A woman shared a short anecdote that is either funny or depressing depending on how attached you are to your car. Her mechanic did the work, then told her to never come back.

“Y’all last time I took my car to get an oil change, the mechanic came out and handed me the keys and was like, ‘Yeah, oil change is done, we’re just going to ask that you don’t bring this car back here again,’” Tik Toker Diamond (@diamondpostedthat) says.

It’s not every day your mechanic tells you, kindly but firmly, “Let’s not do this again.”

When they do, it can feel a little embarrassing. Imagine standing there with your keys, eyeing your vehicle, and contemplating where things went wrong.

Why Would a Mechanic Just Say No?

It’s rare but not unheard of for a mechanic to declare a vehicle beyond repair.

People in the comments had a few guesses on potential scenarios that might lead Diamond’s mechanic to decline to work on her car in the future.

It could be that the ride hit a point where repairs were starting to feel a little like CPR. The mechanic might have done their best already, only to see the same problems return with a few new ones tagging along.

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“It might mean that some part of this car is in need of dire service/replacement, and if you deny the work and crash, they might be held liable because they saw it and didn’t fix it,” a commenter called @magical~Ms.Nat replied to Diamond’s post.

There’s the possibility that things between Diamond and the shop haven’t gone smoothly. People have disagreements over timing, pricing, or results all the time, perhaps particularly with cars.

It’s also conceivable that Diamond’s car is just a tough case. Some vehicles are known for being hard to work on. Some require rare parts. Some have high-maintenance systems. Some feature technology that requires special training.

“Is it a car that has the oil filter in a place that you have to remove a tire to get to?” one person wondered. “Awkward placement of parts is a real thing.”

If the shop isn’t equipped for that kind of work, they might bow out.

Others wondered if Diamond has been diligent about keeping her car in good condition.

A commenter named Sam suggested her oil was either really dirty or she hasn’t been getting it checked over frequently enough.

Diamond replied that she gets it checked annually and changes the oil when it reaches the mileage on the sticker mechanics use to let you know when to change it.

She also says she routinely checks the oil level.

“I do check it myself, I had the oil pan repaired last summer, but it’s been ‘burning oil’ so I’ve been keeping an eye on it,” Diamond wrote in the comments. “The only other thing he said is it’s leaking from ‘everywhere.’”

Many agree that if your mechanic says, “don’t bring it back” to you, they are most likely giving you a nudge.

Mechanics see a lot of cars—and they know when one’s on its way to the proverbial glue factory. Rather than keep charging you for a series of expensive patch jobs, they may be telling you that it’s time to think about something newer, healthier, and less inclined to send you to the repair shop every couple of hundred miles.

One TikToker said they had experienced a similar form of rejection.

“I told my mechanic I was moving and he said he’d miss me, but not my car,” user1386517841873 replied with a laugh-cry emoji.

Motor1 contacted Diamond via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds.

 
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