Items/tools left in your car by the garage?

[Blue BB]

Hi all,
I was wondering if this is a regular occurrence or was I just unlucky? Just had my Astra serviced and when driving away from the garage heard this clunking noise from under the bonnet. I stopped outside the service door and opened the bonnet but could see nothing which would make this noise. I went to the service desk to ask for a mechanic to have a look and a listen. He also looked in the engine but could see nothing untoward. I then remembered that the wiper mechanism had been replaced and the mechanic lifted the slam panel to find a Snap-on screw driver which had been rolling about in there. I have asked a few of my colleagues whether they have experienced this issue and there have been quite a few incidents. There has been damage caused by stuff being left in engine compartments such as bonnets closed down on tools.
Discuss.

[Ricky_M]

I once left a magnetic tray on the underside of the bonnet on my 306, luckily it was in the recess for the intercooler, an inch either way and it would have damaged something!

[snuffle]

Yes it happens, yes damage can be caused. no you cant get any compensation for distress, yes you get to keep the kit.

[HalfMoon]

Blue BB said:

a Snap-on screw driver which had been rolling about in there

I found one of those in a Transit that I bought years ago - it's still doing me proud!

[GEORDIE_BOY]

Mole grips left on my track rod end by a local fast fit centre! Could of been very dangerous but luckily I noticed the steering felt heavy which was the gribs up against the body. I took them back and exchanged them for a full refund!

[Blue BB]

Yes these mishaps can be expensive. As i was writing this i remembered my brother was working on his SD1 and when he was finished and went to start it, he found out where the bolt he had lost and had to replace, ended up. Needed a new timing belt and some other expensive work.
BB

[agent006]

Had the keys to a brand new Impreza STI left in my old Audi after it was in for a wheel alignment. Also have had the usual screwdrivers, spanners and air tools left under various bonnets.

[Big E 118]

After a service I noticed a metal BMW pen in the engine bay. Must check my invoice because knowing BMW they probably charged me for it....

[ShiggyBiggs]

I found one of those multi driver things in the footwell of my old golf once, thought nothing of it, then found all the bits in around the engine sitting on something.

[AndrewW-G]

Have discovered and myself left the usual assortment of sockets and spanners and I'm fairly sure that I once left my Mont Blanc pen in a car shortly before popping the car into a container and sending it to its new owner in the US!

have also heard all the usual tales from various garages, including one when somebody left a carb to aircleaner bolt undone on an early 911 following a rebuild, only to have the nut drop through the carb

[steveo3002]

got a brand new pair of vice grips left on the tie rod of a mates car..still got those

left some snap on side cutters in my own bay and lost them

[Papa Hotel]

I found a screwdriver in my boot once. That is all.

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Some what scarily I found a very rusty spanner on a brake nipple of my wife's car (only ever serviced at the local main dealer). It had clearly been there a while, thankfully someone had clearly done said nipple up tightly...

[Carpie]

When I was young, and a bit of a spanner, I did something like this, and it didn't go well.

Somehow managed to leave a little bit of a cheapo ratchet screwdriver inside one of the cylinders of my bike... namely a little ball bearing. It must have fallen down an inlet valve...

The damage:





I did manage to learn alot though, found out how to fit a new head, regrind valves, set timing etc, and in the end I managed to get it running as it was before. A costly (although careful use of ebay and breakers meant it cost me maybe £150-200 to fix) mistake but a valuable one!

[henrycrun]

My dipstick was found laying on the rad by the Dipstick after the MOT.
Engine oil all over the underside of the bonnet.
Never used them again.

[MondeoMan1981]

I drove away from a BMW dealer in Edinburgh after warranty work on an E46.

The blown lights warning light came on for the back as soon as I touched the brake on the way out.

Stopped, switched the sidelights on and went to inspect, hmmm no sidelights. I opened the boot and the actual clusters and bulbs were in bits across the boot.

Car went back in its space and a technician fixed the car while I was given coffee, biscuits and an apology.

[Aviz]

Bright Orange Snap-On ratchet Screwdriver with all the bits in the handle and 13mm Spanner

[y2blade]

one of these was left in the windscreen wiper recess on my T5 after the last MOT

[williamp]

Done this myself: dropped a small washer down into the coolant cavity by the side of the cylinder liner. Ohhh, that was fun...

Had this done to me: when restoring the Aston, found an imperisla spanner in the depths of the bodywork. It had the Army "arrow" emblem on it. Goodness knows where it came from, as although they are as heavy as Tanks, they have never been used as such

[MarsellusWallace]

I once found a large blue flat blade screwdriver left in the engine compartment of the Ferrari 355 I owned at the time.I noticed it when I was showing a friend the engine just after I had picked it up from a well known Yorkshire Ferrari specialist.