Do you trust your mechanic?

Think twice before paying for those new tires: 12 car scams revealed

Credit: Chad Kirchoff

In our modern world, where specialization is the norm and nobody is required to know about everything, we enlist the services of different people for all of the things that we don’t know how to do ourselves. Unless you are a mechanic or know quite a bit about the subject, fixing your vehicle is a task you delegate to more competent hands. As with everything in life, most of the mechanics out there are decent folks. But there’s always a rotten apple looking to scam innocent customers with fake repairs. Take a look at the following 12 possible examples. Have you witnessed any of these?

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Many mechanics say that a car needs to have its oil changed every 3,000 miles. While this is true for some vehicles, most modern ones can often go much longer — up to around 7,500 miles — without an oil change. What matters is what the manufacturer recommends and what the dipstick color indicates.

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While most modern cars certainly call for a four-wheel alignment, some mechanics will try to charge you for all four wheels even when they only do two of them. If, for example, the rear wheels haven’t been adjusted, this isn’t true.

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A fuel system service might be required sometimes. But it often happens that a mechanic will charge a customer somewhere between $249 to $449 for adding some fuel injector cleaner to the fuel tank, which can be accomplished by going to any store and buying a bottle for $10.

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Many mechanics will try to get their customers to buy new tires, even if the old ones are just fine. Tires below 5mm of tread don’t necessarily need to be replaced right away, since the tread is there to remove water. Hence, if the driver is careful enough and drives slower in the rain, he or she can get many more miles out of the tire.

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It goes without saying, that having reliable brakes is essential to ensuring a safe ride. But if a customer is being told that he or she needs them the moment they’re below 3mm, that purchase can be delayed for a little while longer, provided that the car is driven with care.

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A transmission fluid flush can be necessary at times, but it might not be as often as the mechanic claims. The customer should find out why the mechanic is suggesting it before actually doing it. A fluid and oil filter change might be enough.

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Since we are on the subject of flushing, if a mechanic tells you it’s time to flush your power steering fluid, consider getting a second opinion. Some mechanics say that the smell or color of the power steering fluid is how they’re able to tell it needs to be replaced, but commonly, it only needs to be flushed once or twice during the lifetime of the car.

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Yes, there are some advantages to using synthetic oil, but not every car calls for it. This can be checked in the owner’s manual. However, some mechanics might try to sell a customer on synthetic oil, simply because it is typically more expensive.

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If a vehicle is relatively new or it has recently had its coolant flushed, chances are there is no need to have it replaced again. Coolant doesn’t wear like oil does and only needs to be replaced maybe once or twice during the car’s lifetime.

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Some mechanics will prefer to get their money faster, from the customer, instead of getting it from the insurer, and to achieve this, they will say that a certain repair is not covered by the warranty when it is. The standard warranty covers both labor and parts, so make sure to check this with the insurer.

Credit: Tim Mossholder

It has been reported that some unscrupulous mechanics keep dirty air filters on hand to pass off to customers to get them to pay for a new one.

To prevent falling for this type of scam, customers should know the filter on their car and find out how often it needs to be replaced.

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This statement is sometimes uttered by mechanics looking to scare a customer, to make him or her pay for unneeded repairs. The truth is, these kinds of remarks should be taken with a grain of salt and a second opinion is advisable.

Who were they?

Who was Pollyana? These 12 words derive from fictional characters

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Giants, dreamers, and even a few villains: They all hide behind a handful of words that sprinkle our vocabulary even today. Who knew that in the 21st century we would still be using nods at heroes from Persian folktales or commedia dell’arte? In this list, we’ll explore 12 words that sprang from the pages of novels, plays, and myths because, first and foremost, they were fictional characters. Let’s dive in!

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Ever heard of R.U.R.? Rossum's Universal Robots is the play that gave us "robot." Written by Karel Čapek in 1920, it features mechanical beings called roboti designed to serve humans.

Čapek borrowed the term from the Czech word robota, meaning "forced labor." In the play, these robots rebel, causing global chaos. Čapek’s vision was groundbreaking and already cautionary.

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A serendipitous twist is one that is fortunate, delightful, and more importantly, unexpected, like discovering a $20 bill in an old coat. That rare word derives from The Three Princes of Serendip, a Persian fairy tale.

Serendip was an old name for Sri Lanka. In the tale, these princes were known for stumbling upon discoveries by chance. In 1754, Horace Walpole coined the term to describe their knack for happy accidents.

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Meet the ogre. This word stomped into our vocabulary thanks to Charles Perrault’s fairy tales, especially Puss in Boots. In the story, an ogre is a man-eating giant who can shapeshift.

Perrault likely borrowed the term from the Italian orco (meaning "demon") or Latin Orcus, a god of the underworld. Today, "ogre" describes anyone brutish or cruel—despite how popular or celebrated the ogre Shrek may have become.

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Are you annoyed when people misuse words? Enter Mrs. Malaprop. She’s the star of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play The Rivals. Known for hilariously mangling words, she’d say "pineapple" instead of "pinnacle," or "allegory" for "alligator."

Sheridan named her after the French phrase mal à propos ("inappropriate"). Her blunders gave us "malapropism," any unintentional—and funny—word substitution.

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The word "meander" comes from the Meander River in ancient Greece. Known for its winding path, it became a metaphor for aimless wandering. In mythology, Meander or Maiandros was the patron and deity who guarded this river.

Literature popularized the term, using it to describe any unpredictable journey or anecdote—or someone’s long-winded speech.

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You may remember the story of Pollyanna, the cheerful orphan from Eleanor H. Porter’s 1913 novel. She was the one who played the "glad game": Her goal was to find silver linings in every situation.

Her signature optimism was so relentless that "Pollyanna" became a tag for someone unrealistically cheerful, and maybe a bit naive.

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The word "zany" gestated in commedia dell’arte, a 16th-century Italian theater tradition. In these plays, zanni (a Venetian form of "Giovanni") were clownish servants who provided comic relief.

Over time, "zany" came to describe anyone too jokey or clownish. Think of the class clown you best remember, or that friend who’s always pulling pranks. They’re the modern-day zanni, keeping the audience entertained.

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Remember Ebenezer Scrooge? The miserly lead of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is the poster child for penny-pinching and holiday grumpiness.

He was redeemed at the end of his story, but that didn't stop English speakers from using his name as a label for someone often reluctant to share. Dickens likely drew the name from the archaic word "scrouge," meaning to squeeze or press. That’s fitting for a man who hoards every penny.

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Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein gave us not only a groundbreaking sci-fi tale but also a word that’s often misused.

The creature, assembled from body parts and brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, is frequently called "Frankenstein," though that’s technically the scientist’s name. The term now describes any jumbled creation or one that spirals out of control.

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Kind one moment, cruel the next. Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde introduced us to a man with two personalities: the respectable Dr. Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego, Mr. Hyde.

The story explores the duality of human nature. Today we still use "Jekyll and Hyde" to describe anyone with a split personality.

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Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote gave us the word "quixotic." It describes someone who’s idealistic to the point of impracticality.

The novel’s hero, Don Quixote, tilts at windmills, mistaking them for giants. His name comes from the Spanish quijote, meaning "thigh armor."

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Gargantua was a giant with an equally massive hunger. He was introduced in François Rabelais’ 16th-century series of satirical novels, Gargantua and Pantagruel.

The name, derived from the Spanish garganta (meaning "throat"), was a nod at the creature’s appetite. Over time, "gargantuan" came to describe anything enormous.

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Svengali was a sinister hypnotist. In George du Maurier’s 1894 novel Trilby, he used his knack to manipulate the titular character into becoming a singing sensation.

The author invented the word "svengali" for this character and the novel popularized the term. It has since come to describe anyone who controls another, usually with evil intentions.