Poof!! What Was That?

I’ve never been interested in cars, yet I’ve made a decent living out of the things.

Working Life

My working life consisted mainly of working in a huge car plant in the West Midlands, manufacturing those gas-guzzling four by four monsters. It was a great company to work for, but the work was hard with varying shift patterns every week. You have to be slightly barmy to work in a place like that, but the people I worked with were mostly barmy, so it helped.

Kev Will Fix It

One daft guy I worked with, Kevin, always had plans to set up his own business with a small garage, repairing and servicing four by four cars. He was one of those guys who was always pottering about at weekends, poking away under a car bonnet and ranting and raving about valves or piston timings etc. It was all a foreign language to me. Often on a Saturday morning, he would have a Range Rover parked up on his driveway at home making simple repairs in exchange for twenty-five pounds or so. Very rarely did he have any free time on a Saturday.

Saturday Morning

I even popped over there one Saturday as he said he would look at my little Ford Fiesta that was having problems starting sometimes. It was suggested the cause might be a loose nut behind the steering wheel! As I pulled up outside his house, I could see his backside hanging out from underneath the bonnet of a fairly new Range Rover. “Morning Kev, how long will you be working on this then?” “Shouldn’t be too long” he replied, “there’s a loose wire or something that’s made the indicators stop working.” I took a step back and watched as he went through various cables, pulling this, pushing that until he yanked one off from somewhere.

We are now entering the Chuckle Brothers zone

I Heard Something

It was one of those with a push connector on the end. He said he thought it was causing the trouble and that it was probably just a bit of dirt in the connector. Without further ado, he poked a screwdriver up the end of the connector at which point we both heard a dull thud. He looked at me and asked, “Did you hear that?” “I did” I replied. A quick look around the engine showed nothing untoward and so Kev proceeded to push the wire back onto whatever pointy thing it came off. It was probably another ten minutes before he decided that the job was done and he’d get in the car and try the indicators.

Uh Oh

As he shut the bonnet, which is a huge thing on a Range Rover, the rest of the car came into view. I could see the windscreen was all misty and you couldn’t see through the glass. I asked Kev if it should look like that and he made it clear it shouldn’t. The next thing I saw was him opening the door followed by something which meant, “Oh good grief, what has happened here?” Every airbag in the car had gone off and in a Range Rover, there are a lot of airbags to go off. You just can’t push these things back into their spaces, they have to be reset by a qualified garage and it’s expensive. Very expensive. When they go off it’s usually because the car has been in an accident so they don’t need resetting as the car would be deemed scrap.

Keep It Quiet

However, these airbags went off because Kev stuck his screwdriver where he should not have! Needless to say, I never got the job done on my own car. I never found out how much the airbag repair job cost Kevin, he wouldn’t say. He gave up the idea of running his own garage too. I think the cost of the repairs to the Range Rover probably meant he had to take out a small mortgage to pay for it. Some of the trim had been damaged too and had to be replaced. I drove home soon after the incident and I’ll be honest as it’s quite some time ago now, I chuckled to myself. Well, it started as a chuckle and turned into one of those uncontrollable guffaws. The last words I remember him saying to me were, “Don’t tell anyone about this will you.”

The Range Rover Wikipedia Page.

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58 Comments
  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2021

    I had a roommate who was not disposed to neatness. He was always messing with his car. Onetime he replaced the brakes on his car. When he finished he put the wheels back on, and slammed the hub caps backing place. in an hour or two we got a call to come pick him up. He always left the lug nuts in one hub cap. This time he didn’t replace all the nuts and a wheel came off on the highway. He had wondered what that rattling sound was, but didn’t find out until it was too late.
    I don’t know if you use the tea, “shade tree mechanic” in the UK, but that was what your friend and my roommate were. They are best avoided.

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Lol, That was dangerous 🙂

  • Pied Type
    March 23, 2021

    I promise I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone.

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Thank you. 😀

  • Yetismith
    March 23, 2021

    Good story, Trev. I said the same thing about my job. What sane person would do this? I only ever mean to stay for a year or two….

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Thank you, Yeti. About 10,000 of us all said that at our jobs 🙂

  • June Lorraine Roberts
    March 23, 2021

    What a nightmare!

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Indeed it must have been for Kevin, a very expensive nightmare. Thank you, June. 🙂

  • Peter's pondering
    March 23, 2021

    DIY repairs stopped in my household the day that I could no longer get in the engine bay with the engine!

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      I don’t even open the bonnet on my car now except for screenwash in the winter. Thanks, Peter. 🙂

  • Rosaliene Bacchus
    March 23, 2021

    Poor Kev! Now his secret is out 🙂

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Indeed it is, thank you, Rosaliene 🙂

  • Cheryl, Gulf Coast Poet
    March 23, 2021

    Trev, Thanks for sharing this great anecdote! You made me chuckle! Have a great day! <3

    • Trev
      March 23, 2021

      Thank you as always, Cheryl and I’m glad it gave you a chuckle. 🙂

  • susiesopinions
    March 24, 2021

    Wow, what a silly bugger ???? ????

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Thank you, Susie ????

  • Herb
    March 24, 2021

    I kind of feel sorry for your friend, really.

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      I did at first, but then laughter took over. I’m pleased to say he saw the funny side of it himself later. Thank you, Herb. ????

      • Herb
        March 24, 2021

        lol. Life is full of those moments that are funny now, but not so funny then, isn’t it?

        • Trev
          March 24, 2021

          Indeedy, Herb 🙂

  • SueW
    March 24, 2021

    Oh, this is hilarious! Poor Kevin, I think i would have giggled all the way home too. ????

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Yes, I still chuckle now. He did see the funny side of it later on. Thank you, Sue. ????

  • Gibson Square
    March 24, 2021

    I can never understand why parked outside every modest, and poorly maintained middle terrace house these days, there is always a nearly new shiny 4×4. Crazy in my day it was a rusty Ford Cortina.

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      It seems that way. ????

  • Going Batty in Wales
    March 24, 2021

    A brilliant story Trev! I remember the days when with a Haynes Manual and a few tools most people could do simple repairs on their car. Now I can’t even change a wheel because the nuts are screwed on too tight by those air lines they use. So between an excellent garage in the next village and the RAC for emergencies I motor on leaving it all to others.

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Thank you and I agree with you about modern cars. Leave it to the experts ????

  • KINDNESS WISDOM
    March 24, 2021

    Oh my gosh, reading all this bought back memories of my brother’s catastrophes with its cars. Especially the costs loaded on my poor father. Just as well he was the towns Bank Manger. Amen ????

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Thank you, Kindness. ????

  • willedare
    March 24, 2021

    Yikes! One needs to know where — and where not — to poke one’s screwdriver these days…

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Absolutely right. Thank you. 🙂

  • Cindy Georgakas
    March 24, 2021

    love the picture and Kevin made me laugh but I’d a been yelling had it been my car.. lol ????

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      Thank you, Cindy. I’m sure you would have been yelling. Thankfully, I think Kevin got it all put right before the owner found out. 🙂

  • bekitschig
    March 24, 2021

    How could you work with cars, when you don’t care? That’s too funny. We all need a bread job.
    When people asked me what car I was driving for drivers license, I used to reply ‘a red one’ Cars are so, so boring!

    • Trev
      March 24, 2021

      I did it to pay for the roof over our heads. 🙂 Thank you, Bekitschig

  • Jerry Brotherton
    March 25, 2021

    We all have that friend. I had a friend that if you asked him a question he’d say he didn’t know anything about how it worked. But would stand over your shoulder and tell you everything you were doing wrong.

    • Trev
      March 25, 2021

      Yes, I’ve met a few like that. Thank you, Jerry. ????

  • Dave Kingsbury
    March 26, 2021

    A most amusing and well-written account, Trev, confirming my own decision never to have anything to do with the damn things!

    • Trev
      March 26, 2021

      Thank you, Dave. I agree, something are best left alone. ????

  • Zainab Chhatriwala
    March 26, 2021

    Poor Kevin. His secret is safe with us. ????

    • Trev
      March 26, 2021

      Thank you, Zainab. Yes, I won’t say a word. 🙂

  • Very funny Trev.. although not for the owner of the car… just as well yours didn’t go under the knife too.. will share a link on Wednesday in the blogger daily..Sally

    • Trev
      March 29, 2021

      Thank you, Sally. I’m pleased to say it all got sorted out in the end, although I fear it was an expensive job. Thank you for sharing too, very much appreciated. ????

  • Americaoncoffee
    March 29, 2021

    Scary stuff!

    • Trev
      March 29, 2021

      Thank you. 🙂

  • mitchteemley
    March 29, 2021

    Oy! So, if Kev ever asks us, we should say, “Trev? Never heard of the guy,” right?

    • Trev
      March 29, 2021

      I think that sounds about right, Mitch. 😀

  • Weird and Wonderful
    March 31, 2021

    I had friends whom worked at land rover, and Rover. When the Rover plant in Litchfield closed down, no one was able to train up to do; masculine dangerous jobs: like sticking the screwdriver where it doesn’t belongs!

    Yes, I miss having a bacon sarnie and the smell of egg and oil near the factories. Because I worked as a receptionist near a manufacturing company. 😀 Albeit it was a week, it was fun. I cannot get over the smell.

    • Trev
      March 31, 2021

      That smell of bacon and egg, thank you for the memory. ????

  • Carol Taylor
    April 1, 2021

    Ahhhh..I know other people’s misfortunes shouldn’t make one smile but it did…Oops 🙂

    • Trev
      April 1, 2021

      Thank you, Carol. You are right, we shouldn’t laugh, but sometimes it just can’t be helped. ????

  • erroneouschoices
    April 1, 2021

    I am enamored but your stories and your ‘accent’
    Your word choice mesmerizes me, so colorful and different than my world location ????

    • Trev
      April 1, 2021

      Thank you very much for your kind words, they are appreciated, thank you 🙂

  • Jane Sturgeon
    April 2, 2021

    Trev, the ominous dull thud….your poor friend. You tell the story well. Thanks to Sally, I found your blog. Jane x

    • Trev
      April 2, 2021

      Thank you, Jane. Welcome aboard and your kind words are very much appreciated. Thank you. 🙂

  • cbholganza
    April 18, 2021

    Hi, Trev! I’m retired myself. Semi though, since I feel i haven’t earned enough for a good retirement condition. Love to hear about your adventures. Maybe I should do the same too. Thinking about it.

    • Trev
      April 18, 2021

      I recommend it to everyone. Enjoy the time and try to do anything that you want to do. Thank you. ????

  • maayaronweg
    June 7, 2021

    You have fantastic stories, Trev!

    • Trev
      June 7, 2021

      Thank you Mayan. That’s very kind of you. ????