Colorado Mechanic Reveals the Biggest Lie Customers Tell. Why Your Mechanic Isn't Buying It

Ask any mechanic their least favorite phrase, and chances are you’ll hear the same one. It’s a line that shifts blame, ignores physics, and instantly sets teeth on edge.

Hearing the words “ever since you touched my car” clearly sets off alarm bells and raises red flags for Alex Kacsh (@accurateautoinc), owner and CEO of Colorado-based Accurate Automotive. In a TikTok clip that’s been viewed more than 34,000 times, he calls out the fallacies and faulty logic of customers trying to pin the blame for their latest car problem on auto repair professionals.

“You go 20,000 miles, which, if you think about it, that's one, two, three, four oil changes,” he says. “Is there a chance that something happened? Absolutely. And this is the part where integrity comes into place.”

Kacsh’s frustration resonates with shop owners everywhere. The phrase “ever since you touched my car” has become a universal thorn in the side of mechanics, a shorthand way for customers to assign blame without evidence. In the example from his TikTok, a driver returned with a coolant leak and insisted that the problem traced back to previous service work, despite having put more than 20,000 miles on the odometer since the last visit. For a vehicle, that’s months or even years of wear, encompassing multiple oil changes, tire rotations, and countless opportunities for unrelated parts to fail.

The deeper issue, he explains, isn’t just about one complaint. It’s about trust. Small independent shops like Accurate Automotive survive on reputation and repeat business. When customers assume bad faith or attempt to leverage old repairs into free work, it erodes the foundation that keeps local mechanics viable.

“Integrity is about what happens when people aren’t looking at you,” Kacsh says in the clip. “Mistakes are going to happen, and we need to own them. But relationships have to be authentic, and they go both ways.”

Why Customers Say It

The tendency to shift blame onto the last shop that touched a vehicle isn’t surprising when you look at consumer attitudes toward car repair. According to a AAA survey, two out of three U.S. drivers say they don’t trust auto repair shops in general, with the most common concerns being recommendations for unnecessary service, overcharging, and poor past experiences. That level of skepticism means that when something goes wrong, many owners default to assuming the mechanic is responsible.

Compounding that distrust is the complexity of modern vehicles. The average car today contains more than 1,000 computer chips, and even seemingly unrelated systems can interact in ways that confuse drivers. A driver may not realize that a shop doing brake work has nothing to do with their later cooling-system failure. Add in the emotional stress of facing a four-figure repair bill, and blame-shifting becomes an almost reflexive defense mechanism.

For technicians, though, mileage and service records tell a clearer story. A coolant leak developing tens of thousands of miles after unrelated work is a sign of natural wear.

Organizations like the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence emphasize that proper diagnosis depends on evaluating current symptoms, rather than relying on past work orders. Many shops offer warranties on specific repairs, but those agreements are tied to parts and labor actually performed, not the entire vehicle.

That doesn’t mean mechanics never make mistakes. Kacsh himself points out that accountability is part of the job. Reputable shops will cover warranty work, revisit a botched job, or even eat the cost of a fix if they feel responsible.

What grates, though, is when customers weaponize the phrase “ever since you touched my car” as a way to demand free service in situations that clearly fall outside any reasonable window or scope of responsibility.

A Larger Industry Challenge

Kacsh’s TikTok is just one piece of a growing trend: repair professionals using social media to push back against misconceptions and show the reality of shop life. From mobile mechanics documenting diagnostic sessions to dealership techs explaining recalls, these clips give customers a window into the challenges of modern car care.

They also highlight a larger issue: mechanics are leaving the trade faster than new technicians can replace them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there will be approximately 70,000 job openings per year through 2034, encompassing both replacement needs and new growth opportunities.

Constantly dealing with distrustful or confrontational customers doesn’t help retention. Industry groups, such as the TechForce Foundation, have warned that negative perceptions of the profession—characterized as underpaid, underappreciated, and accused of dishonesty—make it harder to recruit young people into the field. When viral videos shine a light on these customer-mechanic clashes, they reveal just how much strain is baked into daily shop operations.

The phrase “ever since you touched my car” may sound harmless to the average driver, but for those turning wrenches, it represents something bigger. It’s a shortcut for mistrust, and a reminder that the relationship between customers and repair professionals is fragile. Kacsh’s decision to vent online underscores both the frustration and the pride mechanics feel about their work: they know mistakes happen, but they also know when blame is misplaced.

Motor1 reached out to Kacsh via direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.