We’ve all experienced a car breakdown before. We’ve all gone to start our car in the morning but it just won’t work. Or maybe you’ve broken down in the middle of nowhere and had to call one of the local tow trucks Rustburg to help you. But, have you ever arrived at a mechanic and been unable to leave?

Has this ever happened to you? You take your car in for service in an auto shop similar to Browns Plains Car Service — maybe you need new brake pads, maybe you’re in the market for more tires. Your mechanic comes back with a price that you and your Visa don’t feel like paying, so you tell him (or her) that you’ll be motoring on.

But the mechanic stops you and says, “I’m sorry, but given the condition of your brakes/tires/whatever, I can’t legally allow you to leave until you’ve had your car repaired.”

That, as PG movies in the 1970s used to say, is a bunch of bullpuckey.

So, what do you do? Jalopnik has a couple of suggestions:

Ask them to put it in writing. You know: “I, Brake Shop, am refusing to let Customer leave until Customer authorizes me to repair the brakes on Customer’s car.” Ha! I’m kidding. They’d never put that in writing.

Call the police. The car is yours and the brake shop has no right to hold it. (By the way, when the police show up the brake shop will say they were holding your car pursuant to a mechanic’s lien because you refused to pay for an inspection or some such – and they will deny having ever said anything about it being “illegal” for them to let you leave without the brake repair.)

Or, simply ignore the mechanic, get in your car, drive off, and never come back. For added fun, shout a string of obscenities out the window and begin planning a really spectacular one-star review on Yelp.

This scam has been tried on me a couple of times, but I never went for it — and thankfully, I now go to trustworthy mechanics in reno that won’t try to pull this scam on me. I have a hunch that the dodgy mechanics thought I’d be gullible, given my status as an Apparent Gay Man, but perhaps that’s just me being feisty. Maybe they said that to all the boys.

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And with that, we’re heading out for a long holiday weekend. If you’re one of our American readers and you have the next few days off, enjoy them — but please, be safe. Buckle up, and if you’re cocktailing, appoint a designated driver. Remember: July 4 is the deadliest holiday of the year.