A mobile mechanic whose TikTok channel focuses on his business and his frequent free car repairs says a customer he spent weeks helping turned on him, sending threatening messages at 3 a.m. and refusing to return his loaner vehicle after he couldn’t deliver temporary tags fast enough. Mattthemechanic43 (@mattthemechanic43) shared the story in a five-minute, 23-second TikTok posted on Feb. 24 that has drawn more than 890,000 views. The creator, who has 2.1 million followers and builds his channel around his business, including his frequent free repair work for people in need, says the experience is a first for him. A Timing Chain Disaster On An Infiniti According to Matt, the trouble started a few months ago when he went to look at a woman’s car, an Infiniti with a destroyed engine. The timing chain had failed catastrophically, leaving broken metal components gouged into the engine’s internals. “I already had the timing chain, so I was like, let me see if I can’t open it up,” he says in the video. “Maybe it’s just like a guide, maybe it’s a tensioner, maybe it’s something I can replace right then and there. No, it was not.” Timing chain failures are a well-documented issue on several Infiniti models. When a chain stretches or snaps, the resulting internal damage can turn what looks like a single component failure into a full engine rebuild or a replacement. Matt ordered parts and attempted to rebuild the engine for free, but he says that after doing the timing chain work, some more serious damage was still apparent. “After the replacement, I was able to drive it a couple blocks. It drove great, but there are still definite issues with inside of the engine itself,” he says. Rather than hand back a car he wasn’t confident in, Matt gave the woman a loaner vehicle he had purchased for his business to share among customers whose repairs require extended timelines. “She still owes money on the car, guys,” he explains. “I was like, you know what? Let’s see if we can’t get you a vehicle. Maybe just do an engine swap.” Things Go Sideways While Matt continued working on the Infiniti, the woman posted videos criticizing him for diagnosing her car and then disappearing. Matt says he never saw the posts. “She was like, ‘Matt came out here, and he said this is wrong, and he hasn’t came back. I’m extremely upset,’” he recounts. “Which, I mean, I get, you know. Sometimes it takes time, especially, like, engine rebuilds.” He kept working on the car, but the situation escalated over something much simpler than engine internals: temporary license plates. The tags on the loaner had expired, and Matt says he got new ones but was too busy to deliver them to the woman, who lives “kind of far.” He told her three days in a row that he would try to make it. On the third day, she snapped. “She blew her lid,” Matt says. “At three in the morning, messaging me. She told me she’s reporting me. She told me that I did not finish her vehicle, that it’s not drivable.” Matt pushed back: “Lady, look: your vehicle is definitely drivable. You can drive it. It’s just not going to last you long. I didn’t want that for you. I wanted you to have a car that’s going to last you a long time, which is why I gave you the loaner vehicle.” When Matt offered to pick up the loaner and give it to someone else who needed it, the woman refused to tell him where it was. “I’ve never been talked to like that by somebody that I helped out, especially for free,” he says. “That was a lot of work that I did for that woman for free on top of her making posts about me negatively, and I still did it anyway.” ‘Report It Stolen’ Commenters overwhelmingly sided with Matt. The most-liked comment, from JP, summed up the prevailing sentiment: “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED.” Many viewers urged Matt to involve the law. “Call the police if she won’t give you the location of the vehicle after she told you to pick it up — that’s theft,” wrote Jake, whose comment drew over 1,000 likes. Matt responded to one commenter suggesting the same thing, posting, “She literally wants me to. Apparently that’s the only way I’m going to get it back.” Several viewers recommended installing GPS trackers on future loaner vehicles. “I would definitely report the car stolen. Also put a tracker in any loaner vehicle in the future,” wrote kk. “Respect and keep up with all the good work even with ungrateful people.” Others focused on keeping Matt’s spirits up. “Keep your head up my brother. You are part of the positive change in this world,” wrote Jet Seal of PA. “If this is the first out of hundreds you have helped then this is beyond success.” Sam Montgomery added, “I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this — that person should feel blessed for the simple fact that you’re not disclosing who they are.” What Comes Next Matt doesn’t say in the video whether he plans to file a police report. But his parting message makes clear that despite the experience, he’s processing the situation more with confusion than bitterness. “I don’t even know you really,” he says. “I’m just trying to help you out.” Motor1 reached out to Mattthemechanic43 via TikTok direct message for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team
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