Mechanic: Hi, I’m the mechanic. What can I do for you? 

Amy: My car is making a very weird noise. It sounds like this: gulug, gulug, gulug... 

Mechanic: Hm, that doesn’t sound good. Where is [bad word] from? 

Amy: I’m not sure. When I’m in the car, it sounds like [bad word] from the engine, but when I get out of the car, it sounds like [bad word] from directly under the [bad word]  maybe the muffler? 

Mechanic: That’s not a noise a muffler would make. Let me take a look. Can you start the car and pop the hood? 

Amy: Sure. 

Mechanic: Well, I don’t hear the sound right now, but your battery needs replacing, you have a coolant leak, your carburetor needs adjusting, and your spark plugs are shot. I need to look under the car. 

Amy: Okay, go ahead. 

Mechanic: Your brake pads need replacing and your tires need balancing. 

Amy: But are any of those problems causing that horrible noise? 

Mechanic: I don’t know. I don’t hear the noise right now, so it’s hard to tell. But that’s all work you need to have done on this car anyway for it [bad word] right. It’s only a matter of time before your car stops working if you don’t take care of those problems. 

Amy: [bad word] in with one problem and you find 10 others. I guess you should go ahead. What else can I do? 

Mechanic: Um, buy a bus pass? 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse