Keeping your car in premium condition is a noble goal, but it isn’t always easy. Things can get a little cluttered, scratches can add up, and rust can build up, but that’s understandable. There are some people, however, who let things get out of hand.
Strange Things Mechanics Discovered While Tuning Up Cars
Join us as we take a look at some of the craziest things mechanics found while tuning up vehicles. Some of them are so shocking, that they’ll leave you wondering.
A Dangerous Accessory
This is a cool idea, and it isn’t illegal on its own, but it does raise suspicions about what it’s being used for. It’s a bottle opener as a door handle!
A Dangerous Accessory
Immediately we think this person must be cracking cold brews while driving, which is very dangerous, but they could be opening ice-cold sodas too. Who knows. We just hope the door locks properly, otherwise, it could fly right open when a drink is opened.
Airbag? Air Sad…
Oh boy, we certainly hope this is a joke and not an attempt to use weak plastic bags as a replacement for airbags. Airbags are super strong, and as they expand, they protect riders. These would even protect the steering wheel from some light rain.
Airbag Air Sad
We understand that airbags are expensive, but these are certainly no replacement. Hopefully, they drive safely. Although no matter how safe, we would not want a ride, that’s for sure.
A Quick Fix
This is certainly an odd one. We know people do some impressive things with duct tape, but we’ve never seen someone reinforce a tire with it. This lady is certainly proud of her achievement, but we’re left to wonder how effective this actually was.
A Quick Fix
Tires are made of rubber because they’re durable, and most importantly provide traction. A duct tape tire is likely to slide on anything but a flat surface and forget about breaking.
A Side Mirror
Fixing issues on a car can be a very costly business, which is why some people opt for a little DIY. In this case, someone replaced a broken side mirror with a hand mirror.
A Side Mirror
It mostly works, but car mirrors have a bubble shape to provide a wider view, while hand mirrors often condense images for finer detail. It might do for now, but it’s important to remember things will be farther than they appear.
A Bundle Of Metal
Every transmission has a magnet in it to collect bits of metal. That’s why transmissions should be maintained, and the magnet cleared. This person obviously hasn’t had it done in a while, because the magnet is so cluttered with metal that it looks like a sea urchin!
A Bundle Of Metal
Luckily they brought their car in when they did, or they could have had a serious problem. This could have seen the car fail at a bad time.
A Costly Mistake
This mess-up isn’t the car owner’s fault. It’s actually the fault of one of the mechanics. It appears that someone left some rags in the engine while working on the gaskets.
A Costly Mistake
They didn’t check for blockages before firing the engine up, and so the pistons chewed through the rags. In the end, the entire engine had to be replaced. A very costly mistake. At least the shop might be able to salvage the engine later.
A Built-In Moth Cage
This is a strange place for a caterpillar to decide to settle down and turn into a moth. It may be difficult to see, but if you focus, you can see it trapped inside of the car.
A Built In Moth Cage
Fun fact: Moths use the moon to navigate, and so when they see a light they mistake it for the moon and try and keep it on one side of themselves, which leads to them flying in circles.
Always Get Your Oil Changed
Most people take their car into the shop to get the oil changed. It’s not just about changing the oil, it’s about changing the oil filter too.
Always Get Your Oil Changed
The filter is there to keep debris out of the car, and to hold the oil in place. As you can see, the filter on the right is barely visible. There’s so much old oil stuck to it it’s been pressed smooth. We wonder how old it is.
A Well Scented Environment
Black ice is one of the biggest dangers on the road. It’s a layer of frost so thin it’s nearly invisible, but it can still cause cars to slide and crash. It also appears to be the name of this air freshener.
A Well Scented Environment
A minty blackberry scent, which must smell great. It appears this driver has trouble letting go though because instead of replacing the freshener, they just slap another one on. A potential vision hazard.
A Rough Entrance
This must have been an emergency, seeing as the person driving simply couldn’t wait to get into the auto shop. We’re not sure what was wrong with it, but now the problem is slightly bigger.
A Rough Entrance
We hope the driver had insurance, but we can’t be sure. If they don’t have insurance, they’ll certainly be paying a premium for it after this accident is reported. Although maybe it wasn’t their fault. Maybe they hit some ice.
Uber Bleats
Usually, farm animals get carted around in trucks, or they simply have to walk from pasture to enclosure, but this lucky sheep got a lift in a car and got to ride shotgun on top of it.
Uber Bleats
Now, this isn’t exactly practical, but they say that the comfort of a sheep can improve the quality of the wool. Maybe this farmer is aiming for the luxury market, so they can recoup the cost of gas.
We Hope You’re Insured
Something dangerous must have happened here. It looks like someone confused a race track with a shooting range. We hope the driver was okay, and we certainly hope they had insurance.
We Hope You Re Insured
There is obviously an investigation underway, just look at the yellow outlines around the bullet holes. Those are markings made by investigating officers. According to the person who posted this, it was a rental. Ouch. This is definitely going to hurt someone’s bank balance.
A Dedicated Mechanic’s Assistant
With a quick scan, everything appears to be in order, but look closer and you’ll see that there’s a fuzzy little dog in the engine. Animals often like climbing into cars, but it’s normally cats that do so.
A Dedicated Mechanics Assistant
We can only assume that this little pup is a dedicated mechanic’s assistant, or perhaps it’s playing a game of hide and seek. If so, it made a noble effort, but we found it. Nice try, though.
Another Canine Mechanic
We take back what we said about it normally being cats hiding in cars. It appears that there’s a trend of dogs doing so too. The last dog was small at least, but this great big pooch is certainly on the big side.
Another Canine Mechanic
We can only assume they crawled up under the car. They look a little disappointed. We’re not sure if this is because they’re stuck, or because they didn’t want to be found.
Road Killer
In forestry regions, one of the biggest hazards on the road is wild animals. In this photo we can see that a moose was hit by a car, destroying them both. It’s quite sad, and you can’t blame the animals.
Road Killer
Humans did pave roads through their homes after all. Take this as a lesson to always drive carefully. Just because there’s a very high-speed limit, doesn’t mean you should just floor it through the forest.
A Fruity Situation
This may look like someone’s idea of a prank, but the truth is so much more ridiculous. This photo is from a roadblock. After asking the driver to step out of the vehicle, officers began to search it.
A Fruity Situation
They didn’t have to search long, because they quickly found a near-ton of stolen oranges. The driver was in a hurry, and the officer had a good chuckle when they learned why. Better luck next time, buddy.
Feeling The Breeze
Dogs are famous for sticking their heads out of car windows so they can catch the breeze. Well, it appears that this canine had other ideas. It appears to be in the trunk of the car, and it’s sticking its head out through the gas port.
Feeling The Breeze
This car doesn’t seem road worthy, so we hope that it’s just being used as a doggy jungle gym, rather than anything else. That’s certainly a very happy-looking dog.
Caught Up In The Rat Race
It’s important to keep a car in tip-top condition. Not just in terms of the engine and other workings, but in terms of keeping the vehicle clean too.
Caught Up In The Rat Race
We can only assume that this car owner wasn’t doing that, and when they finally got the car cleaned, a little rodent that had taken up residence in the radiator decided to rear its head and find out what all the raucous is. A full home cleaning.
A Spacious Squirrel Bedroom
Speaking of rodents taking up residence in cars, these little squirrels seem to have found the perfect pad inside this old car’s engine.
A Spacious Squirrel Bedroom
You can tell by the wear and the leaves that this car hasn’t been used for some time, and so at the very least it serves the squirrels as a little cute and spacious home now. We wouldn’t want to wake these little guys up, so we appreciate the photographer’s great care.
Built-In Ashtray
Frequently smoking in a car can really destroy its value, but if you’re going to smoke, the least you could do is keep things clean. That’s why you should learn from this driver and not do what they did.
Built In Ashtray
This car is chock full of cigarettes. There must be hundreds of them. Often litter has a way of piling up, and then people stop caring and it snowballs from there. We dread the awful smell.
Totally Trashed
This seems like a bad idea. This car is laden with trash. There is so much trash that if you look at the back of the car, you can see that it’s sinking under all of the weight.
Totally Trashed
We’re not sure if this was a revenge prank, or if this person is an entrepreneur who is working with what they have to operate a trash removal service. Either way, it’s time to visit the dump.
My Cabbages!
It appears that this driver isn’t taking any chances. According to the Redditor who posted this, NHYetiMonster, when the Covid pandemic began, while everyone was stocking up on toilet paper, they were stocking up on cabbages.
My Cabbages
Now cabbages are a versatile and healthy vegetable to be sure, but they don’t keep for too long. We hope that as the actual Yeti, this person was in a very cold environment to keep these crisp cabbages fresh.
Driving On Egg Shells
Just looking at this puts us on edge. These tires are very old and have started swelling. What’s happened is that the user hasn’t replaced them in years, and so they just keep pumping more air into them to save money.
Driving On Egg Shells
Sometime soon these tires will burst, and then the owner will have far more expensive problems on their hands. If you see a vehicle like this, it would be wise to stay well clear.
A Secret Passenger
While some of the animals we’ve seen have been living in unused cars, this one has taken up residence in a vehicle that is used every day.
A Secret Passenger
As you can see, this possum is living in this car’s hood, and the car is in an auto shop which means the owner brought it in. We’re not sure how the mechanics dealt with this one, it probably isn’t in their training handbook. What an odd image.
Burning Rubber
Burning rubber is an expression that refers to driving so fast that the rubber on the tire heats up and melts. This time it’s a little more literal. These photos are out of Australia, where it gets so hot, that the tires can actually melt.
Burning Rubber
If you ever find yourself in that area of the world, it’d be a good idea to always look for some indoor parking. Certainly isn’t as pricey as new tires.
House Part Aftermath
In this photo, we don’t see any little critters, but there is evidence of them having been here, and had quite a fun time by the look of things. If you look at the photo, you’ll see that the underside of the hood has been torn up.
House Part Aftermath
It’s most likely that this was done by squirrels, a possum, or even some rats. It might be rough, but at least the engine is in good condition.
Caught In The Act
Usually, wild animals are just found in cars, but in this case, the owner caught one on its way in. They came across a snake that was slithering its way into the wheel well.
Caught In The Act
They’re either brave or very familiar with snakes because they just grabbed it and started pulling it out. Maybe it’s a common occurrence. We don’t recommend trying this yourself. Snakes are extremely dangerous and should only ever be handled by professionals.
Over Capacity
It appears that we have another farmer interested in luxury sheep transport. Instead of one sheep this time, however, it’s a whole bundle of them crammed into a small car.
Over Capacity
We can only assume that someone bought a few sheep, and needed to get them delivered quickly. While this might be a handy solution, the car is sure to need a wash later. But hey, at least it must have been a really plush ride.
A Squirrelly Storehouse
Squirrels like to stash all types of things away to keep them going during the winter. Normally they keep their stash in a tree, but these modern squirrels decided that a car could hold way more pine cones.
A Squirrelly Storehouse
If the car tried to drive, this could lead to overheating or even a fire, so the owner will have to pick all of these out. They’ll also need to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again.
Old And Ancient Pasta
People often eat in their cars. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s important to make sure that you clean up after yourself, otherwise, this could happen. We’re not sure exactly what this is, but it’s either some old pasta or even some french fries.
Old And Ancient Pasta
You can see that they’ve been left so long that they’re started to go moldy. We wonder if the mechanics charged extra for the trouble. We certainly would do so.
A Mouse Nursery
There appears to be no end to the amount of uses animals can have for a car. We’ve already seen critters using them as houses and food stores, but here we see a mouse using one as a nursery for its babies.
A Mouse Nursery
These ones have just been born, and so the mother has probably gone out in search of food. Maybe there’s another mouse running a baby store in another car. Would be handy.
Bug On A Windshield, Bird In A Radiator
Bugs often splatter on windshields. This is such a common issue that it’s decreased the insect population in some parts of the world. Unfortunately, birds aren’t safe either.
Bug On A Windshield Bird In A Radiator
Although it’s much rarer, here we see an example of a bird that was hit by a truck and got caught in the outlet at the front. It’s sad to see such a noble creature like this. Luckily this isn’t as common an occurrence as bug splats.
A Mummified Frog
Take a close look at this photo and you’ll see that inside this car is a mummified frog. It appears to be near the brake pad, which can only mean it was ridden over and sucked up into the car.
A Mummified Frog
It looks like it’s been there for a couple of months at least. Quite a way for a frog to go. Not all creatures end up in cars willingly, and this just proves exactly that.
A Dangerous Guest
So far we’ve seen snakes, squirrels, possums, mice, and frogs, but nothing could prepare a car owner for an encounter like this. There is a small alligator in this car.
A Dangerous Guest
We can only assume this photo is from Florida. While the owner may have a problem on their hands, at least they know their car is safe from any thieves. This gives us an idea for an anti-theft business using dangerous animals. It might work…
A Big Bust
Look at all that cash. Whoever found this stash has certainly hit a jackpot, but unfortunately, it was probably short-lived. As you can see, this car has been impounded, and a police officer has had to tally the total amount.
A Big Bust
It’s likely that this car was being used to smuggle money across a border. We guess crime can pay, as long as those involved don’t end up getting caught. Maybe next time try using Bitcoin.
A Classic Accessory
These decorations go by many names, which we won’t repeat here. These items are a favorite of farmers everywhere, often colored to reflect the local sports team.
A Classic Accessory
This is certainly a strange place to hang them because they’re normally attached to the trailer hitch of trucks. That said, we guess that putting them here is anatomically correct. If you want to try them out you could probably find them at a gas station for cheap.
We Have An Eely Bad Feeling About This
Okay, we are now convinced that there isn’t a single type of creature that won’t live in a car. In fact, even sea creatures will live in one if given the opportunity.
We Have An Eely Bad Feeling About This
This car was dumped in some water. After it was retrieved, the team discovered that it had been turned into a den of ells. This is really gross if you know what you’re looking at, but in a way, it’s also quite interesting.
Pretty But Poisonous
Check this out. It looks like some cool sort of fungus, or perhaps some coral, but in reality, it isn’t something so organic. Instead, this is what battery corrosion looks like.
Pretty But Poisonous
If batteries aren’t maintained, this can happen. If you see it, resist the urge to touch it, because it’s deadly poisonous. Rather, let a trained professional take care of it instead. Always be safe when dealing with such things, rather than end up sorry.
A Wrench In The Works
We’ve heard of a wrench in the works, which means something going wrong, but this is ridiculous. We’re not sure exactly what happened here, but this wrench has burst through the tire.
A Wrench In The Works
We can only assume a mechanic left it in by accident. When they went to pump the tire up, the pressure must have pushed it through into the spokes. This is certainly a costly mistake, and one somebody will have to pay for.
Holy Baby, Batman!
This one isn’t an accident for once, it’s just something cute a mechanic found. It’s a baby car seat that looks like Batman. It even holds a drink.
Holy Baby Batman
What’s cute about this is that it’s Batman’s responsibility to protect people, and that’s what this car seat is designed to do. It’s a perfect fit really, and we’re sure the children must love it. If we ever have a kid, we’ll be sure to get one.
Speared
This must have been one heck of a storm, and it shows the power of nature. Cars are strong. They might not make them like they used to, but they’re still solid. With the power of the wind picked this branch up and speared the car with it.
Speared
The branch actually went through the car’s body completely and even destroyed some of the engines. We hope they had weather insurance. Quite an image to behold.
A Visit From A Rabbit
We’re not done with critters in cars just yet. This time the uninvited guest of honor is a little rabbit. It’s snuck its way into this car and doesn’t it just look so sweet.
A Visit From A Rabbit
We’re glad this critter is alive at least, and we’re glad it’s been found. Most animals don’t understand that cars are dangerous, and so if left undiscovered they can get seriously injured, as we’ve already seen. Must be warm in there.
An Ice Maker
There’s nothing like an ice-cold drink on a hot summer’s day. The only probably is that ice goes quickly. Well if you’re this car owner, you can just make your own.
An Ice Maker
It’s hard to speculate as to what happened here, however, we guess that moisture collected in the car and froze. Over time as more moisture settled and froze, a ball of ice was formed. We wouldn’t actually want to put this in our drink.
Clowning Around
It’s easy to get distracted at work, and sometimes the solution is simply to play around a bit. That’s what these light-hearted mechanics did. They thought the engine block with all the parts looked a bit like a person, so they slapped some boots onto it.
Clowning Around
We must say, it’s quite a funny idea, and even we had to do a double-take at first. This could certainly work as some sort of modern art sculpture.
A Real Hively Time
How many squirrels can you fit in a car? A couple, but not too many. As we’ve seen the limit on sheep is about five. However, you can fit hundreds or even thousands of hornets!
A Real Hively Time
That’s what happened to this car. It’s been left to stand for so long it’s got a giant hornet’s nest in it. Good luck reclaiming that car. You’re better off just setting fire to it and saying goodbye for good.
An Interesting Perspective
Here we have someone who was inspired by the interior of their car and painted a picture of a dinosaur skeleton that can only be seen properly from the correct perspective.
An Interesting Perspective
It looks really cool, and it is based on the interior, with air vents being where the eyes should be and so on. We love dinosaurs, and are favorite are flyers. We can safely say that this person most certainly felt the same way.
A Serious Whippets Addiction
This care is filled with gas canisters of whippets. This might seem strange, but let us tell you a secret. Some people don’t use whippets the way they’re supposed to.
A Serious Whippets Addiction
Instead, they suck on the gas and use it to give themselves a headrush. It’s certainly unhealthy, but this person is obviously hoarding them for that purpose, or they’re selling them to others. We recommend staying far away from them for your health. Bad news.
The Littlest Guest
Turtles and tortoises grow to some insane sizes, but when they’re babies they’re incredibly small. It’s lucky for this little guy that someone was even able to find him.
The Littlest Guest
He’s quite dirty, so he must have been in that car for a whole, but luckily this mechanic was very thorough. Hopefully, he learns to stay out of cars, and they get him into some water soon, where he’ll be much better off. Cute little thing.
Something Doesn’t Seem Right Here
This is kind of smart. This person has used bottles, simple plastic bottles, to replace their headlights. Why would they do such a thing, you ask?
Something Doesnt Seem Right Here
Well, you can get a fine if you don’t have the proper lights, and so instead of leaving broken ones, they’ve replaced them with this quick fix. They’ll still get fined if spotted, however, this is a useful disguise for the moment. Better be quick with the repairs though.
Crunch Time
Oh, dear. This time the issue isn’t a rogue van, but an entire train car instead. We can only assume this train was left in the bay, and the person who was supposed to close the doors didn’t notice.
Crunch Time
They hit the button and all of a sudden there was a huge crunch. That’s got to be a couple of thousand dollars worth of damage. Being inattentive can be quite costly, can’t it? A painful one.
A Camouflaged Raccoon
Here we have another furry critter. This time it’s a raccoon, and we must say it’s probably the best camouflage creature of the bunch. Raccoons are gray and black which means they blend in perfectly with the engines of most cares.
A Camouflaged Raccoon
Although it’s quite warm in there, it certainly isn’t safe, and so hopefully they were able to get him out easily enough. Raccoons are wiley though and can put up quite a big fight.
How Did I Get Here?
Many people wake up at the wheel of a wrecked car wondering how they got there. It can be quite a shock. That’s what happened to this moose.
How Did I Get Here
We can only assume that it was hopping through the wilderness before slamming into the car. While it looks quite shocked, it looks fine otherwise and was probably on its way again soon after this photo was taken, frolicking through the forest with a story to tell.
The One Prophecised
Much early we said that cats are well known for sleeping in cars. We haven’t seen one yet, but finally, the time has arrived.
The One Prophecised
This cat looks really comfortable, but what surprises us about cats in cars is that they like being clean, while the inside of cars is very dirty. After a nap, this cat must have had a bath. We do hope the owners always make sure to clear it out before driving.
A Big Guest
We’ve seen a small snake slithering up into a car, but this time it’s an anaconda. It also must like the warmth of the engine, but good luck trying to get rid of it.
A Big Guest
We don’t know how it even got into the auto shop, to begin with, but this is certainly an incident that will require a professional to come in and get rid of it properly. This one creeps us out big time.
A Moving Snow Mountain
This car has an entire mountain of snow on it… or at least it appears that way. What’s really going on here is that someone has bundled items onto the car, and the snow has gathered on it to form what appears to be a giant snowball.
A Moving Snow Mountain
It’s naughty of us, but we would love to see what would happen if it went flying. How big would the splash of snow be? The ultimate snowball.
Molten Mags
Those wheels are hot, and we don’t mean they’re awesome, we mean they’re literally red hot. We can’t say what happened here, but it’s most likely that the breaks failed, leading to the wheels burning up like this.
Molten Mags
This car may be unusable after this, but at the very least it needs to be inspected, otherwise, there could be internal damage. If left unchecked, the wheels could crack up while driving, leading to an accident.
A Star Of Pure Ice
We’ve seen ice on cars before, but we have to say this is the coolest one. The ice has gathered on the wheel and formed a star-shaped icicle. It’s quite mesmerizing, and it doesn’t pose any danger, unlike many other things on this list.
A Star Of Pure Ice
In fact, we could see it catching on as a trend. Unfornteuly it’d have to come off in order to change the tires or the caps of the wheels. Very “cool.”
A Temporary Solution
This car is quite literally being held together with strings and tape… or rather cable ties and duct tape. We know that those are sturdy tools, but they’re not meant to hold pieces of a car together.
A Temporary Solution
Anyday know this car would fall apart, and so it’s a good thing it was brought into the mechanic shop. We do have to admire the ingenuity. It’s something MacGuver would have cooked up back in the day.
An Economic Solution
Well, this is certainly more practical than the car with bottles for lights. Instead of replacing the headlights of this car, this smart individual has rigged a bunch of flashlights up instead.
An Economic Solution
We’re not sure how effective this is, however, and it looks pretty creepy on top of that. It looks like something that would be right at home in a post-apocalyptic horror film. We will give it some points for being unique at least.
Are You Serious?
Here’s one last creature for you. We’ve seen squirrels, mice, possums, sheep, frogs, dogs, and cats. Now, the final one, an actual wolf.
Are You Serious
A dog we can at least understand as they’re a domestic pet, but we can’t imagine how a wolf might have gotten into a car. It looks like it’ll be quite a challenge to get out. Wolfs are not friendly like dogs are, and are likely to attack anyone who is helping.
Some Beach Vibes
This is a very interesting modification. Car seats are expensive and so this person replaced their old car seat with a beach chair. It must be quite comfortable, but we’re a bit sketchy on whether or not this is safe.
Some Beach Vibes
In the event of a crash, who knows how this thing might fold, and what damage it might cause to the person using it. It’s also likely they will be fined over safety code violations.
Pirates Of The “Car”ibbean
This is probably the most interesting modification. This person must really love pirates because instead of a normal steering wheel, they’ve got a small ship’s wheel.
Pirates Of The Car Ibbean
It looks really cool, but unfortunately, it’s yet another one that isn’t practical. When driving you need to have a firm grip on the steering wheel at a ten and two position. That simply isn’t possible with this ship’s wheel. Still, it is an amusing idea. Traffic lights ahoy!