What’s Your Most Expensive Automotive Mistake?

Cars are terrible investments by design. You drop a fortune upfront, then keep feeding it gas and maintenance, only to watch it shed half its value the moment you drive it off the lot thanks to depreciation. Some models buck the trend—think Porsche 911s or Toyota Tacomas—but plenty of buyers still manage to torch cash on wheels. Car enthusiasts aren’t immune to this financial pain; we bond with our money-draining rides despite the math. So tell us: what’s your most expensive automotive mistake? Did you pump diesel into a gas tank?

Fit a mod that got your car seized? Or buy a new ride that flopped faster than a dropped clutch? Share your horror stories in the comments—maybe your pain can spare someone else the same agony. One reader’s tale hits hard. At 18, desperate for wheels and with no family support for insurance or a license, they bought a 2005 Saab 9-3 Cabriolet off Craigslist for $5,000. Euphoria lasted two hours.

The battery died in the driveway. The key fob was dead, and the metal key was just a blank slug. A locksmith had to cut a new key. Then the disasters stacked up: months of calamities culminating in a catastrophic intermittent computer failure that demanded the entire wiring harness be replaced. The car was junked. In the end, the owner torched roughly $7,000 on that Saab—a brutal lesson that left them wiser and saddled with a far more boring, reliable ride.