A mechanic has taken to TikTok after he went to a dealership to inspect a used Acura his girlfriend was buying, only to notice that the brakes on the car were completely shot. Can’t Stop Mobile (@cantstopmobile), a mobile mechanic in Dayton, Ohio, discussed the incident in a viral TikTok video.
The mechanic’s video has been viewed nearly 17,000 times, and in it he discusses the situation at length and what happened after he drove the car away from the dealership. You can tell things aren’t good, as the on-screen text says, “Well, we get scammed by the dealership.”
In his video, Can’t Stop Mobile claims that he told the dealership that the brakes on the Acura were finished. But the salesman at the dealership then came back with a 300-point inspection report that stated the brakes on the car were absolutely fine.
However, it took a turn for the worse when, after leaving the dealership, the car began grinding and making awful sounds just minutes later. The whole saga is relayed in the TikTok video, and in it, the mechanic tries to lay out the facts as best as he can.
What Was Wrong With the Used Acura?
@cantstopmobile StealerShips doing their thing… #SmallBusiness #mobilemechanic #fyp #mechanic #scam ♬ original sound – Can’t Stop Mobile
The mechanic stated that this Acura had completely shot brakes and wasn’t safe to drive. He said that he could tell that the brakes were useless, but the salesman for the dealership came back with a document that suggested it was fine. “Our 300-point inspection said the brakes are fine.’ And I quote, ‘six millimeters in the front, five millimeters in the rear,’” the mechanic said he was told.
Upon realizing he was speaking to a mechanic, the salesman still decided to carry on with what he was saying. “He says, ‘Hey, listen, the guys in our service department are fantastic. I have to go off this report. They have no reason to lie’” added the mechanic. Despite the potential problems, the mechanic and his girlfriend bought the car, figuring that he could probably just do a brake replacement himself for around $300.
The mechanic had said that, as he wasn’t able to jack the car up and take things apart, he couldn’t verify what condition it was in. So he had to believe the report that the brakes were okay, as it was the only thing that could verify the car’s condition. After going just five minutes down the road, he and his girlfriend heard loud grinding sounds from the brakes.
An Inspection Confirmed the Brakes Had Problems
“I say 0% on the rear, literally 0% on the rear. Absolutely nothing left. That’s bare metal right here,” said the mechanic in his TikTok video. For context, a new brake pad can be around 12mm thick. Had the pads on the car actually been 6mm to 5mm thick, as per the dealer’s report, then they’d have only been halfway through their usable life. Eventually, the dealership ended up calling him to address the issue after seeing the footage that the TikTok mechanic had posted.
The dealership apologised and said they’d replace them, yet they didn’t replace the brake calipers, just the pads and rotors. It transpired that the calipers had not been replaced, but repainted, and 20 minutes into a drive, the mechanic’s girlfriend had suffered a locked-up brake. In the end, the mechanic did the caliper job himself, still frustrated at what he and his girlfriend had to endure.