A TikTok video posted by car mechanic Skylar has left millions of viewers shocked after she showed her reaction to an extremely dirty Chevy. The video has been watched more than 16.7 million times and shows the mechanic covering her face before trying to get into the car. The inside was covered in spilled drinks, pet hair, old food, and dirt all over the dashboard, doors, floor mats, and almost every other part.
The video’s caption said “Let’s normalize not letting our cars crystallize,” which quickly caught on with viewers who started comparing their own messy cars to the one in the video. Comments poured in from people who felt both relieved and disgusted. One person wrote “I guess my car isn’t that dirty,” while others offered to help clean it or just said to “burn it.” The video seemed to change what many people think is too dirty for a car.
She talked about how bad it really was. “That Chevy was something else,” Skylar said. “It was a car that came in for an oil change. There was mold on the vents, it smelled awful. The steering wheel was sticky. It was actually sticky everywhere. Just super gross.” She said that while the shop has dealt with dirty cars before, “this was definitely top of the list.”
This brings up real problems about keeping mechanics safe
The video got people talking about the dangers mechanics face when they have to work on really dirty cars. In the comments, other repair workers and car cleaners talked about their own bad experiences with things like bags of dirty diapers, rotten food, mold, and even worse things. One person said “You can refuse unsafe work like biohazards,” while another said they lost their job after saying no to working on a car that had human waste in the back seat.
The problem goes beyond just having to work in gross conditions. Scientists at Aston University found that some parts of car interiors have more germs than the average toilet. They checked trunks, driver’s seats, dashboards, and cup holders and found that every car they tested had some amount of poop bacteria in it. Other studies found different types of dangerous bacteria on steering wheels, center consoles, and gear shifters.
@skylarberto let’s normalize not letting our cars crystallize #automotive #cars #mechanic #technician #customerservice
♬ nhạc nền – anh_anh – angel_nunah
Even with these health risks, many repair shops don’t have clear rules about turning away cars that are too dirty or dangerous to work on. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has rules for auto repair shops that cover things like chemicals, loud noises, and other dangers. But these rules don’t really talk about dirty or contaminated car interiors that customers bring in. Shop owners have to check for dangers and give workers safety equipment, but it’s not clear if this includes dealing with filthy cars.
Because of this, many mechanics have to decide on the spot what they’re willing to clean, what they’ll refuse to touch, and if they should charge extra money for dealing with really nasty cars. Without clear rules across the industry, workers are left unprotected and car owners don’t know how clean their car needs to be before taking it in for repairs. Just like workers in other service jobs who deal with tough situations, car mechanics often don’t have much backup when they run into dangerous or disgusting conditions.
