30+ Mechanics Are Sharing Their Most Face-Palm Worthy Moments On The Job

While most of the stories told in this article will be of the ‘can’t believe how dumb people are’ variety, this one is actually one of the few that will involve a face-palm simply because of how unbelievable something is. Just take a look at the story.

Now, we have to admit that this is a pretty rad thing for someone to be capable of, but we also have to admit that we wouldn’t want a mechanic working on our vehicle after having a wisdom tooth pulled. What if he was on anesthesia?

This story is a little odd, because there’s actually a mechanic at fault here too. Sure, the woman in the story should know the basics: cars need oil to keep all the parts lubricated and running smoothly. But the guy who regularly did this for her also should have told her that.

So in the end, we feel that they are both to blame. After all, if you do something for another person all the time, you should probably still tell them how to do it on their own in case you aren’t available for them in the future. Just like here.

We’re absolutely certain that one of the most annoying things for a mechanic is when they explain a problem, especially a simple one, and the person they are explaining it to still complain about the problem. Or even worse, they refuse to accept the solution.

We don’t know why people don’t just take mechanics at their word. After all, they are skilled individuals who have to know a great many things about cars. Why would you assume that you know more about it than they do? It’s just ignorant.

Cars have names. Forester. Highlander. City Golf. However, most people know that these names are just names and don’t actually mean anything in regards to what the vehicle can do. Mechanics will tell you that there are still people who don’t understand this.

Needless to say, you do not need a car to be called ‘Highway’ or ‘Interstate’ to take it onto those roads. Honestly, we find it hard to believe that some people could really be that… er, uninformed. Did they never drive on either of those roads?

We’re not going to pretend like there are no mechanics out there willing to rip you off. However, plenty of them charge fair prices that are just still expensive. That’s because fixing cars is expensive, if you didn’t know. Don’t be surprised by the bills.

This is especially true if you do something stupid and wreck your car far beyond the norm. What would you expect in such a situation anyway? The worse the damage is, the worse the bill is. It takes more effort to fix bigger problems, after all.

If you know next to nothing about cars, you may never pop your hood. And if you never pop your hood, then the only receptacle on the outside of your vehicle is the one on the back, where the fuel goes. And if you think that’s the only place to put important fluids…

Well, you end up like this old lady, who pours a bunch of different things into the fuel tank, thinking that’s where everything goes. Frankly, we are flabbergasted that her car didn’t explode, but we’re glad the poor lady is alright.

Sometimes, the simplest answer is actually the right one, but you don’t think it is because surely there wouldn’t be a problem if the answer was easy. Well, turns out that because people overlook simple solutions, most problems are actually in that category.

If your doors won’t open, you should check the child safety locks first. After all, it would be embarrassing to take your car to the mechanic, only for the problem to be something that simple, right? Yeah, it definitely would be.

If someone doesn’t even understand where their car came from, you can bet they don’t know very much about it. This woman owned a Porsche, and felt that, to express her displeasure, the mechanic should call up Germany. Not a particular organization in Germany, just Germany.

There are so many things wrong with that, we’re not even sure where to start. It’s funny, because she actually had a valid thing to be upset about, a definite flaw in the car’s design, but this was still just a totally ridiculous statement.

If there’s a ‘whooshing’ sound when you step on the gas of your powerful car, that’s probably supposed to happen. In fact, that’s what driving a powerful car usually feels like, right? Well, some people just don’t know this, and they assume the worst.

We imagine that mechanics get dumb questions like this a lot. How they stay sane when they have to regularly deal with stuff like this, we may never know. It’s honestly quite impressive that they manage it as well as they do. We certainly couldn’t.

While all cars ultimately perform the same types of functions, they are not actually the same. There are many differences between them, and this means they can sound and feel different when you are driving them. Some people just don’t get this.

Mechanics have to explain so many things that seem to be truly and utterly simple. We applaud them for not insulting people when stupid things like this come up. That probably takes an extreme force of will when you think about it.

Most problems in the automotive industry are a result of people not knowing things, or not knowing that they are responsible for things. This woman is a bit of both, making her twice as frustrating for mechanics around the world.

And of course, her complaint about how the car should have never even been made is pretty ridiculous. It seems pretty crazy to make such a statement for such a remarkably small problem that doesn’t even really matter that much, right?

You know the air pressure nozzles on your tires, which you use to put air in the tires? Yeah, those spin with the wheels. They don’t stay fixed in one place, because how on earth would that work? But believe it or not, there are people out there that don’t understand that.

Maybe the car owner just wasn’t thinking too carefully, or maybe she’s never put air in her tires before and thus has never noticed that the nozzles move around. Either way, definitely a story worth face-palming over, and we’re sure many mechanics would agree.

In case you are unaware, you are not supposed to be able to start your car if it is in drive. Usually, the vehicle should be in park in order for it to start. So if your car won’t start, you should at least check what gear your vehicle is in.

Because if you don’t, you may just end up looking like a complete fool when a professional comes along, and nobody really wants that, right? It’s always more embarrassing when you have to call someone, and they may even charge you for it.

There are a lot of dangerous devices within a workshop or professional garage. And if you aren’t careful, those dangerous devices can cause some serious damage to the cars they are supposed to be fixing. For instance, you may flatten a car door.

This just goes to show that not all stories that make mechanics facepalm are about uninformed civilians. Sometimes, it’s other mechanics who do something stupid, and that’s honestly a lot worse. After all, they are supposed to know better.

Most things in life have a process. And if you don’t follow the process properly, you can’t actually achieve what you are trying to achieve. When it comes to taking the wheels off a car, you have to lift it into the air before you can get the tire off.

That’s because vehicles weigh a lot, you know? If they are weighing down on the wheels, it doesn’t matter if you get the lug nuts off. You still won’t be able to get the tire itself off of the vehicle. It’s just common sense. Rare for some.

Speaking of mechanics, they may come closer to serious catastrophes than you may think. Sometimes, they do extremely stupid things that could cause serious problems, like using flames near leaking gas tanks. We shouldn’t have to explain why that’s a bad idea.

We would hope that professionals would be a little more careful. Of course, we know that most mechanics aren’t like the guy in this story, and that only a few are actually that bad, but even so, it’s still pretty concerning if you think about it.

Speaking of mechanics and accidents, this one is due less to stupidity and more to a lack of communication. When you are doing a dangerous job, it makes sense that you should communicate to everyone what you have and haven’t done, right?

That way, you can avoid any serious problems that would lead to major, much unwanted fiery accidents. This is especially the case since a lot of things used in car maintenance are in fact flammable, so it pays to be safe.

We get that car repairs can be very expensive. And we get that some people may not want to pay for repairs if they feel that they can survive without them. But if a mechanic tells you that your vehicle is at serious risk of a crash?

Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t just shrug your shoulders and hop back in your car to avoid a repair bill. Your life is worth a lot more than whatever those repairs would have cost. It’s just much better to not risk it. Risking it doesn’t help anyone.

With how many features in cars these days are automatic, a certain degree of competence in operating one’s vehicle has been lost by the general masses. For instance, lots of people don’t understand how their lights work, especially when part of them are automatic.

But for some reason, they choose to argue with the mechanics instead of just accepting that they probably know what they are talking about. News flash: most professionals do actually know what they are talking about. They at least know more than the average person.

Keep in mind that the person in this story is not a fully-fledged professional yet, but even so, it’s a little embarrassing to be in training only to have this kind of story be told about you. Needless to say, not many people would put tires on backwards.

We’re actually curious how anyone could put tires on backwards since they have a very distinct shape that makes it obvious how they fit. Plus, you see cars everyday, and should know how wheels are supposed to look on a vehicle. Well, you should at any rate.

Does your car pull to the right when you turn your steering wheel in that direction? Did you know that your car is supposed to do that? Yeah, technically the person in this story did know how steering wheels work, but she failed to see that it was the steering wheel doing its job.

And we have to say, that’s pretty crazy. Like, did she not realize that the car stopped turning when she stopped leaning in that direction? Frankly, we just don’t know how this kind of thing happens. It just seems really crazy to us.

Lots of cars have automatic headlights these days. However, that does not mean that they are solely automatic and can’t be turned on and off manually. In case you didn’t know, yes, they can. Even if your headlights are automatic, you can still turn them off manually.

Once again, we urge people to actually read their vehicle owner’s manuals. If they do, they can save a lot of pain and suffering for mechanics who are just trying to do their jobs, and we’re certain that they would be very grateful.

Lots of people believe that the government is tracking them. For some reason, they also believe that tinfoil and aluminum are the ultimate ways to protect themselves from government tracking. Why? Frankly, we have no idea. We suppose they’re just desperate.

Either way, we implore you to not put aluminum foil over important parts of your vehicle. It’s very dangerous and could very easily lead to some seriously dangerous accidents, including but not limited to catastrophic fires or explosions.

While you may be of the mind that all gas is the same, this is absolutely not true. Diesel is very different from the gas you put in regular vehicles, and needless to say, you are not supposed to put diesel in those regular cars. It will be bad.

Aside from your car working very poorly or not working at all, doing this could lead to serious damage to your vehicle that would cost a great deal to repair. Always make sure you are putting the right kind of fuel in your car, for its sake and yours.

Lots of people come to mechanics asking about things like headlight fluid or flux capacitors. Usually, this is because someone is playing a prank on them. However, you would think that the person being pranked would just do an internet search or something.

Then they could easily learn whether or not they are being fooled or not. But instead, they just go straight to the mechanic and make a fool out of themselves. Seriously, it’s not that hard to find out whether or not things are actually real.

This story is along the lines of people not even doing a precursory check of their cars to try and find problems. If you hear something dragging as you drive, why wouldn’t you check under your car to see if you can locate the issue?

After all, it wouldn’t be that hard to locate this problem. In fact, we’re more curious as to how someone couldn’t notice. It seems like it would be a very obvious and easy issue to spot, doesn’t it? Well, what do we know? It wasn’t out car.

Your airbags are supposed to deploy when you get in an accident. Not before, and not after. If they deploy at any other time, they are definitely not doing their job, and airbags definitely have to do their job. This is pretty bad on Chrysler’s part.

Why they would miss such an important design flaw, we aren’t sure. But at least they managed to put out a recall. If they failed to fix their huge mistake, that would be even more unbelievable, wouldn’t it? Still, what a thing to mess up.

We’ve had another story about oil in this list, but here’s another one for your amusement. This woman figured she never had to change the oil, and that, once she had purchased her car with oil in it, there would be no need to replace it.

Needless to say, this is not how any of that works. Your car’s oil does have a lifespan and it does have to be replaced. If you don’t, you run the risk of your vehicle suffering all sorts of terrible things that you really don’t want for it.

Depending on how you park, your steering wheel may not be entirely straight. That’s because the wheels may not be straight. It’s normal and doesn’t mean anything bad. We’re actually not sure how someone would be unaware of this, all things considered.

And yet, there are people out there that don’t understand this or have somehow not noticed in all of their years of driving. If anything could get skilled mechanics to face palm, it would probably be something like this. It’s just ridiculous.

To wrap everything up, here’s another mechanic who just has a handful of silly and stupid stories from people coming to his shop. Needless to say, there are some people out there that just don’t know how things work. But unfortunately, they convince themselves that they do.

Those types of people are by far the most annoying, no doubt about that. The worst part is, no matter how you explain things to them, you will almost certainly never convince them that they are wrong. and when it comes to technical things like cars, that’s a problem.

Any driver, let alone a mechanic, will know that cats are notorious for climbing into the hoods of their cars from below. Cats are attracted to the warmth of the engines. Little do they know though that this is a dangerous place for them. Moreover, many cats get run over trying to climb inside.

One mechanic found a kitten just in the nick of time. Apparently, this adorable little furball had been stuck on the engine for a pretty long journey. It’s remarkable that they didn’t end up getting hurt.

It’s normal for mechanics to oversee cars getting a little wash at recon from time to time. But you can’t always guarantee that the customer is going to fully understand what is going on with their vehicle.

It seems like the following woman had no idea that she had a parking brake in her own car. In fact, it’s questionable whether or not she even knew what it was, based on her ridiculous reaction.

This seems to be a customer sharing a story about a nightmare mechanic they had done business with. It’s common sense that a car should be perfectly even, meaning that all sides are standing at the same height. Otherwise, you’ve got yourself a wonky car, and that’s no fun at all.

This person seemed to be as clued up with automotive jargon as the so-called experts they purchased the car from in the first place.

Rule number one of being a customer, make sure that what you are complaining about actually makes sense. This person failed to adhere to that number one rule. To be fair, they were freezing their socks off while getting the car up and running.

Anyone who has got close to a steering wheel though knows that it takes a bit of time for the heater to work when temperatures are very cold. This person thought that it was weird.

Truth be told, an engine has done pretty well if it stopped working after it helped car travel for over 19,000 miles. That’s a lot of distance. But there is a chance that the engine would have kept going if the driver got an oil change every once in a while.

This just goes to show that one should always keep their service records, just in case they end up in a situation like this one.

Some mechanics have much more informal relationships with their customers than others. Take this guy for example, who went to a customer’s house who after they contacted him via his Craigslist post.

As you can see, the mechanic lost his rag with the customer as he didn’t do a good job of taking care of his car. However, they seemed to hit it off and were happy to go out for some drinks afterward.

We always like to think that mechanic has all of the solutions to our vehicular problems. Sometimes though, all it takes is an average joe with some common sense to get to the root of what the problem actually is.

As you can see from the following customer’s complaints, they had no idea what the problems actually were, so much so that they weren’t even technically problems, just little inconveniences brought upon by themself.

Don’t you just hate those customers who think they know what they are complaining about, but it’s too late before they realize that they were the cause of those problems to begin with? What went down between this crazy customer and the mechanic is pretty ridiculous, if we do say so ourselves.

It’s times like these when it’s not just the mechanic who should be getting a review for their service. The customers should as well. Well, some of them, at least

Why on Earth would you disagree with a mechanic about the issues going on with your car? This person assumed that all of the features of every car they ever drove worked exactly the same way.

Word of advice, if your mechanic makes a statement about something going on with your car, or how something doesn’t work that way, it’s probably best to at least have an open mind about it.

You can rest assured that if there is some kind of oil spillage in the hood of a car, it’s likely because the person who drives it made some kind of mistake along the way.

Surely enough, this driver thought that the oil was supposed to go in the dipstick. The mechanic assumed this as much but needed confirmation from the customer. Drivers, if you are ever in doubt, just get a mechanic to do it. Don’t be a hero.

Far be it from us to condemn people for their weight. Everyone is entitled to live however they wish. That said, it’s just a fact that certain weights can be problematic. For instance, being heavy enough may affect the entire balance of one’s vehicle.

That may not be a very flattering thing to think about, but ignoring it doesn’t make it any less true. Even heavy vehicles like cars can be affected by great weights being placed on just one side of them. But at least mechanics can do something about it.

When customers who know very little about cars try to explain a problem, they usually fail to do it very well. They liken the problems to weird sounds and other strange things, like bowling balls clunking around. However, sometimes their analysis is closer to home than one might think.

The lesson here is this: even if you know very little or nothing about cars, at least take a precursory glance around the vehicle to try and determine the problem before running off to a mechanic. If you hear a weird noise in the trunk, why wouldn’t you check it?

Now we’ll begin with stories of people being very uninformed. Did you know that the heater in your car works only if your engine is hot? That’s because the running engine is what heats up the air being pulled in from the outside. If you don’t know this, you come across like the stranger being made fun of here.

When it’s cold outside, it takes longer for the engine to warm up, meaning it takes longer for the air being pulled into the car to be warmed. Keep this in mind and you won’t make a fool out of yourself like some people do.

Speaking of heaters and how they work, this story is very similar but still different enough. It involves a dad who tries to impart some knowledge and wisdom to his son, but it doesn’t work so well. Heck, the poor kid apparently can’t figure out basic science.

There may be some other things that dad needs to teach to this kid, if he can’t identify why there would be a difference in temperature between the inside and the outside. Maybe some basic science courses, honestly. That would do him a favor.

There’s not even much to really say about this one. It’s just an amalgamation of stories that all show how little your average person knows about the vehicle that they are driving. When you think about it, that’s really kind of sad.

Considering how much we rely on cars in our day-to-day lives, you would think that people would be more knowledgeable. Above all else, people should really sit down and read through their vehicle manuals, just to learn the basics.