Leaving your tool in a car…

[SpawnedX]

Read this thread: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174910

Then discuss here.

Topic

[blacK20]

Wow that guy is one ignorant piece. Did he really think the tech wanted to leave his $100 dollar ratchet under the hood? I think we have all left tools in a customers car before and never saw it back. It’s a shitty feeling. Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks “I’m going to work today to screw somebodys car up”. At least I don’t.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Agreed, that guy is over the top. It’s a common mistake and I think every tech has done it at some point, conversely I’ve found a tool or 2 myself under the hood while doing a repair. I don’t feel it reflects poorly on the tech at all because as stated they were probably just trying to get the service done so they could move onto the next thing. It’s not like they would just throw away their hard earned money like that, it’s a mistake, we all make them. It’s a lot worse when a surgeon leaves a tool inside a patient don’t you think? THAT would be something to get upset about.

[W00DBar0n]

One that comes to mind for me was about 6 months back i did i break job on my car. After torqueing all the nuts down. i drove to test my brakes. When i drove into my driveway i heard a loud clanking sound coming from the front drivers side wheel. I thought the worst, was thankful i was home and my wheel didn’t come off so i put the cap off to inspect the damage, in stead i find the socket i used to torque the wheels down with.
In the end it happens, sometimes we can laugh, others we lose a tool for good.

[dreamer2355]

The link is now dead. I wanted to read that too.

The only 2 tools i have left in a customers vehicle are a 8mm socket from doing some HVAC work and my flashlight that i left on the cowl.

That flashlight was expensive and the wife wasnt best pleased with me 🙁

[ridinred24]

I tend to be forgetful and have lost a few but also found a few! And by no means do I try, as i dont like pissing away money

[David]

we had a busy day last week I was working on 4 cars at once, and forgot a nice pair of matco pliers under the hood of a Camry. Didn’t realize it till i was putting my tools away after the last car. She is a regular customer, so i hope they are still there when she comes back.

[Jared Thomson]

We all leave tools in cars as some point. I do love finding those tools, Got a pair of really long 90 degree needle nose pliers that have saved my ass a few times! I try to put all of my tools back in my box when I am done so I know I have everything, or if I am really busy, I try to put my tools on a bench or a cart so I know they are all out of the car.

[ridinred24]

I have a nice snap on cordless drop light sitting under the hood of an Acura TL that I was doing a power steering hose recall on. Thats probably my most expensive loss to this date. I promptly went back to a corded droplight on a reel.

[Sam]

I loose pliers and little screwdrivers more than anything. I lost my favorite pliers and found them 4 months later in a HHR

[Jared Thomson]

At least you know that customer is loyal and didnt take their car to another mechanic 😛

[Jake Riesser]

A fella I know one time left the diag tool in the vehicle (dunno how that happened … but we all know a SnapOn M2500 isn’t exactly what you would call a cheap tool). Either way, the customer found out later that day, returned it back to him. 🙂 Needless to say he was quite thankful, and then went out and cancelled the order for a new one from SnapOn.

[Andrew]

I am working on making myself a strong habit to never ever put a tool onto any part of the car. If I am not holding a tool in my hand it should land down on my toolbox, service cart, on the floor or in the pocket. Never in the car. Still not 100% at doing that but I have very few lost / forgotten tools since I started to train myself in this direction.

[Bruce]

I have been fortunate enough not to loose anything expensive. And I have found a few tools in cars as well. Wrenches, sockets, a ratchet, screwdrivers, and 1 stubby 15/16 wrench on the strut bolt of a GM car. Dont know how that one managed to stay on there.

[quote=”AndrewGP” post=65122]I am working on making myself a strong habit to never ever put a tool onto any part of the car. If I am not holding a tool in my hand it should land down on my toolbox, service cart, on the floor or in the pocket. Never in the car. Still not 100% at doing that but I have very few lost / forgotten tools since I started to train myself in this direction.[/quote]
Thats not always possible.

[Andrew]

Surely not always. But say getting a service cart or (like I am doing) having a smaller toolbox rather than some fancy Snap-On 72″ monster that you can roll around the car and put tools down in or on it certainly helps. I am surprised to see that practically no one does it. While working in Europe we used not to have own stalls and big toolboxes were rather too expensive (setup that I can buy in Costco for 700 bucks would cost close to 4000 in Europe!), so techs are pretty mobile in terms of moving toolboxes around the shop. So why just not have a toolbox right beside me while I am working? It really helps. Even if you do some interior work and can’t reach toolbox from inside the car, get a small tool tray and throw all your stuff into it every time. It is much harder to forget whole tool tray than single screwdriver.

[Bruce]

I cant recall working with anyone that didnt use some kind of cart. I couldnt imagine not having mine. I have been thinking of getting one of those underhood service trays to make life even easier.

[Author]

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