ROCKVILLE, Md. — Many of us love our cars. They are a great investment and a point of pride.
So when a Maryland man saw someone doing something not-so-cool with his Ford Focus, it was perhaps no surprise that millions of people reacted to his video.
If you’ve ever wondered if your mechanic is doing something to your car when you’re not looking, a TikTok video from Rique, aka @euqir78, might confirm your fears.
“He drove my car after I dropped it off for inspection. And they drove me to McDonald’s,” Rique says in the video, as a guy in a mechanic’s suit gets out with two bags full of food and a drink carrier loaded with drinks.
Rique had dropped off his Ford Focus for an inspection in Maryland that morning and then walked ten minutes to McDonald’s for breakfast. Soon after, he noticed his car pulling into the fast food parking lot and the guy walking in to place his order.
“What do I do?” he asks plaintively, as the mechanic loads McDonald’s through a crowd into Rique’s small car and drives off.
The video has now garnered 19 million views, 3 million likes and 68,000 comments.
“Oh shit, no,” one commenter wrote. “I’m buying an air tag just for that now. Track my car to make sure it doesn’t leave the lot. BOLD!”
Consumer advocates say the mechanic was wrong.
“There’s nothing here that says, ‘Take your cars to McDonald’s,'” said David Elswick, a certified mechanic with the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection, flipping through a copy of the state’s Inspection Manual. Maryland for authorized inspection shops.
Elswick says inspectors need to drive the car to make sure the odometer works, but the video was shocking. “There’s nothing in our state law that says it’s illegal to take a vehicle out for lunch. But it’s very inappropriate,” he said.
Rique is a baker at Capitol Hill gluten-free bakery Sweet Crimes and posted an update after his TikTok blew up.
“I saw my car at Mcdonald’s, so everyone wants an upgrade,” he says.
The mechanic, he says, admitted to using his car for breakfast. He says the guy hadn’t even started the inspection when he left with the car.
“I’m not upset about it. I’m not mad. I just wish I got a ride,” he says.
So what do you do if your car smells like fish fillet when you return it? Experts say it’s probably time to find a mechanic who’s more into fixing things than eating fast food.
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