Take 5 Worker Tells Driver To Cut The Wheel Before Pulling In. Instead They Hit The Gas. Now People Are Blaming The Worker

Going to the auto shop can be a stressful experience for a million different reasons.

Usually, this stress simply boils down to not knowing how much work your vehicle needs—and how much all that work will cost.

Heading to the shop in search of a simple fix, only to walk out with a litany of recommended repairs, is an unfortunately common experience. For example, one woman claimed that she entered an auto shop for a simple oil change, then left with a $6,000 repair estimate. Another woman shared a similar story: She entered the shop seeking an oil change, then was told that fixing her car would cost $10,000.

However, sometimes the anxiety of going to the mechanic stems not from the potential cost but from the shop itself, as a recent TikTok video shows.

What Went Wrong During This Repair Shop Visit?

In a video with over 53,000 views, TikTok user @tbanzzzz03 shows security camera footage from a Take 5 location.

At the start, things appear fairly normal. A customer is driving into the shop while a worker directs the driver over the pit.

Then, suddenly, the driver hits the gas. Rather than ending up directly over the pit, the driver has instead gone straight into it, sending the employee running away in a panic.

“Came for a 50$ oil change and got 375$ tow,” the TikToker writes in the video’s overlay text. The final frames of the video show the car partially sunk into the pit, with a brown liquid covering its front.

In a comment, the TikToker reveals that the vehicle in question not only did not get an oil change but also left with more problems than it had when it arrived. They also revealed that the video showed the driver’s second attempt at entering the shop.

“No oil change for him and still had to pay 300 plus for a tow and drove away leaking all kinds of fluids,” the TikToker writes.

Was The Employee In The Wrong?

Immediately, some commenters began blaming the worker in the video.

“Clear hand signals buddy,” wrote a user, seemingly implying the worker was not being sufficiently clear in his direction.

“Poor hand signals root cause,” offered another.

“Hand signals could’ve been better but even if they were this still would have happened,” countered a third. “People don’t understand that some people just genuinely don’t listen to your hand signals and do whatever tf they want.”

There were numerous other comments that supported the latter position, claiming that many drivers will simply ignore hand directions when entering a shop—often with disastrous consequences.

“I've been bumped and almost hit several times,” detailed a commenter. “People can't drive or follow simple instructions.”

“It’s actually insane. I will be screaming at them to turn and they just won’t or they will … turn the wrong way and I have to scream for them to stop before they go into the pit,” said a second.

What Should You Do When Entering An Oil Change Bay?

Watching this video, it’s easy to get a little anxious about your next visit to the shop. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to avoid the situation shown in this video.

Overall, the trick is to think slow and small. When approaching the bay, it’s best to try to line your car up as straight as possible in front of the bay. From there, a driver can simply follow the employee’s directions.

Most of the time, this will involve simply driving forward and stopping when directed. However, occasionally a worker will instruct the driver to turn to correct their position over the bay.

When this happens, the driver should move slowly and turn in small increments, constantly watching the employee to ensure the vehicle is correctly aligned. If the employee motions for the driver to turn, the driver should do so in small increments until the employee indicates that the ideal turn position has been reached.

If a driver is ever confused by an employee’s directions, they should simply roll down the window and ask for clarification. What they should not do, as the video shows, is put their foot on the gas.

Motor1 reached out to Take 5 via email and @tbanzzzz03 via TikTok direct message and comment. This story will be updated if they respond.