We all love a good prank… as long as we’re not the victim.
In true Car Chat style, we have complied five hilarious April Fools CAR pranks to try on your friends this year.
#5
Level: Mischievous
Title: “Smog Test”
Have your buddy walk around with a balloon filled with exhaust.
This one works best for new drivers. When I was in the military, we used to do this to young Soldiers. Since 1977’s Federal Clean Air Act, almost every state requires a vehicle emissions test. Of course, this happens at an auto repair shop or a state testing facility, but on this April Fool’s day, you need to convince your friend that they need to bring in a sample to the shop. Choose your favorite shop or parts store and have a worker in on the joke. Getting a sample is simple – fill a trash bag. Have the young driver start the car, fill a trash bag with exhaust for the “smog test,” and tie off the bag so none of the precious gas escapes. (Safety tip: be careful that the victim doesn’t grab ahold of the tail pipe and burn themselves or melt plastic to the car. If they’re falling for the smog test, they’re probably also likely to hurt themselves.)
Once they have secured their exhaust sample, they should take it down to the local shop or parts supply store where the attendant is waiting to film them to walk in with a bag of smog for their annual inspection. Don’t forget to have the worker ask them what they are doing with their bag of exhaust for the video. Also, be sure to use #TheCarChat.net when you post it online.
#4
Level: Mischievous
Title: “Echo”
Turns out, yelling in the engine comparment can fix many mechanical problems.
Ever heard of an “Oil Pan Echo Test?” Neither have we… nor has your buddy. Choose somebody that likes their car, but really has no idea what is going on under the hood. During a ride in their car, highlight some road noise and make a big deal about it. After every bump, help the driver get extra concerned that the noises they’re hearing are problematic. Use all of your 8thgrade drama class acting skills to convince them to pull over and check it out. Find a safe place, like a parking lot or in your driveway to pop the hood and take a look. Shake your head and say, “I have a feeling you’ve got a bad oil pan.”
There’s only one way to know for sure: The Echo Test. Mechanics have trusted this for decades. Just unscrew the oil fill cap (don’t burn yourself on anything in the engine) and shout in the engine before quickly moving your ear toward the fill spout to listen for an echo. Shaking your head say, “Oh man, I think I can hear it.” They’ll ask, “what you are listening for?” You should reply, “If there is an echo when you yell, clearly your timing chain is allowing a bubble of oil to cling to the walls of the CV and you need a new pan.”
Get your buddy to yell and listen for echo’s as you film the entire exercise. It won’t let you down, especially if you tell him different words to yell until he figures out that you’re messing with him. This will make for internet gold.
#3
Level: Devious
Title: "Dry-Rot Stink"
You'll be sorry if you don't treat your tires... you'll be sorry if you do, too.
Dry rotted tires can be a real problem. Find a gullible friend who has a set of old tires and begin waxing eloquent a week or so before April Fool’s about how you caught your tires just in time and got this new product that has saved you hundreds by extending the life of your tires. You’ll need three things for this joke: 1. A spray bottle that doesn’t work right, so it gets liquid all over the user when they spray. 2. A custom “Dry-Rot Restorer” label that you’ll need to make in advance and adhere to your spray bottle. 3. A truly terrible smelling liquid to put in your spray bottle.
On April Fools bring the bottle to work or wherever you can casually give it to your buddy. Since you’ve been talking it up for a while let them know they should try it today and that they can use the rest of your bottle rather than buying a new one. Hopefully they’ll take the bait and liberally apply it to their tires – and thereby spray the liquid all over themselves in the process.
The evil genius of this prank is that not only are they tricked in to spraying their tires with a nonsense product, but they will also wear the stink of their ignorance for the rest of the day. Laugh maniacally.
#2
Level: Devious
Title: “The Wedge”
Watch your buddy get out of a tight situation.
This one’s based on a true story: a musician friend of mine had a ’68 Barracuda. You could sweat off ten pounds during a car ride if you found yourself sitting the back seat, the sun shining through the fastback style rear window. Of course, my buddy was in a band. Late one night, some of the guys decided to prank my buddy with “The Wedge.” Playing in a downtown club, the drummer and bass player got in the ‘Cuda and carefully moved it to the one of the side streets. The alley between the building was about a car-and-a-half wide. So, the drummer naturally backed the ‘Cuda parallel with the building and parallel parked across the alley. With the bass player ground guiding him outside, the two successfully wedged the car between the buildings with only inches to spare in front and behind the car, so that the vehicle was sideways in the alley. The musicians ran inside to finish their set.
When the club closed about 2 a.m., my buddy walked outside to hind his precious car parked sideways between two buildings as if it has been slid in to the alleyway. The band howled with laughter while they watched him try to steer the car out of “The wedge.” Inch by inch, he would creep forward and then turn the wheel and back up trying to get the car back on the street. Hilarious.
#1
Level: Diabolical
Title: “Fallopian Tubes”
Even have this importnat part installed, at no additional charge.
OK, so, this one is a smidge off color. The whole joke depends on posting it on Social Media and having a Parts Store crew help you. Fallopian tubes are the part of female reproductive anatomy that carry eggs from the ovaries. They are also not very well known.
Back in the day, when I worked with a crew, there was a legend about a young mechanic who was sent by his shop to get a box of fallopian tubes from the foreman to distribute to all the female employees. The dude actually stood in front of everybody and yelled to the ladies that their fallopian tubes had been misplaced and that he was going to hand them out, if they would be so kind as to meet him in the front of the shop. Didn’t turn out so well for the youngster.
This prank takes a spin on that joke by having a driver head to their local parts store for a free, invitation only sale in which the store is giving away and installing free fallopian tubes to special customers. Work it out with your parts store to have a trusting driver arrive at the store and claim their prize. The parts store staff should hand over the coveted tubes (any rubber tubing will work) and usher the victim in front of a big sign that says, “I got my new fallopian tubes installed today.” Take a picture as they hold their tubes proudly. Then, the parts workers can “install” them in the trunk of the victim’s car.
To complete the joke, ask the driver to post their picture to their social media account as a condition of getting the free upgrade. The beauty of this joke is that it is equally embarrassing for men or women and will eventually click when somebody on their news feed comments that they have been fooled.
Bonus
Level: Mastermind
Title: “Swamp”
This emotional rollercoaster is no lazy river.
This is multilayered. Here’s what you do - though, be warned, this will take some planning and some skills. First off, you’ll need a partner in crime, such as your victim’s spouse. Choose somebody to trick who has a car they love and who won’t just assume insurance will cover damages. In advance, take a picture of your victim’s car. Photoshop the roof of the car in the river (image search this to find something close) and also a tow truck or crane with lines going into a local lake or river. Then photoshop muddy water into the interior of the car, so it appears that the car is filled with water.
On April Fools, let your victim go about their normal routine. At some point in the day, have your victim’s spouse meet your mark for a meal and give you the keys so you can move the car, making it appear that it has been stolen. It’s important that the spouse is with the victim so that they can call the “police,” when they realize the car is gone.
The spouse will actually call your friend, a police officer, who is in on the joke. When the police arrive a while later, they tell your victim and his spouse that the car was seen in the vicinity of a nearby river and that after a pursuit the police apprehended the thief. Unfortunately, the car was crashed in the river. Have your photoshopped pictures sent at that moment to the police officer’s phone as he begins showing your victim that the car has been recovered but is full of water.
Since you are a mastermind, you’ve not only photoshopped the pictures of the car, but also taken the water images from those photos and made special window stickers that you’ve carefully installed on the car to make it look like it is currently filled with water. You’ve also sprayed a lot of water on and around the car so that as your victim pulls up with the police officer, it looks as if his car has just been pulled out of the water. It will help if you throw a little plant material on the side mirrors and such so that there is a realistic swamp feel to the scene.
The police should tell your victim that they need to stand back and that you are going to open the door to allow all the water to flow out. Ask the policeman to dramatically swing the door open to reveal that the car is perfectly intact. You should probably film the whole thing and send it to us so we can post it on the site.
Enjoy the ride,
- Ben Auto