Car trouble is a real pain.

Especially at this time of year, when most of us are burning a hole in both pockets right up until New Year’s Day.

During the run-up to Christmas, Cork student Hannah O’Sullivan had to visit a garage not once but twice to get her car looked at, costing her a saucy €850.

So you can imagine her dismay when a light came on once more needing attention. Happily, she was about to be treated to a random act of kindness that has been applauded by thousands of Twitter users.

“An engine warning light came on on my dashboard,” wrote Hannah.

As she made her way through Glanmire on Tuesday, she chanced the local garage- JPN Car Service and Repair- in the village to see if they could sort her out this time. With the prospect of another €850 bill looming, she was understandably a bit anxious.

After a short conversation and a quick diagnosis, the mechanic -Peter- popped the hood and went about fixing the issue.

“How much do I owe you?” asked Hannah as he closed the hood of her car again and dipped into the small his office to fetch, what she presumed, was the card machine so she could pay her bill.

But instead of a card machine, Peter emerged from his office with hands full of treats, water, and a can of Coke and handed them to Hannah, who was about now, a little confused.

“I was thinking why is he giving me treats and I asked him again how much I owed him,” wrote Hannah.

“It’s a gift,” Peter insisted. It was only then Hannah realised that Peter wasn’t just referring to the snacks, but to the work he had just finished on her car.

Was given the kindest gift ever today! Felt like I met a real life Santa. An engine warning light came on on my dashboard. Brought my car into JPN Car Service in Glanmire – the man in there fixed d prob with my car – then he went into his office where I assumed he was getting 1/4

— Hannah O Sullivan (@sullydaysleeper) December 13, 2022

“I have tears in my eyes typing this,” wrote Hannah “I had taken my car to a diff garage bout a week ago and it cost €850 to fix – was reluctant to take it back there as I had to take it back twice afterward.

“Anyway this was so kind of this man. He didn’t know any of this – I rely so much on my car now for appointments etc – so I just wanted to give this man and his garage a massive #ThankYou by posting this here – there are some really great, really kind people out there!”

“I really had a moment of thinking am I actually asleep… things like this don’t happen in real life.

“Felt like I met a real-life Santa”.