention."
"It's not that hard, and it should be MUCH easier than it is to LOSE your drivers license."
"I was in a life-threatening motorcycle accident a couple years ago and you wanna know why? "
"Someone turned the WRONG WAY on a one-way street and hit me head-on."
'Did she lose her license?"
"Of course not."
"A drivers license IS NOT a right, it's a privilege, and I'm so f*cking tired of lazy drivers."- BootyfulMiami
These Rules Exist For A Reason
"Not using turn signal."
"Driving at non-passing speeds in the passing lane."
"Making right turns without getting over to the right."- ProfitsOfProphets
Always Needing To Be Top Dog...
"When I'm behind someone in the passing/acceleration lane going the same speed as the car in the right lane, and they just stay neck in neck for eternity."- meanyapickles
szybcy i wciekli video games GIFGiphyThose Lanes Are There For A Reason
"Driving on the emergency lane."
"An ambulance once didn't make it in time to a man in dire need of first aid during a traffic jam."
"The emergency lane was also completely jammed because some thought they were too good to wait in traffic and went there instead."
"I genuinely hope all of them total their cars while surviving with annoying injuries."- Simplordx69
Your parents warned you to keep your "eyes on the road" for a reason.
You never know what you may encounter while driving, no matter how long or short the distance.
People Who Have Survived Car Crashes Share Advice To Keep Drivers Safe
The moments just after a car accident are significant. These few minutes often have far reaching financial, medical, and emotional consequences.
And yet, they are moments defined by chaos and spiking adrenaline--the perfect cocktail to prevent a cool-headed response.
Which is why it can be helpful to plan ahead. Like all first aid, gaining a subconscious understanding of the necessary steps is pivotal.
That way, when an accident occurs, you're movements will be automatic. You'll kick into gear and respond appropriately.
A recent Reddit thread offered a grab bag of preparatory car crash wisdom.
EnemyFriendEnemy asked, "People who have been in car accidents: what is some advice you could give to those who haven't?"
Defense is the Best Offense
"Wear your seatbelt, 50% of fatal crash victims could've survived if they'd had worn a seatbelt." -- chrisudenm
"This. One of the worst accidents I ever was in was with a gf who didn't wear a seatbelt or vaccinate her kids, so I strictly enforced a 'click it or lick it' rule when we were driving in my car."
"Got tboned and then hit by another car just ten seconds after she buckled. All airbags deployed and we hit our heads together so hard we both got concussions."
"I hate her now, but I'm glad she listened that day." -- Drunkensteine
Head on a Swivel
"Always be aware of your surroundings. You can be the safest driver but that doesn't mean anything when someone is distracted."
"When the light turns green, always look both ways before going. There's an extremely high chance someone is running a red."
Know What You Don't
"Check your blind spots thoroughly before changing lanes." -- DeathSpiral321
"To add, be aware of other people's blind spots and not drive within them." -- FourStringTap
"And adjust your mirrors correctly!!!"
"I just recently commented this, but I see easily 90% of people using their wing mirrors as rear view mirrors. This causes unnecessarily large blind spots that almost completely disappear if you adjust correctly."
"Put your head against the driver's side window, adjust the mirror so you can barely see the side of your car in it."
"Same thing on the passenger side, but put your head over the center console."
"Now you'll be able to smoothly track a passing car from your rear view, to your side mirror, to your peripheral vision." -- SarinationX
Record, Record, Record
"Take lots of pictures of the damage and of the location of the cars before they were moved. Try and collect witness information to give to your insurance."
"Print out an accident questionnaire form and put it in your glove compartment with a pen."
-- Motthebop
A Few Tips
"Be careful on ice. If there is ice on the roads and you don't HAVE to get out, stay in."
"Always call the cops if more than one car is involved. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS."
"Get a dashcam. In fact, get two. One for front and one for rear."
-- ixamnis
Trauma-Informed Driving
"Quality of tires is so important. My father in law gifted me a car but had put retreads on it. I was going 70 down the highway when three of the tires blew. I totaled the suv but thankfully walked away without a scratch."
"Also drivers need to be aware that people suffer ptsd after car wrecks. I was terrified to drive on highways for years afterwards."
"Maybe that slow person in front of you is having a really hard time overcoming a wreck they had or were involved in."
Just in Case
"Always get your back checked out, even for minor accidents and whether it hurts or not."
"My wife was in a minor fender bender and her back did not show symptoms until weeks later. It took almost a year of chiropractor visits to get it straightened out. Thankfully, the guy who hit her had insurance to cover it."
-- ntcplanters
A Difficult One to Keep in Mind
"If you start to fishtail DON'T slam on the brakes. As soon as you feel your rear wheels skidding, begin turning the steering wheel in the same direction that the rear wheels are moving."
"So, if the back end of the car is sliding toward the driver's side, turn the steering wheel to the left. The rear is skidding toward the passenger side? Steer right."
"This will help your wheels turn back to the direction you want to travel and help you regain control of your vehicle."
A Hit and Run With an Errand
"If you are a pedestrian and you get hit, don't let driver take you to the hospital. Call 911. Always. I was ditched at a hospital with a gash in my forehead and lost hundreds missing work to recover."
"The cops couldn't investigate even with a plate number, so I never saw a penny of insurance."
"Sadly, like myself, you cannot always advocate for yourself when you're concussed. The second you can, call 911. Even if you aren't badly hurt or if they feel bad."
"Don't be nice to someone who hit you with their car."
-- ladyalot
Advocate
"If you feel unsafe in a car tell the driver to stop and get the f*** out of the car. Being stranded in a rainy field miles from anywhere is better than being dead or paralysed." -- swallowyoursadness
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
I learned to drive in South Florida - where there are no hills, no snow, almost no parallel parking, etc. Our biggest challenge (aside from all the other woefully unprepared drivers around us) is driving in the rain. Quite a few people don't bother with driver's ed.
It wasn't until I started binge watching Canada's Worst Driver that I realized how little I, and most of the drivers around me, actually know - or how common it is for people in other places to go to some sort of driving school.
One Reddit user asked:
So ... turns out driver's ed is pretty crucial - and the instructors are stressed out heros. Here's why.
The Story Of L
alicia silverstone oops GIFGiphyNot an instructor. However I did have the opportunity to share the driving range with a several students after school. One girl, we will call her "L."
L had mistaken the shifter for the turning signal. A lot. She ruined the transmission on the driving range.
You know how high school students can be. Word spread - quickly. Unfortunately, poor L and her bad driving was the favorite subject for a semester.
She had to start the class over while most of us moved on.
L's driving was so bad that it became a topic with the teachers as well. She was having a hard time with the shifter and the turning signals again. She kept mistaking one for the other over and over.
She ruined another one of the cars. With the driver's ed instructor in the car. During her driving test!
We fast forward to the end of the year and we are about ready to go crazy for summer break. Word gets out that L had finally finished everything and got her license!
We honestly never thought the day would come. Her parents were so happy they bought her a brand new Volkswagen.
We are two days away from summer break and I am sitting in the cafeteria when I hear a mixture of laughter and "oh no!" I walk over to join the conversation and...
"L took her friends to lunch in her new blue Volkswagen.. guess what happened??? She pulled into the intersection and mixed up the turn signal and the shifter again!"
We saw the tow truck pulling up to take it to the shop.
Bro
I'm not a "drivers ed" teacher, per say, but I did teach my brother to drive. He immediately forgot he was in reverse and backed into a tree at 40 mph.
He sort of spooked and floored it, thinking he was hitting the brake. And then panicked and hit the clutch.
Fun hospital trip.
- iph0ne
Ruining The Shrubbery
Was giving driving lessons to a girlfriend's mid-20s son who hadn't gotten a license yet. One rainy weekend morning I wanted to teach him skid control skills. We went to a wide empty street in an industrial area and I demonstrated a couple of times how to cut the wheel one way briefly then whip it the other way while applying the parking brake to cause a slide.
He wasn't getting the initial preloading the wheels by initially turning the opposite direction you intend to skid, thus wasn't setting up good slides to work with. I told him to cut the wheel a little more to the right initially before cutting left and starting the skid.
We got going about 40mph and reached the starting point. THIS time, he turned the wheel hard right and held it there. The car jumped the curb, miraculously threaded the needle between a hydrant and mature tree, then crossed the sidewalk and went bumping through the garden along a block-long set-back wall. He didn't brake.
Comically, groomed shrub after shrub disappeared beneath the hoodline, to pop up alive but more ragged for the wear behind us. He still didn't brake.
After a time I said, "OK... You can apply the brake any time, so we can stop running over the shrubs!"
That was the last driving lesson. Years later I'm pretty sure he still doesn't have a license.
Not The Wal-Mart Parking Lot
Not a drivers ed teacher, but my drivers ed teacher told me this story: He instructed a girl who had gotten a perfect score for her permit and a 100% on her drivers test.
Once she got on the roads, though, it was a totally different she would just stop whenever a stressful situation occurred.
She had gotten 40 out of her 50 required behind-the-wheel hours (I live in Illinois) in the Wal-Mart parking lot. When she went to take her road test, it was rainy and cold. She was not, at all, prepared.
Her car skidded into the lane of oncoming traffic, and instead of trying to steer back into her lane, she just screamed and covered her eyes. The instructor slammed on the brake, but the truck in the oncoming lane also had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car.
That truck skidded into the original lane causing a double collision. She didn't get her license.
Nothing Much
My best driver's ed story is as the student. The instructor zoned out a little and his foot was pressing the clutch on his side.
I'm free wheeling down a hill. My instructions were to not brake and instead to demonstrate gear control down a hill. I was in gear with my foot off the clutch as instructed.
Then I noticed his foot is on his clutch and I don't actually have full control of the vehicle.
"Going a bit fast down this hill aren't we?" he asked.
"Yep."
"What are ya gonna do about it?"
"Nothing much."
"Why?"
"Well until you take your foot off your clutch pedal there's not much I can do!"
"Oh!" Foot comes off.
"I guess I passed that bit, hmm?"
The Best Part
Excited Lets Go GIF by HondaGiphyI actually was an instructor in my state for a private school.
There was one girl who was here from the Philippines and was terrifying.
She only had a vague understanding of American traffic laws and would often be looking at the wrong side of the road for signs and such.
Believe it or not she ended up acing her road test after terrifying me for the few days I was her instructor.The terrifying near-crash experiences were actually some of the best parts of the job in a way.
Being able to respond quickly and stop an accident without flipping your lid and scarring a pupil is crucial, but the adrenaline that comes from near misses keeps it interesting and gives you stories to tell.
Oh wellsies
Speeding Towards A Lumber Truck
My driving instructor told me a terrifying story about this. He was with a young guy and everything was going good until he got off the highway.
He got in the turn off lane, but didn't slow down. He didn't even try to slow down. He was speeding towards a large truck carrying lumber, the ones where the lumber hangs off the back a bit.
He yelled at the kid and he slammed on the brakes, stopping with lumber just inches from the windshield.
He had been to war, but he said that this was the scariest experience in his life.
The guy didn't get his license in the end.
The Alignment
We were taking turns driving in the drivers ed car, and one of the other students drove off a relatively short bridge (about 1.5 - 2 foot).
The car somehow managed to survive the fall with minimal damage, but the alignment was knocked so far off that the wheel was literally turned half way to keep the car going straight.
A Full Minute
My friend's sister rear ended a police car literal seconds after pulling out of the DMV. She wasn't even in the car for a full minute.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Truck stops seem to be a magnet for unusual activity.
You never know the kinds of people who are coming or going, and it's no wonder these ominous 24-hour hubs for weary travelers are often associated with drug deals or murder – as depicted in the movies.
While travelers quickly go about their business grabbing munchies before hitting the road, employees have a front-row seat to some interesting happenings.
Curious to hear what they have witnessed, Redditor PreemptiveShaming asked:
"Interstate rest area and truck stop employees, what's the most bizarre story you have?"
The next time you take a break from your road trip, you may want to be cautious of who you are asking where the bathrooms are.
Importance of Location
"I worked at a gas station/truck stop for over a year in high school. I have lots of stories."
"So, one time I'm closing up the station. I was starting to count the till, before I turn on the security system and leave. I've got a wad of twenties when 4 cop cars come ripping into our lot. I run to the windows, 2 cops go to the back and the other 2 position at the corners where it's hard to see them through the windows."
"Now, I'm an idiot high schooler, so I'm trying to look out the window grasping $300 in 20's., when I realize they've got weapons drawn and are trying to look at me. I put my hands up, cash in hand, and start yelling that I'm an employee. They let me unlock the door and come in."
"They were nice but clearly frustrated that I set off the alarm. I tell them 4-5 times that the alarm was not set, but they insist that I'm wrong and that they had a clear security report. So I took them to the panel, verified it was off."
"Then my smarts kick in. 'Hey guys, what address was the alarm for?'"
"'303 Baker. Why?'"
"'That's not our address. That's ABC supply a block north.'"
"They moved quickly to that business. I heard later that the safe was taken from that supply store."
– Wick0158
Naked Man
"I worked at a weigh station for big rigs. There were two of us at the station working nights waiting for trucks to pull onto the scale. If anything weighing more than a pound got on the scale it would send an audible beep into the booth and light up the computers. If it wasn't a trucks then most of the time it would be the wild life wondering out onto the scale which we would ignore then quickly go back to watching Netflix or whatever. One night though it was something weighing 132 lbs. We couldn't see it from the windows but checking the cameras we noticed it was a hunched over naked man shaking like a sh**ting dog and scratching the side of his face. While my co-worker radioed for the State Troopers I used the intercom to tell him to get off of the scale. Instead he lurched on over and began licking the window. He did this until he was checked out by EMS and taken away by Law Enforcement for public intoxication. It was later discovered he was using meth."
An Appetizing Sight
"Weirdest was pulling up to a truckstop to fill up in southeastern South Dakota during the height of the mayfly hatch, millions of bugs all over."
"I started filling up and was getting ready to clean my windshield and I happened to look over across the way and there was some dude driving a big box truck in the diesel fueling area. He was scraping them off the front of his truck...and eating them by the handfuls. Ah the days before cellphones were a thing."
"It was honestly the single most memorable thing I've ever witnessed in my countless cross-country trips since the late 90's. I just stood there, mouth agape, not believing what I was seeing. And every time I remember it I'm sad I didn't have a cellphone to record it, because it was just so crazy."
"I'm sure mayflies are nutritious and I'm not knocking cultures that eat bugs. But mayflies smell like fish feces to me and eating them straight off the front of your car is just extra special."
The Helpful Suspect
"Years ago when i was a kid we were travelling with my mum, her best friend and my sisters. We were pretty tired and pulled into a truck stop for some food and bathroom break. We walk in my mum asks a guy where the bathrooms were he points us in the right direction and off we toddle. We come out, take a seat and wait for the waitress to come take our order, she seems to be taking awhile but we figure she's probably busy and will come when she can. eventually she comes over and tells my mum that everything is okay and the police are on their way, my mum pretty confused asks her what she means. Well turns out we had walked into the middle of an armed robbery and my mum had actually asked the robber where the toilets were."
An Explosive Account
"Worked in a sandwich restaurant in a truck stop. One day several years ago on one of my days off one of our maintenance workers (we'll call him Michael) was doing his rounds changing trash cans in the truck parking lot. Michael supposedly happened across a two or three foot length of PVC with caps on either end. For most people, alarm bells should be going off. Not for Michael! He started lightly beating things with it and tossing it on the ground. Like one would with a small branch or something."
"Guy takes it INTO THE TRUCK STOP and throws it away in the garbage can under the cash register and forgets about it. Several hours later at shift change he's giving an informal report to the incoming shift manager and casually mentions that he found 'something like a pipe bomb or something in the lot' and that he threw it away under the register. Shift manager goes white as a ghost and says 'there's... a pipe bomb... under the register?' Michael says 'yeah.'
"The shift manager immediately vacates the premises, herds all the employees and customers out, and phones the authorities. The volunteer fire department which I happen to be a member of got toned out to block traffic into the parking lot and keep people at a distance. Sheriff's department shows up, realizes this is above their pay grade, calls the state police. They quickly realize the same and call in the bomb squad from the nearest major city and the ATF. All these important people are slowly gathering in the parking lot a healthy distance away from the building while I keep having to run back and forth across the parking lot in the 95 degree heat in turnout gear to explain to pissed off truck drivers that no they cannot go in the truck stop while there's a bomb inside and no I did not make that rule."
"The news ends up showing up. The ATF shows up. They suit up in bomb suits, walk in, carry the pipe bomb out, set it on the ground at the corner of two concrete walls of the building, run some detonation cord back to their truck, and set it off. The explosion was the size of a somewhat large fire cracker. Michael got fired."
"Edit: it probably wasn't an actual bomb of any kind. Could've been a pipe full of welding rods. AFAIK det cord will blow up anyway so it could've just been the det cord explosion and nothing else."
Final Resting Place
"Overnight shift supervisor 15 years ago. On Valentine's Day, then 18 years old, I was the only lonely motherf*cking shift supervisor to be able to work 2nd shift at McD's rest area because, again, lonely with no date. I'm half asleep working the shift, guy comes in high as a kite, actually he's higher than kites can go. He orders his food and leaves. An hour later, my cleaning guy (we'll call him Pedro) tells me there's a guy on the toilet that won't come out. We go in, keep knocking and we're thinking he's sleeping on the sh**ter.
We can see his pants around his ankles, and he's leaning down. While I go call the cops, i tell my cleaning guy to block the bathroom so know one goes in to that part of it - there's two sides to the bathroom. Pedro comes out and tells me the guy is purple and dead, on the sh**ter. He overdosed on something, not sure what. The kicker is that Pedro decided it was in his best interest to run the guys pockets before the cops show up - which is how he found out the guy was dead. Pedro took the guys stash and money before leaving. I found out a week later as I overheard it through the crew talking. Fun times at that place. Felt bad for the guy. I wouldn't want to go out that way."
Creepy Looky-Loo
"I managed a truck stop an hour east of Winnipeg in the late 90's. This was around the time that Western Star came out with their one way full window bunk. We had a regular base of clientele that would stop both ways. Surprise to no-one, one of the regulars became enamored with one of the waitresses. She had complained to me about this driver two weeks before and I assured her I would deal with it if he continued to make her uncomfortable."
"On his return trip he stopped in, I watched, saw nothing untoward, he ate and then left for his truck. As the Western Star full window bunk has been mentioned he was parked right in front of the restaurant's bay window.
I am back in the kitchen helping with prep and I hear my name called and then I HEAR MY NAME CALLED!"
"I walk out, look out the window and see the sun hitting the bunk window of this truck at just the right angle to witness this Dude yanking on his wiener so f'king hard that I thought he was going to rip it off. All the while he's staring straight at the waitress through the window of the restaurant. Before I could react he realized that we could see him, jumped in the saddle, pants around his ankles and hightailed it onto the highway. I think he must have grabbed 5 gears inside 20 feet getting it going. We never saw him again."
The Horrible False Alarm
"I was on a ride-along when I worked for an international trucking company... and we pulled up at a large truck stop and had some dinner."
"After a while this lady comes in and starts talking to people... and it turns out that she is looking for her 13yo daughter. She had run away from home and left a note saying that she was meeting a guy here, a trucker that she met on the Internet."
"Long story short... everyone is talking about what they have seen, and the mother is barely keeping it together... when a waitress comes in to start her shift. We bring her up to speed, and the first thing she says in front of the whole group is "If you are looking for a body, did anyone check the dumpsters out back?.'"
"Needless to say the mother then lost her shit... literally... she fell to the ground and pissed herself and was ugly-crying so hard you wouldn't believe it if you weren't there."
"Anyway it turned out that the truck driver was a sweet guy who was told she was 22yo and just needed a ride home because she was broke. He worked out she was a child in about 0.1 sec, and took her directly to the nearest Police Station."
– hokeyWB
The Traffic Blocker
"The worst incident I ever saw, co-worker asked if I had any ideas how to flush a turd in the toilet. I was kind of flabbergasted by his question so I told him break it up with the plunger and get it down. He said he had tried just that and it wouldn't break so I honestly, against my better judgement had to see for myself."
"F'king turd was about twice as big around as a soda can and about 8 inches long and as hard as a f'king rock. My question is this, how the f'k didn't we see the guy walking out? I mean seriously that had to have ripped something and made him bleed. Still to this day that image haunts me to the core."
A Stabbing, A Hold-up, A Car Crash, & More
"I have sooooo many! We had a guy come in with four stab marks to his chest and all he wanted to do was call his mom. We called the cops for him and it turned out that his girlfriend had stabbed him. When the cops showed up they told him to just go home."
"One of my coworkers had a gun pulled on him because he opened a can of soda and it made a loud pop that it scared the customer."
"Had this person accidentally put their car in drive instead of reverse and they drove into the store. The power went out in the store and as protocol we have to evacuate when that happens."
"We had a customer screaming at the top of her lungs that we were trying to assault her when we tried to get her to leave the store."
"A semi truck driver drove over two of our gas pumps because she couldn't turn correctly and then she fled the scene. Gas was literally spilling everywhere. Luckily we caught it all on video so we were able to contact her company and get her to take responsibility for the damages."
Return To Owner If Found
"I worked at a truck stop once and got a call over my ear piece from maintenance saying they found something bad at one of the diesel pumps. I asked what it was and he said he'd have to send a picture because he didn't believe it. It was a huge thick black sex toy..just sitting on the pump."
Mechanics Share The Dumbest Thing They've Seen Done To A Vehicle
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!
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.