The truth is, normal wear and tear can (and will), over time break something in your car. After all, even home appliances under normal use break down and your blender doesn’t spend hours flying down a highway. This is why, as with one’s health, preemptive and preventive measures are often smart then explicitly waiting for something to break. 

As they are the main point of contact with the road, naturally, the tires tend to be the first to go. If you live in a place with a lot of ice and snow in winter, you have the wonderful opportunity every year to pay to get winter tires installed. 

On the flipside, this does mean that an expert gives your tires a once over at least yearly, so you have someone to tell you it’s time for a new set. That being said, like anything car related, it gets expensive so most people prefer to wait way too long, as the examples here show. Once you add on the fact that some mechanics will take you for a ride, people’s anxiety becomes a bit more understandable. 

As with anything else, the main moving parts are the first to go. This is why some car experts believe that getting your transmission and batteries checked is a good idea from time to time. On the other hand, again like when one visits a doctor, it’s best to not lie to the person who is going to be doing the fixing, otherwise you’ll end up with the main issues overlooked. 

At the same time, while it’s important to not be the sort of car-owner you see here, it also helps to do your due diligence when picking a mechanic. While there might be hundreds of garages out there, not every person working in them is an actually certified expert who knows exactly how to fix what you have. 

This isn’t just to ensure that the cars roaring down the highway are safe (although that is a big part of it), but also to ensure that when repairs are done, they are conducted in an environmentally friendly way. If you are in the US, the EPA provides courses and certifications for car repair specialists to that effect. 

So when you are swapping stories of untrustworthy mechanics (which do exist, there is no use denying it) just remember that many of them do work hard and honestly. It’s a physically demanding job with lots of exposure to toxic chemicals. So perhaps don’t be like the folks in this list, get your car checked when it’s still in good condition.