Another Wednesday, another dose of shop reality straight from the bay. If you’ve been riding with us on the “Customer Complaints” series, you already know what’s up: customers roll in with wild notes, half-finished stories, and cars that have clearly been through some things. We read the complaints out loud, dive in, diagnose, fix what we can, and roast the rest. Episode 4 of Season 3 keeps that energy high.
We started with a 2014 Chevy Malibu LT that came in with the usual suspects: trunk won’t pop, rear passenger window only cracks open (motor still spins), and a rear turn signal that the customer swears is out… even though it kinda works? Classic ground issue. the factory ground wire got pinched and cut in the trunk hinge from years of opening and closing. We ran a new ground straight to the actuator, lights came back, trunk behavior improved. Valve cover gasket was leaking oil like it owed someone money, but hey, priorities.
Then we got hit with a turbo diesel surprise. Car fires up sounding like a Freightliner at idle. Everyone in the shop loses it: “What the fxck is this turbo diesel?” Turns out the hood latches gave up a long time ago, so the owner’s brilliant fix was… Velcro. Full Velcro strips holding the hood down because “too much power.” That one became instant shop lore. No notes.
Next up was a front-end noise complaint... loud grinding or “rag pin” sound from the passenger side strut area, got worse after someone else touched the tires. We pulled it apart and found cheap aftermarket struts (the kind you order blind off the internet) sitting crooked. Spring was rubbing metal on one side because the perch was uneven. Motor mount was so worn it was physically smacking the bottom of the transmission, explaining the harsh shifts, the “won’t upshift unless I lift off the gas” drama, and the uphill/downhill hesitation. Rear main seal was leaking too, oil running down the bellhousing. This car had layers.
We had a Mazda 3 Touring whose AC blower just quit. Used to kick on automatically, now dead silent even when you hit the button. Gave it the classic shop therapy (percussive maintenance aka *smack*), it spun for a second, then nope. Blower motor toast. Easy call.
And the high-mile warrior of the episode: a 2015 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring with over 216,000 miles on the clock. Customer said the ride felt like the wheels were about to fall off over bumps, AC smelled like wet dog, idle was rough, and shifts were brutal, especially uphill or when you try to keep your foot in it. Almost everything was still original: sway bar end links shot, trans fluid looking like chocolate milk, rear main leak leaving oil trails. We spotted the telltale wet spots on the exhaust and pipes and knew exactly what we were dealing with.
The whole episode is packed with the usual: SpongeBob edits, random playlist jumps, “idiot sandwich” energy, and that one moment where we’re all just staring at something ridiculous going “what even is this?” We wrapped it the way we always do... Real talk about life, cars, and how sometimes you just gotta laugh through the mess.
If your daily driver (or weekend project) is giving you headaches, drop by the shop in Santa Fe Springs or hit the comments. We see it all, fix most of it, and film the good ones.
Full episode is live on the channel. Go watch before the next drop.
Revolutionizing the Way You Drive - One roast, one repair and.. One Velcro hood at a time?
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