Pro mechanics: Ever turn away a car for being too dirty?

[Eagle Kammback]

Just curious. Ever had to do that? How'd the owner respond?

[SuperBuickGuy]

as an attorney who has a good friend who owns a shop... yes he has... they responded by leaving

[Monster]

If a bike was too dirty to work on, I would tell the client that it was disrespectful to our technicians and suggested they take it to a nearby self-wash spray stall to clean it off first. Most people complied and we serviced their bikes. Some refused and left. We stayed busy with a backlog of work regardless.

[Tubbed Pacecar]

When I was still in high school, I did a stint in a GM Dealer's body shop through the HS's Work Experience program. A customer brought in a car to have the quarter panel repaired......and when the bodyman opened the trunk, he started dry heaving!! The dropdowns behind the wheelwells, and the trunk floor were covered in a DEEP layer of kitty litter.....and just for a little seasoning, a few used diapers! When he went to the shop manager, he was told to "Deal with it". so he had to go out back and shovel it out to get access to the damage.
And, adding to the irony, the owner was a Real Estate Agent, and actually took people out to view houses in this car?????

That was the nastiest thing I saw in all my years in the trade. The oilfield rental crewcabs were nothing after seeing this car!!

[DanStokes]

We'd get trade-ins with crap up to the window sills and just a notch behind the wheel for the driver. Me and Milty (or wonderful mentally-challenged porter) would pull them up to the garbage cans (this was pre-dumpster) and start tossing. You never knew WHAT would be in those cars. There were maybe 2 or 3 of those in my years of working there but they were memorable. No, we couldn't turn them away because the boss now owned them.

I also worked for a friend with a foreign car repair shop and we got inn a "cat car" - shredded cat parts from starting the car with a cat under the hood. At least, we think it was a cat but you couldn't be sure. We had a pressure washer and that fixed most of it pretty well and the customer was billed accordingly.

Dan

[brotherGood]

I know when I was in sales, I hated some of the cars I'd have to drive around for an appraisal. I had one lady flat out tell me her car had never been smoked in..yet when I get in there there were 2 cigarettes lit, and the black interior had burns and looked more like salt and pepper

[1badmonkey]

ive asked customers to go wash cars off before. it is what it is. lots of gravel travel vehicles in this area....

[74NovaMan]

When we were building the mustang, the alignment shop didn't want to work on because it was too nice. We took it elsewhere.

[Deaf Bob]

Needed a car for an indoor show, was offered a 65 Coupe de Ville... It had liquor bottles from the floor to the seats.and one rubber boot that stank.. Boot? Spitoon.. Since my exhaust those days were a foot long pointing under the car, every time I fired it up, it stank of chew.. Washed it out 4-5 times, still stank, trunk was full of sex toys and magazines! Grossest car ever!

[DanStokes]

Were the toys fun?? Asking for a friend.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

Went into a burn pile...