Mechanics React to Shady Dealership Repairs

We asked real mechanics to break down some of the worst dealership fails we could find on the internet.

Huge thanks to our experts!

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[Jdogblingbling]

even though Dounut is circling the drain, I see Sandro, I click

[InvisibleSquids]

I used to work at a dealership as the manager for the quick lube. The desk was in the front bay where we worked off a flat rack. Wider vehicles would be taken back to a two-post for tire rotations.

Homeboy got it in his head that his dinky off-brand Mikita impact would be fine for zipping on lugs with a torque stick.
So, he is running behind on the oil/rot on a '12 Raptor and really wants to take off for lunch. He rushes through as quick as he can, brings me the keys and paperwork, and then dips out for lunch.
I cash out the customer amid 5 other jobs I'm working on the front flat rack, and wish him a great day, thanking him for his patience.

Get a call about 10 minutes after from the tech who went to lunch that the truck he just did the tire rotation on lost its driver's front wheel about a mile from the shop.

When we get the truck towed back, I see a total of 10 lugs of the original 24. Rims are all trashed, the lower ball joint broke loose, the rotor and back plate are ground away, and the fender is bent from the tire running away. Ended up costing our insurance $7000, that tech was fired before he came back from lunch, and a new rule was put into our book: Rule of Jon (the tech's name): DO NOT use electric impacts to torque without additionally verifying torque spec with a calibrated torque wrench.

The customer was astonishingly chill. He was the most brolic man I had seen in our town; 6'5", and looked like he could rip the tech in half while benching the front of the Raptor. But the entire time, he was very amiable. Joking about the situation and just having a great time.

[Dudeness]

Damnnn sandro was spitting fire and throwing juanito multiple times under the bus.

[TataruTaru]

I like Juan. He’s pointing out if you work for a dealership, you follow the rules they give you. It ain’t your own garage. No matter how simple the repair. If you don’t want to play with the dealer. Hit up the independent. It’s your call.

[phoebeeileenbrooks]

I hated working for dealerships. I’ll never do it again. I’ll never buy a brand new car. They’re garbage, and this dude (not Sandro) low key shows how shady mechanics are in dealerships. Thanks guys! 🤘🏻

[antisk]

That cameo from Jeremiah from Big Time was awesome

[rhouser]

You forgot the step of torquing the oil drain plug to “rounded off” ft lbs

[jesuscontreras]

Sandro almost got caught slippin 12:40 "This nigguy named Pancho"😂

[RILDIGITAL]

It's so valuable to hear about these industry realities firsthand. Everyone should take the time to do their homework and maybe even get an expert opinion before purchasing a used car.

[NigelNailer]

When changing oil, you see him lube the new filter, but he didn't mention it, but I was happy to see it done. This is good practice to lube it before you just throw it on. Nice little detail

[ultrashifty]

i like the style of the valvoline ad, an actual oil change, thats good that got me to watch it might help people.

[Mitsurugi]

I saw a kid wreck a scatpack challenger at a carmax. Dude started out blasting music, then reving the engine and finally tried to make a show out of leaving front lot and kicked it into a light pole. Took the pole down and hit the sidewalk hard enough to knocked a wheel off. Then got out and ran.

[RandomAxeOfKindness]

My car went to a dealership for an airbag recall. When the guy was showing me the paperwork, I pointed out that there was $1400 of exhaust work on there. The guy said, "Oh, no -- we're not doing that. The computer just recommends that for every repair job." LOL

[laudanum]

In regards to the 2017 Ford F-150 and the broken axle, Sandro mentions checking recalls. I'm a retired Ford assembly worker and what most people don't know is that there can be what's called a "Secret Recall". This is for a lot of issues that are not life threatening so a national recall is never made. However if you do a little research and pressure the company enough they will fix some of these problems at no cost. An example is that in the late 80's Ford was using a anti rust coating that the chassis are dipped in before being primed and painted something was wrong with the coating and primer that caused the paint to flake off in large chunks. It was never a known recall issue but when pressure the dealership would fix it. I had my 1988 Mustang repainted at no cost.

[mexiparkourman]

The guy in the second clip recently taught a brakes class that I took in KC. Super awesome knowledgeable guy.

[gregnm]

I was a sales manager at an Infiniti dealer that was a part of a major group. I was moving a Q70 out of the service bay as a part of shut down procedure. The automatic door chopped the roof and I thought FOR SURE I’d be fired. Loss prevention reviewed the surveillance and determined the door shouldn’t have come down early and that I hadn’t been at fault. Whew.

[LEOhopeful]

In the mid-2000s, I sold cars at an Acura dealer. We had a Master Mechanic there, he had two dedicated Bays all his own.
He only works Monday through friday, never came in on saturday, and billed out over 200 Shop hours a week
They were 8 and 10 hour jobs, that he could do in less than 2 hours.

[rhouser]

I would be pissed if my lugnuts fell off with me driving, with my wife & kids in the car, I’d probably end up on the news

[thumbsarehandy.]

10:29 Nah man, as an ex warranty admin at a dealership, the warranty tech is 100% gonna use the shortcut but their notes will say they did it the hard way. They'll get paid for the full hours and so will the dealership. It's all a scammmm

[miserymachinery]

i had done a shift cable recall on a ford pickup and parked it out front and turned the keys in to the dispatcher . a few minutes later one of the service writers came out with the customer following behind him steadily cussing us and yelling about " what did you do to my truck!!!??" .The service writer told me along with the customer yelling about how the truck wouldn't move and i told them both, " i just put a zip tie on the shifter cable, i only did the recall" . So the service writer hands me the keys and i walk out to the truck with the customer stalking along behind me, still cussing and fuming . i opened the door, hopped in, started the truck up, put it in drive, and released the emergency brake. The customer went quiet, the truck rolled forward no problem . I put it back in park, applied the emergency brake, and hopped out . the customer didn't say another word, he jumped in the truck and left very quickly . the service writer and i had a good long laugh before we got back to work.