Customer Brings Car Into Shop. Then The Mechanic Pulls Something Shocking Out Of It: 'Car Surgery'

A shop full of mechanics is stunned to find that the problem with a customer’s vehicle is that they drove over an accessible parking sign.

TikTok creator Slim (@slim_s197) posted a video that shows the moment the mechanics unearthed the accessible parking sign with the pole still attached.

“You definitely cannot park there,” the on-screen text reads. “Customer states ‘bottom of car is falling out.’”

How Does Someone Drive Over A Parking Sign?

Commenters on the video are ruthless in their roasting of the customer who apparently did not notice driving over the sign.

“I have a few questions for the driver,” joked one viewer. 

A second person suggested the customer might be an older person. “I live in a heavily populated retirement city,” they wrote. “Can confirm … it’s scary out there.”

And a third person said, “When doing auto repair, a good mechanic will diagnose the situation by looking for obvious signs.”

Several mechanics also weighed in to say what they would do in the situation. “I’d be keeping that one,” wrote one technician.

A second viewer asked, “How did it get in the front skid plate like that? Was he doing 80 mph in reverse or something?” Slim didn’t confirm whether the theory is accurate, but liked the comment.

What Happens If You Run Over A Parking Sign?

According to ASFIR4x4, the skid plate in this clip is doing exactly what it was designed to do in acting as a barrier between the components near the bottom of the car and debris on the road.

It’s just that the engineers probably didn’t account for someone hitting a parking sign at full speed. Even if nothing else got damaged, the customer is going to at least need to replace that part. If the impact damaged another internal component, the bill would obviously go up.

Then, it really comes down to the legal liability. According to Progressive, the driver’s first job in this situation is to contact their local authorities to report any damage. If anyone is injured in the crash, call 911 and get help immediately.

If the driver maintained collision coverage through their insurance company, the damages may be covered under the policy. 

Of course, whether the driver files a claim will largely depend on their deductible and the repair costs. If the deductible exceeds the repair costs, the driver will end up paying out of pocket. Another determining factor is the driver’s previous driving history. If the driver already has filed several claims in the span of a few years, another at-fault accident might not be worth it.

In some cases, however, it might not actually be the driver’s fault. This video shows a street sign falling into a roadway, which is something that does happen. In that case, it’ll most likely be up to the driver to work with the local government to get the damages reimbursed.

Motor1 contacted Slim via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.