When a Chapel Hill Tire technician was checking a Kia Telluride in the shop for some work, he couldn’t believe at first what he heard: meows coming from the front right of the SUV.

The car care center at Cole Park Plaza in Chatham County had an usual 24 hours after the technician pulled a black kitten out of the vehicle on Tuesday. The business shared a photo on social media of the rescued cat, who staff believe hitched a ride in the vehicle, held on for dear life and avoided any injury.

Chapel Hill Tire Location Manager Chris LaFreniere told Chapelboro his team called the owner of the car and asked if it was their cat. After initially saying yes and returning to the service center, the owner realized it was not their animal — leading Chapel Hill Tire to house the kitten for Tuesday and some of Wednesday.

Photo via Chapel Hill Tire on Facebook.

LaFreniere said his staff believe the kitten held onto the front right coil spring strut of the car and was aided by the vehicle being higher off the ground than a sedan. The creature was terrified when the technician pulled it out of the vehicle, but LaFreniere said the kitten calmed down and became friendly when safe in the staff office.

“He is such a tiny little guy, he was able to hold on inside the spring bucket — imagine a spring on a car, there was just enough space [to hold on],” the manager said. “It reminds of the meme of the cat on the clothes line, saying, ‘Hang in there!’ It was just like that…the little guy had a lot of will.”

After the Chapel Hill Tire crew dubbed the kitten as Batman, a customer on Wednesday played with the kitten while her car was serviced and ultimately took him to the vet. LaFreniere said, as of Thursday, Batman was given a clean bill of health and is staying with that customer after the pair quickly bonded.

“He’s got a new home and a nice family,” LaFrieniere said, adding that the name Batman stuck. “They took him to the vet immediately…what’s amazing is he wasn’t hurt. It’s just a great story.”

Featured photo via Chapel Hill Tire.

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