Apex Tech Nation

A guy drops his Hellcat Jailbreak at a Dodge dealer for an oil change. He sits in the waiting room six hours. The car comes back on a trailer with the front end gone, airbags blown, mud on the wheels. An employee had taken it out and put it in a ditch. Then they offered to sell him a new one at sticker.

https://dodgeforum.com/articles/challenger-hellcat-jailbreak-is-wrecked-by-dealership-employee-on-joyride/?hl=en-US

Another oil change that went bad. Her transmission got drained, the engine got double filled, and the quote to fix it came back at $15,000.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLArsyFy/

A collision shop in Santa Clarita. One customer paid $20,000 and still didn’t have his truck a year and a half later. Another couple asked for their Tesla back and got hit with a $158,913 mechanics lien instead.

https://www.foxla.com/news/lawsuit-filed-against-santa-clarita-collision-center?hl=en-US

And one out of Baton Rouge. A customer showed up for his truck, found it still wasn’t fixed and his tools were gone out of it. The argument ended with the mechanic firing a shotgun, taking off the man’s finger and hitting two dogs in the kennels behind him.

https://www.wbrz.com/news/baton-rouge-mechanic-arrested-allegedly-shot-customer-and-two-dogs/

This week we brought on Marcus Swaney. 17 years in the bay, now a recruitment and training coordinator for a 14 store dealer group in Delaware. He finds techs, trains them, and keeps them. If you’re a tech in that area, reach out to him.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-swaney-ab930974/

Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.

New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong with your car.

She didn’t want to pay top dollar, so she used ChatGPT to pick a shop. Good reviews, been in business a long time. On a Friday night at 8:15, after hours, a technician took her car out and wrecked it nine miles away. The engine almost ended up in the passenger compartment.

Craig and I get into what that really was, why the shop owner almost certainly knew, and the three things she says every driver should do before handing over their keys. This is the kind of car problems and solutions story that should change how you pick a repair shop.

https://palipost.com/wrecked-on-palisades-drive-a-routine-repair-ends-with-a-totaled-vehicle/
https://youtu.be/x5PLTwOI9Fk?is=Miv7Fd9DoLPuEsn1

Then a woman who bought more Porsche than she can afford. Cracked windshield, lit up dash, and a $400 oil change she’s trying to get around by bringing her own oil to a quick lube. We talked about affordability last week and this is what it looks like in real life.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLSfsTVj/

Trump pardoned two auto workers on stage in Alaska who got five years probation and $66,000 in fines for deleting diesels. Craig makes the case most people miss on why guys do this in the first place.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pardons-auto-workers-alaska-rally-clean-air-act/

And a woman in North Dakota whose leased Jeep sat in a repair shop for nine months waiting on parts after a hit and run. She paid the lease the whole time, got no rental until the last two weeks, and lost about five grand. Her insurance says no, the dealer says no, Stellantis says no.

https://www.kxnet.com/news/top-stories/stellantis-denies-vehicle-compensation/

We finish with something that made us both laugh, for anybody out there thinking about becoming a technician.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLSfnBUQ/

Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.

New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong with your car.

A guy drops his brand new car off for a shift complaint. The shop asks if a technician can take it home overnight to catch it cold. Fifteen days later he picks it up with 700 more miles on it and no problem found. The car only had 8,400 miles on it when he dropped it off. This is the kind of car problems and solutions story that makes people never trust a shop again.https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAMechanic/s/oU62lcBHb1 Craig and I get into how many miles it actually takes to verify a complaint, why I almost refuse to drive a customer’s car, and the time a tech took one to a bar and got rear ended in the parking lot.Then two articles that both dropped this month. 66% of drivers say they can’t cover an unexpected $500 repair, a third are skipping oil changes over the cost, and over 30% of trade-ins are rolling negative equity into the next loan. People are now financing repairs on cars they’re already making payments on. I watched that trend start ten years ago in management and said it wouldn’t end well.https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/10/03/vehicle-repair-costs.html https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20261006fl64895/majority-of-us-drivers-report-they-cant-afford-an-unexpected-500-car-repair We finish on the best work truck under $30,000. I’m a GM guy, Craig says Ram, and neither of us is buying a Nissan.https://www.reddit.com/r/askcarguys/s/fkHlzkfnws Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong with your car.If you are a driver pickup your Dealer Service Advantage. Simple ways to save money and understand what you are dealing with from an insider. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHQ172QD?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallbackhttps://apextechnation.com/#automotive #technician #automotivetechnician #newcar #vehiclesales #newvehicle #techlife #techtips #viral #cartips #vehiclemaintenance #carowner #serviceadvisor #fixedops #automotiveindustry

A woman paid $3,850 for a transmission. The shop never touched it. They put an axle in the car, charged her for a unit they never ordered, and when she called crying about it the owner laughed. One of their own technicians recorded the whole thing. This is the worst example of car problems and solutions gone wrong I've seen in 25 years, and it should make anybody think twice about who they hand their keys to.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/07/28/customer-pays-3850-for-transmission-repair-months-later-the-mechanic-calls-claiming-he-never-touched-the-transmission-and-has-video/ 

Before that we get into a guy who cut the coolant fitting off a Tesla battery pack and spliced in a brass fitting from the hardware store. Craig and I explain what happens when coolant leaks inside a battery.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLJRfRtu/ 

Then a tech posts on r/askreddit that he's misdiagnosed five cars in a row and doesn't know what he's doing wrong. We get into automotive technician training, what the flow charts don't teach you, and why every one of us has been in that exact slump.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/QofWOp9teb 

And I take issue with a video going around saying the technician shortage comes down to guys lacking values and integrity. I've watched over a hundred good techs leave this industry in 25 years. That's not why they left. It's a shop problem, not a technician problem.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8ERU2K7/ 

Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.

New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong with your car.

A guy got his car back from the dealership, called the next day about a weird smell, got told it was probably nothing. Then it caught fire and blew the whole front end off. Craig and I get into what could actually cause an explosion like that.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8TxGSE4/

Before that, a technician took a sheriff's cruiser out for a drag race against a Challenger and somebody filmed the whole thing.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8TDRJnk/

Then there's a parking lot in Austin with somewhere between 40 and 100 mobile mechanics working out of it, right between an AutoZone and an Advance. We get into what that says about repair costs, and what happens legally when a wheel comes off a car somebody fixed in a parking lot.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8TAwXma/

We also read a reddit thread about why so many mechanics drive crap boxes, and I admit what I've got holding my own Impala together.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/G5ixaxFuYA

Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong with your car.https://apextechnation.com/#automotive #technician #automotivetechnician #newcar #vehiclesales #newvehicle #techlife #techtips #viral #cartips #vehiclemaintenance #carowner #serviceadvisor #fixedops #automotiveindustry

Ford just recalled over 220,000 F-150s because the straps holding the fuel tank can fail. Not a reprogram, not a software update. The tank can leak or come off the truck while you're driving it, and this is one of those car problems and solutions where the fix isn't the hard part, the recall completion rate is.https://autos.yahoo.com/safety-and-recalls/articles/ford-recalls-over-220-000-003300171.html?guccounter=1Then a service advisor with ten years in asks on r/askreddit how to actually get good at the job. I give the same answer I've given every advisor I've trained, and Craig admits he tried the job and was terrible at it.https://www.reddit.com/r/serviceadvisors/s/V7YdfJUOkVWe also get into the automotive technician shortage and whether it's the dealers, the OEMs, or the generation. Craig lines automotive up against every other trade and makes the case that on paper it's the worst one you could pick right now. Then a tech gets a 2.3 hour job paid at 0.8 by an extended warranty company and quits over it.https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/gRIumQfz9b Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong in this industry.https://apextechnation.com/#automotive #technician #automotivetechnician #newcar #vehiclesales #newvehicle #techlife #techtips #viral #cartips #vehiclemaintenance #carowner #serviceadvisor #fixedops #automotiveindustry

A flat rate EV tech posts on r/mechanics that he's gone from 55 hours a week to 40.3 since he started taking EV diag work, and he's ready to leave the industry. I've been the hybrid and EV guy my whole career on flat rate, and the thing I think is actually going to get somebody killed isn't the pay plan. It's something I caught myself doing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/UmazHCwFTA 

Then a woman finds a guy on Nextdoor to do control arms on her 2004 Highlander for $150 a corner. He keeps the car six days and hands it back with a metallic noise and a dash full of lights. Craig explains why a real shop quoted her what they did, and it's not what you'd think.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/s/ilGgeMia2N 

Last one, a service manager tells his techs that if they aren't coming in early and staying late they should never complain about hours. Guy flagged 55 for the week and still couldn't leave at three on a Saturday with nothing on the board. We read a shop owner's side of it too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/v1YyglKZft 

Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.

New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong in this industry.

A guy on r/askreddit finds out the dealer drained his wife's Kia during an oil pan replacement and poured the same used oil right back in. Two ASE Master Techs react, and it turns out that might be standard practice at some brands. https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanic/s/bwfTPfXvPv

Then a technician with ten years in goes flat rate for the first time and three weeks later he's talking about quitting for his own mental health. Craig went from flat rate to hourly and breaks down what actually changed. Anthony explains why the pay system has been studied for centuries under a different name and why it wears guys down even in good weeks. https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/VOyRJq1Jq0

A 21-year-old Toyota express tech asks whether he should wait nine to twelve months for a main shop spot or move on. Both guys land somewhere different on it.https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/zOtcRYWB7O

Then the news. Tesla launched the Cybercab with no steering wheel and no pedals. Uber cut ten percent of its workforce to fund autonomous vehicles. Anthony sat on those stories for three days and came back angrier than usual, and it's not about Tesla.

The technology is growing faster than the training and the support behind it, and nobody is closing that gap.Anthony Calhoun, 25+ years in fixed ops and ASE Master Tech. Craig Tomczyk, 19+ years ASE L1/L2 Master Tech and Heavy Duty Specialist.New episodes weekly. Car mechanic stories and interesting reddit stories from the shop floor, with honest answers about what actually goes wrong in this industry.

0:00 Intro

0:34 They put the used oil back in his engine

7:00 Three weeks on flat rate and he wants out

16:34 Stuck in express at 21

30:10 Tesla Cybercab and the Uber layoffs

37:34 Two cars from this week

https://apextechnation.com/#automotive #technician #automotivetechnician #newcar #vehiclesales #newvehicle #techlife #techtips #viral #cartips #vehiclemaintenance #carowner #serviceadvisor #fixedops #automotiveindustry

First up we look at the massive damage caused by neglecting g g preventative maintenance. What do vehicle owners do that destroy their vehicle?https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/wUIMipo3UR

Next we discuss the massive retention problem in the industry by reading a post from a recent diesel tech graduate. He is ready to quit because his dealership threw him to the wolves with zero training and he feels guilty bothering the flat rate technicians for help. https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanics/s/fNg1pOOyA5

Finally we review the terrifying aftermath of an almost fatal shop accident. A customer tried to stop an F150 that did not have brakes and flew straight into a service bay hitting two technicians and launching them ten feet into a tool cabinet. https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanic/s/VyyTtAHTqy

Chapters00:00 The 44 Year Master Tech Advantage00:58 The 10K Mile Oil Change Lie and Engine Sludge11:31 Thrown to the Wolves Why New Techs Are Quitting19:36 Shop Disaster An Almost Fatal Accident29:10

How to Submit Your Shop NightmareResources and LinksDownload the free Apex Tech Nation app featuring AI diagnostic tools trained by a master technician free ASE mock exams free courses and an unlocked content library at apextechnation.com

Got a crazy shop disaster or want to jump on the podcast? Fill out the submission form on the Apex Tech Nation podcast page. https://apextechnation.com/podcastHelp us fix the industry by taking the technician retention survey here https://apextechnation.com/voicesHit subscribe to join the nation and drop a comment below. What is the craziest thing you have ever seen a customer do in the lot?https://apextechnation.com/#automotive #technician #automotivetechnician #newcar #vehiclesales #newvehicle #techlife #techtips #viral #cartips #vehiclemaintenance #carowner #serviceadvisor #fixedops #automotiveindustry

Five Essential Tips for Car Buyers

Make informed decisions and save money on your next vehicle.

Navigating the car buying process can feel overwhelming, but with the right knowledge, you can make choices that save you money and hassle in the long run. Here are five essential tips to consider before purchasing your next vehicle.

1. Scrutinize the Addendum Sticker

When you're excited about a new car, it's easy to overlook the details in the paperwork. Take the time to go through the addendum sticker line by line. Dealerships often add optional charges that can inflate the final price. **Be mindful of what you’re signing** and ensure that every charge is necessary for you.

2. Understand Maintenance Costs

Buying a car isn't just about the purchase price; maintenance is a significant ongoing cost. **Budget for additional expenses** like oil changes, tire replacements, and other services that can add up. On average, set aside an extra $100 to $200 a month to cover maintenance after your purchase.

3. Consider Repair Costs

Newer vehicles come with high-tech features that can be costly to repair when they go wrong. For example, if a headlight assembly needs replacing, you could be looking at a **$2,000 bill** if the warranty has expired. Be aware of the potential repair costs before making your decision.

4. Be Cautious with Technology

While the latest gadgets and technology in cars might seem appealing, they can lead to expensive repairs. For instance, if your car's infotainment system fails, repairing or replacing it could cost you a small fortune. **Focus on what you truly need** rather than being swayed by flashy features that could become costly liabilities.

5. Remember, Your Car is a Liability

Finally, keep in mind that a car is not an investment—it's a liability. It depreciates in value and incurs ongoing costs. **Think critically about your purchase** and avoid overextending yourself financially for a vehicle that won’t impress anyone in the long run. Instead, consider a reliable, affordable option that meets your needs without breaking the bank.

These tips aim to empower you in making smarter car-buying decisions. For more insights and strategies, tune into the full episode of the Apex Tech Nations podcast, where we dive deeper into each topic and share additional advice to help you navigate the complexities of the automotive world.