This Is Why No One Wants to Work at Dealerships:' Mechanic Works on Audi With Nail in Tire. Then He Turns on the Computer

Motor1 ^ | 26 June 2025 | Chad Swiatecki

[DUMBGRUNT]

A simple flat tire on an Audi should be a 10-minute fix. But thanks to today's hyper-connected vehicle systems, a TikTok video showed how it turned into a half-hour ordeal involving fault scans, resets, and drive cycles—all because of a nail.

[MeanWestTexan]

“For ninety grand, it bloody well better be ..”

About $80K, all in. The expensive ones are completely kitted out with wench, snorkel, etc.

And sadly, that’s the price of a nice Ford pickup. Their comparable off-roader is $112,000 and it’s not nearly as tough.

[EVO X]

Yeah, that type of problem comes down to the tech on the shop floor and his own personal product knowledge and his keeping up with service bulletins.

I recently trades in a 16 year old sporty car. For about the first 8 years the service department was mostly intact. Sure people come and go from time to time. Then the dealership was purchased by a big regional auto dealership and within 6 months to a year everybody in the service department was gone. Since I had a low production sporty car, the tech reps were clueless and the new techs were pushing unneeded repairs to make some bank.

[packrat35]

Yes the truck was very large.

[HandyDandy]

There’s no substitute for experience. The new guys don’t know what they don’t know.

[Openurmind]

About the only thing I have seen with a bigger trunk was the Mercury Monterey. Had a 64 Montclair Breezeway and rebuilt it from the tires up. Looked just like this. That is what I do for entertainment in my retirement. I take Classics and rebuild them frame up and flip them. You could absolutely put a double mattress or six bales of hay in these... :)

I love those old boats... They were designed to ride nice even on washboard dirt roads. :)

[packrat35]

Oh my goodness, that is a big trunk.

[Openurmind]

Lol, I tested it, a double mattress really did fit in there. My father told me that they were popular with the college crew back in the days who had to “hippy camp” while they were going to school. :)

[EVO X]

Lack of experience happened to my dad. My mom lost her key FOB for one of the more popular luxury car brands. When the key FOB came in, there was no one at the dealership that knew how to pair it to the car. He had to drive to another dealership about 40 miles away to have it done.

[HandyDandy]

”When the key FOB came in, there was no one at the dealership that knew how to pair it to the car.

Inexcusable. How could they call themselves a Service Department? I was in auto service at the dealership level for 40 years. NEVER did we have to send a vehicle out to another dealership because we couldn’t fix it. We had pride in those days. Pride in our product knowledge. Our philosophy was, “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it!”

[linMcHlp]

Thank you for your good work.

[HandyDandy]

You are very very welcome. When I was young, my mother would always say, “you should have a trade to fall back on when times are bad.” I think she would then tell me that Winston Churchill always kept his brick-layers card. So I picked up auto repair. Before I knew it, it had become my profession. I loved every minute of it.

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[FreedomPoster]

>> The expensive ones are completely kitted out with wench, snorkel, etc

Wenches can be really, really expensive.

[EVO X]

Inexcusable. How could they call themselves a Service Department?

As I mentioned before, staff often make a quick exit when pay and benefits get cut. I find it hard to believe that there wasn't anybody at the dealership that could pair the key. The only other thing I can think of is maybe they needed a special piece of equipment that was broken or lost.