Many garages post the work: before and after, fresh paint, a clean engine bay. It’s honest, and it rarely travels, because a stranger scrolling past doesn’t care about a car that isn’t theirs. What they do care about is a joke they recognise.
On this page
Why paint-job videos stall
Icon Auto Centre is a garage on Advance Road in Toronto: collision repair, diagnostics, mechanical work and maintenance. For years its videos showed the work. “A little fresh paint to start the day.” “That gloss though.” Lovely paint, a few hundred views at a time. After a BMW in for a front end, in October 2024, the feed went quiet.
The work was good. The videos were made for people who already cared about the car.
What changed: the jokes every mechanic knows
On 19 June 2026 we started with the question every mechanic hears: how do customers see us? The same mechanic, in front of the same truck, as a doctor (“What’s the diagnosis?”), a magician (“Can you leave it like new??”), a superhero (“Can you fix it in an hour?”) and a man fanning cash (“Can you give me a discount??”). Not a drop of paint in it.
The next day Icon posted two more. “My POV”: a bolt held up between two fingers. “Your POV”: a pair of sneakers resting on an engine. Seven seconds for every driver who thinks a repair is one small part. And the bolt that finally comes out by hand, with the face that goes with it. Both went viral, and both passed two million views.
Two weeks in, a trend: under a car only the legs show, so the captions read them. “Everything is fine.” “Challenge accepted.” “We’re cooked bruh.” Eleven seconds, and it went viral too.
Ideas for your shop
- What customers think we do. One mechanic, several costumes, every question you hear at the counter.
- My POV, your POV. The part you see, and the part the customer imagines.
- The feeling every mechanic knows. The seized bolt, the missing socket, the one that finally gives.
- Leg positions. Only the legs under the car, and a caption for each.
- The work as the payoff. Set up a joke, and let the finished car be the punchline.
- The questions at the counter. The ones you answer ten times a week, answered once on camera.
Where the work still belongs
Keep showing the work. Just don’t make it the whole feed. A garage that makes people laugh gets watched by strangers; a garage that shows great work gets trusted by them. The best feeds do both.
Explain the estimate, the way Ontario sets it
The question drivers worry about most is the bill, and a short video can answer it before they call. In Ontario, the rules are set out for drivers: before a repair shop can charge, it must have given a written estimate, unless the driver declined one and agreed a maximum instead, and “the final cost charged cannot be more than 10% above the estimate or, if you declined an estimate, more than the maximum agreed amount” (Ontario, car repair shops: your rights). Repair businesses must also post a sign telling customers about their right to a written estimate, any estimate fees, and how labour charges are calculated (Ontario, guide for auto repair businesses).
A garage that explains how its estimates work, on camera, in its own words, turns a rule into a reason to trust it. Keep the video to what the rules say and what your shop actually does: how you estimate, when you call before going further, and how you show the old parts.
Customers’ cars on camera
- Ask before filming a customer’s car in a way that shows it clearly, and say where the video will go.
- Hide the plate, the VIN and anything with the owner’s name or address on it, such as paperwork on the dash.
- Never mock a customer’s car or a customer’s repair. The jokes stay on the trade, the shop and the team.
Filming a working shop
The shop floor is the best set a garage has, and the busiest. Film between jobs or in a bay that is free, keep the camera and the person holding it clear of lifts and moving vehicles, and show the team in the gear they actually wear. A short shot list, written the day before, keeps a shoot to minutes rather than an afternoon.
Reviews
A garage lives on its reviews. Ask every customer for an honest review, not only the pleased ones, and make it easy with a link or a QR code on the invoice, but never pay or reward anyone for one. Google’s policy for Maps forbids a business to “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”, and forbids content “posted due to an incentive offered by a business - such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services”, including revisions or removals of a negative review in exchange for one (Google Maps, prohibited and restricted content). Reply to every review, good or bad, briefly and without arguing.
A first month for a garage
- Week one: what customers think we do, in costumes, and the team, one person a video.
- Week two: my POV, your POV, and the bolt that finally gives.
- Week three: how our estimates work, and a question from the counter answered.
- Week four: leg positions, and a finished car as the punchline.
Let us film your shop
We plan the month, film at your shop, edit and post on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Shorts, and guarantee the views: 250,000 a month on Base, up to 1 million on Premium. Read the whole Icon Auto Centre story, or see the plans.
Questions owners ask
What should an auto repair shop post on social media?
The life of the shop: the jokes every mechanic knows, the questions customers ask, and the finished work as the payoff.
Does TikTok work for auto repair shops?
Short video does. For Icon Auto Centre, a Toronto garage with fewer than 2,000 Instagram followers, our films passed 10.11 million views on Instagram and TikTok together in four months.
Can a garage charge more than its estimate in Ontario?
Not by more than 10%. Ontario’s rules say the final cost cannot be more than 10% above the written estimate, or above the maximum the driver agreed if they declined an estimate.
How long should a garage video be?
Short. Two of Icon Auto Centre’s films that passed two million views ran seven and eleven seconds.
How do I start?
Apply to work with us: a few quick questions about your business. We read every application, and if we can help, we write back to set up a free thirty-minute video call. Apply to work with us
Keep reading
- ViewsWhy your TikToks and Reels get no views
- ViewsHow many views is good on TikTok and Reels?
- Making videosHow to write a short video script (template)
Sources
Updates
- : Lengthened: explaining estimates under Ontario’s consumer protection rules (Ontario’s pages for drivers and for repair businesses, read), customers’ cars on camera, filming a working shop, reviews (Google’s review policy read), and a first month of posts.
- : Corrected: our view totals for the two Toronto shops are on Instagram and TikTok, not Facebook.