To celebrate the spookiest season, we wanted to uncover the creepy cars that keep you up at night. From cars you previously owned to monstrous mechanical mishaps, we had some truly harrowing tales.
Earlier on, we asked for your suggestions for cars that haunt your nightmares. Here are some of your best answers.
“I have a recurring dream that somewhere on the side of my parents house sits a couple of original fox body Mustangs. Sadly I sold them when I was younger.”
A past sale sees this poster’s dreams filled with regret and longing for what could have been.
Suggested by: Gabe Mitri (Facebook)
“When I was in college, I had a 1995 Alfa Romeo 164 that I would affectionately refer to as Pandora’s Box.
“It ran differently every week, any repairs required a minimum of two weeks in order to secure the appropriate parts, but when all was good, it was just so good.
“It created this low-level sense of anxiety for anything I drive. Even when a problem is minor and easily fixable, any noise, smell, rattle, or shimmy immediately brings chills down my spine because I’m convinced that I’ll bankrupt myself again.”
The stresses of the constant repair and maintenance that come with an Alfa Romeo is something this commenter can never escape.
Suggested by: Aldairion
“99 Cadillac Deville with the horrendous North Star motor. I was learning how to fix cars. Tried prying the water pump pulley off and broke the cam – essentially totaled it in a minute with my two hands.”
A scary experience with an equally scary-named car. This moment of mechanical madness still plays out in Jacob’s head.
Suggested by: Jacob J Bosch (Facebook)
“My wife used to have a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country. Every once in a while, with no warning, all the interior lights would start flashing randomly and the chime would ding over and over. Then it would stop. I think the outside lights participated, too. We never knew when it would happen and no mechanic, electrical specialist or exorcist was able to diagnose or solve this random bit of automotive demonic possession. We traded the car in. It’s still out there. Waiting.”
This car is 100% cursed.
Suggested by: sidbridge
“I have a recurring nightmare of driving and the brakes being absolutely worthless. Like, I stand on the brakes – literally, butt out of the seat, lifting with the wheel and pulling forward, all weight on the brake, and it’s slowing down but not enough, oh god it’s not enough, I’m going to [hit that car] [drive off that cliff] [run over that kid] [get hit by that truck], it’s not enough, there’s nothing else I can do, it’s not workin.
“Last time I had this dream it was after I started working as a car dealer photographer and it was as I was moving cars around the lot, and for some reason was going too fast into a Genesis.”
Driving nightmares don’t come much more stressful than this!
Suggested by: Boter
“1985 Merkur XR4ti. Ran properly for maybe two months in the five years I owned it. Was supposed to be a rally car, but was also pretty tore up about a relationship at the time, so lost all motivation to work on it.”
A broken heart and a broken car is a truly harrowing combination.
Suggested by: Jonathan Conley (Facebook)
“I used to have recurring nightmares about those massive excavators when I was really little. Not sure why – I don’t recall ever having seen one in person when I was that age. But even now, seeing this picture makes my stress level go up ever so slightly.”
These mining rigs do look like they could double as machines of torture and torment.
Suggested by: z2221344
“A 1976 Ford Granada that my grandfather gave me. I was broke, and needed a car, but it was truly horrendous! I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
We’ve all heard horror stories like these, which tell of a relationship with a doomed car.
Suggested by: Holly Kage (Facebook)
“My first car was an 89 Firebird with the 2.8, leaky t-tops, peeling yellow paint that never got clear-coated, and a cherry bomb muffler that made it sound like a lawn mower. It haunts my nightmares while also somehow blessing my daydreams.”
A complicated relationship with this car, but one that this poster won’t forget in a hurry.
Suggested by: @Jason_MF_Miller
“The Oldsmobile 98 Regency. This probably seems like a normal car to you, but when I was a little kid my parents had one, and on a visit to my grandmother it failed spectacularly. I don’t remember it very clearly, but whatever happened freaked little baby me out, and I did NOT want to go into that car again.
“Strangely, the actual failure doesn’t haunt my nightmares, but when my parents (sensibly) were trying to get me into the car and I straight up refused. It’s an oddly traumatic image burned into my tiny child brain. I was freaking scared of this car.
“Anyway my brother launched it into a V-ditch and bent the frame right after.”
Thankfully, the years of this car’s torment came to a dramatic end in a ditch somewhere.
Suggested by: citricola