A mechanic has taken to TikTok to say a customer was quoted thousands of dollars for suspension work that, it turned out, his car didn’t need. The mechanic said the actual repair was incredibly simple and took no time at all.
TikTok user and mechanic Justin (@mainly_mechanics) runs a profile that is dedicated to mechanic and auto repair content. His recent video was aimed at showing that shops can sell customers unnecessary repairs and cost them a lot of money. Which is the last thing any customer wants to find out happened to them.
“THIS IS HOW THE SHOP IS STEALING YOUR MONEY. Literally STEALING IT!” wrote Justin in the text overlay of his video. He uses the customer’s car in the video to show that workshops may be trying to get more money from customers than they should.
The car in question was a Ford that a regular customer brought in. Another mechanic said the entire wheel bearing and control arm on a “loose” wheel needed replacing. But because Justin had recently replaced those parts, he suspected the problem was something else.
What the Customer Said Was Wrong With the Ford
@mainly_mechanics #thief #lies #ripoff #badshop ♬ original sound – mainly_mechanics
The customer went to another workshop, where the mechanic recommended replacing the wheel bearing and control arm. Supposedly, the wheel had an alarming amount of movement. But Justin had recently replaced those parts himself and knew that they were virtually brand new. So it left him baffled as to how they would need replacing so soon.
He went to take a look at the parts, and sure enough, they looked fine. After a bit of examination, he concluded the problem was something that hadn’t been properly tightened. Justin loosened the center wheel-and-axle nut, and it then had some play, but before that, there was none. So he decided to use an impact gun to tighten the fastener and torque it to the correct specification.
After that, the wheel’s movement was gone.
“I torqued it to spec; no play in the wheel bearing whatsoever,” Justin said in his TikTok video. Justin felt this proved that some mechanics have gotten comfortable selling unnecessary repairs and don’t properly inspect vehicles either.
“Just be really careful if you’re going to a new shop,” he said. Justin said the customer had been quoted thousands of dollars to fix the car. In the end, that wasn’t necessary, and he saved his customer a lot of stress and money.
Loose Axle Nuts Can Look Like Bad Bearings
As Justin’s video showed, a loose axle nut can easily mimic a bad wheel bearing. While it can also signal a failing bearing, it doesn’t automatically mean that is the case. Meineke states that other signs of worn bearings include humming, howling, growling, and squealing noises. Steering wheel vibrations can also signal a worn bearing. But before making that judgment, mechanics should inspect the car as thoroughly as possible to make sure that is actually the problem.
Viewers of Justin’s video were left frustrated for the customer, who was nearly out of pocket in a big way.
“It’s so hard to find a mechanic you can trust, especially as a female,” one user said. “Post the shop that made that claim,” another said, determined to make sure they didn’t get away with it.
“That’s not even ripping you off at that point. This should be categorized as fraud and attempted murder. For sure they loosened that hub bolt,” said another TikTok user.