The flashlight goes under the open hood of a red compact at a gas station, and the auto captions catch the verdict: “Steady. Dripping.” The mechanic has just poured water into the cooling system to find the leak, and it is coming straight back out.

The clip was shared on TikTok by the account @aldrew19, which is not the mechanics’ own account. The footage has been boxed into a vertical frame with blurred bars and labeled “Parte 1.” The banner and tags added on top suggest a scam, but nothing in this first part supports that; it ends with the mechanic offering to fix the car in the morning.

It opens with the driver standing by her open car door under the gas station canopy, explaining the problem to the mechanic. “They just told me I have a leak in my oil pan,” she says, according to the video’s auto captions. She asks if the group has “anything extra to spare,” adding, “Like money wise.” Then she mentions a second problem: “They also told me I got a leak in my coolant.”

Someone with the mechanic asks the obvious question: “Well, would you like him to take a look?” The answer that follows is “We are mobile mechanic.” She describes what happens when she tops up: “I’ve been putting the oil in and it’s just going right through it.” “Hold on, let me take a look at it real quick,” he says.

With the hood up, she repeats what she was told: an oil leak, and coolant that runs right out every time she adds it. “So they tell me there’s no way I can get on the highway,” she says.

He goes to work. “Let me put some water in it, see where you’re leaking out of,” he says, then asks for a flashlight. Under the car, the light finds a steady drip. He asks her to pull the car over to another spot and lays out the plan: “Fix your car in the morning.” The clip ends there, so what she decided is not in this video.

The two problems she describes are the kind official guidance tells drivers to check before a long trip. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s summer driving tips say to make sure you have enough coolant that meets the manufacturer’s specifications, and that “you or a mechanic should check the cooling system for leaks, test the coolant, and drain or replace old coolant as needed.” It also says to check the oil level periodically and, if you see any signs of fluid leakage, to “take your vehicle in to be serviced.”

The same NHTSA guide lists what to carry in case of a breakdown, including a cell phone and charger, a flashlight, flares and a white flag, jumper cables, work gloves, basic repair tools, duct tape “for temporarily repairing a hose leak,” water, nonperishable food, drinking water, medicines and emergency blankets.

If your car starts losing oil or coolant far from home, do what the mechanic did before anything else: find out where it is leaking. With the engine off and cool, top up with the coolant your manufacturer specifies, then look underneath with a flashlight for drips and note whether they are coming from the front, the middle or under the engine. Check the oil on the dipstick each time you stop, and keep a written note of how much you are adding.

If more than one person has told you the car is not safe on the highway, take that seriously, and get a written estimate before you commit to a plan. When strangers offer help, keep your keys, your phone and your documents with you, choose a well lit public spot like the gas station in this video, and tell someone you trust where you are and who is working on the car.