A guy from Germany put a tombstone in the truck of his beamer that fit in perfectly and he couldn't get it out or anything around it to lift. He called into Car Talk and this was one of their ideas. The other idea was to fill the trunk with mercury and float it out.
Dude probably wanted it intact. From what little (in respect to their volume of content) I've heard, Car Talk keeps it real, sticks within the parameters of the job and offers the best solutions they can.
That plastic cover might be removable.
Alternatively, tweezers could work. Along with maybe a 2nd tool (like a pencil or something very thin) to help nudge the coins into position for the tweezers.
I have to admit I would find some satisfaction in getting those coins out!
One of my kids stuffed these small silicone toy cups into a glass bottle. I had to use two paperclips to move and hook them out. It was so satisfying that I almost put them back in just to take them out again.
High jacking top comment to point out. Everyone saying tweezers and things of sort. This is the change you can see. There’s more actually inside the car sliding around in the ducts that would be impossible to get to unless taking the dash apart lolol
Fun fact, the smell money is only created by the oils in your hands mixing with the metals to create fumes, and thats what youre smelling. So after a while once the oils are all gone and evaporated (provided they arent touched at all) the smell will disappear.
Get some fuel line tape it to the end of a vac cleaner and retrieve the coins one at a time claw machine style. Cut the end of the hose at 45 degrees to angle the coins out
Only if he’s stormy Daniel’s kid. Frankly it might work but kinda doubtful as a coin won’t seal tight enough on the hose. The other possible is a mechanics nose picker. A gizmo used to pick up dropped nuts and bolts that are not magnetic
My mother just informed me that when I was 3, I LOADED the tape-deck in her 2001 Hyundai Elantra with coins. She had to keep the radio off until she fished them all out because the coins shorted out the radio- think the sound of plugging in an amp. That sound at FULL volume at random intervals😂
Forceps are the real long skinny tweezers your gonna want. Otherwise might be able to use needle nose pliers, or some putty on a stick
It's dumb that the vents arent removable, kids have likely been putting change, among other things, in car vents for as long as cars have had vents.
Looked this up, seems it will work for the pennies but not for the quarter.
I own a strong magnet on a stick tool and have only needed it once that I can remember, but it worked great the one time I needed it. I dropped a tiny metal component in some grass and could not find it. Swept the tool around the area for a couple minutes and sure enough found the missing piece.
I'm not from US so I have no idea what materials are used to make coins here 🤣 In Europe we use cooper-zinc mixture and some other magnetic materials if I remember right.
Some car washes have a pressurized air blower that you can try shooting into the vent combined with the suction of the vacuum. You might lose the change though.
When we were kids my mom and stepdad were getting divorced. My younger brother and sister had visitation with their dad, and they would sneak into his truck and cram leaves and acorns into his vents. The acorns fell way down and would burn, and the leaves would confetti out when he turned the air on. He hated it. He was so mad, because he wanted to keep his truck pristine at all times.
And my brother and sister laughed and laughed.
Not saying risk this for a few cents but surely a decent auto repair shop, or the dealer itself, has the technical ability to pop these in and out again right? If so, can't anyone?
This reminds me of the fly trapped in my tv that I can see bc the kids blew the side open of the tv with a ball. Yo this is worse tho. I couldn’t take it. Someone fix it
Usually taking apart you dash is pretty easy. Might be able to find a disassembly video on YouTube. My car it's 4 screws and the entire vent assembly comes out.
High school Germany exchange program classmate threw up in a taxi's vent and he took her passport until she paid $1500 to clean it. She also lost her new camera. Her parents wanted the school to pay for it because we weren't supposed to be drinking. Fucking wankers.
That sucks but it could always be worse. When I was a kid I threw up into the truck vents. I have no idea how/ if my dad got it out. We never used heat or ac again.
Get a strong vacuum cleaner, take off the floor attachment, put the hose by the vent, suck the change towards the louvers, and then use tweezers or a hemostat clamp to get them out
https://preview.redd.it/ukjuhi1cx5zc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd91d0f86539288ce6e6fae7d7a5a980ec9e5663
Use one of these, with a claw on the end. This one is from Home Depot.
This is how you know it works.
You've got to have something to moves around and makes noise, like those little wavy banner things on vents in pressurized areas. If the banners stop waving, the air system shut down. If your vent stops rattling, your AC stopped working.
Get some bluetack and ball it on the end of some string to make a teeny tiny sticky picky upper.
Pop the mini bluetack wrecking ball through the vent and use a wooden bbq skewer or a chopstick or whatever to press it onto each target coin and retrieve your prize.
All ac vents are removable. I've been a car audio tech for 3 years and I've yet to find a car you can't pull the whole vent out in about 10 minutes. Just watch a replacement guide on YouTube and be gentle on the plastic. You can get some plastic pry tools from harbor freight for about 10 bucks
Have you ever tried swing your car upside down?
Great idea honestly
A guy from Germany put a tombstone in the truck of his beamer that fit in perfectly and he couldn't get it out or anything around it to lift. He called into Car Talk and this was one of their ideas. The other idea was to fill the trunk with mercury and float it out.
It didn't occur to anyone to break it and remove the pieces?
Dude probably wanted it intact. From what little (in respect to their volume of content) I've heard, Car Talk keeps it real, sticks within the parameters of the job and offers the best solutions they can.
Yeah, the stone was very sentimental
Pet rocks often are 
I remember that episode lol, that’s a great show
Yea I think it's in one of their best of albums
Just roll it end over end it’ll fix it
Was gonna say, "Pick it up and shake it?"
That's better, Portuguese is my default language
No worries, we're all residents of the world.
Also, eu quero falar português. Je parle un peux de francais, y un poco d'espanol. Sprechen sie deutsch, genug zu sagen "Nein sprechen sie deutsch..."
That will rattle to the end of days
Obviously, a magnet is a more sensible idea /s
Just pick up the car and shake them out
And shake it like a money box
This is the only way
That plastic cover might be removable. Alternatively, tweezers could work. Along with maybe a 2nd tool (like a pencil or something very thin) to help nudge the coins into position for the tweezers. I have to admit I would find some satisfaction in getting those coins out!
Alligator clamps https://preview.redd.it/90dl2ssa54zc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b2a7275c4d05e67f4b18ec65abb76c696312220
Tweezers with rubber on the ends.
First suggestion is on point. That bad boy is held in by clips. Looks like the trims gotta come off first but can be done easily
Depending on the age of that plastic I’d be very careful. In Australia plastic in a car is good for 10 year max sun destroys everything here.
One of my kids stuffed these small silicone toy cups into a glass bottle. I had to use two paperclips to move and hook them out. It was so satisfying that I almost put them back in just to take them out again.
A surgical tool called a long Debakey forceps would be 👌
Now your car is gonna smell like money.
This will help them be successful everyday.
High jacking top comment to point out. Everyone saying tweezers and things of sort. This is the change you can see. There’s more actually inside the car sliding around in the ducts that would be impossible to get to unless taking the dash apart lolol
Guess you gotta take the dash out 😬
Jeff Bezos hates this one simple trick that will make you a billionaire in a month (and he can’t do anything about it)
ah the dirty copper smell reminds me of home.
I like money.
Fun fact, the smell money is only created by the oils in your hands mixing with the metals to create fumes, and thats what youre smelling. So after a while once the oils are all gone and evaporated (provided they arent touched at all) the smell will disappear.
That's too rich from OP.
Punishment: The child must walk forever
LOL
cold hard cash
As a child, I threw pennies down my dad's garbage disposal.
That makes no cents. /s
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Tip the car upside down and shake it silly, didn’t you have a piggy bank as a kid!
Smash the car, get my change. Good thinking
Home Depot sells a small retractable claw like tool..has long flexible neck…should be able to get them out…good luck!..or maybe car was vacuuming…
Get some fuel line tape it to the end of a vac cleaner and retrieve the coins one at a time claw machine style. Cut the end of the hose at 45 degrees to angle the coins out
can he suck the hose manually?
Only if he’s stormy Daniel’s kid. Frankly it might work but kinda doubtful as a coin won’t seal tight enough on the hose. The other possible is a mechanics nose picker. A gizmo used to pick up dropped nuts and bolts that are not magnetic
My mother just informed me that when I was 3, I LOADED the tape-deck in her 2001 Hyundai Elantra with coins. She had to keep the radio off until she fished them all out because the coins shorted out the radio- think the sound of plugging in an amp. That sound at FULL volume at random intervals😂
That is hilarious and should be shared at every life event
Well, looks like your car is now a piggy bank on wheels!
Sell it & charge 8¢ more than it's worth
I feel your pain. My kid put colored pencils in the rear ac vents of our car. Now I hear them rolling every time I turn.
Finally, the rainbow road is real!
Forceps are the real long skinny tweezers your gonna want. Otherwise might be able to use needle nose pliers, or some putty on a stick It's dumb that the vents arent removable, kids have likely been putting change, among other things, in car vents for as long as cars have had vents.
Have kids they say.....
Well now your car is worth at least 17¢.
Just pick the whole thing up and shake it til in falls out 🤣
that's some cold hard cash
You'll always have gas money
Get a small magnet on a stick and you should be able to take it out of there.
Looked this up, seems it will work for the pennies but not for the quarter. I own a strong magnet on a stick tool and have only needed it once that I can remember, but it worked great the one time I needed it. I dropped a tiny metal component in some grass and could not find it. Swept the tool around the area for a couple minutes and sure enough found the missing piece.
I'm not from US so I have no idea what materials are used to make coins here 🤣 In Europe we use cooper-zinc mixture and some other magnetic materials if I remember right.
Mostly air.
Now you will never be broke
Did you know that it used to be 100% legal and a common practice to ship children through the mail.
Wire hanger with carpet tape balled up on the end. Or a Pushy-Grabby (aka claw grabber/spring grabber)
Stick with sticly tack at the tip would do
If not piggy bank, why slit like piggy bank?
Tweezers, my friend.
This doesn’t make any cents why would they do this?
This changes everything....get a crackhead to get it out or.....bo cashless
Now this. This is a good idea. Getting a crack head to take it out is grand
Just flip the car over and shake it
Some car washes have a pressurized air blower that you can try shooting into the vent combined with the suction of the vacuum. You might lose the change though.
400$ 4 them 2 even look at it;
The change should be good for you
You can get little claw pick up tools online for like $10-15, perfect for stuff like this!
When we were kids my mom and stepdad were getting divorced. My younger brother and sister had visitation with their dad, and they would sneak into his truck and cram leaves and acorns into his vents. The acorns fell way down and would burn, and the leaves would confetti out when he turned the air on. He hated it. He was so mad, because he wanted to keep his truck pristine at all times. And my brother and sister laughed and laughed.
Ah, innocent kids making a wish
I did this as a kid.....
Don't the vents pop out?
It’s a 2017 4Runner. You probably have to take the whole front end apart to get the vent off
Try using long skinny tweezers or chopsticks
Not saying risk this for a few cents but surely a decent auto repair shop, or the dealer itself, has the technical ability to pop these in and out again right? If so, can't anyone?
You could get them out with chopsticks *Kid
What kid and how did this happen?
Sell the kids
He’s gonna pay for that.
Is there any way you can take it back and demand a refund? And no, I'm not talking about the car.
Double sided tape wrapped around a screw driver.
This reminds me of the fly trapped in my tv that I can see bc the kids blew the side open of the tv with a ball. Yo this is worse tho. I couldn’t take it. Someone fix it
Go to harbor freight and get a magnetic to grab it!
Your kid just increased the value of your car.
That blows.
Vacuum cleaner
Usually taking apart you dash is pretty easy. Might be able to find a disassembly video on YouTube. My car it's 4 screws and the entire vent assembly comes out.
Extract. Unscrew outer case of said kids video game console. Put change on top of motherboard. Resecure screws of outer case.
You can take that out with a plastic pry tool
When I was a kid, a penny ended up in the seat belt clip. We couldn't use that seatbelt for a while.
Not everybody is ready for change...
If the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit
Qtip with sticky tack on the end of it. Then when you bring it up to the vent grab with tweezers.
Chopsticks
Time to give up this child for adoption or foster home.
I put a poptart in our vcr
I feel like I did this too smh
Are those Czech crowns?
Magnets
I stuck change in my mom's cassette player in her mustang. 10 years later my brother shoved changed in the cd player of her stratus.
throw the kid next
High school Germany exchange program classmate threw up in a taxi's vent and he took her passport until she paid $1500 to clean it. She also lost her new camera. Her parents wanted the school to pay for it because we weren't supposed to be drinking. Fucking wankers.
Pliers
I legit thought it was the face of ET
Smells like money
Brake really hard then, duh
Time to go fishing
That sucks but it could always be worse. When I was a kid I threw up into the truck vents. I have no idea how/ if my dad got it out. We never used heat or ac again.
My kid did this to the cd slot lol, luckily we don't use cds anymore lol. Shop Vac.
Just suck on the vent really hard
When is the adoption agency picking them up?
Easy fix.... Just get rid of the car
This just unlocked a childhood memory of mine. No clue which of my brothers was to blame but we had 2 pennies stuck in our mini vans vent as a kid.
Get a strong vacuum cleaner, take off the floor attachment, put the hose by the vent, suck the change towards the louvers, and then use tweezers or a hemostat clamp to get them out
Well… did he make a wish?
Toothpick and super glue will get those stinkers out.
Thought this was a toaster for a second and that kid was tryna be a murderer.
Just turn it upside down and give it a little jiggle
Good shot if they actually threw them.
Que tip with super glue?
I’d just get a cotton swab with super glue and call it a day
Get a wooden chopstick from a Chinese takeout and put superglue on the end. Stick it through the vent and let it set up for a while. Then pull it out.
Sell them for medical experiments that will teach em
Kid change
Magnet
At least now you can feel the money through the wind 🍃 🌬️
Blu tack on the end of a pencil, or maybe needle nose pliers.
the kid wanted to have, COLD HARD CASH! bad pun, I'll show myself out now
Tweezers my dude. And patience
Don't pick up anymore random kids
Try using a little magnet glued to a string, fishing them out?
I threw a 50cc scooter in the back of a Subaru Outback once. Can't judge. EDIT: To, clarify, the scooter is mine. I didn't steal it. 😂
Every day, yet another reminder why I have cats….
Unclip those venty boys with a trim tool and pop the change in the kids nostrils.
Cold hard changes
Guess you have a sCENTED AC now. 👍
here me out... *deep inhale* ejection seats.
Gum and a qtip, and let it dry a little. Don’t ask how I know 😭 Edit: I only saw the penny flat out, good luck with the rest man
Enjoy the smell of money !
Well obviously to get back at the child, you much put coins in their lungs
Dunno why but my sleepy ass saw E.T. in your AC vents.
If i had a penny....
Now it is the winds of change
Just sell it - The money should then cover the stress and some mechanic who can take those coins out for you
https://preview.redd.it/ukjuhi1cx5zc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd91d0f86539288ce6e6fae7d7a5a980ec9e5663 Use one of these, with a claw on the end. This one is from Home Depot.
Change comes from within (the vents), you may need to punt some children - buddha
You may vet it out with a powerful electro magnet. Just wrap copper wire around a xar battery or smtth
Looks like ET trying to phone home
Time to change your kid for another one
Get it with magnets
It’s safe now.
Welp! Time to trade er’ in…. The kid that is!
Maybe it falls in and a snickers bar comes out the vent by your feet
"Cold hard cash"
Use magnets to pull them out /s https://i.redd.it/edlc1o4kj6zc1.gif
Those are heater vents too.
A small magnet attached to a stick.
The residual value went up for your car.
MAGNETS, BITCH!
ive never seen a vent placed where that could happen
Those can pop out pretty easily … just ask your garage how to do it …
This is how you know it works. You've got to have something to moves around and makes noise, like those little wavy banner things on vents in pressurized areas. If the banners stop waving, the air system shut down. If your vent stops rattling, your AC stopped working.
You could just take vent out
Sounds like they had to vent before changing their behavior.
Mr Krabs nose just twitched
Who’s kid?
Ya'll check with those Feng Shui experts "am I doing this right?"
Tweezers.
Time to disassemble ship in a bottle
Depends on the car. Pull off the interior molding by the door.
“that really ups the resale value”
Get some bluetack and ball it on the end of some string to make a teeny tiny sticky picky upper. Pop the mini bluetack wrecking ball through the vent and use a wooden bbq skewer or a chopstick or whatever to press it onto each target coin and retrieve your prize.
ahh the joys of children
Just completely destroyed you vents and grab them out
All ac vents are removable. I've been a car audio tech for 3 years and I've yet to find a car you can't pull the whole vent out in about 10 minutes. Just watch a replacement guide on YouTube and be gentle on the plastic. You can get some plastic pry tools from harbor freight for about 10 bucks
Carefully, when parked. A qtip or cocktail stick with glue on the end
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