"I've bought some really STUPID cars in my days!" Stories from the CAR WIZARD! 

You know he might have quit because you bought him a Pontiac Aztec.

Just handing the manager the keys to your car on the spot, like that. You're an ABSOLUTE legend, I couldn't stop laughing.

I feel so much better about all of my stupid car deals. Thanks, Wiz.

David's ability to give up a car on the spot is God tier final boss level power.

Getting frustrated never helps. I work in the industrial district of Seattle. There was a parking lot of short haul truckers next to our shop. They'd park their personal vehicle during the day while they used their semi tractor to haul containers from the rail yard to the port. At the end of one of these days one of the truckers couldn't get his personal car to start. He got pissed, jumped in his truck and bulldozed his own car out of the way. Completely destroyed it. Hilarious.

You have to make all the rookie mistakes to become a professional, but the great thing here is that you share your knowledge and experience so that we can avoid as many mistakes as possible and that's golden right there. 👌🏻

It appears The Wizard had a temper in his youth. Wisdom is supposed to come with age and experience. The Wizard seems to be pretty level headed now.

Love to hear of someone else making stupid mistakes because I’ve made so many. Thanks for sharing.

Bought an 86 W126 with a 5.6 V8 with an overheating problem. The car needed a lot of work to pass emissions (Bosch CIS). Got the work done over 3 weeks, got it to pass and as I was driving back from the DMV, I got T-boned by an 89 yo lady who ran a red light. 😑

Wizard and his better half just seem like well grounded good people, wish more people were like that

Very funny, all of us have done this Wizard; it's called growing up and learning. You are the man to admit the mistakes to learn from. Thank Ms Wizard for supporting her man who then became Wizard !

"Let me repeat myself" hell no. I could care less what apartment building manager home owner association worthless person you think you are, if you can't let someone have the wheels off for a few hours then nobody should be even living there under your supervision. It's not about devaluing property or whatever, it's about being a decent person. If you see someone passed out do you kick them because they're in your way? That means there was no understanding there and I wouldn't have felt ok living there.

I also gave up my 1993 Grand Prix Sedan, i bought it for 300€ hoping to be able to fix a "minor leak", that ended up being the engine blown up, let it sit in various places getting letters sent to my home to go and move it again, keep in mind the car was otherwise in mint condition but the 3.1 V6 boat anchor was done for. Some guy ended up sideswiping it and i lost all interest in it, and i let the City impound it and i never went to retrieve it. I did take the backseats out of the car as a memento and its currently my sofa.

I remember buying a 1990 xj6 in 2002 from a lady who’s husband owned a small car lot. They where going to put it in a raffle but didn’t for some reason so I ended up buying it. Gold with the vanden plas package wood tables and sheep fur carpet Matts. It was so nice. I drove it maybe 3 months and some older gentleman pulled up next to me at a light and offered to buy it for almost double what I had paid so I sold it. I miss that car.

Wizard attended the best anger management class on Earth! Look at him now!!! 😆

We all, sincerely, appreciate your honesty. I always take your advice very seriously. Thanks for the video (both of you!).

That Aztec has a strange history. It was leaking oil outside of Car Ninja's shop in a Hoovie video while the owner, John Ross was visiting. JR also camped in the O'Reilly's parking lot with it. The Aztec was sold to Hoovie for Car Issues. You bought it for Junior Mint and he quit? How weird.

Thanks for your humility in sharing your less-steller experiences. Many of us also learned some hard lessons, and I'm sure we all hope this hard-fought wisdom will benefit others. No use in crashing through the same pothole someone else has been through, if you can help it.

I love these videos from experienced mechanics/people admitting fault or just reliving experiences. It's easy to get down as a starting tech

"Good judgment comes from expirence, and experience from bad judgment."-Mark Twain

Not as bad as my 89' Dodge Daytona Shelby I bought back then, it was at the dealer every month for a repair. I remember the 93' Plymouth voyager I had bought my wife new, when the gas level dropped to a 1/4 tank it would burn out the fuel pump. The dealer actually told me not to let the gas get below a 1/2 tank!

Whenever I think about all the great vehicles I let go of when I was young and stupid I get sick to my stomach. My 68 Dodge Charger and 78 Toyota Land Cruiser are the two I let go of that I think were my biggest mistakes.

Nice to see I'm in good company with some of my questionable automotive decisions

To have the audacity to admit mistakes takes so much courage and determination. I really appreciate Wiz for having such courage. It takes a humble person to level with such details. I wish wiz a lot of success and happiness.

I'm in the UK. My first car, a 1957 Mk 1 Ford Consul, was a disaster. The salesman, a right con artist, took advantage of my total knowledge of cars, and sold me the biggest load of ol' shyte, possible. As I drove it away, I dicovered that pumping the brake pedal was the ony way to stop the thing. Finally, I had to run it along the edge of the kerb to stop it. A friend disovered that the brake fluid reservoir was empty. There was other major problem, and I spent more time under the car, than in it. Yes, I had been well and truly been 'taken to the cleaners, and turned over.' It got scapped after the near side front wheel, complete with drum, flew off as I did a right turn. Back then, I was greener than grass.

We love you so much Wizard. Please do more of these chair-side chats. They are a pleasant change from the formula car videos.

I appreciate all these types of videos! They help people of all ages shopping for cars. I know it's crazy but maybe one day you can make one about Lexus vehicles that might have some issues.

He's so down to earth. I think he should continue making videos. It does help people and I appreciate your insights mister wizard

Wizard...you just made a fan for life with your GrandPrix story and the landlord. Love it!

Car Wizard, you make my day - your experiences are so real and conjure up all the misery and joy we have all experienced with things mechanical over a lifetime.

Hmmm. Gives a Pontiac Aztek to an employee, his work then drops off and then he quits. Gee, I wonder why? :)

I love your forthrightness. You tell life like we all have experience, but gloss over and say it wasn’t that bad. About your car you gave to your employee and then quit. It reminded me of my brother-in-law. He had a sawmill with a reliable employee that showed up everyday for 5 years on a bicycle. So, when my brother-in-law bought a new truck he gave his 10 year old Ford Ranger to his employee. Two weeks, later he quit and drove to a new job.

Has Junior Mint purchased an RV and some chemistry equipment since you gave him the Aztek?

Oh Wizard. I’m close to 80 than 50. I traded cleaning out a barn for my first car at 14. 1959 Renault then a Hillman Husky followed by a Hillman Minx. Guess I grew up on the Euro side of Wichita. At last count my lifetime total is 60-70 cars,trucks , and motorcycles. Can’t remember exactly how many wins losses and draws over the years. All the vehicles sure brought me lots of fun and frustration. This episode really sent me on a great trip down memory lane. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing Wizard! Cars are too expensive in my country for me to afford them for now, so no bad buys...

My first car was my worst purchase ever. It was an 89 Ford Probe with a salvage title. In the 6-7 months that I owed it the car spent more time at the mechanics and I did driving it. One morning I rear ended one of my neighbors on the way to school and it was a total loss. I bought a new “for the time” 93 Honda Civic and I never saw that mechanic again. I wasted so much money on that silly Probe. In my 40’s now and Ive never owed anything but Hondas. Having owed 13 and counting.

Never, ever buy these vehicles that the Car Wizard has purchased in his lifetime.

The nice thing about Wizard: I was one of his instructors for Stupidity 101 and 102... Every class day I would call roll and he was there...he did not miss class one day... I taught him everything he knows about being dumb...

I was an exterminator, I never dealt with pack rats but, all the people who do say they are a nightmare to trap. They live in roofs, run across power lines and, feed in a different area. They've been recorded going 250 yards away from home everyday. So, don't feel bad about how long that took.

I've made plenty of stupid buys but I did benefit hugely, in the late '80's, from someone like the Wiz. I was leaving my Phoenix apt. in my '67 Mustang fastback and there was a guy broken down in the driveway...cussing and kicking tires. I helped push it out of the way and he complemented my ride and asked if I would be interested in his "POS Mustang" with the now-dead battery and engine that wouldn't start. We quickly settled on a price. After replacing the fuel pump and a few other minor things: I started driving my rust-free, '68 GT500 KR convertible. It STILL makes me smile.

I thought Junior Mint has been a long time employee with his Dad, Crazy D working in the office? Did Junior Mint start his own mechanics shop? Car Wizard, I would have towed the white 2 dr. Pontiac Grand Prix to your parents, brothers, or friends house. Yes, the VW rabbit would have been worth repairing and keeping. I'm glad you tell your viewers of what cars to buy and avoid. Even Toyota's & Honda's have years or engines to avoid. These videos are the ones I like the best because they keep you from losing thousands, if not ten thousand dollars or more. Thank You!!!

Dave, I'm sorry to hear about the mistakes, but I'm happy you share the experience so we don't make the same mistakes. Thanks for your service ✅

I had a 2007 Mitsubishi Galant that I got rid of after shooting the parts cannon several times and wasting money trying to fix a stall issue. Looking back, if I had just used an oem mass air flow sensor, that would have likely fixed the problem.

1975 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible. Story was that it was left in the garage by a tenant of a building, and the owner of the building fought with the tenant to have it removed. Eventually, the tenant gave him the title. He put an ad on craigslist. I saw the car, which was wedged into a tiny 1 car garage. The paint and interior were very nice. The landlord said the top was down because you can't get into or out of the car while its in the garage. Car had a dead battery. I put my jumper pack on it. If you switched it into drive and hit the starter, the car moved. I bought the car for $400, had it towed to my house, and put in a fresh battery, fresh gas, points, and threw gas down the carb. It would run, but needed work to run well. Next step was to try the top. Lots of noise, but the top wouldn't go up. Digging further, I found the top wires were all rusted out, and there was no canvas except for the piece on the front that you can see when the top is down. Pulling out the mechanism, it was very bent and brittle from rust. I then priced a GM X top mechanism and the canvas. At that time, it was $3000 to replace a GM X top convertible. I put a sale sign on the car the same day, and got it gone for $400 to someone who understood how much they'd need to spend on a top.

I haven't been on the youtube train for a while because of a new job, but I missed when junior mint left -- how long ago was that?

Yeah we all make mistakes. Learn not just from your own but also from the mistakes of others! Really appreciate this video Wizard!

The chevelle is gona be on that list apparently. Haven't heard anything about it in months so I'm assuming it a shop decoration that's gona eventually be on the list.

After spending some time finding an unmolested 25 year old Wrangler TJ , those six words "I should have kept it original" are music to my ears.

I’m amazed that the Eldorado was actually good with the HT4100 engine. I like Cadillac but I think the HT4100 engine is worse than the Cadillac Northstar and I feel like not a lot of people know about the HT4100.

I've had a lot. I've been buying cheap cars, fixing, flipping, etc since I was 17 - 25 now - and i'm finally starting to learn from my past mistakes. Worst one that always sticks with me as the biggest waste of time, was I'd bought an '02 Mazda Protege that was pretty clean with a slipping clutch for $500. I changed the clutch, did the timing belt, sorted a few other little issues, installed a stereo, etc and got it all really nicely cleaned up. It would have been worth 3-4k at the time. Stupid young me decided to trade it for another car, a '94 Holden Calais, that looked good at first, but ended up having a ton of poorly repaired wreck damage that I overlooked, and the transmission lost reverse after a week of driving it. Ended up scrapping the car for $500 and took it as a lesson. If the Wizard ends up reading this, know I got a lot of respect for your down to earth, no BS nature and I've learned a ton from your channel over the past few years. Keep up the great work!

My wife and I have never laughed so hard at a RU-vid video as when the Wizard told the story of the camper. 😂🐀🐀🐀🐀

Wizard I love your videos I been watch your video for long time like all of them I go to your channel to judge if I should get a car or not. Thank you. A boss that give a vehicle away is awesome we should not judge other with our help. Why do I keep seeing that its terrible the way people are. You try to help some one and they complain about your help. Don't deserve nothing. That includes the wife you don't appreciate instead of be thankful you find something to complain about with her. Be happy with it the thought that counts.

That sucks about Jr. Mint. Hopefully you can find someone else to replace him,

Good job on sticking the apartment manager with the Pontiac. My pride would’ve done the same thing.

I once bought a 230,000 mile BMW. It happens haha, great stories Wizard. That BMW was still alive too just rusted and smoking oil through valves and elsewhere

My worst was probably a '79 K5 Blazer I bought at a police auction years ago. It was running and it was cheap, so I figured, good enough. But it was much rougher than I realized, I didn't have the experience at the time to fix all the things that needed fixing, tranny lost reverse and it cost me more than I could afford to get it fixed. Sold it at a major loss.

i only made one dumb choice, once i bought a BRAND NEW car....

my first car was a mistake. an opel vectra b, which was the small brother of the cadillac catera. i loved how it drove. however, i spend 2 grand each year just in repairs for like 7 years. sunken cost fallacy.. totaled it like 4 times cost wise. on the one hand, im glad im no longer driving an endless money pit, however, i do miss the smooth cruising. my focus mk2 turnier is reliable, but it is too sporty for my taste and is lacking some commodities, such as an automatic ac and a armrest..

I feel better now about some of my car decisions. I worked for an apartment complex that was pissed if they saw a vehicle with a hood up

LOL this is almost more of a drama vid, love it. Who would have guessed that pre-wizard David was so messy and chaotic. And I didn't know Jr Mint was gone, isn't he Crazy D's son? Life in a small town, everyone is entwined in everyone else's business.

Eldorado with the 4.1L that is a risk getting a blown head gaskit. HT4100 aka Hook and Tow 4100

I've owned over 20 vehicles in the past 30 years. Most of them have been reasonably good. But I concur, I've done stupid with cars. Luckily I never lost a lot of money. Love the story at the end about the 89 Grand Prix. I had one of those too. My buddy paid $6000 for for a base-model, then said the auto trans was going bad. It had also been wrecked by a deer. I got it for $800. Changed the spark plugs in my driveway, and the car ran amazing! Never had any issues mechanically. Put a $35 fender on it. Gave it new (Lifetime warranty) rear calipers that matched my 91 Olds Cutlass Supreme. Regular maintenance, tires, and oil changes. That was an amazing car, but I never fixed the AC. My bud was so upset that I had fixed the car for so cheap. He went through 2 more vehicles while I continued to drive his old Grand Prix. I ended up selling the car for $600 and that fella ran it for another 3 years or so. Wish you could have had that experience. I'm sure you would have if the landlord would have given you the time to reassemble it.

Every single mechanic bought at least one nightmare when they were young 🤣🤣🤣it's really easy to get overconfident when you first start turning wrenches and think "whatever's broken I can fix it" without realizing you either can't or can't afford it.

Don't let a bad outcome after being a good person leave you, jaded Wizard. If the opportunity to do something nice comes again continue to be a better person. You can just write the Aztec off...

Live and learn car wizard live and learn I've always thought that the best way to learn anything is through multiple failures and mistakes I have made so many mistakes when it comes to cars learning how to fix things and how to not get ripped off I'm no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination but I do no more than I did in my youth I still think you're an inspiration to all of us guys out here that are still learning about the cars and you're honest opinions and experience helps us all out

David & Co. Thanks for sharing this story with us! I LOVE YOUR STORIES! - Thank you for making the mistakes so we don't have too! LOL - Always look forward to your videos every day really! Thanks, Mrs. & Mr. Wizard & Fam!

should've saved the Benz 560 Mr wizard. the prices on those in 2022 are finally starting to appreciate, even neglected ones

My Lemmon was a Volvo SUV the alarm would go off at 2am in the morning! I took it back to where I bought it. The guy was good enough to put in a new 12-volt battery, but that did not solve the problem! I was able to drive it back to a local dealer and lease a car, using the Volvo as a down payment. I lost several thousand dollars. In two years the lease was up! I was lucky enough to find a 10-year-old Elantra. I have had this car for 4 years and added 30,000 miles to it delivering flowers. Thanks for sharing the stories!

My uncle, an endocrinologist of note was driving his Eclipse GSX, less than a year old and it began to sputter so he happened to be near an auto row but no Mistu dealer, the next Japanese one was Toyota so he pulled in, sold them the car on the spot and bought a brand new Toyota Celica Turbo All Trac Turbo. on his way to a family reunion in Idaho (I forget the resort). I asked him where's the Eclipse and he replied, "about six hundred miles back that way", threw me the keys (I was a new school teacher who had a new CRX Si) and said "disappear for an hour and tell me what you think." One of the single best driving times (second to driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in a 1960 MGA) I've ever had........

“Here’s the title, here’s the keys. It’s yours now” 😂 I F*ing love that!

Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Now that I reflect on my short experience, I think that rescuing a 1988 Jeep Comanche that was on the brink of the junkyard was a good move. The knowledge gained with it allowed me a few years later to choose a really good Jeep Cherokee as a dependable family mover.

These so called bad buys were valuable lessons learned and an investment in Wizards experience and future!

THE WORST CAR I EVER BOUGHT WAS A 79 VW RABBIT, BUILT LIKE A TANK, BUT THEY COULD NOT TAKE THE SHAKE OUT OF THE ENGINE, IT VIBRATED LIKE HELL, HORRIBLE VEHICEL, live here in Ca, never see any of them anymore on the road, just junk. BEST CARS, 1969 TOY CORONA MARK 2, 2008 CAMRY HYBRID, 2002 HONDA ODYSSEY.

I bought a 68 VW with a blown engine and towed it to my apartment complex and they had the same rules. We pulled the engine and carried it up three flights of stairs and put the VW in a storage area they had. Got all the parts and rebuilt it in the kitchen and carried it back down the stairs and reinstalled it. The VW was light enough with out the engine you could lift it up and over the engine setting on the ground.

My stupid buy was a 1984 Renault Fuego that I bought brand new at a Renault dealership in 1984. It had electrically and mechanical problems constantly from day one. After my warranty with AMC ended, I was stuck getting all the problems fixed on my own. I really couldn’t afford it but I wanted it. I wrecked it in an accident and waited 4 months for parts from France to repair it. In 1987, I tried to trade it in for a new Pontiac and the dealer refused the trade, they wanted nothing to do with Renault’s. I was stuck with this car until 1988 when a local mechanic wanted it and I took his money and never looked back. Never buy a car hyped by Motor Trend.

Wizard thanks so much for the walk down memory lane! I can't recall how many vehicles I've owned but its way up there. At least 30 or more. But each one had a story to go w it! Some good 🙂 & some not so good😔. Appreciate the humility of recalling your experiences. Enjoy yer channel n yer ability to "go w da flow" of what life brings!🤙

My stupid buy was a ten year old 2000 Audi A6 Avant 3.0 V6 with the Multitronic which I paid 10k€ for. It failed inevitably and I spent a lot of work plus another 10k to somehow fix it. But the Audi dealers were a not very customer oriented up to a point where they broke parts and tried to hide it from me. So a year later I went and sold it to a Subaru dealer to buy a Subaru Legacy instead. Now, ten years later I traded the Legacy for a 2020 Outback. The dealer was always honest to me and the gave me only little trouble. That is how you keep customers I guess. My last contact with Audi was a phone call about the quality of the dealership and if I would buy my next car there. I said that I never would buy an Audi again. The answer was "Ok, I can enter that as well." Never heard of them again.

I am now retired but I was a mechanic for over 50 years.I had 170 cars and trucks over the years and of course several stupid buys.My wife never knew what she would be driving from one day to the next.

You know what, man. I came here looking forward to hearing some good ole shit-talking about deceptive sellers, generally-shit cars, and weird issues. I got about 3/4 through before I realized it is a video about dealing with life positively. Thank you for this

Bless you for being tough enough to laugh about your past mistakes and for sharing them with us.

The Rabbit problem may have been fuel pump relay going but, but beyond that, windshield gasket leaks in that era would dribble water down on the fuse/relay panel and screw it up. The secret to doing engine swaps and transmission removal in an apartment complex is to do them under cover of darkness, and quietly.

The Grand Prix story 🤣 "Here b**** it's yours" 🔑📃🤣🤣🤣 which is kinda sad one of my favorite cars I had was a 93 Grand Prix it would never die

I really have come to like all the car wizard videos. I get to go look at 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix this week. I'm so excited. These videos have really encouraged me to keep my options open. I have learned a lot thanks car wizard💖✝️

My dumb purchase was a VW Beetle TDI with around 100K. It felt really solid on the road, and the diesel engine had a pretty good reputation for reliability and high mpg. What a piece of junk. Both coil springs broke. The fuse box located over the battery melted. The socket for one of the tail light bulbs melted. The passenger window fell into the door one day when I was driving, and had not used the window. The oil return line to the turbo cracked and spewed oil on the engine. The a/c clutch gave out. One of the two radiator fans burnt out. The turbo actuator would stick causing it to stutter when trying to accelerate. The MAF malfunctioned. There were problems with it stalling. I'm definitely forgetting some of the other issues. All of this occurred in 11 months of ownership. I did a lot of the repairs myself, and a guy who worked for Audi and did off hours repairs of VWs did some of the work. This car had issues a few times a month, and cost an additional couple of thousand in parts/repairs in the 11 months I had it. It was an amazingly problematic car.

Without any proof, extensive knowledge of you beyond your anecdotes it sounds like the greatest lesson(s) you've learned revolve around how you've matured in dealing with your own emotions and others especially being in a business environment that puts you in real contact with people/customers and their near the surface frustrations. As a relatively recently retired teacher/coach/admin. I sure get it and could curl your hair with some of my rookie moments........

We all make stupid mistakes when it comes to cars, for me the following purchases stand out: '78 K5 Blazer. It had a 9" lift, 36" Super Swampers, and spare rims mounted with 38.5" TSLs that had seen better days. I went to look at it on a dark rainy night, payed cash, and got about 8mpg on the way home (fortunately gas was still under $1/gal). I looked under the carpet shortly after and saw the floorpans had rusted out and been replaced with road signs. Of course, I also started buying up the 4wd magazines where I quickly learned that the lift was less than ideal. Three-inch body lift, and two 3-inch suspension blocks making the other 6". The driveshaft hadn't been extended either, so it flew apart once or twice. '83 Chevette Scooter. My first car, costing $350 and mostly being a decent ride for a 16 year old. The master cylinder went out and I parked it before selling it in a sleep deprived state for $25. I was 18, had gotten off my overnight security guard shift following my full week of mechanic work, and my mom told me someone was interested in the car. '89 Mercedes 560SEC. Got it less than a year before joining the Army and left it for the wife to drive. It needed some work, and I'd gotten a wholesale account set up at the local dealer, where they knew me as the contracted forklift mechanic. When I left I told my father-in-law about the need for a quart of transmission fluid every 3 months. I deployed, got back, and he told me the transmission was slipping. Sure enough, it was a few quarts low. By then the car had become his daily driver and was eventually exposed to the elements with an open sunroof and window. It was sold last year basically for scrap. 1960 Willys DJ3A. Fun little Jeep but one I just didn't have time for. It sat around for quite some time, with me moving it from Kentucky to Virginia and finally to Louisiana before selling it. Last I checked the buyers had it looking good, but it was a money pit for me as I might have put 100 miles on it.

Bought a high mileage 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon for 3k, spent 6k in 3 years on maintainence and repairs including engine and transmission replacement, sold it for 3k to a goat farmer.

I totally relate to the Grand Prix story. I had a 91 Honda Civic hatchback that started having issues when I lived in an apartment complex. Sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't. Had a shop look at it and was told it needed a distributor. I was POOR at that time and couldn't afford it. It sat in a parking lot at the complex until they towed it away for being "abandoned". I miss that car. 😭

I bought a 1979 Cherokee Chief for $300 bucks no title in High School in 1996. I used to put my 1985.5 Porsche 944 in garage and just put its plates on jeep and cover plate with snow n mud

I bought a gray market 1983 Mercedes that would start and run for a few seconds, and then die. 2.5 years and a lot of work later, it no longer starts. I'd mention how deep I am into it, but my wife might see this!

My grandpa had a good story (he had a HUGE temper in his youth, even more than Wizard). He bought a car from a dealer back in the ‘70s. He decided not to go with the additional warranty protection that was for sale. He drives it away and after a few days, it dies on the road. He pulls it into a gas station and fixes it enough to limp it back to the dealer. He wanted the dealer to fix it for free, but dealer reminded him he didn’t purchase the warranty. He tried selling it back to them, but they weren’t interested and threatened to call the police if he didn’t leave. He drives the car back home, waits until the dead of night (I think it was like midnight-2AM), drives it back to the dealer which was now closed for the night, parks it in their lot, gets out of the car, tosses the keys in the driver’s seat, and walked home. He never heard of that car ever again. He didn’t even leave the title with it or anything.

A derecho, as in “straight" direction, is a straight-line wind storm that is associated with a severe thunderstorm.

My stupidest purchase a 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider that didn’t run. It cost $11 for an injection pump belt to make it run again. Right there in the driveway where I bought it. To the owner’s dismay I drove it home. But that wasn’t the stupid part. I didn’t actually have $500 at the time so I’d gone into business with a woman who fronted the money. We were to but specialty cars and fix them up to near perfect condition and resell them for a profit. So, instead of flipping it right there and splitting $2000 profit, she insisted on painting it and me fixing all the electrical gremlins. I oversaw the paint and spent about 2 weeks on repairs. She drove it away and I never saw a cent for my efforts.

Sometimes, it's best to purge yourself from a trouble car. I bought and fixed up a 95 jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 it got me out of a car payment. After fixing some things and replacing the tcu . among other things. It Was my daily for a couple years. Until the electrical problems. Regularly or would not start. It had a factory kill switch,alarm,and an aftermarket alarm kill switch... I had to do this whole thing with walking around the car turning the passenger key left right,etc pressing the alarm buttons. And half the time it would start . Then it developed a parasitic drain ... I finally sold it. I

Oh boy, do I have stories - most of my vehicle purchases have been stupid! I haven't had near as many cars as you've had, but I've only been driving for 10 years and I'm on my 10th vehicle: 1) 1998 Ford Escort zx2 - bought in June 2012 for $1500 from a "friend" who "Fixed it up" after a wreck. I thought the engine would go first, as it liked to sputter and die at stop lights. Nope - transmission died 2 months after purchase while I was luckily house-sitting for my boss 30 miles from home. Sold to a coworker for $130. Used boss's car to drive around until I bought Car #2: 2) 1992 Cavalier RS 4door - Bought in September 2012 for $837 from Craigslist. 1 month later, my first experience in a roundabout ended with me scraping the side of a Civic and smashing my bumper to the right, destroying the left headlight and puncturing the radiator. Drove it around for 5 more months before buying my worst offender, Car #3 3) 1988 Cavalier z24 convertible - Having grown tired of looking at the RS’s front end, I decided to buy something pretty and fun to drive, e.g. the Z24 convertible. Drove 4 hours to Fairfield, OH in March 2013 to look at it. $1800 and trading in my RS, I drove it off the lot and white smoke poured from the vents. 24 hours and $600 on an emergency credit card later, I got it back to Indiana. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the other repairs it needed over 1year: - 3 fuel injectors - Torque converter clutch solenoid - 2 sets of new tires and a new rim All this while I was a broke college student. I spent more fixing the car than I paid for it, and all totaled, could have bought a replacement car with the repair costs. It also leaked a ton of oil, which ended its storied career - engine seized at a stoplight in November 2014. Wish I didn’t have to sell it, but I didn’t have the means to revive it. Sold it to a scrap yard and bought Car #4 the same day 4) 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage DE - Spent $1500 on it, and had to drive carefully until the previous owner replaced the crossmember under the engine, which had Rusted In Half…Traded it in for Car #5 as I prepared to move from IN to WA 5) 2002 Taurus Wagon - Spent $3200 in Feb 2015, first car I bought on credit. loved the rear-facing seats, but wanted something sorta fuel-efficient. V6 Vulcan was the ticket. Drove across the country loaded with stuff and 3 people, with a vacuum leak. Lasted me several months. Got 4 brand- new tires in October, and in December, the head gaskets blew. Bought Car #6 and let the Taurus sit for 3 years. Had to finish paying off a car I couldn’t drive. Went to fix it after 3 years, but pedal to the floor, it barely moved. Gave it to my dad to scrap. 6) 1997 Corolla - Spent $1600 in April 2016 on a tiny, loud, underpowered car that lasted me until 2020, when an electrical issue made me give up on it and sell it to the junkyard in May 2020 for $130. It was a rental in a previous life, so that’s probably why it wasn’t as reliable as Toyotas are reputed to be. Bought Car #7 (truck, actually) the same year I bought the Corolla 7) 1996 F250 - Bought for $4200 in Nov 2016. In-laws needed help doing dump runs as their 1975 F250 was damaged (tow hook and radiator were involved), and I wanted a truck to tow my 1980 Holiday Rambler 32-ft travel trailer. Saw this one on the lot a couple miles from In-laws’ house, and bought it. Radiator was caked with orange crap, so had to replace it, then later the water pump and starter. Currently out of commission after moving my now-ex’s RVs around - transmission took a crap backing up a heavy aluminum trailer with severely low tires. Just ordered a reman transmission, ‘cause this truck is still in my possession. 8) 1991 Buick Century - my then-wife wanted to daily the corolla to save gas over the F250, so I bought a comfy v6 Buick for $1300 in May 2018 for my daily. After a year, I decided I wanted a Caprice, because they were big, beautiful, and comfy. Drove 3 hours to buy Car #9. Sold the Buick to my brother for $1000. Got it back in trade for the caprice in Oct 2019, then had to fix a wobbly steering wheel. A few months later, the transmission started slipping, only working when warmed up. Sold it to my parents, who sold it to a homeless guy for $300 9) 1992 Chevy Caprice sedan - Bought for $1100 in August 2019. Found out the transmission leaked, the radio didn’t work, no AC, but stupidly went ahead with the purchase. In getting suspension work done that I found after purchase, the tech informed me that there was also blow-by in the engine. Also, I didn’t like how the car nosedived every time I braked, and I didn’t have the money to fix this basket case. Traded the Caprice to my brother to get the Buick back. 10) 1998 Oldsmobile 88 - Current daily. Bought this car for $1700 in 2020 after selling the Corolla for scrap. Only major issues were a bad fuel pump, metal-on-metal front brakes, and a strut that tried to puncture my hood. Best car I’ve ever had.

I was dumb enough to buy a Chrysler town and Country van instead of a Honda van. Thought we could not afford the higher prices, used Honda, and within a couple years we spent the difference, on the first transmission. Second was replaced under warranty as it died in a year, and then the sliding door stopped, defroster/AC stopped working and then bought a Honda and had ZERO issues with it. After my son rear-ended someone last winter - a friend from work bought the van, and he is still driving it (2008 EX-L).

Preaching to the choir, my brother. My car mistakes tend to be from being gullible with sellers and thinking adults can actually be trusted to keep their word. ( the Opel Manta that "just needed a tune-up" and turned out to have a bent crankshaft springs to mind) But the rest of them sound familiar. Instead of the Jeep, I had a 68 Sunbeam Alpine GT that I tried to engine swap. And instead of the 83 VW, my "give it away to the scrapyard on the drive home" experience was a 71 Mercedes 220D. Then the stream of vehicles I discounted to friends to have them slow walk the payments while ruining whatever car it was. Ahh, the price of tuition.🙄

I had an '82 AMC Eagle 2 door coupe/sedan Limited. To me, it was a miss by AMC that they didn't offer the 304 in that car. I would probably still have it today, it was that good and capable of a car. Just not really enough power to pull the trailers for different motorsports I got into a few years later. In 1990, I purchased a new GMC K1500 5.7, and handed the Eagle to my brother. After some years of good use, it was t-boned and totalled.

I've had a few. What comes to mind is an 83 GMC pickup. I met the man and test drove it, it had a couple problems, I told him I would would give him his asking price if he resolved and exchanged money for title. My mistake. I registered it and insured it. A couple weeks later I got a call from a repair shop 800 miles away, he had run with the truck, the problems I asked him to fix caused it's downfall, he had it towed to the shop and they fixed it while he skipped town. The shop had the police run the VIN that came back to me. The simplest thing to do was send the shop manager the title, it wasn't worth covering his bill and recovering the pickup from several states away. I like people, but I don't trust people.

I really appreciated our '04 Aztek. The seats were uncomfortable for a long trek, and the transmission started slipping at 140k. Beyond those problems, the thing was well thought out, and designed. We camped, traveled, and (with truck tires) hauled stuff that it had no business carrying. I think many people disliked it because everybody told them they should. Frankly, if you look at a Lamborghini Urus, you'll see an Aztek.