'I'm a mechanic - if a garage does this, they might be ripping you off'

Drivers have been advised to avoid falling for a surprisingly common scam when getting their car fixed that could see them charged thousands of pounds more than necessary.

David Long runs the Omega Auto Clinic in America and fronts the Car Wizard YouTube channel, regularly posting videos to give advice to motorists who need to get their car fixed.

In a popular video, David warns drivers not to fall for the "parts cannon" scam, in which drivers are charged for a number of replacement components that are not needed to fix the issue.

He explained: "This is happening not just once every few months, it's once or twice a week, every week for 52 weeks a year. It's really, really sad. We've had so many vehicles in the workshop where there are so many new cars.

"Customers say 'I've sunk $3,000 (£2,250) into this car, it's still not fixed, it's still making a noise', and we end up fixing it and it was a $50 (£37) part that really wasn't a big deal, and the customer asks 'why did all this other stuff get fitted?'. It's called the 'parts cannon', mechanics 'trying' stuff and then 'trying' this other thing, and then 'trying' this other thing."

A 'parts cannon' is when a mechanic recommends that a driver replaces a number of components in a vehicle in a bid to fix a fairly vague fault in their car.

Sometimes this can occur because mechanics are not certain of what is wrong with the vehicle or do not make the correct diagnosis.

However, some rogue mechanics may make a faulty diagnosis on purpose in a bid to charge the customer more money than necessary, sometimes replacing every part within a certain system before advising that they try the actual fix.

Later in the video, David admitted that the scam previously happened to his daughter's vehicle, stating that it kept it off the road for several weeks.

He added: "My daughter just had an issue with her boyfriend's car, they took it into a workshop around three or four weeks ago, and it's still not fixed due to the parts cannon. The wheels were locking up, and the mechanics fitted new calipers, and then new brake hoses, then a master cylinder, then a power module, then an ABS module.

"Finally, the mechanic himself talked to the service writer at this shop and said 'I'm done, I've thrown every part at this', and it's still not fixed. There's the problem, you're throwing parts at it. Luckily they didn't charge them, they were actually decent in that avenue, but how much time was wasted?"

If a driver is unsure that the advice a mechanic is giving them is correct, it is generally advised that they try to learn about the fault themself.

Whilst no driver can become a professional mechanic by searching problems online, looking through forums for similar issues and suggesting previous solutions to a mechanic can help to show that a customer has researched the fault.

Alternatively, drivers looking to avoid expensive scams were advised by David to take the vehicle to another mechanic for a second opinion.