what’s one car mistake you made that you’d never repeat?

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Rottenwadd@reddit

Black vehicles. More work to keep exterior in good shape and it gets waay to hot when yhe car/truck is sitting out in the sun. Like waay too hot...got adhesive holding door seals in place melting and rubber falling down.

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ohiomidhiganindiana@reddit

Black or white imo

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Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit

White is a great car color, on certain brands anyway. It’s notorious for flaking off on many brands. GM, Toyota, and Honda come to mind. But when it stays put it’s like the next best color to silver or gold for looking clean the longest between washes. I won’t buy gold cars either. Too granny.

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Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit

I second this. Never again!

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Wigberht_Eadweard@reddit

Yeah. First car was black on black vinyl interior. That sucked. If you don’t get bird poop off within a day it’s there forever. The interior will always be hot. The only saving grace was a sunroof that I could leave open when parked to at least get some ventilation. My car after that was metallic silver which I think is the perfect car color. Looks good but is extremely low maintenance.

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Slow_Description_773@reddit

Bought a new car recently, and like if that wasn’t already a fucking mistake on top of that is a Subaru.

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Civil_Ride9221@reddit

gg

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yeepwrangler@reddit

I have a legacy and I love it

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OkFunction5552@reddit

Buying a car right after a messy breakup.

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Unable_Answer_179@reddit

Waiting too long after the oil light goes on to put oil in the car.

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Wolfsburg78@reddit

Not buying the car I really wanted.

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GreenMountain85@reddit

I finally got the car that I’ve always wanted. I had only had 2 cars before this and neither were ones that I really wanted or was excited about. I figured, I’m in my mid 30s, I drive cars til the wheels fall off and I deserve a car that I love!

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Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit

I did that and it turned out to be one of the worst cars that I’ve owned.

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GreenMountain85@reddit

Oh no! I hope that doesn’t happen to me. I’ve had a streak of bad luck this year and that would just be the cherry on top.

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CommonBubba@reddit

Worse yet, selling a car you really wanted!

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Sad-Competition-3615@reddit

I did it twice - the worst what you can do

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Significant_Rip300@reddit

Second that.

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Badkus757@reddit

Buying a Hyundai because it had a 100k mile warranty. One engine swap, two transmission swaps, rear pinion seal leak and it ended up sitting on blocks for 2 years at 80k until I paid it off because of a denied warranty claim.

After the engine blew at 32k it wouldn't stay in 5th gear (manual 6 speed). Dealership said it was bad sincros. Two more transmissions later and it still wouldn't stay in 5th gear. I still drove it for a bout a year until the clutch went out. It had a squeak that sounded like a belt. Press the clutch in and it went away. Pretty sure it was the slave cylinder due to misaligned. Once I finely crawled under the car, they had stripped multiple threads on the new engine bolting up the bell housing. Striped bolts on the frame for the cross member using random bolts to bolt it up. The two alignment pins (more like rolled plate like tubes) for the bell housing were bent and flatend on one side. Looked like a bunch of hack with a crescent wrench did the work. This was a large dealership with numerous locations in the area. I was too young to know about the lemon law. Hyundai/Kia sells disposable cars destined for the junkyard.

People trust me when I say never get your car worked on at a dealership. Had a Chrysler (I know, another hunk of shit) get the aluminum oil pan stripped getting a oil change at the dealership. I imagine another idiot with a impact running up the oil plug. When I was about 19 I bought a ford. Every light worked, blinkers parking lights and whatnot. Turn on the headlights and just the headlights were on. Dealership charged me $400 to fix (probably a relay) very next day only the headlights turned on again. I have never once had one single good experience at a dealership in my 25 years of driving. They're not mechanics, they're technicians that read instructions on a computer screen. Have your free oil changes, I'll do it myself.

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Unlucky_Employee6082@reddit

Buying a car while actively fighting with my wife over a completely unrelated matter

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Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit

Being a mechanic by trade for 20 years that I’ll never get back.

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HendyHauler@reddit

Sold my pheonix yellow integra type r to fund my business when I needed it. Instead of just getting a loan or finding another way. They sky rocketed in price right after. Its a great car but I'll never own another at current prices.

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AnotherDrone001@reddit

Buying a high mileage BMW

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OfficialAsshoIe@reddit

Black car, brand new, ceramic coated.

It was majestic as hell, but the amount of time i lost my shit and the mental torture of maintainance is not worth it.

I’m on my second white car now, and it’s a million times easier to maintain as compared to black. Door dings, small dents, clearcoat scratches, stonechips etc are all a non-issue on white paint, as compared to black where they stand out like a sore thumb.

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VikingLander7@reddit

As much as I hate white cars this is the correct answer.

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Fire1777@reddit

Hyundai- never again

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Zigglyjiggly@reddit

It's not really a mistake I made, but something I learned from my parents. Do your research ahead of time, email and call multiple dealerships ahead of time before buying, and be willing to drive a few hours away to save a few thousand dollars.

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HousingSmart4426@reddit

Never made a mistake. My Toyotas never broke. My Dad on the other hand hated all of his GM purchases.

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Zigglyjiggly@reddit

A fair amount of people dislike GM. I have had well very solid trucks over the past 20 years. Ford, on the other hand, I'll never buy another one. We had a 2016 explorer that had an air conditioner problem (broke 3 separate times) and each time they had to take the fucking engine out to fix it and that skyrocketed the labor cost. It also had about 3 or 4 recalls on it, one of which was a major engine issue that almost caused our transmission to fail, which had we not had a family member mechanic for Ford, they wouls not have fixed. The family member gave us the exact codes and wording to take to the dealership and the dealership was basically like, "Fine, we'll fix it, but how did you get this information." Shady as fuck.

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LazyAssLeader@reddit

Owning one.

In the next life, I will move to a walkable city with strong public transit and live that car-free life.

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Insertsociallife@reddit

Fully support this. Excellent way to live.

Cars are neat tho so thanks for getting off the roads so I can use em 👍

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CommonBubba@reddit

If you realize what sub Reddit you’re in, don’t you?

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gunsdrugsreddit@reddit

I bought a 25-year-old Volvo. Should have gone older. Anyone in the PNW trying to scoop a V70XC project for cheap? 😅

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Zigglyjiggly@reddit

I got (and still have) a c70 2004 for free about three years ago. I've had to put a fair amount of money into. Although part of that is because it was just sitting at my Godmother's house not being driven for about a year before I got it. It is very hard to find parts for, and that's the worst part.

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CrazyErniesUsedCars@reddit

I was going to post the same thing. I bought a 98 V70 for like $400 with 267k miles on it. Spent like $2k in parts trying to fix it up and it was still a piece of crap.

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ZaphodG@reddit

The inline 6 3.2 doesn’t have tons of power but it is solid and can be rebuilt. An older turbo can be expensive.

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MikeR585@reddit

When you’re actually in a position to be able to go get the car that you want, get what you want.

I’ve always loved black cars and trucks. I know it’s a hassle, but I love it anyways. I bought a new Tacoma a few years back, and talked myself out of getting a black one. I eventually traded it in. When you’re dropping real money every month on a payment, you’d better make sure that you LOVE it.

Buy once, cry once.

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Sad-Competition-3615@reddit

I part exchanged tune BMW 430i convertible from 2016 full black with 65K for Audi SQ5 which breakdown after 2 months

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09stanggt@reddit

For as much hate as people throw at Ford. I wanted an old El Camino, all that was available was an old Ranchero. It had a 289. After purchasing from shady the owner and performing an oil change, the idiot light on the dash would flicker red as I approached work in the morning.

I installed a cheap mechanical gauge set. The. oil pressure was 40 at cold start. When the engine was warm, foot on brake in drive, it was zero. In neutral it would be like 2 psi.

I soon went to rebuild the engine. There was no pushrod that would pass oil through itself, all 16 were plugged. The bearings were stamped 67 when I took it apart in 1985. No oil would be thrown out with the engine running and valve cover removed!

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Anon_Tax_1738@reddit

Buying anything “American” after the year 2000

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General-Pudding2076@reddit

Buying a car with an automatic that I should've bought in a manual

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Garey_Coleman@reddit

Buying a car without audio controls on the steering wheel. I suffered for 15 years because I failed to realize I had to get the $200 premium stereo option to get it.

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Prize-Mail-6769@reddit

Putting on a bigger nitrous kit without supporting mods.

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ICWhatYouMean@reddit

I bought my 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid EX-L at the end of its lease, then turned around and sold it for a profit of $4,000. I wish I'd kept it. It was mint and an excellent commuter car.

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badhoopty@reddit

buyin a car where the previous owner absolutely butchered the factory wiring harness.

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dodgestang@reddit

If the ad says it is a 'sport model' and the carfax says it is a 'sport model' you still need to go and decode the vin yourself.

Second, selling a car you love for any reason will always hurt and while logic can still tell you it is the right choice the pain in your heart will always be there.

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stabbingrabbit@reddit

I bought a brand new car. Nothing wrong with the car, just it was unnecessarily expensive.

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bmxracers@reddit

Pushing what I wanted and burying myself in negative equity. Early life lesson and it sucked.

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isittakenor@reddit

Spending money on cosmetics before getting it running right

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zoeseb@reddit

I bought a silver car. Most boring color and hard to find in a parking lot. I’ve had blue, brown, teal, copper cars. I thought I would want a more hidden car. Nope. Hated it! Never again.

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09stanggt@reddit

Literally watched a guy try to open a silver car that wasn't his.

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nixiebunny@reddit

My 1959 Cadillac was so easy to find in a parking lot - just look for the fins!

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notalottoseehere@reddit

Never order a car without a test drive. I ordered the ES f-sport spec and really did not like the firmer ride compared to the standard car. Don't assume / extrapolate how a car will feel. Got over that issue, because the seats were the most awesome seats I have ever had..

I also bought an E60 520d, manual. Hated the gap between 1st and 2nd gear in slow traffic. And generally, some cars do not suit a manual transmission. Dumped the BMW after 3 months, got a manual 318i and loved it.

Basically do a proper test drive of the actual car (or exact spec) you are buying.

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ExternalGuidance@reddit

Buying a Hyundai.

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Better-Credit6701@reddit

Buying a Dodge. It eliminated itself by catching on fire in my driveway

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Civil_Ride9221@reddit

Put my fucking clutch in backwards

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Panaderado@reddit

I’ve done this too. The effing clutch plate fused to the bell housing shaft and it took me three days to pry the thing apart. Worst mechanical experience of my life….

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Civil_Ride9221@reddit

Mine as well. I didn’t wanna turn a wrench for months after that. I was already 4 days into the drivetrain swap and got everything back together finally, only to realize I needed to do half of it all over again.

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Scott43206@reddit

Never go upside down on a car loan.

Related - Spend a bit more to get the exact model, colors and features you want with zero compromises so you won't be itching to buy something else before the current car is paid for. Saving money to settle for almost what you want always costs more in the long run. Cars are expensive AF and a car guy ain't gonna be happy with a car that wasn't exactly what he wanted.

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DriveRightCarBuying@reddit

Always run a CarFax! There are websites that can pull them for $5 these days, there’s no reason not to.

About 10 years ago I purchased a Matrix XRS that had the odometer rolled back 100k miles. Huge, huge mistake. Simple CarFax report could have prevented it.

And lastly — go with your gut. The cars I had a bad feeling about and bought anyways were never the right fit.

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PhotographFar359@reddit

Buy an old jeep and thinking that fixing it up would mean it would run for a long time (was dumb and in high school with little money. JEEP - Just Empty Every Pocket)z it was a fun car but would not do it again

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WorkerEquivalent4278@reddit

Buy a ford. I’d buy a ford truck but their cars apart from the mustang are dogshit.

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MourningWood1942@reddit

I was looking at buying an older generation Ranger

Not a good idea?

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ThaiTum@reddit

Get exactly what I want and don’t compromise. Regret is worse than saving a little money.

I wanted an SLK55 AMG Mercedes that would have been $10k more than the SLK350 I got. I kept that car for 8 year and regretted everyday not spending more for the one I really wanted.

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JH_DeepThoughts@reddit

Yep agree with this. I bought a V6 Challenger and literally wished I got the V8 a week later. Next car was a Golf R and wife was like, but the GTI is $10k cheaper than the R….was like I’m not having regrets again 😆

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TurkishSwag@reddit

I’d say the biggest mistake is shopping outside of your price range. If you’re looking for “x” vehicle, with $10k, but the only ones at $10k have really high mileage or questionable history, then you need to either save more money, or get something else. Something like an E chassis 335i ranges anywhere from $4k to $30k… you don’t want one close to the bottom of that range.

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True-Radio2943@reddit

Buying a Nissan with a CVT.

Never again.

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Significant_Rip300@reddit

My first car I bought I was looking for a fuel efficient car that is high quality and reliable. I bought a 2015 Civic black exterior with black interior. The car didn’t really save me much on gas, it was low to the ground, and the space interior grew to ANNOY me. When I bought it, I thought this is a new Honda, reliable and will save me on gas. It surely was reliable, decent quality but did not save me on gas as much I did like.

Moved on to look for a suv that’s fun to drive, save on gas, and reliable. Do I like it? Yes for the most part. Hybrid doesn’t impress me as much but all SUVs that are hybrid is similar in mileage so I can’t help it. I’m content with where I’m at.

If I had to look back, I wish I got a Camry hybrid, Prius, RAV4 hybrid.

My advice - test drive with criteria in mind for long run. Like mpg, space. Check out vehicles you wouldn’t normally look at before the absolute vehicle you will settled for. I learned the vehicles I didn’t consider or thought was “disgusting” in terms of design - where the ones that would’ve been made me a happy buyer in long term. Odd logic and analysis but try it!

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Direct_Obligation570@reddit

If you buy something you love you treat it better.

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Informal_Ad4399@reddit

Buying a car that we knew was a rental previously.

What a hunk of shit it was. There were a couple codes that were intermittent. Of course, it was never on when we took it in and it wouldn't show when they tried to pull the code.

Also, buying a new car when my old one was fine. Scratching that new car itch. I had a Barretta. Was a pretty fun car. The interior sucked ass, but nothing but a minor annoyance.

I traded it in for a 96 Sonoma. That ended up breaking down complex after 2 years. It wasn't paid off yet and I had to roll that into another vehicle.

I had no real need for the Sonoma. The Barretta was perfectly fine. I just really like the look of that gen S10.

I do really miss my Barretta, but I'd have never been able to keep it once I had kids.

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mrrichardhn@reddit

Don't buy a car in a hurry and it's normal to find good deals way out of your area.

I did buy one in a hurry and it cost me a lot. Never again. Fortunately the car's great, and I'm going to pay it off this year.

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