Tuner Allegedly ‘Pranks’ Corvette Dealer by Placing Metal Shavings in Engine

Was this deliberate act merely a prank between a few Corvette-loving pals or a savage attempt at fraud? You be the judge!

Like most people, we love a good old fashioned prank. There’s just something about pulling a fast one on our buddies that leaves us giggling incessantly every single time. But when we heard the story from Jalopnik of a tuner shop employee’s recent (alleged) prank on a local auto dealer’s Corvette, we found ourselves struggling to find the punch line. Because this supposed joke involved purposely inserting metal shavings into the car’s oil filter.

The whole thing supposedly went down when two employees at Advanced Modern Performance (AMP), located near Dallas, Texas, visited Driven Autoplex after hours to scope out a C6 Corvette they were selling. The duo wanted to take it back to AMP for inspection. But Driven’s owner, Kevin Lindsey, allowed him to use their lift to check it out. Lindsey headed out with one of the AMP employees to check out the vehicle they were hoping to trade in while the other AMP employee inspected the Corvette.

What happened next is obvious, yet the motive is up for debate. In a Facebook video of the incident, you can clearly see the AMP employee remove the oil filter. He then apparently cut it in half and pulled a bag of something out of his pocket. That something turned out to be metal shavings. Which, if real, would indicate that the Corvette had some serious engine problems. Both sides confirm this much as fact.

The motive, however, is up for debate. Lindsey believes it was done in an attempt to scam the shop. The AMP employee reportedly asked how much Driven paid for the car. Then graciously offered them $500 more. AMP’s owner, Sam Miller, claims that it was all a big joke between buddies and that Lindsey was informed of the prank 5 minutes later.

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Update

According to Jalopnik, both sides have reached out telling their side of the story, and it would seem that the issue has been squashed. However, we would still be leery of the repair shop. Something just doesn’t quite add up.

This modern day feud has exploded all over Facebook. And there’s really no way to know who’s really telling the truth. But then again, when was the last time you pulled the old knee slappin’ “metal shavings in the oil” trick on your buddies?