Had a guy bring in a 2004 F-150 with a noise he described as 'a squirrel in a blender'

It was at my shop in Boise last Tuesday, and he was dead serious. He even made the sound for me. I put it on the lift, and it was just a totally shot idler pulley bearing, a $35 part. But the way he said it, with such genuine worry, cracked me up and also reminded me that customers often have no idea what they're hearing. They just know it's wrong. What's the funniest or weirdest description of a car noise you've ever gotten from a client?

4 comments

4 Comments

joel_clark372mo ago

Totally get that, had a lady swear her engine was "singing the song of its people" which was just a loose heat shield rattling.

kai4452mo ago

Mine just hums a sad tune about my bank account.

seth_shah1mo agoTop Commenter

Man, that's a great one. @kai445 is right, the noises always sing a sad money song. What did the guy's face look like when you told him it was just a cheap pulley?

iris9272mo ago

That heat shield rattle is more of a tinny chatter than a song, in my experience.