Blog

As many drivers complain on TikTok, an honest mechanic is hard to find.

And it seems that TikToker Menjicar (@menjicar) is using this sad fact of life to his advantage — and actually as a means of promoting his own services.

In a viral TikTok, the auto tech says he was able to save a customer nearly $1,000 after another shop tried to sell her a brand new part and service she didn’t need.

After running a diagnostic on the car, a 2020 Chevy Malibu, he determined that there was more than likely a problem with the car’s throttle valve. Instead of immediately ordering a new part and being told it would have to be replaced after receiving this error message, Menjikar decided to look at the car’s throttle body to see what the problem was.

As it turned out, all it needed was a cleaning.

“This woman went to another store and they were going to sell her a part she didn’t need. Luckily we fixed it for less!” he captioned the clip.

@menjicar This lady went to another store and they were going to sell her a part she didn’t need. Luckily we fixed it for less! #automotive #mechaniclife #carfix #chevymalibu #cars #autotech #mastertech #fixcar #toyota #ladyscammed #mechanicscams #shadymechanic ♬ original sound – Menjicar

“They were going to charge this woman $1,000 to fix that engine light,” he says. “Chevy Malibu, with 49,000 miles.”

He said it had something to do with the intake air flow and that they were going to sell her a whole throttle body kit.

“But let’s check it out,” he says, pushing the lever to open the hood, before the clip cuts to an image of the part the other dealer is trying to sell her, which retails for $321.06.

“Let’s see… this thing, look how dirty it is,” he points to the part in question and tackles the vehicle.

After cleaning the part, he put it back together. “Brand new. Put it back in, obviously,” he says, putting the throttle back into the woman’s Chevy Malibu. “Put the pipe back in,” he snaps the extra piece into the vehicle.

“Now, when we mess with the throttle body, you always have to reset it, right here, throttle body reset, because if you don’t do that, then the car won’t run right,” he explains. “Click reset and just like that we’re done. Check that the check engine light is now off and the car is idling smoothly.

It then goes to another screen that shows the pricing structure from the other auto shop.

“That’s what they were going to charge her, right there,” he says, pointing to the $1,052.99 figure for the 2020 Chevy Malibu.

“And here’s how much we’re going to charge her,” the man says, showing a new screen that reads simply: “Labor – $100 CLEAN THROTTLE BODY.”

Viewers weigh in

People who responded to his video praised Menjikar for his work.

“Honest and hard working mechanics like you are hard to find!” one person wrote.

Someone else said they ended up having the same problem and were charged a similar price by a Chevy dealership. “Dang had the same problem and paid $1000 with the Chevy dealership, I wish I had seen this video sooner,” they wrote.

Others wanted to know if resetting the throttle response was even necessary, speculating that the car would basically readjust itself.

“Will the throttle self-learn if driven a few miles if you don’t have a scan tool to reset?” asked one.

While Menjicar states that this can happen, it’s almost always better to just reset manually.

Another user said they just couldn’t figure out why in the world the first dealer the customer went to didn’t look at the part first and then try to clean it.

“QUESTION why didn’t they clean it first? I just don’t understand why they didn’t just clean it up???” they asked.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Chevrolet and Menjicar by email for further comment.

The internet is chaotic, but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the web straight to your inbox.