It is very frustrating when you have car problems, and for most people, the only option is to trust that the auto repair shop will take care of it for you.

What would you do if your vehicle were having minor issues, but you couldn’t currently afford to pay to have it fixed?

That is the situation that the young woman in this story was in, so she was relieved when the mechanic said she could drive it a while until she had the money without any real risk. When she left the auto repair shop, however, the vehicle almost immediately began having major issues that were unrelated to the original problem.

When she brought the car back to the shop, the mechanic began yelling at her and blaming her for the issues, and now she wonders what she did wrong.

Personally, I think the mechanic must have done something, and he is just trying to deflect. Read through the story for yourself and see what you think.

AITAH for trying to confront an auto repair shop for how they treated me?

I’ll try to be concise. I’m 24F and nothing like this has ever happened to me. Here goes:

Ok, seems pretty normal, so far.

I made an appointment to diagnose a minor issue with my car (I stress minor because it didn’t impede my driving and my check engine light hadn’t turned on).

I have used AB&C Repair for about 5 years. I made the appointment with Sam, an older man.

This seems like a pretty easy fix.

He quotes $54 to diagnose the issue. I explain it and he says it sounds like something from my engine might be leaking onto my spark plugs and causing a misfire. I drop off my car at 9am Friday.

Sam calls at 10:39am, says the cover on my engine coils is deteriorating, causing a misfire, and it needs replaced.

Sometimes it is hard to get the right diagnosis on the first try. The cost just went up a lot, though.

He quotes $169. I tell him to go ahead. He calls 1:28pm, says they replaced it but the misfiring continued. He explains my car has 6 engine coils and “most places are required to replace all 6 at once but we don’t because sometimes you can replace 1 coil cover and be fine but in this instance it wasn’t.”

He quotes $418 more. I ask to look over my finances and call back.

I hope it doesn’t get worse while she waits.

I talk to my dad and he asks me, “why did they only replace 1 if they knew all 6 were bad?” And I didn’t know. He wanted me to ask.

After 30 mins I tell Sam again I can’t afford it. I make an appointment in the future for when I can. He says my car will continue to misfire but issue was minor, wasn’t impeding my driving, and I couldn’t afford it.

Why would she be expecting her check engine light to go on if it wasn’t before?

At 4:30pm, I get my keys and pay (total was $159). I start my car and notice my check engine light has now turned on and won’t turn off, which I kinda expected.

I get 2 mins down the road then my entire car starts shaking and my wheel starts jerking. I have to pull over.

This is clearly an entirely different problem.

All of the traction lights have turned on. I call AB&C and talk to Sam again. I try to tell him about what just occurred, he talks over me.

He says he tried to warn me about the misfires. I tell him this isn’t misfires. I finally ask the question my dad had and Sam gets short with me.

I can certainly see why she is upset.

He implies it’s my fault because I don’t have enough money to do what they wanted. I said, “you didn’t give me the option to replace all 6 covers until after you started doing work, why didn’t I have the option in the first place?” And he doesn’t answer me, he hangs up. I checked my phone, we only talked for 1min.

I turn around and go back to AB&C. While I do so, I start to get upset. My heart is pounding, my hands are shaking, I’m crying. I open the door and say, “You do not hang up on me.”

I wouldn’t want them to fix my vehicle at all, honestly.

Sam is very rude. He keeps repeating the same things, standing behind a desk, yelling at me to “get outta my shop.”

I am standing by the door, crying, trying to talk to him. I try to explain he never gave me an option, never explained the issue, and he thinks I’m calling him a liar. He threatens to call the police. I leave.

What an awful situation.

I had to make appointment with a different shop to redo what AB&C did and leave my car somewhere over the weekend. I still don’t know if I have to tow my car or not.

Was I out of line to drive back when Sam hung up on me?

AITA?

No way, she didn’t do anything wrong at all. It seems like the auto repair guy is trying to cover himself in case she sues.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who walked away from their lease after the landlord hassled them over renting month-to-month.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

He had bad customer service as well as poor repairs.

They should follow the proper repair guidelines.

This is the sad reality of auto repair.

Sam didn’t like being questioned.

This commenter seems like a mechanic.

The sad reality is that you can’t always trust an auto mechanic. While it is impossible to be able to diagnose every issue immediately, they should at least be honest about what they are doing.

There was something wrong with her car when she drove away that wasn’t there before, so it is clear that the mechanic messed up. I would take it into another shop and see what they have to say. She may have to take them to court.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a waitress who refused to return a tip after a party returned to the restaurant with a complaint.