These Are Your Biggest Automotive Embarrassments

“Lusting after the big boy Range Rover for years... then leasing a top of the line one in 2020. Thrilled that the lease is up next month. As my teenager said ‘Wow, Mom, that really is the most expensive/dumbest car.’ He was right.”

We’ve all got a car that we really, really want but we know it would be an awful idea, right? Mine is an Aston Martin Rapide, for some reason.

Suggested by: Beth Sala Covin (Facebook)

“I was making a left turn at a four-way stop light intersection with the Charger. My foot slipped off the throttle and I immediately jammed it back on. Whoops.

“Due to the posi diff and the stupefying torque of the Charger’s 440, plus the wheels being turned, the Dodge immediately yanked to the left as the tires broke loose. It would’ve easily made a complete donut if I didn’t lift. The Charger rotated past the street I wanted and as icing on the cake, it died there in the middle of the intersection. I held my arms up in a ‘Yeah, I effed-up big time’ signal to all the other cars wanting to move. I’m sure every person there was laughing his/her ass off. I know I would’ve if I saw it happen to some schmuck.

“Got the Charger restarted and sheepishly got the hell out of there.”

It’s always more embarrassing when someone messes up in a flashy car like a Charger. I bet there was a lot of knowing tuts from the onlookers here.

Suggested by: the1969dodgechargerfan

“During Covid at 1am while slightly buzzed, building the high compression engine for my 1999 Saturn SC2 White Hot, one of 250 ever built, and in the even rarer factory Manual White Hot trim. I installed the main bearings backwards which would have starved the crank of oil and seized the engine. I was sending pictures to my friend and he saw it right before I put the oil pan on. Oops. Glad I have people watching out for me.”

That could have been an unfortunate mistake, thanks to your buddy for saving the day!

Suggested by: Taylor Rigley (Facebook)

“Not automotive but this dude back in 82 riding his cooooool moped showing off in front of two girls walking down the street decides to take a sharp right turn to display some serious lean at 35 mph only to realize that the right was into a gravel road. No prob, I can power slide through it, BUT it had major ruts that caught the rear wheel and threw me and the moped over in a sorta tank slapper to the ground.

“I landed spread eagle over the still running moped dusting myself off just as the cute girls walked by laughing at me.... Moped suffered little damage. However, on the ride of shame home I realized both hands had gravel ground into them and jeans were ripped at both knees and were bleeding. Valuable lesson learned (sorta) to not show off lest failure be the result!”

In the words of a wise man, it’s best to smile and wave boys. Smile and wave.

Suggested by: ajr666

“My biggest automotive embarrassment isn’t about what I’ve driven, but a mistake made when I was an apprentice. Doing wiper blades on a customers new W12 Phaeton with fewer than 10k miles, the wiper arm slipped out of my hand and cracked the windshield, right in the service drive.”

A replacement windshield on a Phaeton costs $688.75, so while it’s a costly mistake there could definitely have been a more expensive window to smash.

Suggested by: @NorgrensRepair (Twitter)

“One night in college I was coming home from getting groceries, and while trying to pull away from a traffic light, the shifter sheared off its base. Somehow it managed to break in neutral, but luckily it was downhill and there was a gas station at the bottom of the hill, and I was just barely able to coast into the parking lot. There was nothing sticking up that I could grab with pliers to shift into gear and limp home, and despite only being a mile and a half away, the rest of the trip was uphill, so there was no calling my friends and pushing it back. So here I am calling a tow truck at 8 PM to drag me five minutes home because my stick broke off.”

It always seems more embarrassing when it’s near home, right?

Suggested by: garland137

“I broke the exhaust camshaft on my 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C after improperly fitting the camshaft locking tools while trying to do a DIY timing belt service. 😖

“Fortunately I was able to source a replacement camshaft and with a little help get it replaced and running again, but never have I felt more stupid than I did then!”

If you damage a beautiful car like the 4C it’s extra embarrassing I’m afraid. Those are the rules, I don’t make them.

Suggested by: Corey Kononchuk (Facebook)

“I never knew how to drive stick before, so I knew my next car had to be a stick shift since I’ve always wanted to learn. Well my Learning car, was a 38K$ Mitsubishi Evo X I just bought =) (Had dad drive it home...he was smiling the whole way, but would never admit it). Well after driving it around the neighborhood, I got brave enough to start venturing out.

“The first stop sign I encountered: Clutch in, ease off-too fast! Stall. Well I look in my rear view as I start it up again and see this old dude laughing at me. The second time, I was trying to reverse and stalled out in front of this cute girl who started snickering. I probably stalled and burnt the clutch at least 100 times in the beginning, but It just kept going like an energizer Bunny, until I got good. It currently has 85K miles on it, original clutch replaced at 69K, almost 10 years geez.”

Maybe instead, learn to drive stick in something a bit more forgiving. Perhaps a diesel Nissan Micra should be the choice for everyone stepping up to a stick shift?

Suggested by: darthspartan117

“Valet parking a Ferrari 308 without knowing how to release the parking brake which resulted in multiple excessive clutch slips then grinding reverse when attempting to park it. All while my boss and the owner of the car was watching.”

I had a similarly embarrassing snafu with a Mercedes EV, thankfully there was no clutch to break or gears to kind then.

Suggested by: Stephen MacArthur (Facebook)

“During the cash for clunkers program, we were able to get my anime-obsessed little sister her dream car, a 2009 Nissan Cube in pearl white.

“She drove the wheels off that thing, until it reached about 150,000 miles or so, and it was time for her to get a nicer vehicle. She upgraded to a Renegade Trailhawk, and I had just taken a job at a steel mill about 30 miles away. My old Jeep got all of 12 mpg and really wasn’t a good commuter car, so I happily took ownership of the old cube.

“While not an embarrassing vehicle when driven by a 20-something young lady, it did get a lot of laughs from just about everyone when they saw me get out of it. I just rolled with it, because hey, it got 32 mpg, started up every single day, and was really not bad at all to drive. It’s still buzzing around Steubenville to this day, although the current owner peeled all my sarcastic stickers off.”

What makes the Cube uncool but the Honda Element cool? That’s a distinction I’ll never understand.

Suggested by: caddywompis

“Buying a 1984 Chevy Cavalier.”

We’ve all got cars we regret plowing money into, for this poster it’s a first-gen Cavalier.

Suggested by: @LeMansSuperfan (Twitter)

“Looking back it was the coolest car in the lot, but in high school all my plans of getting an MGB or Triumph went out the window when I realized I had the money to get a car immediately. There was a used car lot in town that had a yellow 73 VW Type 3 fastback for $900, which is right about what I had.

“Rather than save a few more weeks/months to get exactly what I wanted I pulled the trigger and drove home my very first car. So then the gorgeous girl in Social Studies was telling me about her boyfriend’s new RX-7, and I was telling her how I had an ice scraper I’d use on the INSIDE while driving to keep the windshield clear. At the time I really thought I’d sold myself short...I felt like I was driving a Bond villain’s henchman’s car – you know the one that drives off a cliff and bursts into flames.

“But 40ish years and countless cars later I have to rank it as one of my top five favorites.”

Sometimes you don’t know a good thing until it’s gone.

Suggested by: dugdeep

“Almost losing a Customers key. I never live it down.

“Although my Team at work (I’m a lot attendant supervisor) has clearly made themselves look incompetent on a frequent basis these past two weeks. 🙄 Had a lot of fun finding out that we replaced a customers key then I found the original one that was missing. My Service manager and director were not amused.”

I always wonder how common it is for a parking lot to lose your key? Has this actually happened to anyone else?

Suggested by: Romero Turner

“Mine was a rookie mistake when I first moved to Atlanta.

“I was given directions “Take I-285 to Jonesboro Rd..” but the directions failed to mention 285 EAST or 285 WEST. I didn’t have a map and was completely unfamiliar with the city, so I mentally flipped a coin and took 285 West.

“It was the wrong decision.

“I essentially drove the entire circumference of The Perimeter (60+ miles) clockwise to travel two exits east (i.e. counter clockwise) five miles away.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had my brother in the passenger seat -and- Ihad to stop for gas along the way and when I asked the woman behind the counter for direction, she too was clueless.

“I bought a paper map of metro Atlanta the following day and still keep it in my glovebox.”

Let’s file this away with annoyances like arranging to meet someone at the 28th St subway stop, but not agreeing on which 28th St subway stop to meet at.

Suggested by: earthbound-misfit-i

“That I follow this page. I don’t tell anyone it’s my little dirty secret”

Not so secret anymore, Marx. If that is your real name.

Suggested by: Marx Kman (Facebook)