What's with the mechanics under that hood?

They've been working on that car for almost a decade now. So I finally had to ask what the holdup is.
Surely you've seen it, the car with two dummies in front of Clear Lake Auto Service on Highway 3 in Webster.
No matter how many times I drive down that road, I instinctively brake as I come upon that lemon of a police car, even though, of course, it's not even a real police car. It's a private investigator's car. And I don't speed. No, really.
So how did this eye-catching tableau come to be? I talked to Chris Beers, one of the managers at Clear Lake Auto Service.
He says it was nine years ago when Blue Moon Investigations brought the car in for some work. When the repairs turned out to be too expensive to be worth it, the PI firm agreed to let the auto store use it as an attention-getter for both Blue Moon and Clear Lake Auto.
Over the years, Beers has had customer after customer make wisecracks about the wisdom of leaving their cars with such slow mechanics. Other people like to be more creative with their jokes.
The dummies have disappeared more than once, and Beers speaks admiringly of the kidnapper who, presumably, wanted a dummy to accompany him to a beach party. The dummy reappeared Monday morning, dressed in his new surfer duds, sitting on a bench in front of the store as he waited for the manager to open up. These days, the dummies get locked in the car each night.
Employees of the auto store have tried to have a little fun with the dummies themselves, but that's backfired. Once they positioned one of the dummies as if he was trapped under the hood of the car. Only his legs were sticking out. A passer-by thought it was a real emergency and called 911. The firefighters who showed up with sirens blaring made managers promise to never get so creative again.