50 Car Mechanics Share Pictures Of The Worst Cases That Ever Came Into Their Shops

Some of the worst car problems do not start with a dramatic crash, they start with a driver insisting everything is fine. Then a mechanic opens the hood, checks the tires, or looks under the valve cover and finds something that should never have made it to the shop in the first place.

That is exactly the kind of chaos filling the r/JustRolledIntoTheShop subreddit, where mechanics post photos of the wildest vehicles and repairs they have ever seen. From shredded tires to shocking engine issues, the pictures are equal parts funny, alarming, and hard to believe. Some of these cars should have stayed parked a long time ago.

1. "Not A Rolled In But More Of A Birth Into The Shop... Stray Left A Puddle Of Kittens Out In Our Side Yard A Year Ago. The Neighbour Took This One Home And The Boss Took Another"

Desperate-Risk7373

2. "Just Saved This Lil Guy. I Had To Remove The Front End Of The Vehicle To Do It, But He Is Now Free And Alive And Well"

SmittyYAP

3. "The Eyes After A 30 Mile Trip"

mtimmermeyer

The vivid accounts from mechanics show just how far neglected car maintenance can go, and how quickly a routine repair turns into a disaster.

4. Cpzy

thesaucier1

5. "Customer Said All 4 Of Them Were Uninjured But We Can’t Say The Same About The Car"

Misterr_Carlos

6. "Customer Said Her Husband Patched The Tire But It Keeps Leaking Air"

Howdyooooh

That is the kind of problem that makes a simple shop visit spiral fast.

7. "I Swear These Customers Do This On Purpose"

ozkrow

8. "Guess Somebody Has A Hard Time Remembering"

d96flintd

9. "Well... Almost Pissed My Pants... Caught Off Guard"

ZeroRain87

The shop floor can turn into a comedy show one minute and a disaster zone the next.

10. "Found A Friend"

unhallowed69

11. "When You're Towing A Car Behind Your Rv, Remember To Put It In Neutral"

My-Roots

12. "Customer States Left Rear Tire Is Flat, Please Repair"

sregors

Some of these photos are funny, but they also make the point pretty clearly.

13. "Customer Says "Don't Worry, It's Friendly"

profeshonalmeechanik

14. "So, We've Got A New Regular Customer In The Shop Now Apparently"

FishtixMods

15. "My New Carpeting"

Succpicious

Mechanics see the same kind of chaos over and over, and somehow they still manage to laugh about it.

16. "There's A Battery Terminal In There Somewhere"

rioryan

17. "Customer Asked Me To Put Their Spare Tire On. Saw A Cement Atlas Ball In The Back. Those Things Are Solid Concrete And This Thing Weights Like 150lbs. I Said No Way. I'm Not Blowing Out My Back On A Job I'm Not Being Paid For"

reddit.com

18" Sister Just Bought A New Nintendo Switch. This Is Her Tire. Priorities"

lajarus

And every so often, the story behind the picture is even stranger than the picture itself.

19. "How American"

ImInYourBooty

20. "When You Dispute The Bill And Tell The Other Mechanic To Just Put The Motor Back In The Car"

kidkangaroo

21. "Customer Complains Of Fuel Smell. This Is Half Of The Gas Cans He Has In The Back"

Mecha_Malcolm

That is the sort of thing that makes a mechanic stop and stare for a second.

This is similar to a friend choosing a luxury car over advice, then struggling after the refusal.

22. "Expecting Snow And Ice Statewide Tomorrow. Cs “.. And Don’t Try To Sell Me New Tires - Don’t Need Them!”"

chrisell

23. "Customer's Vehicle Has Been Overheating For The Past Month"

cdmertz

24. "Can’t Explain To The Elderly That They Don’t Need An Oil Change After 8mo/23 Miles"

Brianthelion83

Some customers really do make the same mistake twice, and the shop has to deal with it all over again.

25. "Who's Talking"

Personal-Gur-6361

26. "Just Rolled Into The Shop"

reddit.com

27. "Inside Of The Smokers Cars From Earlier"

reddit.com

By this point, the subreddit has basically become a museum of bad decisions on wheels.

28. "Grandpa Said "Just Pump The Tire Up"

Porter-and-wings

29. "My Dad Asked Me To Come Over And Give Him A Hand With His Vette. He Hands Me A Pair Of Gloves To Wear Around The Headers. Uh, No Thanks Dad"

Paradox1989

30. "Customer Installed The Wrong Battery And Slammed The Hood Down. I’ve Seen It All Now"

SourTittyMilk

At this point, the only real surprise is that the cars made it this far.

31. "Anyone Else Hate These Kind Of Carseats? Scared The Hell Out Of Me"

haringtiti

32. "When The Edible Starts Kicking In"

rtscott08

33. "He Drove 700km Like This In Outback Aussie, Rims So Bent He Couldn’t Get The Nuts Off To Change Them"

KungFuFactory

Some of these repairs are so bad they almost feel fictional.

34. "Engine Swap That I Bought Off Of Facebook Marketplace... Turned Fine And Seemed To Have Good Compression There, But This Was Hiding Under The Valve Cover"

reddit.com

35. "Paper, Rock, Scissors On This One"

xhollec

36. "Pick Up Your Starfire Slicks From Your Local Pep Boys!"

the300zguy

It is hard not to laugh, even when the situation is completely ridiculous.

37. "A Customer Came And Said "I Can Smell Something A Little Bit And There's Small Noise Front Right"

OsterForever

38. Sure i can

Trident_0711

39. "Yeah, She Felt The Car Was A Little Slower Today"

FinibusBonorum

40. "Just Rolled Into The Shop... Guy Came In For A Flat Repair, Didn't Understand That He Needed A New Sensor After He Twisted His Stem Off With Pliers. Thought I Was Ripping Him Off When I Told Him He Needed New Lugs And Studs. Brakes Were Metal To Metal And He Said They Were Brand New"

AutistMemer

41. "Normally I Don't Post Here But I Couldn't Resist With This One"

Smooskies

42. "This Could Get Messy"

knastyb1

43,. "When The Dealership Lets A Kid With 0 Manual Transmission Experience Test Drive A Mazdaspeed 3"

HairJordan87

44. "Rolled In For Timing And Exhaust Work But Couldn’t Help But Notice The Custom Lift"

Ginganinjalegend

45. "Passenger Door Felt A Bit Heavy"

MrKwyte

46. "So We Have A New Advisor"

Axsaul

47. "Some Honesty Tests Are Harder Than Others"

Cantfindanameoradamn

48. "Another Super Safe Michigan Vehicle. Seat Belts Are For Pussies Anyway"

profeshonalmeechanik

49. "People Fought Wars Over This Much Salt"

crmeacham93

50. Best feeling ever. Taking out a broken screw

mattthepiratehunter

By the end, it is hard to argue with the mechanics, some of these cars are absolute disasters.

After the boss and neighbor’s side-yard chaos, see practical fixes for handling everyday messes.