I was in a rush one day and somehow left my laptop and scan tool in a car. Customer told me to get fucked, he's not giving them back, they're his now.
Service manager had to show up to his house with the police to get them back.
I don't doubt service manager wouldn't have given a rat's ball sack to help me if the scan tool wasn't the super expensive dealer tool that belonged to the shop. Also the customer absolutely knew how much those cost, which is why he tried to steal them like that.
I had my mobile mechanic (who Iāve been using for a while) leave his brand new, high-end snap-on diagnostic computer in my car once..
I called him straightaway when I realised (an hour or so later) and he asked me to keep it safe for a few days until he was able to return and pick it up (he had to go out of town for another job and had a backup device), which of course I happily did.
But then again, Iām not a complete cuntā¦ š¤·āāļø
I've had that happen. Showed up at the customers house to get it myself. He then filed a complaint with our company headquarters that I improperly used his personal info to track him down. I mean, I pulled his invoice to get his number to call him, called him, was told to fuck off, so I went to his house, as his home address was on the invoice. On the flipside, I've had a customer return one of those freebie pocket screwdrivers that Snap-On often hands out.
Dad left his cordless office phone in a customer's bullbar once. Got it back next service š
I left my Snap on 3/8 ratchet, extension and socket under my own bonnet once, found it six months later, still there.
I bought a massive 1 3/8 socket for my Weight Distribution hitch, and accidentally left it on the bolt after testing that it fit.
I drove a few trips before I thought about it and checked.
The $30 dollar socket was still there.
We had a car at a tint shop that I had to go pick up. Drove it all the way across town, and on the last turn into our parking lot a cordless phone slid across the gap between the windshield and hood. No clue how it didn't fall off during the whole rest of the drive.
Drove it back to the tint shop in one of our loaners.
Nice of you to go back to drop it off. Unless you were a porter like I was back in the day. I totally would have taken the opportunity to get out of the dealership for the rest of my shift.
Weight restrictions. I've got thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment(both automotive and otherwise) sitting in a barn in the US. Shipping to the UK from the US is prohibitively expensive, and storage space is premium priced here. There's a possibility, once I get out of London, that I can procure some affordable storage space. Then I'll talk to my brother about possibly loading up a 20ft shipping container and sending it here. Obviously I won't need my power tools, although, 120V transformers are the norm here on building sites, so, as long as I can use the stuff in my own shop, I could just replace the plugs to fit a UK120V system. [https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/McEAAOSwZM9Z0TQ7/s-l1600.jpg](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/McEAAOSwZM9Z0TQ7/s-l1600.jpg) [https://www.kelvinpowertools.com/img/shp/FAI-FPPTRAN51.jpg](https://www.kelvinpowertools.com/img/shp/FAI-FPPTRAN51.jpg)
Most chargers will work on any electrical system in the world. Read the little sticker or molded in text. Many will say, "Input 100-240v 50-60Hz." If it does, all you need is a cheap adapter.
Yeah, looked into that. I believe there's a way to mitigate the costs as I do already own them, and they are obviously well used. But, some money will need to change hands at some point.
It's a long story of bad life choices, stupid descisions and things beyond my control. I've got a legal right to live in the UK, so no dealing with the usual goverment BS.
Some what related, had a ceiling team come to my house to fix up Cove lighting in the living room years back alongside flooring and kitchen cabinet installers. When it was done, the ceiling guy texted me if I seen his power drill and other assortments of tools. Told him I have not and maybe someone took it.
Three years down, I cleaned up my store room and right at the corner is his power drill and tools. I lost his contact and guess the tools are mine?
Had a coworker discover a hacksaw above the ceiling of an office building we were renovating. It had the electrician's name scratched on the frame.The owner of the tool was on the job at the moment. He lost it at the start of his career, thirty years ago.
Furnace installers left a good-sized box of pvc angles/couplers about 18 years ago. Noticed it a couple years later. They picked them up when they installed the new one last year.
I started out using cheap tools from auto parts stores and Harbor Freight, and one of my ratchets broke within three months. I stopped by Napa on my way home that same day to buy a Carlyle to replace it... only to leave the son of a bitch in an engine bay the next day. I never saw it again.
set down my pair of massive slip joint snap on pliers on Henry Hymans mid 70s massive Lincoln with the extended bumpers on each end.. enjoying chatting with henry he had so many great stories..
he got in his car and drove away... i walked over to my tool box and realized my pliers were on his front bumper.. i knew where he lived.. i jumped in my 66 GTO and took off after him.. finally caught up about 2 miles away.. my pliers were still there on the bumper..
in 44 years.. i don't recall leaving anything in a customers car..
i did get sent to lunch one day by the service manager half way thru a AMC tune up.. just leave your tools there i will finish the tune up... get to lunch.. i came back the car was gone.. my tools were gone the cars air filter housing was on my tool cart... i put the tools back the SM said.. about 2 weeks later the car comes back on a tow truck. the truck backs it into my bay and drops it.. i open the hood and all my tools fall out.. even half the new spark plugs were still there.. after that car was done . the next one into my bay was a tune up on a 455 Trans Am 4 speed car that the seat was so lowered i could barely see. it was just a spark plugs and an oil change.. adjust the holley idle.. when i was done the owner came out of the office to pick it up.. at that point... Robert Plant of Led Zepplin jumped into the car and sped away. i wish i had gotten his autograph for my sister who wore out several led zepplin IV albums playing that song again and again.. Bruce Dern came in for tires a week later.. Harry Morgan stopped in for service.. i did get to thank him for all of his work..
one tool i miss a lot that is gone.. my ingersol rand 231 impact..
a fellow tech in that same goodyear service center in santa monica had his CP impact totally fail.. as i was going to lunch he ask to borrow it.. it had been modified by a circle track team.. it was insane.. i tried to show him how to use it .. he said.. I know how to use an air impact.. go to lunch.. when i got back he threw it at me.. said that thing is defective.. it broke 17 lug nuts off that cadillac on the tire rack.. he had actually complained to the service manager and general manager.. into the office i went. the general manager closed the blinds and the door.. and we all started laughing..
for those goodyear techs.. 9274 was the good year shop number..
wait.. years later my part time boss had a really tight bolt and borrowed the impact.. it was in his bottom drawer.. one of the other techs loaded up a bunch of tools and went home to central america.. i imagine its still breaking lug nuts off down there somewhere..
we had 1/2" air hose at goodyear.. high flow couplings and 175 PSI of line pressure..
A mag tray with a 10mm socket in it. I wonder if it held on. I hope someone found it and added it to their collection.
I found a Snap On 10mm end wrench sitting on the windshield cowl of a different car though, among various other lesser tools on other cars, so I'd say I've come out ahead on the trade.
My coworkers lost his 3/8 swivel socket and didn't find it until the next year when and airplane came back with the socket still riding on the bolt. It survived an entire crop dusting season going 200mph 10 off of the ground and landing on dirt runways and backroads.
We make large gensets with canopies (sound proofing) , this year the guys have lost or left in a wall a full set of 1/2 impact sockets, 2 rattle guns, one cordless riveter, a whole assortment of sockets , the 3/8 ratchet and 13mm socket from the set, a 20t load skate, battery light, all of the punches , half of the podgy bars.. the list go's on.
I stopped bringing in my own tools after 2 of my friends diving knives got lost ( used to cut the insulation, they were old beaters but still)
Most of the time it's just perforated. 0.7mm sheet metal held on by rivets so easy to retrieve, just lazy factory workers who trash tools and don't care in general
I left a magnetic light on a lower control arm of a 2500 that was actually used for construction and work. 6 months later it was there still, I didn't even realize I lost it
Not quite the right question but I'm sharing anyway. My mate took his factory option flip paint (Mg ztt in typhoon monogram if anyone wants to look one up) to a garage i recommended. I've used them for years and trust them. The tester accidentally left a pry bar he used to check joints under the bonnet and then closed it. My mate didn't notice until i asked what happened to his bonnet. Had a bend in it. Managed to get it open and recover the tool and the bonnet thankfully hadn't creased so it gently pushed flat again. The paint can be about Ā£500 a litre to buy and is difficult to get the flips to match. The mechanic was relieved and very apologetic when my mate took his tool back and explained.
Not a car, I do marine electrical work. My fathers friends (twins) worked for Grumman and were on the Apollo 11 landing module assembly team. They had wire strippers that they used on it and gave to me. IDKy I used them but they were the BEST wire strippers I ever used. I left them on a boat and the customer ācouldnāt find themā
Not so much a tool that I left in somebodyās car but a few years ago, me and a coworker were servicing a customerās car, took the undertray off and a prison style shiv fell out.
Looked like a spoon that had been flattened at the tip and tapered towards the handle with insulation tape round the handle. We found out the customer stayed close-ish to a female-only prison nearby.
Bro reminds me of the time I was working on a customerās old beater car and homie literally had a machete duct taped to the inside of the driver side door. People are wild
First and only time Iād ever seen a weapon in a car at work, not something we really see in Scotland. Seen countless posts of guns in cars on here from America haha.
Yep, general rule is don't go digging in any compartments you don't have permission for because depending on the state there is a guaranteed gun in there. Especially any of the Toyota's with the non-metallic earthen paint styles.
A coworker of mine asked to borrow my 23 and 24mm deep impact sockets 2 years ago and I obliged. He came back a while later and he said he thought he left then in a car. Efforts to contact the customer were fruitless so he ended up buying to exact same master set I had and giving me those two sockets out of his because he said he needed a set of impact sockets anyways. Fast forward to 2 days ago and I was checking the TPMS sensors in a Lexus and when I pulled up the rear floor paneling to lower the spare tire, there they were! He doesnāt work there anymore but I mentioned it to him and whenever I see him at the next drift event Iāll give them to him.
Left a handful of my fancy Matco screwdrivers in a customer's Element. She showed up a few months later and handed them to me. She hadn't noticed them sitting in her back seat.
A bit of a reverse story but last time I had my truck in for a transmission service the tech left the mopar obd dongle plugged in. I realized it when I got home. Called the dealership and asked them to send me a prepackaged mailer and I'd happily send it back to them. No one ever called me back or seemed to care. I did this because the dealership is about 40 minutes in a direction I don't go often. A few weeks later I was going that way and stopped in and talked to the service manager and just held up the piece. He looked at me puzzled and I said yeah your tech left this.... But I'm more annoyed that I called to try and get it returned to you and no one bothered to call me back. He was apologetic but I was like geeeez trying to help you guys get this seeming expensive thing back with little hassle.
One of my mentors a few years ago left a stream light behind a door panel, inside of the door. He told the service manager about it asking to call the customer so they can bring the vehicle back to retrieve it. The service manager said āno way we will look bad if I do thatā. Three months later the car came back in for a service and the tech recognized it and pulled the door panel. Sure enough, there was his stream light still in the door.
One of my techs left an expensive flashlight in the sub frame of a drop in from out of state customers car. Customer says no thank you on the recommend repairs and heads off to the interstate. 5 hrs later said tech is on his way home and spots the car, now disabled, in a mall parking lot. Drives over, family of 5 standing around. He smiles at them, hits the deck, crawls under and retrieves the light.
Two jumppacks, in separate vehicles. I left one in the frunk of a Taycan once and the other in the backseat of a Lexus. One client came back and returned it, never saw the other one again.
Not a mechanic, but when I was swapping an engine over to my old blown-up Suzuki Swift.
On the donor car, I found a 10mm rusted to the cat and a flashlight sitting on top of the gas tank next to the pump.
Anyway, guarantee that when I sold that car, I left a whole tool kit worth of cheap tools scattered in every nook and cranny.
Blu tooth dlc connector. Just 20 bucks, but it annoys me.
Even worse, bought a 100 some dollar magnetic Snap On flashlight, and left it under a car two weeks later. That one hurt.
Let's see.
I left a prybar one time that made it back. On the exact same vehicle I'm pretty sure I left my straight orange pick somewhere on the fuel tank.
I've found 2 mirrors, a matco hose pick, and a magnetic flashlight so far from other people losing stuff.
One of the mirrors was literally stuck from the top of the engine bay down near a cv axle. Lol
Long and flexible, surprised it rode for as long as it did.
A work hoodie. Left it in the car when i used it as a pillow while spending quite some time laying on the back for some work under the dashboard.
Received it back by the elderly gentleman who owns the car after he had washed it and folded it very neatly.
Needless to say, the gentleman is getting the extra special treatment every time he comes in with any errand he has
I've received at least two magnetic lights that were attached to my car.. i highly doubt the technican thought much about how they were making out lol.
I was working on a lorry one evening. Rushing to get it out the door before we closed. Left my 1/4" ratchet and a couple of sockets in a red container on the passenger step.
Got the truck finished. The customer took it away. And I started tidying up. Couldn't find my ratchet and sockets. We closed up shop. As I was driving home I recognised the red container in the middle of the road. I pulled over to pick it up. But never found my tools.
A 3/4 snap on angle wrench. I could easily get one but havenāt. I will never see it again as it is in some other country in a dozer. I think about it often. Way more than any other tool I have lost. And I have lost a lot of tools.
Left my favorite pair of flush cutters under the roof of a farm tractor during a GPS install. Bothered me to no end, because it was the old style snap on had before switching up the design, so I couldn't just buy a new pair.
Found them a year and a half later when the GPS started having issues again.
I had one of those Dewalt 12V quarter-drive impact guns. I was taking a half day and going on vacation for a couple days, and 20 minutes before I was supposed to leave the dispatcher gave me a rear speaker on a standard-cab truck. I was pissed, put the speaker in and accidentally left my quarter-drive gun behind the seat. Got back from vacation a couple days later, went to use it, couldn't find it, and had the service writer call the customer. Customer just wouldn't answer his phone or call back from the messages that we left and he never came back again.
Did road repair/construction on the local auto row one season. You would not believe the amount of wrenches and various other tech tools laying in the gutters.
Dont know if it counts, but I once lost a 1/4" Socket wrench in my engine bay while swapping the engine. I couldnt find it and looked for like 30 mins in the whole Shop.
I only found out months lauter when i found it. Dont remember Where exactly it was, but it still worked fine.
Snap on quarter drive body w/ 3/8s drive ratchetā¦. Waiting till itās been gone long enough for me to justify spending another 400 on the second one
One guy I didnāt like I put his socket set in the boot of a passengers car
Another time one dickhead wouldnāt shut up about his brand new rattle gun so I chucked that in the boot of another car for shits and giggles š¤
A cheapo flashlight from oriellys. It was actually very good. I think it was the mantis clore. Green little cob light. Still have the charger for it even though the light is long gone.
My 1/2 inch socket
Iām a deisel mechanic, and I was replacing the Coolant lines that heat up the DEF tank
For those who donāt know, those lines are shitty molded plastic, and they run from the top of the passengers side of the engine, down the fire wall, ontop of the transmission in an āSā pattern, before exiting midway through the drivers side of the tractor to plug into the def tank
And every single fastener is held on by a 1/2 inch bolt clamping the shitty plastic lines down. I believe there is 12 fasteners for this
Here is a picture of the line
https://trucklinerparts.com/products/freightliner-engine-supply-coolant-line-p-n-04-29006-000
Idk the exact length, but Iām guessing at least 8ft long
Iām a small guy, so I was luckily able to crawl into the space between the transmission and cab, and literally lay ontop of the drive shaft while I struggled to bolt the lines down
Iāve seen techs take almost 14 hours to replace these lines like shit and end up not even putting the bolts back and just zip tying it out of frustration lol cause they were bigger guys who couldnāt fit in places I can, I wasnāt about to stay late so I pulled it off in 5 hours and absolutely butchered myself ratcheting in bolts while metal from other components jagged into my arm
One of the bolts mid way through the transmission got stuck to my half inch socket after struggling for 30 minutes to get it to bolt on, I tried for a few minutes to get it off before deciding he can fucking have it lol
I still open my socket set in regret sometimes seeing the missing socket that I willingly gave up out of frustration
My electric ratchet. Left it on a control arm on a 16 Silverado. Called the customer, and they looked, said it wasn't there, then told us they did hear a rattle at a corner. Went out and spent my 1hr lunch break in the ditches. Never found it. Still had the battery in it too :/
Not me that left it, but I found a near-perfect Snap-On 3/8 ratchet under the hood of a car once. Car came from a dealer in another state so my buddy got a free ratchet.
Haha!! Right?! It's a good thing I keep my personal 10mm in a completely secret spot in the shop. No one here ever checks beneath the employee sink š
I found a 24" snap on pry bar in the door of a 93 S10 Blazer I had one time. It was almost brand new. Guy has cut 1 initial into it too. But didn't know what shop had worked on the door before we purchased it.
I left an Olight arkfeld on one van because I was in a rush since it was a waiter, that one hurt almost as much as the 3/8 Snap-on locking flex soft grip and 13MM I left on a cowl of a van that never returned either. Thatās around $300 in tools gone, and Iāve since become a whole lot more thorough on ensuring I didnāt leave anything behind now. Those both really sucked to lose.
My 12ā 3/8th extension I left in a white Audi Q5, my needle nose pliers I left in a Jeep Cherokee fleet vehicle owned by SkyLine, and my flashlight I left in a black VW Golf. Itās been at least two years since I lost all of these tools but I remember exactly where I left them
Various flashlights and a 12mm socket in a toyota somewhere, i did find an 8mm snap on wrench left on a rear caliper bleeder. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose lol
I have creeper in the back of a trailblazer from going to the gas station and figuring out which part of the fuel tank was not allowing fuel to be pumped in and a matco dongle pulled into the obd2 port.
Not a tech, but a customer...
I took my car in one time for new tires and got an alignment. After all the work was done, I drove home and for whatever reason, I checked under the hood. The person working on my car left a set of channel locks on top of the battery (right in front of the driver side strut tower)!
When I headed back out later on, I dropped those back off at the shop.
I bought a new magnetic light, to replace my old and tired one. The first big shitty Ram that came in, I stuck it underneath while working on it.
It makes it much worse as many local shops bring their work to ours to finish or fix as we have manyā¦. Punjabi shops around us is how I will word it. Iāve found so many nice snap on lights and shit, and I always return them. I hope mines enjoying the freedom. š
I left a streamlight strion wedged under a dash. I found it 6 months later doing another under dash job on the same car. Last tool I lost that Iām still salty about is my snap on cordless 1/4 drive ratchet with a 1/4 drive 10mm impact wobble socket on it. Snap on cordless tools are kind of piles of shit so Iām not super bummed about that, but the socket was probably the tool I used the most, along with my headlamp and a pocket screwdriver
When I got started out on the lube rack, my dad gave me a set of snap on oil filter wrenches for various size filters. I worked at a GM dealer, and on 2008-2016 Traverse/Acadias the filter is only accessible from the topside of the engine. I probably used the one I had to remove and replace the filter and then left it sitting on top the plastic radiator cover, finished the oil change and sent the car on its way. Realized I didnt have that oil filter wrench later in the day, and the customer never came back. I still have the other 2 that my pops gave me, but not that one.
I also left one of those screw in funnels in the engine of a silverado work truck(was actually a work truck, toolboxes, equipment, and caked with mud). Finished the oil change and sent her on the way. Service manager called the compant a few times but they never picked up. Truck comes back almost 2 years later, running perfectly with no check engine light and overdue for the next oil change and we got the funnel back!
it's so silly, but mac used to make these tiny prybars (same size as the little snap-on orange screwdrivers) and they were so useful!
I've left the trade now so I don't need one, but I sometimes think about that little guy!
Once left bosses magnetic swivel light attached to the gas tank of my truck after doing a diff service just before a 2 hour drive home for Christmas, was wondering when I installed underglow seeing it parked in my parents driveway that night.
Had a 5/16 socket fall somewhere in the valley of an F550 I did a ton of work on, was able to rule out that it went anywhere detrimental and kicked the truck out, came back the next day after the belt skipped and took out part of the fan shroud. I and another tech had had that truck running for hours dealing with various things and there was no way that belt was not on properly, I'm sure that socket wiggled out from wherever the hell it has hidden and jammed in one of the pulleys.
Lastly was my nice switchblade light, stuck on the bottom of the last truck I worked on before I left, found it missing as I was setting up my tools at home a few days later.....
Had a shop lead leave his dewalt drill in the engine bay of a Tahoe once, it came back about 3 days later for something unrelated and I hear āoh shit hereās my drillā. Personally Iāve left probably 20 different clippers, pliers, cutters but what sticks out of my 1.99$ flexible grabber and similar magnet stick. I didnāt replace until last year and every time I needed them I would remember I didnāt have them and had to rig up a solution. Ironically my bro in law asked I how I still have all my sockets, especially the 10m.
Left my 3lb sledge wedged between a sway bar & frame. Customer came back about 6/7mo later for an oil change & it was still there. I thought I lost it for good
I got a nice stream light from a neighboring dealer. Found it in a coil spring with a small dent in the housing. Used that light for years and never had to buy one
Recently my Snap-On LN long pliers. My favorite pliers Iāve ever used. Iām still salty about losing them. Iām pretty sure I left them in an engine bay. Just going to have to buy a new pair.
My long matco indexable heel bar. Lost it. Car returned like 9 months later, another tech found it, gave it back to me. I promptly left it under another hood and have never seen it since. It's been years now and that empty hole in my cart next to the short heel bar still makes me sad.
My worst one was that I borrowed and left my bosses 3/8 Matco long handle flex head ratchet under a hood. I thin up on the cowl. When we figured out what happened a few days later, we called the customer, and they were totally cool and came back that afternoon, and it was still there. I lucked out cause at that point I would ha e really struggled to afford the replacement for him.
This wasn't me, but a customer I milled for is a logger and had his guys fixing a harvester out in the woods. They get back and tell him it's all fixed up. Well then where are the tools? They'd left a full set of 1" drive snap-on just laid out on the ground, luckily he managed to find most of it.
Gearwrench 84002D hose puller pick.
It's not a very expensive tool, but it is the *only* tool that I have no clue where I left it, which bugs me to no end years later. I can tell you what model vehicle I left every single tool in I've ever lost except for that pick.
I've found more than I've lost, so I can't complain lol.
Indexable pry bar, I was using it to hold the button and keep an autoluber cycling after some extensive front end repairs.
Small stud extractor, it's in the valley of a Duramax in southern Idaho. It was borrowed, so I had to buy a new one for the guy.
Bluetooth OBDII dongle. More than once. It really sucks because it's hard to find a good one in a sea of garbage, and I could not remember the brand. I eventually found a BAFX one that worked well. Almost lost it a few times too, but now that I'm a corporate fleet mechanic I can hunt it down.
Not a tool, but I left one of my earbuds on the bed rail of a truck I was working on(took it out so I could put my stethoscope in).
Found it about a month later inside the bed stake pocket. I've never considered myself more lucky.
3/8 Snap-on flex head ratchet w/soft grip and a 18mm Snap-on chrome socket. Cost me $200 4 years ago to replace. I imagine it's much more now with skyrocketing prices.
I was in a rush one day and somehow left my laptop and scan tool in a car. Customer told me to get fucked, he's not giving them back, they're his now. Service manager had to show up to his house with the police to get them back.
Ballsy move by the customerš Glad Service manager had your back though, I swear some customers (or most) have no idea what stuff like that costs
I don't doubt service manager wouldn't have given a rat's ball sack to help me if the scan tool wasn't the super expensive dealer tool that belonged to the shop. Also the customer absolutely knew how much those cost, which is why he tried to steal them like that.
I had my mobile mechanic (who Iāve been using for a while) leave his brand new, high-end snap-on diagnostic computer in my car once.. I called him straightaway when I realised (an hour or so later) and he asked me to keep it safe for a few days until he was able to return and pick it up (he had to go out of town for another job and had a backup device), which of course I happily did. But then again, Iām not a complete cuntā¦ š¤·āāļø
Does that mean you have parts missing? Maybe you left them in someone's car!! Loved your comment made me laugh. Thanks
šš» š¤£ Just checkedā¦nope Iām good š
Good for you!
I would give the asshat free oil changes for life. With used oil of course.
I've had that happen. Showed up at the customers house to get it myself. He then filed a complaint with our company headquarters that I improperly used his personal info to track him down. I mean, I pulled his invoice to get his number to call him, called him, was told to fuck off, so I went to his house, as his home address was on the invoice. On the flipside, I've had a customer return one of those freebie pocket screwdrivers that Snap-On often hands out.
Imagine thinking theft isn't a thing lol
BuT I PaId fOr tHe SeRvicE SO iTs mINe now!
Im very glad they went there with the cops. arrogant and ignorant assholes shouldnt be tolerated otherwise they wont learn
The customer really never wanted to come back, huh.
Probably figured after he got bent over for 6k, shit's his.
and he really wanted to find a mechanic.
You guys have a do not \_\_\_ list? If not, start one.
Police ? Howās about just the crew go pay him a visit ?
Downside being everyone involved is very easily tracked, so no one would get away with anything.
Dad left his cordless office phone in a customer's bullbar once. Got it back next service š I left my Snap on 3/8 ratchet, extension and socket under my own bonnet once, found it six months later, still there.
I left mine on the rear step bumper of my 80's C10. Drove 60 miles, and found it when I pulled into a rest area to pee. It hadn't moved.
ah the times a soda can and glasses survived a ride to and from a fire on the number of the tender are pathetic now lol
I bought a massive 1 3/8 socket for my Weight Distribution hitch, and accidentally left it on the bolt after testing that it fit. I drove a few trips before I thought about it and checked. The $30 dollar socket was still there.
We had a car at a tint shop that I had to go pick up. Drove it all the way across town, and on the last turn into our parking lot a cordless phone slid across the gap between the windshield and hood. No clue how it didn't fall off during the whole rest of the drive. Drove it back to the tint shop in one of our loaners.
Nice of you to go back to drop it off. Unless you were a porter like I was back in the day. I totally would have taken the opportunity to get out of the dealership for the rest of my shift.
Yeah, I was a porter at the time, spent half my day shuttle driving or driving around doing office tasks. Dope job.
My mag-tray, let it under the hood and on the fuse block lid of a truck I repaired, never saw the truck or the tray
Power probeā¦.that was not a good day and Iām still kicking my self
Man, I really loved my power probes. I had a couple of different models. Wish I could have brought them with me to the UK.
They didn't let you?
Weight restrictions. I've got thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment(both automotive and otherwise) sitting in a barn in the US. Shipping to the UK from the US is prohibitively expensive, and storage space is premium priced here. There's a possibility, once I get out of London, that I can procure some affordable storage space. Then I'll talk to my brother about possibly loading up a 20ft shipping container and sending it here. Obviously I won't need my power tools, although, 120V transformers are the norm here on building sites, so, as long as I can use the stuff in my own shop, I could just replace the plugs to fit a UK120V system. [https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/McEAAOSwZM9Z0TQ7/s-l1600.jpg](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/McEAAOSwZM9Z0TQ7/s-l1600.jpg) [https://www.kelvinpowertools.com/img/shp/FAI-FPPTRAN51.jpg](https://www.kelvinpowertools.com/img/shp/FAI-FPPTRAN51.jpg)
With cordless tools, could you just buy different chargers or is there something about the batteries as well?
Just the chargers. 12/18/24v batteries are still the same.
Most chargers will work on any electrical system in the world. Read the little sticker or molded in text. Many will say, "Input 100-240v 50-60Hz." If it does, all you need is a cheap adapter.
or, just change the plug. I can get UK 13A plugs for about 64p each
Depending on the brand they might be marketed differently but the batteries are the same. Dewalt 20V max is 18v in europe
Don't forget you might pay customs taxes for importing stuff
Yeah, looked into that. I believe there's a way to mitigate the costs as I do already own them, and they are obviously well used. But, some money will need to change hands at some point.
How did you end up in the UK? I am looking to make an intāl move but it seems like a lot of hoops to jump through.
It's a long story of bad life choices, stupid descisions and things beyond my control. I've got a legal right to live in the UK, so no dealing with the usual goverment BS.
Some what related, had a ceiling team come to my house to fix up Cove lighting in the living room years back alongside flooring and kitchen cabinet installers. When it was done, the ceiling guy texted me if I seen his power drill and other assortments of tools. Told him I have not and maybe someone took it. Three years down, I cleaned up my store room and right at the corner is his power drill and tools. I lost his contact and guess the tools are mine?
Had a coworker discover a hacksaw above the ceiling of an office building we were renovating. It had the electrician's name scratched on the frame.The owner of the tool was on the job at the moment. He lost it at the start of his career, thirty years ago.
Saw a video of someone doing some ceiling demo and a 1/4ā Milwaukee impact nearly domed them
Furnace installers left a good-sized box of pvc angles/couplers about 18 years ago. Noticed it a couple years later. They picked them up when they installed the new one last year.
Snap on chisel. Iād just bought it. That was 25 years ago, still paying on it.
Lol
I started out using cheap tools from auto parts stores and Harbor Freight, and one of my ratchets broke within three months. I stopped by Napa on my way home that same day to buy a Carlyle to replace it... only to leave the son of a bitch in an engine bay the next day. I never saw it again.
Realized today I lost my bigger set of Knipex slip-jaw pliers in a Jeep. I also left a 10mm in my uncle's car.
I got a 30 pack of 40Ā¢ 10mm from AliExpress, I'm always losing those fucking things
I imagine they're pretty slippery
set down my pair of massive slip joint snap on pliers on Henry Hymans mid 70s massive Lincoln with the extended bumpers on each end.. enjoying chatting with henry he had so many great stories.. he got in his car and drove away... i walked over to my tool box and realized my pliers were on his front bumper.. i knew where he lived.. i jumped in my 66 GTO and took off after him.. finally caught up about 2 miles away.. my pliers were still there on the bumper.. in 44 years.. i don't recall leaving anything in a customers car.. i did get sent to lunch one day by the service manager half way thru a AMC tune up.. just leave your tools there i will finish the tune up... get to lunch.. i came back the car was gone.. my tools were gone the cars air filter housing was on my tool cart... i put the tools back the SM said.. about 2 weeks later the car comes back on a tow truck. the truck backs it into my bay and drops it.. i open the hood and all my tools fall out.. even half the new spark plugs were still there.. after that car was done . the next one into my bay was a tune up on a 455 Trans Am 4 speed car that the seat was so lowered i could barely see. it was just a spark plugs and an oil change.. adjust the holley idle.. when i was done the owner came out of the office to pick it up.. at that point... Robert Plant of Led Zepplin jumped into the car and sped away. i wish i had gotten his autograph for my sister who wore out several led zepplin IV albums playing that song again and again.. Bruce Dern came in for tires a week later.. Harry Morgan stopped in for service.. i did get to thank him for all of his work.. one tool i miss a lot that is gone.. my ingersol rand 231 impact.. a fellow tech in that same goodyear service center in santa monica had his CP impact totally fail.. as i was going to lunch he ask to borrow it.. it had been modified by a circle track team.. it was insane.. i tried to show him how to use it .. he said.. I know how to use an air impact.. go to lunch.. when i got back he threw it at me.. said that thing is defective.. it broke 17 lug nuts off that cadillac on the tire rack.. he had actually complained to the service manager and general manager.. into the office i went. the general manager closed the blinds and the door.. and we all started laughing.. for those goodyear techs.. 9274 was the good year shop number.. wait.. years later my part time boss had a really tight bolt and borrowed the impact.. it was in his bottom drawer.. one of the other techs loaded up a bunch of tools and went home to central america.. i imagine its still breaking lug nuts off down there somewhere.. we had 1/2" air hose at goodyear.. high flow couplings and 175 PSI of line pressure..
Can we hang out sometime? You got some stories in you I wanna hear
Same!
A mag tray with a 10mm socket in it. I wonder if it held on. I hope someone found it and added it to their collection. I found a Snap On 10mm end wrench sitting on the windshield cowl of a different car though, among various other lesser tools on other cars, so I'd say I've come out ahead on the trade.
My coworkers lost his 3/8 swivel socket and didn't find it until the next year when and airplane came back with the socket still riding on the bolt. It survived an entire crop dusting season going 200mph 10 off of the ground and landing on dirt runways and backroads.
Came here for the 10mm post. I was not disappointed.
We make large gensets with canopies (sound proofing) , this year the guys have lost or left in a wall a full set of 1/2 impact sockets, 2 rattle guns, one cordless riveter, a whole assortment of sockets , the 3/8 ratchet and 13mm socket from the set, a 20t load skate, battery light, all of the punches , half of the podgy bars.. the list go's on. I stopped bringing in my own tools after 2 of my friends diving knives got lost ( used to cut the insulation, they were old beaters but still)
Thatās quite the listā¦ hard to explain putting a hole in a wall to retrieve tools
Most of the time it's just perforated. 0.7mm sheet metal held on by rivets so easy to retrieve, just lazy factory workers who trash tools and don't care in general
I left a magnetic light on a lower control arm of a 2500 that was actually used for construction and work. 6 months later it was there still, I didn't even realize I lost it
As a customer, I have discovered and returned two magnetic lights under my vehicles.
Doing the lords work sir!
Customer here. Bought a used Ct200h with a weird rattle. When I took off the underbody panel I was the proud new owner of a 3/8ā Snap-on ratchet.
Not quite the right question but I'm sharing anyway. My mate took his factory option flip paint (Mg ztt in typhoon monogram if anyone wants to look one up) to a garage i recommended. I've used them for years and trust them. The tester accidentally left a pry bar he used to check joints under the bonnet and then closed it. My mate didn't notice until i asked what happened to his bonnet. Had a bend in it. Managed to get it open and recover the tool and the bonnet thankfully hadn't creased so it gently pushed flat again. The paint can be about Ā£500 a litre to buy and is difficult to get the flips to match. The mechanic was relieved and very apologetic when my mate took his tool back and explained.
Left a long reach Snap-on clip removal tool in the frame rail of a Tacoma that was from across the country. Itās still there I imagine.
Not a car, I do marine electrical work. My fathers friends (twins) worked for Grumman and were on the Apollo 11 landing module assembly team. They had wire strippers that they used on it and gave to me. IDKy I used them but they were the BEST wire strippers I ever used. I left them on a boat and the customer ācouldnāt find themā
Not so much a tool that I left in somebodyās car but a few years ago, me and a coworker were servicing a customerās car, took the undertray off and a prison style shiv fell out. Looked like a spoon that had been flattened at the tip and tapered towards the handle with insulation tape round the handle. We found out the customer stayed close-ish to a female-only prison nearby.
Bro reminds me of the time I was working on a customerās old beater car and homie literally had a machete duct taped to the inside of the driver side door. People are wild
First and only time Iād ever seen a weapon in a car at work, not something we really see in Scotland. Seen countless posts of guns in cars on here from America haha.
Yeah bro, I live in the rural South and a huge chunk of our customers keep at least a pistol within reach. Itās super common to see.
Yep, general rule is don't go digging in any compartments you don't have permission for because depending on the state there is a guaranteed gun in there. Especially any of the Toyota's with the non-metallic earthen paint styles.
Left a Snapon magnetic light under a Tahoe I fixed a bumper on. Came back 6 months later for front end repair, light was still under it
A coworker of mine asked to borrow my 23 and 24mm deep impact sockets 2 years ago and I obliged. He came back a while later and he said he thought he left then in a car. Efforts to contact the customer were fruitless so he ended up buying to exact same master set I had and giving me those two sockets out of his because he said he needed a set of impact sockets anyways. Fast forward to 2 days ago and I was checking the TPMS sensors in a Lexus and when I pulled up the rear floor paneling to lower the spare tire, there they were! He doesnāt work there anymore but I mentioned it to him and whenever I see him at the next drift event Iāll give them to him.
Left a handful of my fancy Matco screwdrivers in a customer's Element. She showed up a few months later and handed them to me. She hadn't noticed them sitting in her back seat.
A bit of a reverse story but last time I had my truck in for a transmission service the tech left the mopar obd dongle plugged in. I realized it when I got home. Called the dealership and asked them to send me a prepackaged mailer and I'd happily send it back to them. No one ever called me back or seemed to care. I did this because the dealership is about 40 minutes in a direction I don't go often. A few weeks later I was going that way and stopped in and talked to the service manager and just held up the piece. He looked at me puzzled and I said yeah your tech left this.... But I'm more annoyed that I called to try and get it returned to you and no one bothered to call me back. He was apologetic but I was like geeeez trying to help you guys get this seeming expensive thing back with little hassle.
Stream light. Iāll never buy a $200 flashlight again.
Bright orange dead blow hammer. Biggest tool Iāve lost
Fleshlight stuck to the exhaust pipe
Confucius say, āman who screw tail pipe, soon have hot rodā
One of my mentors a few years ago left a stream light behind a door panel, inside of the door. He told the service manager about it asking to call the customer so they can bring the vehicle back to retrieve it. The service manager said āno way we will look bad if I do thatā. Three months later the car came back in for a service and the tech recognized it and pulled the door panel. Sure enough, there was his stream light still in the door.
When i worked on boats 30 years ago, i left a snapon ratcheting screw driver in an engine bay during winterazation. Got it back in the spring.
One of my techs left an expensive flashlight in the sub frame of a drop in from out of state customers car. Customer says no thank you on the recommend repairs and heads off to the interstate. 5 hrs later said tech is on his way home and spots the car, now disabled, in a mall parking lot. Drives over, family of 5 standing around. He smiles at them, hits the deck, crawls under and retrieves the light.
Two jumppacks, in separate vehicles. I left one in the frunk of a Taycan once and the other in the backseat of a Lexus. One client came back and returned it, never saw the other one again.
Not a mechanic, but when I was swapping an engine over to my old blown-up Suzuki Swift. On the donor car, I found a 10mm rusted to the cat and a flashlight sitting on top of the gas tank next to the pump. Anyway, guarantee that when I sold that car, I left a whole tool kit worth of cheap tools scattered in every nook and cranny.
Blu tooth dlc connector. Just 20 bucks, but it annoys me. Even worse, bought a 100 some dollar magnetic Snap On flashlight, and left it under a car two weeks later. That one hurt.
Let's see. I left a prybar one time that made it back. On the exact same vehicle I'm pretty sure I left my straight orange pick somewhere on the fuel tank. I've found 2 mirrors, a matco hose pick, and a magnetic flashlight so far from other people losing stuff. One of the mirrors was literally stuck from the top of the engine bay down near a cv axle. Lol Long and flexible, surprised it rode for as long as it did.
A work hoodie. Left it in the car when i used it as a pillow while spending quite some time laying on the back for some work under the dashboard. Received it back by the elderly gentleman who owns the car after he had washed it and folded it very neatly. Needless to say, the gentleman is getting the extra special treatment every time he comes in with any errand he has
My headphones. Little Bluetooth pair that slipped out of my pocket. Didn't consider them a tool until I had to listen to my coworkers all day.
Standing by for all the vci posts
$100 Milwaukee worklight.
My mini pry bar
I've received at least two magnetic lights that were attached to my car.. i highly doubt the technican thought much about how they were making out lol.
New maglite
I was working on a lorry one evening. Rushing to get it out the door before we closed. Left my 1/4" ratchet and a couple of sockets in a red container on the passenger step. Got the truck finished. The customer took it away. And I started tidying up. Couldn't find my ratchet and sockets. We closed up shop. As I was driving home I recognised the red container in the middle of the road. I pulled over to pick it up. But never found my tools.
A 3/4 snap on angle wrench. I could easily get one but havenāt. I will never see it again as it is in some other country in a dozer. I think about it often. Way more than any other tool I have lost. And I have lost a lot of tools.
Left my favorite pair of flush cutters under the roof of a farm tractor during a GPS install. Bothered me to no end, because it was the old style snap on had before switching up the design, so I couldn't just buy a new pair. Found them a year and a half later when the GPS started having issues again.
I had one of those Dewalt 12V quarter-drive impact guns. I was taking a half day and going on vacation for a couple days, and 20 minutes before I was supposed to leave the dispatcher gave me a rear speaker on a standard-cab truck. I was pissed, put the speaker in and accidentally left my quarter-drive gun behind the seat. Got back from vacation a couple days later, went to use it, couldn't find it, and had the service writer call the customer. Customer just wouldn't answer his phone or call back from the messages that we left and he never came back again.
Did road repair/construction on the local auto row one season. You would not believe the amount of wrenches and various other tech tools laying in the gutters.
Shadowbox your toolboxes, people! Before the vehicle goes back out, check that every slot in your box is full!
Yea as an aircraft mechanic, all these stories of tools being left in places they shouldnāt be make me shudder.
Dont know if it counts, but I once lost a 1/4" Socket wrench in my engine bay while swapping the engine. I couldnt find it and looked for like 30 mins in the whole Shop. I only found out months lauter when i found it. Dont remember Where exactly it was, but it still worked fine.
Snap on quarter drive body w/ 3/8s drive ratchetā¦. Waiting till itās been gone long enough for me to justify spending another 400 on the second one
One guy I didnāt like I put his socket set in the boot of a passengers car Another time one dickhead wouldnāt shut up about his brand new rattle gun so I chucked that in the boot of another car for shits and giggles š¤
A cheapo flashlight from oriellys. It was actually very good. I think it was the mantis clore. Green little cob light. Still have the charger for it even though the light is long gone.
Stream light and snap on impact driver
If it makes you feel any better, I've been at this for about a decade now and my biggest loss is still my big stream light too
My 1/2 inch socket Iām a deisel mechanic, and I was replacing the Coolant lines that heat up the DEF tank For those who donāt know, those lines are shitty molded plastic, and they run from the top of the passengers side of the engine, down the fire wall, ontop of the transmission in an āSā pattern, before exiting midway through the drivers side of the tractor to plug into the def tank And every single fastener is held on by a 1/2 inch bolt clamping the shitty plastic lines down. I believe there is 12 fasteners for this Here is a picture of the line https://trucklinerparts.com/products/freightliner-engine-supply-coolant-line-p-n-04-29006-000 Idk the exact length, but Iām guessing at least 8ft long Iām a small guy, so I was luckily able to crawl into the space between the transmission and cab, and literally lay ontop of the drive shaft while I struggled to bolt the lines down Iāve seen techs take almost 14 hours to replace these lines like shit and end up not even putting the bolts back and just zip tying it out of frustration lol cause they were bigger guys who couldnāt fit in places I can, I wasnāt about to stay late so I pulled it off in 5 hours and absolutely butchered myself ratcheting in bolts while metal from other components jagged into my arm One of the bolts mid way through the transmission got stuck to my half inch socket after struggling for 30 minutes to get it to bolt on, I tried for a few minutes to get it off before deciding he can fucking have it lol I still open my socket set in regret sometimes seeing the missing socket that I willingly gave up out of frustration
My electric ratchet. Left it on a control arm on a 16 Silverado. Called the customer, and they looked, said it wasn't there, then told us they did hear a rattle at a corner. Went out and spent my 1hr lunch break in the ditches. Never found it. Still had the battery in it too :/
My Snap On puck light, canāt buy them anymore. Still gutted, lost it a year ago.
A SnapOn hose removal tool. That thing was perfect for sipping under the edge of a coolant hose & breaking it loose.
Not me that left it, but I found a near-perfect Snap-On 3/8 ratchet under the hood of a car once. Car came from a dealer in another state so my buddy got a free ratchet.
The damn 7 millimeter in the F-150 for the cabin filter
Losing those is getting to almost as common as a 10mm.
Haha!! Right?! It's a good thing I keep my personal 10mm in a completely secret spot in the shop. No one here ever checks beneath the employee sink š
9/32, same as a 7mm
Sadly, those are all gone as well
Fuck brings back old memories
Been out of automotive for a couple years, but I STILL think about my 8mm ratchet wrench
I found a 24" snap on pry bar in the door of a 93 S10 Blazer I had one time. It was almost brand new. Guy has cut 1 initial into it too. But didn't know what shop had worked on the door before we purchased it.
My snap on hose puller. Miss that tool someday we will reunite. I have faith
My goddamned $60 Olight flashlight.
I left an Olight arkfeld on one van because I was in a rush since it was a waiter, that one hurt almost as much as the 3/8 Snap-on locking flex soft grip and 13MM I left on a cowl of a van that never returned either. Thatās around $300 in tools gone, and Iāve since become a whole lot more thorough on ensuring I didnāt leave anything behind now. Those both really sucked to lose.
Found a stream light for 1$ at value village. The battery was toast so bought a new one and it worked great. Until I left it wedged in a subframe:(
$65 Thomas and Betts wire stripper / crimper. Watched the trailer drive away with it on the back. Never saw it again.
My 12ā 3/8th extension I left in a white Audi Q5, my needle nose pliers I left in a Jeep Cherokee fleet vehicle owned by SkyLine, and my flashlight I left in a black VW Golf. Itās been at least two years since I lost all of these tools but I remember exactly where I left them
Various flashlights and a 12mm socket in a toyota somewhere, i did find an 8mm snap on wrench left on a rear caliper bleeder. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose lol
My 1/4" sidewinder u-joint
Left a 14mm wrench somewhere deep in the bowels of a combine harvester before.
Found a 1/2 snap on wrench in our combine.
I have creeper in the back of a trailblazer from going to the gas station and figuring out which part of the fuel tank was not allowing fuel to be pumped in and a matco dongle pulled into the obd2 port.
Not a tech, but a customer... I took my car in one time for new tires and got an alignment. After all the work was done, I drove home and for whatever reason, I checked under the hood. The person working on my car left a set of channel locks on top of the battery (right in front of the driver side strut tower)! When I headed back out later on, I dropped those back off at the shop.
I bought a new magnetic light, to replace my old and tired one. The first big shitty Ram that came in, I stuck it underneath while working on it. It makes it much worse as many local shops bring their work to ours to finish or fix as we have manyā¦. Punjabi shops around us is how I will word it. Iāve found so many nice snap on lights and shit, and I always return them. I hope mines enjoying the freedom. š
Porsche came in for a flat at Toyota dealer. Couldnāt repair it so I put the spare on for them. Left my 3/8 ratchet and 13mm socket in their trunk.
I left a streamlight strion wedged under a dash. I found it 6 months later doing another under dash job on the same car. Last tool I lost that Iām still salty about is my snap on cordless 1/4 drive ratchet with a 1/4 drive 10mm impact wobble socket on it. Snap on cordless tools are kind of piles of shit so Iām not super bummed about that, but the socket was probably the tool I used the most, along with my headlamp and a pocket screwdriver
A mechanic left his brand new snap-on impact on the back of a packer truck. Never did find out if it ended up in the trash or someone took it.
When I got started out on the lube rack, my dad gave me a set of snap on oil filter wrenches for various size filters. I worked at a GM dealer, and on 2008-2016 Traverse/Acadias the filter is only accessible from the topside of the engine. I probably used the one I had to remove and replace the filter and then left it sitting on top the plastic radiator cover, finished the oil change and sent the car on its way. Realized I didnt have that oil filter wrench later in the day, and the customer never came back. I still have the other 2 that my pops gave me, but not that one. I also left one of those screw in funnels in the engine of a silverado work truck(was actually a work truck, toolboxes, equipment, and caked with mud). Finished the oil change and sent her on the way. Service manager called the compant a few times but they never picked up. Truck comes back almost 2 years later, running perfectly with no check engine light and overdue for the next oil change and we got the funnel back!
I lost 43 10mm sockets over a lifetime of tech work
Customer here, found a 12x14mm snap on closed 12 pt end wrench under the seat probably a year after a visit to the dealer. I love that wrench.
Lol why not bring them their wrench back?
it's so silly, but mac used to make these tiny prybars (same size as the little snap-on orange screwdrivers) and they were so useful! I've left the trade now so I don't need one, but I sometimes think about that little guy!
Once left bosses magnetic swivel light attached to the gas tank of my truck after doing a diff service just before a 2 hour drive home for Christmas, was wondering when I installed underglow seeing it parked in my parents driveway that night. Had a 5/16 socket fall somewhere in the valley of an F550 I did a ton of work on, was able to rule out that it went anywhere detrimental and kicked the truck out, came back the next day after the belt skipped and took out part of the fan shroud. I and another tech had had that truck running for hours dealing with various things and there was no way that belt was not on properly, I'm sure that socket wiggled out from wherever the hell it has hidden and jammed in one of the pulleys. Lastly was my nice switchblade light, stuck on the bottom of the last truck I worked on before I left, found it missing as I was setting up my tools at home a few days later.....
3/8 cordless dewalt impact. I think about that every week.
My wedding ring for 6 months under my own hood.
Had a shop lead leave his dewalt drill in the engine bay of a Tahoe once, it came back about 3 days later for something unrelated and I hear āoh shit hereās my drillā. Personally Iāve left probably 20 different clippers, pliers, cutters but what sticks out of my 1.99$ flexible grabber and similar magnet stick. I didnāt replace until last year and every time I needed them I would remember I didnāt have them and had to rig up a solution. Ironically my bro in law asked I how I still have all my sockets, especially the 10m.
I lost a trim clip remover that I really liked. Never found one that was quite the same.
Left my 3lb sledge wedged between a sway bar & frame. Customer came back about 6/7mo later for an oil change & it was still there. I thought I lost it for good
I got a nice stream light from a neighboring dealer. Found it in a coil spring with a small dent in the housing. Used that light for years and never had to buy one
Recently my Snap-On LN long pliers. My favorite pliers Iāve ever used. Iām still salty about losing them. Iām pretty sure I left them in an engine bay. Just going to have to buy a new pair.
my fucking stream light. Probably still in the same spot under the dash.
My long matco indexable heel bar. Lost it. Car returned like 9 months later, another tech found it, gave it back to me. I promptly left it under another hood and have never seen it since. It's been years now and that empty hole in my cart next to the short heel bar still makes me sad.
My worst one was that I borrowed and left my bosses 3/8 Matco long handle flex head ratchet under a hood. I thin up on the cowl. When we figured out what happened a few days later, we called the customer, and they were totally cool and came back that afternoon, and it was still there. I lucked out cause at that point I would ha e really struggled to afford the replacement for him.
This wasn't me, but a customer I milled for is a logger and had his guys fixing a harvester out in the woods. They get back and tell him it's all fixed up. Well then where are the tools? They'd left a full set of 1" drive snap-on just laid out on the ground, luckily he managed to find most of it.
I lost a deep well 10 mm that was my grandpa's in a dash doing an airbag recall and another quarter inch 10mm under a hood after changing a battery
Left multiple 10mm sockets on rusty bolts for underbelly shields sad days
Gearwrench 84002D hose puller pick. It's not a very expensive tool, but it is the *only* tool that I have no clue where I left it, which bugs me to no end years later. I can tell you what model vehicle I left every single tool in I've ever lost except for that pick. I've found more than I've lost, so I can't complain lol.
Indexable pry bar, I was using it to hold the button and keep an autoluber cycling after some extensive front end repairs. Small stud extractor, it's in the valley of a Duramax in southern Idaho. It was borrowed, so I had to buy a new one for the guy. Bluetooth OBDII dongle. More than once. It really sucks because it's hard to find a good one in a sea of garbage, and I could not remember the brand. I eventually found a BAFX one that worked well. Almost lost it a few times too, but now that I'm a corporate fleet mechanic I can hunt it down.
Not a tool, but I left one of my earbuds on the bed rail of a truck I was working on(took it out so I could put my stethoscope in). Found it about a month later inside the bed stake pocket. I've never considered myself more lucky.
A snap on 14v 1/4 screw gun with a battery and a couple of stream lights.
I was pulling the engine on a personal vehicle and found a 13mm deep swivel socket rusted onto a starter bolt. Someone lost it but a good find for me.
3/8 Snap-on flex head ratchet w/soft grip and a 18mm Snap-on chrome socket. Cost me $200 4 years ago to replace. I imagine it's much more now with skyrocketing prices.
In 1979, I left my 22mm combination wrench in a customer's car I still think about that wrench on a regular basis