These are your most expensive automotive mistakes

Last week we asked you to share the most expensive automotive mistake you’ve made, and let me commend you all for being so honest about your past mistakes. It may be hard to admit when you were wrong, but it is a necessary step for growth. Well done, gang. Although there was no shortage of good answers, I couldn’t include them all in this roundup, but I did include some of my favorites. And although I love you all equally, I think the last answer I included on this list is my favorite, because it made me laugh the most. If you think your story is funnier, share it in the comments below!

I’d say my most expensive automotive mistake was ignoring several red flags and deciding to buy my first car – a 2005 Saab 9-3 Cabriolet, from a sketchy guy on Craigslist – only for the moment I got home and parked it in my driveway, it literally went wrong. I valued my desire for a fun first car more than the obvious signs that I was buying a mechanical nightmare, and paid the price, literally and figuratively.

This trauma is a big part of the reason I only have one reliable daily instead of the messy place full of automotive misfits you all seem to think all Jalopnik writers should have, so unless you’re funding said efforts, it’s not happening any time soon. Whatever the case, these are the most expensive automotive mistakes made by our dear Jalopnik viewers.

Going very cheap.

I was hired at the same time as another young engineer. My car had no AC and I was being transferred to the south. My colleague also had the same problem.

He found a brand new, high quality car that he loved (Accord BTW). Took a loan of 3 years to pay for it.

I paid cash for a jalopy that I could fix up. Eventually I couldn’t afford the repairs and stay employed so I started paying others to keep it going. I got tired of trying to keep it going and I got a different car that I could buy

Fast forward 10 years. Coworker has 160k and has had no repairs on his Accord. About a third of what I paid to get him is out of pocket, try to fix him up and keep driving a series of cheap cars. He also has more vacation time because he doesn’t have to take days off to work on the car to get it running.

Lesson learned. Get a reliable daily driver and treat him right. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just high quality. Save your fun car for a project.

Submitted by: Hauser68

I learned that I shouldn’t trust my abilities to stick a black car to the buffer. I thought I was taking the hard part out of the equation by using it to remove wax and polish. At first it was feeling good, then I started seeing all the ghostly marks. It was shiny but looked terrible in the sun. It cost about $1500 to have a professional remove all the ghost lines and swirls. Will never do that again!

Presented by: Depeche Zero

My #1 advice for anything is to not drive or operate while angry, tired or frustrated.

My biggest mistake happened when I was basically driving with all three of them. I was getting off work at night after a long shift, already driving a rental car because someone had hit me up earlier in the week. I was exhausted and mentally burnt out. There was only one way into the parking lot and only one way out.

As I was trying to leave the right lane, another car started coming the wrong way and refused to move back. Angrily, I put the rental car in reverse and began driving backwards quickly to get out of their way so I could get away. However, as I moved back the car started drifting slightly to the left and I hit a bollard on the right.

Never let your anger overpower you. If you are angry, tired, frustrated, or simply not in your right mind, stop what you are doing until you have time to get your mind right.

Submitted by: Thomas Hajdisch

When I had a 3000GT (FWD) as a daily driver, the transmission’s input shaft started leaking slightly. It didn’t leak completely but enough to see oil stains on the pavement. I could buy a used transmission for $200-300 on the forums or pay the extra cost of oil every month or two. Instead I removed the transmission and took it to my mechanic at that time and had him replace the seal which required completely disassembling the transmission. I wasn’t comfortable opening it up and reassembling it. Probably special pulling and press equipment was required. I paid him $600 for the job. Brought it back, installed it in the car, and it won’t go into any gear. I had to remove it and take it back. Took it back and this time it worked. After a few weeks I was going from second to third going at a normal speed and I heard a sound of metal breaking. There was no gear available and it was completely closed. The mechanic refused to acknowledge any damage done so I never went back there. I finally bought a used transmission on a forum for $200, but it took 5 hours to get it. Someone on the forum bought my transmission as a AA core for $70. So, the work that could have been done for $300 ended up costing over $900, which included gas and food to pick up the used transmission as well as my labor to haul and install it 3 times. Not as devastating as the guys who dump $20K+ into an AMG car and then sell it for a massive loss on top of the money spent on repairs, but still as far as a boneheaded move to get there.

Submitted by: tex

Buy a 10 year old MK6 GTI here and pay here without doing due diligence. It turned out that it had been in an accident before and was not very well maintained. The result of years of costly reforms.

But, when it was finally over and my wife sent me out to get a more comfortable, reliable car, I came back with a CPO Mk7.5, so it clearly made an impression!

Submitted by: manbearpig

Money to move a rented racecar to the Nurburgring (4->3 instead of 4->5). It was a super notch short shifter and I missed the gate. It wasn’t until I reached 8,000 (the redline was below 7,000) that I fully recovered and realized what had happened. The tow alone (all 3 miles of it) cost close to $1,000 US. Luckily, the rental place was quite reasonable with the head rebuild and I was only charged $3k.

Submitted by: Neil Richards

I don’t know if I can type this without crying.

Before they went crazy at $4,200, I bought a driving 1972 Alfa Romeo GTV. I drove it that way for about a year and I really liked it. Then…I “decided to make this my dream car.” The first few steps went pretty well, stripped it down and sent the engine/transmission to a reputable builder ($10,000) and sent the body to a “home” body shop with a guy from the Alfa community ($8,000 to deal with any rust and repaint it). It took about 3 years so it was easy to spread the financial impact.

Then… mistake. I sent the car to the shop at that time to have the work finished. I reinstalled the suspension, engine, transmission, etc. so that only the interior, brakes and fuel system work. I was given a quote “not to exceed $13,000” and 4 months. I trusted the shop blindly, paid every invoice and ignored every red flag. When I got the car back after 4 years, the first drive resulted in the shift knob falling off in my hand, my brake light being off causing it to be pulled, a strange noise coming from the brake booster and the wheel almost falling off.

I made the questionable decision to add up my invoices…$43,000. Only then did I realize that I had been cheated. I sent the car back (twice) to have their mistakes corrected and it was never fully resolved.

I was $70k in the car (this was before kids) and the juju never recovered. The love I felt for the $4,200 expensive car never came back and I eventually sold it.

Presented by: Santacruzin

Buying my first SAAB. This started me down the path of a very bad habit of buying them, restoring them, and then never selling them.

Presenter: Old_SLAAB_Guy

My mistake was thinking I could buy that new 1985 Pontiac Fiero on my modest salary. I put some of the blame on the salesman who convinced me to make the purchase anyway. I was broke before the two years were up, and I gave the car to the lender – at least they didn’t have to keep it themselves – which saved me at least some of the penalty fees. To make a long story short, it took several years and a better paying job to clean up my credit. When I was in a better situation financially, I bought a used 1985 Fiero that was better equipped than my first one.

Presenter: Gone Radar Lover

1970 911T restoration. Bought it for $50k, found hidden rust (it was swiss cheese). $70k in metal work, and total restoration cost closer to $220k. I will never restore a car again. 90 and above for me from now on.

Submitted by: GT3_911T

Letting Todd drive him to pick up some girl. Now it is complete.

Thanks very much, Todd.

Presented By: BtotheS