Customer brought in a 1992 Civic with 400k miles - the floor was held together with duct tape and hopes

Took off the old carpet and found 3 inches of rust dust underneath. Told the guy it would cost more than the car's worth to fix. He just nodded and said "figured that out when the passenger seat fell through last week." Anyone else get cars that should have been scrapped years ago?

2 comments

2 Comments

veraramirez6d ago

Oh boy, Barbara, you hit the nail on the head. I swear I'm starting to think my shop has a secret sign on the door that says "bring me your dying, your rusty, your huddled masses of junkers." Just last month a guy rolled in with a 1988 Dodge Colt that had the passenger door held on with a bungee cord. I popped the hood and the engine was so covered in oil and grime I half expected a family of raccoons to jump out. When I told him the timing belt was about to snap and the whole thing needed a rebuild, he looked at me like I'd just kicked his dog. Some folks get real attached to these piles of metal, I guess.

barbara_moore736d ago

Oh man, I had one just like that a few years back. Some guy brought in an old Ford Ranger with 350k miles that he wanted me to patch up the frame on. I crawled under it and the whole driver side frame rail was basically gone. Just orange dust and hope holding it together. I told him it was unsafe to even lift properly. He just shrugged and said "yeah, I figured when my buddy's foot went through the floorboard last winter." I ended up telling him to part it out and buy something else but he left grumpy. Some people get so attached to their junkers they can't see when it's time to let go. You ever have a customer get mad at you for telling them the truth about their car?