Mechanic dispels myth that all car owners will have once believed

A mechanic has dispelled a common myth about what happens when you ask to run a ‘full diagnostic’ on your car. 

If you’ve been driving for a while, you’ll be all too familiar with that feeling of dread that hits when something goes wrong.

When this happens, most of us will head straight to the auto shop to have a mechanic take a look at it and find out what’s wrong. 

While there you may have asked them to perform a ‘full diagnostic’ on the vehicle to get to the bottom of the problem.

A mechanic has revealed the truth about ‘full diagnostic’ tests

Now, if this has ever happened to you and you’ve gone away happy only for something else to break a little further down the line, you may have questioned why that wasn’t flagged during the ‘full diagnostic’. 

But a TikToker from Royal Auto Service in the US has explained why it doesn’t quite work like that. 

“Let’s say someone comes in with an ABS [anti-lock braking system] light and we figure out what happens with the ABS light, and then they say ‘did you find out what was wrong with the volume on the radio?’” he said in a clip shared on TikTok. 

The mechanic went on to say there’s no ‘magic box’ that can be plugged in to tell you ‘everything that’s wrong with the car’ and that type of check-up simply ‘doesn’t exist’. 

He pointed out that cars are constantly ‘being tested’ and can break

He jokingly added that if such a thing did exist, many in his profession would be out of a job. 

Going back to his example, he said if a customer did take their car in to have the ABS light problem fixed and then a week or so later the ‘check engine’ light came on, he would encourage them to come back in because if there’s ‘even the slightest chance’ it’s something he caused he’ll happily take care of it. 

But he was quick to stress that more often than not, the two things will be completely unrelated. 

@royaltyautoservice This is an important thing for clients and shops to keep in mind! #mechaniclife #mechanicsoftiktok #autorepair #automotive #cartok #repair #viral #fyp #foryou #stitch ♬ Pop beat BGM / long version(1283324) – nightbird_bgm

“You have to understand that these systems are constantly being tested and things break, things go bad,” he said. 

His best advice? Building up a good relationship with your mechanic or auto shop so you feel comfortable talking through issues like this.

This rebuild expert bought a Mercedes-Benz S-Class and then found a strange note left by a mechanic.

However, this mechanic chimp named Limbani is capable of changing brake pads but might be less talkative.

This guy isn’t the only mechanic happy to share some insider secrets – these mechanics previously revealed the common mistakes they’d never make with their own cars.

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