Mechanic Doesn’t Notice Customer’s Dashcam in Car

A driver who brought their car in for service at a Honda dealership left their dash cam running in their car and captured some unsavory employee behavior.

Aug. 10 2023, Published 10:00 a.m. ET

If you watched Rugrats, then you knew from a young age that there was a stereotype about auto mechanics being a lot of shady swindlers. The animation team's decision to draw Ace & Eddie in the 1992 episode, "Graham Canyon," the way that they did only further reinforces this trope.

And there's a reason why so many folks are distrustful of auto repair workers, and it's because a lot of them are caught via dashcam outright lying to the customers that they're supposed to be serving.

And while one would think that this kind of treatment is specific to independently run shops that look like something out of The Mask, TikToker @e4_nf6 said that they had a pretty awful time after bringing their Honda Civic to an official dealer for the popular car brand.

In a caption for a viral TikTok they posted that's garnered over 11.2 million views, the social media user says that the shop declined the air conditioner warranty coverage for his vehicle, even though they "know the Civics have faulty condensers/compressors."

He goes on to say that that shop tried to charge him $2,100 for the fix, but that's not all: as it turns out, the auto repair shop employee didn't notice that there was an active dashcam in the customer's whip, and the recording caught them whipping through the shop like they were trying to cross off all the items off the list at the beginning of Driver for PlayStation 1.

After parking the car in the service area, it appears that the employee shuts off the dash cam after hearing a beep in the car, alerting them to the camera's presence. The video disconnects shortly after.

@e4_nf6 uploaded a follow-up video that contained some colorful language from another auto shop worker who was seemingly upset with the behavior exhibited by the TikToker when they came to the shop. He went on to say that they're going to let him "sit an hour" because he's a "f----- a------."

Commenters who saw that video were divided: there were some who said that they believed the TIkToker probably deserved their negative treatment from the employee for the way that they were acting upon entering the store.

But there were others who thought it was a scary example of the type of work, or lack thereof, or even sabotage an auto mechanic may do out of spite to a customer's vehicle if they happened to not like the way that they were acting when they entered their shop.

"if mechanics will do this, make you wonder what else they do to sabotage your vehicle down the road," one commenter wrote.

Another said that it's this kind of usually unseen behavior that usually prompts them to always be kind to service employees: "And that’s why I’m overly nice to anybody who prepares my food and works on my car lol"

In a follow-up video, however, it would seem that @e4_nf6 got the last laugh, as their TikToks caught the attention of a news organization. The Honda Civic owner uploaded a snippet of the news story, which shows a rep from the company, rocking a mask as they speak into the camera, stating that they apologize for the treatment they received on behalf of one of its workers.

"There's no excuse for the way my employees acted," the gentleman says into the camera. A news broadcast employee can be heard saying in a narration overlay for the clip that the dealership ended up not charging @e4_nf6 for the work that was performed on their vehicle.

One commenter who said that they formerly worked at a dealership remarked that this kind of behavior from workers was par the course for the way customers are treated at them.

"As a former dealership employee this is 100% how all dealerships operate!," they wrote.

Another called out what sounds like price-gouging scams for routine procedures on vehicles, claiming that a dealership tried charging customers $300 just to change the oil on their car: "The dealership got caught. is the only reason they are apologizing. I went into other dealerships for oil change $300. I changed my own oil now."

Has this clip inspired you to install a dashcam in your car before taking it to the mechanic? Or are you already ahead of the game?