“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it,” Sherwood raised his eyebrows at the thought. His shop, Royalty Auto Service, operates out of two locations in St. Mary’s and Kingsland, Georgia. A customer brought in their 2014 Honda CR-V, citing a strange shudder. The driver had just visited the Honda dealer, which told them that the car had a bad transmission at best. At worst, it needed an engine, too.

The shop, which posts under the handle @royaltyautoservice, has a strong social media presence. And for good reason: at 13.2 million likes, Sherwood and his crew are known for their honest, high-quality car care advice.

So when the CR-V owner came in wanting another opinion, they were all ears…and immediately wary of the dealer’s doubly doom-filled conclusion.

A Honda CR-V with quite the backstory

The driver explained that they’d recently experienced overheating. They took it to a local shop. There, the mechanic replaced the engine cylinder head and headgasket. So far, no qualms.

But when the CR-V left that first shop, it had a weird shudder at 30 mph.

So, her boyfriend drained and refilled the transmission fluid. And here’s the second problem: apparently, he didn’t use the correct fluid. Whoopsies.

“When you change Honda transmission fluid, you need to use Honda brand”

Sherwood explains that they always use OEM fluid direct from Honda.

In any case, the CR-V still had the shudder, so the driver took it to the dealer next.

The dealer condemns both the engine and transmission

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before,” Sherwood says. 

Indeed, I wrote service at a shop here in Ohio for more than a decade. It’s rare that something so catastrophic could land on my desk. Sure, it’s possible that a car had both coming anyway. But still, it’s very, very uncommon for a single symptom to result from a bad engine and transmission.

After getting the (decidedly huge) repair estimate, the CR-V owner tries for a third opinion. They take it to Royalty Auto Service. If the dealer’s correct, she says she’ll get rid of the car.

So, the team gets in the CR-V and starts looking it over

There’s evidence of some type of foreign material in the cooling system. Sherwood, an experienced mechanic, suspects Stop Leak. In any case, the CR-V runs great.

They take it for a spin and confirm a slight shudder around 30 mph.

The dealer invoice revealed more of the backstory

Sherwood decides to show their viewers the initial bill from Honda. Here’s where they justify the catastrophic repairs. 

First, the CR-V invoice states that the radiator cap was missing from the car, and the cooling system was indeed full of Stop Leak.

Now, I’m familiar with Stop Leak, and unfortunately, many drivers don’t know how to properly use it. Heck, I’d say with absolute confidence that the best way to use Stop Leak is to leave it on the shelf.

Stop Leak can totally clog up a cooling system, causing pressure to build. This leads to anywhere from small, repairable leaks to heavy internal engine damage.

Still, though, it doesn’t say whether the dealer performed any tests or attempted to remedy the system. To go from a quick observation to engine condemnation is just bold, blunt force.

The transmission diagnostic is a bit more iffy

“Found transmission is cause of shudder. Found wrong transmission fluid in vehicle.”

Sherwood raises another red flag. How could the dealer even tell the CR-V has the wrong fluid in it? They probably couldn’t, and just took the customer’s word for it.

But to jump straight to replacement? In the repair industry, we call that shotgunning. Oh, you might surely fix the problem with a new transmission. But there could be a lot more to the story: sensors, wiring, computer software, and yes, even the wrong fluid.

The team at Royalty changes the transmission fluid and takes it for another drive. The shudder is gone. And there’s zero cooling system faults. After putting more miles on the CR-V, they conclude that there’s no justification for engine or transmission replacement.

“I think we saved her getting rid of the vehicle.”

MotorBiscuit reached out to @royaltyautoservice via TikTok direct message for comment.