It can be difficult to tell if a mechanic has rotated your tires. That procedure—which drivers are recommended to get done every six months—operates under the honor system.
However, mechanics in the United States are not well-trusted. According to a 2023 study from Consumer Reports, 78% of drivers are skeptical of mechanics. And only around 17% of respondents felt like they were always charged fairly for car repairs.
Many drivers have stories to validate their distrust. For example, one auto shop worker claims he was told to upsell customers on products they didn’t need. Another showed how a mechanic tried to charge a woman around $1,000 for a simple problem that only required a bit of cleaning to fix. An additional driver showed how she paid a mechanic over $1k to fix her car, only to have problems remain.
This is likely why a mechanic says he caught a customer using a trick to ensure their tires were rotated.
A method for making sure a mechanic does their job
Mechanic and TikTok user Damien (@gli_damien) shows a car tire within which someone has left initials. His video has 1.5 million views.
“Customer wrote on tires to make sure we rotated them,” the text overlaying the video reads. In the video itself, the mechanic looks skeptically at the camera.
“If you can’t trust your mechanic don’t bring your car to them,” he added in the caption.
@gli_damien If you can’t trust your mechanic don’t bring your car to them. #mechanic #technician #volkswagen ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) – Tommy Richman
The trick is tried-and-true
While Damien may not have seen this before, it is actually a fairly well-known piece of advice. For example, a Reddit thread from 7 years ago advised using small pieces of duct tape to see if the wheels have been rotated.
“Be sure to mark the actual tire or wheel, NOT the hubcap,” suggested a commenter in the thread. “Mechanics get yelled at when customer thinks their tires weren’t rotated when, in fact, they were. Source: am mechanic.”
“I’ve used a dry erase marker to number all the tires, then make a diagram on where I want the tires located when they are done and hand it to the tech. And they usually leave my numbers on my wheels so I know they do it,” offered another. “Then it wipes off.”
Damien responds
Although many of the original comments have been deleted, Damien insists that his video was meant in good humor.
“The fact that some of you make WILD assumptions based on a 5 second clip shows to your character,” he wrote in a comment. “I take pride in my work this was meant to be satire and help educate people.”
“I’m just saying it’s a little silly the way that it was gone about nothing wrong with ensuring but writing it on the wheel so you can’t see it without getting under the car completely is silly,” he added in another comment. “As far as alignments go usually they give you a sheet that has your specs on it. Oil change you can check the dip stick and make sure it looks new and fresh.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Damien via TikTok direct message.
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