Stop a mechanic fitting the wrong-polarity car battery from one photo with ChatGPT

Posted: Nov 30, 2025 by Ankit Uttam (@ankituttam)
Last checked: Oct 18, 2026
Method:: How we verify

Evidence: Screenshots or logsThe source shows screenshots, a transcript or the agent's output.

Beginner-friendlyNo logins, payments or coding needed. Low risk: paste the prompt and you should get something useful.

Outcome

When a mechanic arrived with a new battery for the poster's family car, the poster photographed the battery code and asked ChatGPT. It flagged that the battery was left-hand polarity while the Tata Punch needs right-hand, said new terminals would be needed for that reason, listed risks such as cables not reaching, sparks and warranty claims being refused, and recommended a DIN44R right-hand battery. The poster told the mechanic to bring the correct one, and the mechanic agreed to.

Agent

ChatGPT

Prompt Recreated prompt

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to.

Goal: Check whether the replacement battery a mechanic has brought is the right one for my car.

Fill in before running:
- Car make, model and year: [CAR]
- A photo of the new battery's label and code: [PHOTO]
- A photo of the old battery or the battery tray: [PHOTO]
- What the mechanic has said: [NOTES]

Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly.

Rules:
- Read the battery code from the photo and tell me its size, capacity and terminal layout.
- Compare it with what my car needs, and say how sure you are.
- If it doesn't match, list the practical problems in plain words.
- Give me the exact battery type to ask for instead.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.

Output: Match or no match, the reasons, and the battery type to ask for.

You'll know it worked when: the battery that goes in matches the car's specification.

Try this in:

ChatGPT Used in source Gemini Grok

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Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to.

Goal: Check whether the replacement battery a mechanic has brought is the right one for my car.

Fill in before running:
- Car make, model and year: [CAR]
- A photo of the new battery's label and code: [PHOTO]
- A photo of the old battery or the battery tray: [PHOTO]
- What the mechanic has said: [NOTES]

Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly.

Rules:
- Read the battery code from the photo and tell me its size, capacity and terminal layout.
- Compare it with what my car needs, and say how sure you are.
- If it doesn't match, list the practical problems in plain words.
- Give me the exact battery type to ask for instead.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Tell me where to check my car's battery spec in the owner's manual too.

Output: Match or no match, the reasons, and the battery type to ask for.

You'll know it worked when: the battery that goes in matches the car's specification.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://x.com/ankituttam/status/1995052574240841825

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