These Were Your Automotive Low Points of 2022

“I touched a front cross member in my 02 WRX bug-eye wagon while doing my brakes and it crumbled into dust. It’s gone, man. $500 OEM part, but I don’t know how everything it’s attached to is doing (lots of rust in this baby). I think she’s done.”

It’s tough saying goodbye to a car you love, maybe you can figure out a way to save her?

Suggested by: fredschwartz

“When my truck needed a new clutch, my VW head gasket went and I had to buy a Mitsubishi Mirage to get around.”

Problems are like buses: You wait ages for one to show up, and then three come along at once.

Suggested by: Michael N. Laughlin (Facebook)

“I drive a nearly 30 year old Land Rover by choice. I’d have to attach a spreadsheet for 2022.

“The big one was the piston letting go and going through the sides of the block.”

Maybe I should have narrowed this question down to just people driving ‘round in products from Jaguar Land Rover? We could have had slides for days!

Suggested by: waveridin1959

“When my @AudiOfficial Used B9 A4 S-line six-speed Quattro went through not one, but fricken two engines... I’m looking for a third... loved it right up until I saw…”

Three engines in a year! That’s almost impressive. But seriously, we all here at Jalopnik feel for you in these trying times.

Suggested by: @mawhbajan (Twitter)

“Getting surprise-laid off with my 944 engine split in half probably takes the cake here. After months of being told ‘oh, no, you guys are safe, there should be no further cuts,’ welp, I’m the one who got cut in the middle of doing some cylinder head work.

“Any hopes of making it to the race I was planning to go to in November were immediately off. The rebuild is still humming along at a slower pace thanks to friends chipping in and parts that were already purchased, but to say it was an extreme suck after not being able to hop back into Lemons racing for a couple years is a massive understatement.”

Well, that’s a tough year! Hopefully you can get the 944 up and running soon and make 2023 your year.

Suggested by: stefschrader

“Convincing myself that selling my one owner, low mileage, Texas owned its entire life, 2001 Yukon and getting a Kia Soul to save money on fuel was a good idea 🤦🏻‍♂️ It took me three years to find that d@mn GMC 😭 Now I got another newer GMC Sierra, but I’m stuck with the Kia too.”

But, did the Kia help you save on fuel?

Suggested by: Ryan Dorrell (Facebook)

“My year started out with suck. On the last night of vacation (New Years day evening) my car was broken into in a hotel parking lot in Nashville. It was a 35ish degree rainy day which ruined the last day of my parents vacation down to see me. I got some ‘clear’ (it was basically opaque) plastic to tape over the window to get me two hours home, took the dealership two days to get me a piece of glass.

“Then I asked the dealer to let me know when the door is apart so I can clean it out super well and make sure no more glass is rattling around in there....they promised me it would be cleaned out completely... it wasn’t.

“So now my passenger door has glass rattling around in it. The car was barely a year old at this point, now barely two. I would take it all apart and clean it myself but the regulator and all is built into the inner door panel so the glass has to be removed to take that panel off and clean it. The fear of breaking that glass is keeping me from getting in there.”

A break-in and now a rattly door, that’s rough.

Suggested by: thomas-hinkemeyer

“The death of the Ford Fiesta in the UK. Long-time best-selling model, gone, in favor of more ridiculous small pretend-SUVs.”

In October, Ford announced it was killing off the Fiesta as it made a pivot to EVs. And, while it’s been two months now, we’re still not over it.

Suggested by: @mgreenaw (Twitter)

“I normally do all of my own work on my Jeep. It’s the only way to keep it financially viable. But this time I needed two things done asap and didn’t have the immediate time to put into it. I took it to a shop, they gave me an estimate, and I begrudgingly agreed to it.

“The job was both front axle u-joints and diag/fix small evap leak. They charged me a diag fee for both jobs, didn’t drop them when I agreed to the work, and charged a total of about $1,750 for the u-joints and replacing the evap return line which from what I’ve found since is astronomically high.

“The diag they did for the evap was just eyeballing things because if they had actually smoke tested it they would have found that the return line was fine because I still have an evap leak, and they charged a diag for the u-joints even though I told them that’s what was causing the binding – but they ‘wanted to make sure anyway’.

“I should have just waited to do it myself and spent $100 on parts. Never again.”

That sounds like a right palaver! Once you get to know the ins and outs of your car, looking after it becomes a personal passion project that you’re best not leaving to anyone else.

Suggested by: steveschwinghammer

“We got rear-ended in our nearly new 2021 Lexus GX with less than 10k miles on the clock. LAME.”

Not many of you reported collisions as the low point in your year behind the wheel. But, for this Lexus owner this sounds like a dark day.

Suggested by: Alex Mullins (Facebook)

“My catalytic converter was stolen from my outlander sport...at work...As I was sitting right in front of it with the blinds closed and there are no outside cameras...In Irvine, Ca ironically. The flip side was the ordered part came a lot quicker than was projected and was pretty fun being obnoxious for a bit, they sound fairly good, but still it was such a pain.”

Catalytic converter theft can happen to the best of us, and it’s always so annoying when it does! It’s a crime that’s even befallen Jalopnik staffers this year as well.

Suggested by: darthspartan117

“Paying a professional shop $400 to fix my air conditioning only to have the ‘fix’ last three days, and I ended up properly fixing it myself one evening armed with nothing but a youtube video and $150 in parts.”

Low point: Realizing your air conditioning needs fixing again.

High point: Gaining a new skill that will tide you well for the future.

Suggested by: @LongIslandDad17 (Twitter)

“Helping one of my parents shop for a new car. Only plus was there were a few of what she wanted on lots so were able to negotiate some, which was good as parent is a never pay MSRP even and that wouldn’t happen on a lot of models.

“The lot we bought from had a stupid fee they had tacked on, can’t remember what they called it, but wouldn’t waive (I’d have walked but not my purchase), I had a target out the door price in mind before we went in so we went to work on trade, rebates, discounts, etc... and got it below that point so was a sound deal. I dread if anything happens to my car anytime soon, it was not a fun experience.”

It truly has been a dark year for anyone looking to buy a new car. Whether it’s the curse of Carvana, the sky-high markups or the limited inventory, 2022 has been tough.

Suggested by: citronc

“Basketball net landing on my CTS Coupe during a storm.”

The one time when you don’t want nothing but net.

Suggested by: Matt Stokes (Facebook)

“For me it was when Max Verstappen disobeyed team orders and wouldn’t let Sergio Perez pass him at the Brazilian GP. After all Checo had done to help secure the championship in 2021 and with 2022 already decided for Max, why act like a petulant child and not return the favor?”

There has been oodles of drama in F1 this year, and this altercation in Brazil really brought the claws out between the two Red Bull drivers.

Suggested by: regnis78