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Dealership Keeps Car For 10 Days, Quotes $19,000 For Repair. Then She Tries Fixing It Herself: 'I Just Kind Of Want To Rage'

'I cried inside.'

Dealership Keeps Car For 10 Days

Photo by: Unsplash.com

Stacy Fernandez

By: Stacy Fernandez

Feb 19, at 4:00pm ET

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Taking your car to a dealership is supposed to give you peace of mind. Surely the experts know more than you do, and fingers crossed, they don’t try to scam you.

But one woman ended up with an unimaginably high quote, a ten-day runaround, and a car she thought would be out of commission for weeks. That is, until she popped the hood herself.

What Happened At The Mechanic?

In a viral TikTok with more than 8,400 views, content creator Kristin (@steady_mommin_18) broke down an infuriating dealership experience.

She already had a hunch what was wrong with her car when she dropped it off at a shop that specializes in her specific type of car. But it was radio silence for ten days, and she had to call them to check if she was "still on their mind.” They finally called back with the news that her car was "kaput."

"I cried inside," Kristin says, "and brought the car back home."

The dealership's recommendation was to either drop $19,000 on a brand-new engine replacement or pay $8,500 for them to fix everything wrong with the car.

On top of that, the proposed engine swap would've been for a used one with 90,000 miles on it already. They also flagged bad cylinder leaks with zero diagnostic documentation to back it up.

"Where's it leaking to, bro? Where's it going?" she asked.

So, she took matters into her own hands. Kristin went through the list of things she already suspected the car needed—a new mass airflow sensor, upstream and downstream O₂ sensors, an alternator, a taillight, spark plugs, and coils—basically, a full tune-up. She also retaught the car its proper fuel-to-air ratio by tuning the idle. Total cost, including tools, was under $500.

The car runs great now, but Kristin already signed a lease in the meantime, convinced by the dealership's verdict that her vehicle was a lost cause. She'd even started drafting a Marketplace listing, calling it a mechanic special.

"I just kind of want to rage," she says, "but I know that that's unbecoming of a woman."

She's since drafted a formal complaint letter to the corporate higher-ups.

Diy Repairs On The Rise

DIY auto repair has been on the rise for years, and cost is almost always the driving factor.

A survey by CarParts.com found that about a third of DIYers save more than $1,000 a year by buying their own parts and doing their own repairs, and nearly half said they were doing more DIY work than they had in previous years.

Even among people whose financial situation improved, 94% said they'd still choose to DIY over taking their car to a shop.

More recently, a 2025 study cited by Auto Repair Focus found that 22% of drivers had serviced or repaired their own vehicle in the past two years, with that number climbing to nearly 40% among drivers aged 25 to 34.

With the cost-of-living squeeze still very much a reality, 60% of garages reported that more customers are struggling to pay for repairs, and one in four drivers has already delayed or skipped essential maintenance because of rising costs.

Part of what's making DIY car repair more accessible is AI. A report by Auto Express found that tools like ChatGPT are giving what it described as "shockingly good" advice on car repairs, helping everyday drivers diagnose problems and walk through fixes they might never have attempted before.

That said, experts caution that AI can also give people false confidence to tackle jobs well beyond their skill level, and one wrong move can turn a minor repair into a much bigger bill.

Commenters React

“You gotta write a detailed email with all the dates and diaries and times and who he called and copies of receipts and you got sent to the dealership sent to the state of Connecticut state that you live in Atty's office. Let them know,” a top comment read.

“I hate the dealership! they just want to sell you a new car then give you $500 for a trade in that they gonna sell for $10k,” a person said.

What do you think?

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Comments

“So you fired the parts cannon at it and one of them things fixed it lol,” another wrote.

Motor1 reached out to Kristin (@steady_mommin_18) for comment via TikTok direct message and comment. We will update this story if she responds.

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