45 Curious Finds Unearthed By Unsuspecting Mechanics

Mechanics are responsible for the repair of more than 300 life-size metal puzzle pieces — we mean car parts. So, it’s really no wonder that within that assortment of pieces, the occasional mechanic finds something worthy of taking photos of while tinkering underneath the hood. There is often a reason far from mechanical causing a car not to run smoothly — from wads of cash to a possum’s nest; mechanics get to see it all in their line of work. Luckily, when they do stumble upon something interesting, many take to the internet, sharing their photos with the likes of their social media circles and the world. Here, we’ve compiled a collection of 45 of the most shocking discoveries made by mechanics.

Against Mechanical Advice

Sometimes, people who come into the vehicle repair shop have their own ideas of what their vehicle needs (or doesn’t need) and, while this isn’t usually a problem, it has turned into quite the situation once or twice. The mechanic who had the pleasure of serving this customer knows the experience all too well.

The woman who brought this vehicle in refused to have her tires put back on, much to the mechanic’s dismay working on it. He tried to change her mind as any good professional would but, alas, the woman was adamant. Before she left, she had to sign a waiver.

Sub-Woofers Included

Most mechanics are honest. They’d never dream of stealing personal belongings from the vehicles of their clients — after all, who wants an old gym T-shirt or a bag of McDonald’s burger wrappers? However, there are bound to be instances where the mechanic in question wishes he didn’t have such good morals.

Like this instance, perhaps? Here, we have two gorgeous chocolate sub-woofers awaiting the return of their owner and best friend. The mechanic charged with looking at them throughout the repair undoubtedly had a hard time not scooping them up and rushing them home to his house.

Flea Service

Before even getting under the hood to conduct a routine checkup, this mechanic was surprised by what he found. Well, actually, he was surprised by the request given to him by the vehicle’s driver. “Check for fleas” she said as she pointed to the giant, fuzzy steering wheel cover.

Now, if we were that mechanic, we’d be coming up with a list of reasons why that was not going to happen. For starters, this is a car repair shop, not a veterinarian’s office. Second, it’s a steering wheel cover — it doesn’t need to be checked for fleas; just wash it! And third? Totally not in our job description.

Don’t Mind The Raccoon

When a customer brings their car to the shop, it’s not uncommon for them to take their most important personal belongings with them while they wait for their vehicle to be done. Purses, books, laptops, and wallets are some of the many things that get taken — but sometimes, there are other things that are deemed important enough…

Like pets! Or, more specifically, this adorable little raccoon. The customer must have known that the raccoon would give the mechanic quite a fright, so to save both the mechanic and the raccoon undo stress, he brought the creature inside to wait with him for their ride to be repaired.

Pull the String

If you’ve ever been into a business with a toilet that wasn’t working, you know that when there are a stick and string mechanism attached to the flush-lever, the lever is undoubtedly broken. So, it’s safe to assume that the mechanic who discovered this lever system had an idea of what was going on here at first glance.

Even still, the mechanic was likely impressed by the common courtesy of the car owner shown here — not to mention the time and effort that this driver put into informing them that their vehicle had a sticky accelerator.

Pocket Change

Working in the world of customer service, mechanics have learned how to handle every odd payment request under the sun. There’s nothing mechanics haven’t seen- from customers wanting to make trades to others wanting to pay large bills using gift cards.

When this customer came in requesting to pay her 1K repair bill with pocket change, the mechanic in charge of the service was shocked. While not an odd request per se, using her $1 and $5 bills to cover the cost was definitely worthy of social media recognition.

A Little Helper

For anyone who loves dogs, having one around while going about your 9-5 job would be a dream come true. For this mechanic, it was a dream that did indeed come true, as one of the regular clients brought their dog along for the servicing.

The dog, which we think looks like a Molly, kept the mechanic company while he checked the vehicle’s codes and completed the necessary repairs. Although she wasn’t able to help with the work, she was definitely a good companion. Good girl, Molly.

BBQ On Wheels

A mechanic’s shop sees vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, the vehicles that roll through the doors are so interesting that the mechanic has to stop, put down the wrench, and snap a quick photo just to add to his collection.

Surely, the mechanic in charge of the repairs on this over-the-top barbecue was stunned. We know we would be! We can’t help but wonder how much he charged for the job since it’s not quite a vehicle but definitely isn’t just your basic barbecue, either.

The Intended Purpose

Honestly, it’s quite amazing what people can manage to shove inside their glove boxes. Phone books, extra condiment packets, small packages, mail, toilet paper, diapers, you name it — but how often are gloves actually stored in there? Not very.

That’s why this mechanic found it so strange that, when he opened up a glove box, there wasn’t just one pair of gloves…but two! Who knew that glove boxes were still used for gloves? We can’t help but find this discovery slightly unnerving, to say the least.

Brake Pads ASAP

Sometimes, when a client says they need something, they really do need it. Other times, though, they just think they need it. In this case, however, the customer who called in to pick up their brake pads wasn’t kidding when they said they needed them ASAP.

We can see the evidence of this fact above. If you aren’t sure what’s going on in this photo, the customer who called in came crashing through the side of the building — likely because their breaks weren’t working properly.

Spaceballs

We’re all for self-expression, but sometimes we have to wonder what people are trying to express; this is one of those times. If we had been the mechanic taking on this client, we probably would have been caught giggling.

It’s easy to see how creative this tailgate is, though, and we can only assume that the mechanic in question was appreciative as well — even if Spaceballs isn’t your favorite movie, you have to too. It’s too well done to hate on it.

Mom Van 101

As parents ourselves, we totally understand the in-between-the-lines meaning of this hilarious bumper sticker. Much like the classic “Baby On Board” logo that so many family vehicles sport, this one lets the world know that children ride are regular passengers in this car.

This one is a lot funnier than the classic, though, and it honestly made us laugh harder than it should have. But seriously, if a kid falls out, please honk to let this person know! They’ll surely be overjoyed to find that their very creative sign had been put to good use.

A Herky Jerky Job

As professionals who specialize in all things with engines, mechanics don’t expect their customers to know the specific terms for what they’re trying to explain. Most people who don’t know the terminology do a good job of explaining in simple, layman’s terms.

But of course, there are always exceptions…like this customer. Instead of taking the time to explain what’s happening with their vehicle, this person is just going with their gut and spouting words that they feel bubbling up from their soul as they try to articulate.

Renters In High Places

Almost anyone can apply for a rental car. This, of course, includes members of the police force. Surprisingly, police officers request car rentals more often than you’d think, and when they do, it’s always an honor to fulfill their request.

The mechanic receiving this return from the police force was in for a treat. Clearly, the car had been used for some serious police business — shots and shattered windows included. We bet the mechanic would have loved to be a fly on the wall during this rental.

Cool Car

Have you ever hopped into your car and just sat there and appreciated it? Its cool appearance, clean interior, and homey vibes? If not, you’re driving the wrong car — but this Prius owner isn’t! In fact, they’ve seemingly found their dream car in this red Prius.

Despite almost no one ever making the exclamation that Priuses are cool, this Prius owner is proud of their car. They embrace their unique taste and ignore those who turn up their nose at their choice of automobiles. Way to go!

A Quick Fix

When things go wrong, most of us have a tendency to try to fix them ourselves. This car owner spent hours struggling to get their window to move to no avail, so naturally, they took it into the shop to be fixed. Surely the experts could figure out the problem, right?

Right! Luckily, the mechanic this vehicle was brought to was able to get down to the root of the problem in no time. As it turns out, the problem, as you can see, was that the window lock was turned on. Although this probably wasn’t a worthy reason to go into the shop, the owner of this vehicle is never going to make that mistake again…so that’s a plus!

Oppossum Problem

When a mechanic walks into the shop every morning, there’s no telling what they will face during the course of the day. While it’s easy to prepare for problems such as popped tires, disconnected cords, and clogged valves, it’s not as easy to prepare for problems involving animals.

Upon opening the hood of this vehicle, the mechanic was surely shocked by what they found. After all, there’s no good way to prepare for an opossum nest inside someone’s car. This seems like more of a situation for animal control than the poor mechanic.

Kitty Cat Rescue

While opening the hood to find an opossum isn’t necessarily pleasant, opening it to find an adorable little kitten is something we could live with. This mechanic was probably thinking the same thing as they carefully removed the kitten from the engine bay.

It’s kind of scary to think that the kitten was trapped in there with all the hot moving parts and toxic liquids. That said, though, it’s pretty easy to see how this find was nothing short of a miracle. Hopefully, the mechanic took the kitty home!

A Good Comparison

It can be hard to describe sounds. Whether it’s describing the horrible racket you heard outside last night or the awful sounds that your car is making, words to get the point across when dealing with noises can be hard to identify.

Every once in a while, though, there’s someone who knows just how to describe a sound. If you’ve ever seen Finding Nemo or Finding Dory, then you can probably imagine just the sound that this vehicle was reportedly making. Sounds pretty terrifying, huh?

Minor Design Flaws

Every now and then, there’s a popular vehicle with a considerable design flaw. Most of the time, these flaws are noticeable but easily ignored by the general public; an oddly-shaped window, for example. Other times, though, the flaws simply hide, waiting for a mechanic to unearth them.

This flaw falls into the latter category. The battery of this vehicle is very, very inconveniently located behind the front wheel, which means that the mechanic has to take the tire off to access it. Talk about a major design flaw! Why couldn’t it be under the hood like other cars? Just to make things hard, apparently.

Litter Box of Shame

Cats are notorious for being bad travelers; they whine, yowl, and cry when locked into the safety of a cat carrier, which can make road trips seem much longer than they are. This being said, it’s not surprising that some feline owners opt to let their cats free-roam the car during trips.

What is surprising, though, is that a mechanic stumbled upon a litter box in someone’s backseat. We’re assuming that the vehicle owner simply forgot to remove the litter box before bringing their vehicle in, but we aren’t totally sure how, exactly, someone forgets that.

DIY Exhaust Repairs

With the average mechanic repair costing a small fortune, it’s no wonder that so many people try to DIY repair their problems. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but either way, mechanics aren’t surprised when a failed DIY repair rolls into the shop.

When a repair consisting of cardboard and tape wrapped around an exhaust pipe rolled through the doors, though, the receiving mechanic was likely concerned. Not only is cardboard and heat a safety hazard but who knows how long the underlying problem was a problem for!

A Squirrely Situation

Animals are a surprisingly common problem for mechanics. From being wedged into places they shouldn’t be too ferociously guarding their vehicle against the big bad mechanic, they can create all sorts of issues that need to be worked around.

There was one instance where a mechanic opened the hood of a car that hadn’t been used for a while only to find that the hood and body were stuffed full of walnuts! Someone’s friendly neighborhood squirrel had been using the vehicle as a stockpile location.

Ripe and Ready

Most jobs that mechanics are assigned go according to plan. There are some, however, that give the professionals a bit more than they were bargaining for, as well as a host of tasks that are definitely not in their job description.

After a sunny weekend, one vehicle was brought into a shop sporting a foul odor. The mechanic fixed the vehicle up and proceeded to track down the terrible smell. They quickly realized that it was coming from half a rotten watermelon wrapped in plastic wrap.

Hello, Friend

Inspections are part of the everyday job for mechanics. In fact, they’re often one of the tasks that take up most of a mechanic’s time. Luckily, they’re routine and relatively easy for those conducting them. Many mechanics could do an inspection in their sleep.

During these routine jobs, they tend to be greeted by nothing more than an empty vehicle with a ton of trash and a few minor problems. Sometimes, though, they’re greeted by something like this. Something that makes them wonder how on Earth it was achieved in the first place.

Hop Along Home

When you love your job, you never work a day in your life. That’s what the professionals say, anyway, so we can’t help but think that this positive way of thinking translates to who you work with, too. If you like your co-employees, you’ll never truly hate your job.

How can anyone hate who they work with when they’re occasionally surprised with cute little bunny rabbits? Especially when they roll through the shop like they belong there! Maybe this rabbit was looking for a summer job…. who knows, right?

Snake Charming

When there’s a problem under the hood, most of us don’t jump to the idea of there being an animal in there — and for a good reason. So, when this family found their car sputtering and tugging, they took it into the shop to see what was going on as anyone would.

Opening the hood of the small family car unearthed a giant Mozambique spitting cobra. Although this cobra doesn’t look like he’s planning on striking, it’s safe to assume that the mechanic didn’t take any chances and called animal control to complete the removal.

A Wrench in the Road

Okay, so maybe it’s not a wrench per see, but someone — who was clearly careless and is likely wondering where their pliers went — lost their pliers in the middle of the road. They were then picked up in the tire of this vehicle.

If we’re being honest, it’s amazing that this vehicle even made it to the shop with this in their tire. The driver must have been either really lucky or really pushing it, full of anxiety and fear of breaking down.

A Little Spicy

The hoods of cars can contain a whole variety of things. Everything from animals to bags of cash has been found there at one point or another, so it’s always like a treasure hunt when mechanics open up the front of a vehicle.

For this mechanic, the only thing found was a bag of garlic, which is an unremarkable find. Although, it is fun to speculate what it was doing there. The best guess we have is that it was part of some sort of spell, maybe a protection spell to keep the driver of the vehicle safe from harm?

A Mysterious Case of Flapping Noises

Everyone has moments where they are unaware. In these moments, we might forget that the glasses we’re looking for are in our hand or that we left the dog outside all day after spending the better part of an hour panicking over the loss of the family pooch.

The customer who brought in this vehicle was having one of those moments. She brought in her car, claiming that there was an odd flapping noise coming from one area of the vehicle. Thankfully, it didn’t take a ton of time for the mechanic to figure out the cause.

Beware Of Crocs

Looking at this photo, which was taken by a perplexed rental car owner, we have a million questions. The excuse given to them upon returning it in this sorry state was that whoever had been loaned the car had a plane to catch.

It’s called time management, people! Sure, we’ve all been late to get that flight, and we’ve been stressed and done stupid things in order not to miss it. But does that include driving through a field of bear traps? That’s sure what it looks like! Yowch.

Truck Of The Irish

Of all the things that mechanics and other auto repair workers have found hidden inside vehicles, this would have to be one of the nicest, not to mention one of the most unexpected. After all, as kids, how long did we spend scouring fields for these?

They say finding a four-leafed clover brings good luck. The question is, does it mean anything else depending on where you find it? Looks like wherever this driver is heading, fortune will be following close behind. They just might want to get that leprechaun out of the carburetor.

A Nutty Situation

When things go wrong with vehicles, there are often no good words to describe the problem — no funny joke or witty tagline, and nothing that can be used to lighten the inevitable blow that is the final repair bill.

When the mechanic got to work on this vehicle, attempting to figure out why the client’s vehicle smelled like burning nuts when the air was turned on, he wasn’t suspecting to find what he did. As it turns out, the reason for the unpleasant smell was actually nuts! Nuts, huh?

Something Kind Of Fishy

No mechanic’s job would be complete without the occasional complaint of a funny smell. It’s just another day on the job. And as far as funny smells go, you’d be hard-pressed to get a worse one than long-dead fish. Good luck getting that stench out of your vehicle.

This young woman had the misfortune of finding an expired fish that had somehow spawned upstream and into her car. No matter how tiny this particular fishy friend is, we’re certain that the smell it brought with it more than compensated for its size.

Ready To Pop

No matter our age, there’s a certain kind of joy that comes with receiving anything that’s been carefully packaged in bubble wrap because of that incredibly satisfying feeling when you burst the bubbles afterward. However, this scenario is quite different.

While it may be great fun to find bubble wrap in your package, this is certainly not the kind of place you’d like to find a bubble — let alone allowing it to pop. We’re just baffled about how the car owner left these tires to get as inflated as this.

Only the Bottom

Once upon a time, there was a mechanic. This mechanic had a client come into the shop, stating that “the bottom of my tire is flat.” The mechanic, like any good mechanic would, replied with the recommendation that the client get a brand new tire.

The man was adamant that “no, it’s just the bottom that is flat.” He showed the mechanic that the rest of the tire looked just fine, and, much to the mechanic’s dismay, he was forced to explain to the client that the bottom of the tire being flat meant that the entire tire was flat.

Shelling Out A Fortune

Perhaps this poor little guy was just trying to hitch a ride to the nearest Shell station? All joking aside, how horrified would you be if you found an itsy-bitsy turtle had stowed away in your vehicle? But moreover, you’d likely be rather relieved he was okay!

Apparently, however, this isn’t just any random species of baby turtle — in fact, this is a snapping turtle. So, the person who found it is doubly lucky, not just that the turtle is safe and sound, but that’s it’s too young to bite their finger off!

Nothing Like Poor Placement

Here we have another case of poor parts placement. If you can’t see what this mechanic means when he says that this repair was a pain in his behind, let us point it out for you as best as we can using this mechanic-provided image.

This is a GM vehicle that happens to have some of the worst design flaws ever discovered by a mechanic. The job is simple enough: reseal a leaky oil pan. The problem is that to do that, the mechanic had to take out the columns and the exhaust and drop the starter. That’s what we’d call an unpleasant find!

Pull Off At The Next Eggs-it

Surprise! You and your vehicle are about to become parents. Of course, you had no way of knowing that this was going to be the case, but nonetheless, fate has been decided for you. Behold one of the wackiest things to have been found during a car inspection.

You have to wonder exactly how all of this happened. First of all, a bird would have had to have plenty of time undisturbed in order to sneak in there and build the nest. Second, this thing is huge! How on Earth did you not see it?

Mr. DIY

It’s never a bad idea to know your way around the basic mechanics of your vehicle. In fact, knowing how to change a tire or give yourself a boost are skills that come in handy more often than you’d think. Knowing how to do your own brakes can be helpful, too.

The owner of this vehicle tried to do just that, attempting to DIY his brakes. However, he ended up at the shop when his breaks kept squeaking and seemed to be “not working right.” The mechanic on duty noted that the man had forgotten to put the rear brake pads on.

Happy…Birthday?

Ah, the joys of the shadier rental car agencies. You have to wonder just how thorough of a car inspection was done before passing the vehicle on to its new temporary owner, and this case is no exception. Behold this unholy discovery.

With something this big, it’s kind of hard to believe the box this cake came in somehow went overlooked during the inspection. But whatever the case, the driver found this delightfully stale, not to mention sadly smushed, birthday cake. Hungry for a slice?

One Cool Ride

Ask any mechanic, and they’ll tell you that 90% of the vehicles they deal with contain nothing special. Some old gum, a bunch of papers, a window scraper, tools, maybe a spare change of clothes — nothing worth writing home about. And then along comes this ride.

Ladies, look no further because this cool guy’s car is certainly where it’s at. Inside the trunk of a rental car, he was fortunate enough to discover that the newly-acquired car came fully decked out with its own swag. Hopefully, he can loan us some, too? We’re hip!

A Key to the Problem

Customers trust mechanics to get the job done without thieving, scamming, or stealing. This is a fact that can be demonstrated by the way that customers leave their keys with the mechanic without giving it a second thought.

A mechanic received the keys to a client’s care only to find that the man had given him a screwdriver – and no, he wasn’t kidding! The man used a screwdriver as the key to get into his vehicle and didn’t see a problem with it.

All-Service Entrance

While we don’t have a picture of the customer this mechanic encounter centers on (and, for her sake, it’s probably a good thing), we can just imagine the look on her face upon leaving the shop. See, she thought that the gas tank hold was the place where you put all the vehicle’s fluids – antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, etc.

Needless to say, when the car was taken in for servicing because it was sputtering and wouldn’t move, the mechanic was shocked at what he found. Pounds of dirty sludge sloshed from the engine, and immediately, he knew what the problem was.

Dirty, Dirty Money

Sure, we all fantasize about finding absolute heaps of money. But what if you find it in the back of a rental car and looking like this? It’s not quite as crisp as it appeared in your dreams — and now the questions begin to arise.

Who on Earth acquired all this money, and more importantly, why were they dumb enough to leave it behind in the car they had been renting? We’d feel more than a bit skittish driving this; what if the other crime boss is out looking for them?