What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

[Tillmanator]

Hi Folks,

Having your car damaged/scratched etc is no fun, but it's even worse if you've done it to your own car.

So what's the worst thing that you've done to your own car? AND were you able to fix it? I'll start:

About the third time I washed my car (a couple of years ago) I wasn't paying attention and dragged the hose across the hood. It had collected a few small rocks on it and put a long scratch in it about the length of my hand. That hurt! With scratchX I was able to make it much less visible but it's still there if you look really hard.

Also during the car's first year of life I pulled into a parking space... you know one of those with a hump next to it rather than another car space. I always try to get as close as possible giving the car parking next to me the most space possible with doors and such. This time I pulled too close and gave my driver's side rear wheel a case of curb rash. It's about three inches of the diameter of the wheel. I've never tried to do anything about it as I don't know what I could do. So it's there. I tend not to notice it too much but it still kills me that I did this to my own car.

Anyone else do anything stupid like this?

[Jeepster04]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

couple of things Ive done, not all related to detailing.

-Ive talked about this before. I was washing the Jeep when it was below 32F out. I slid off the tire while spraying the roof(it froze) and the water hose took a chunk out of the roof. It didnt go to metal but it was darn close.

-Put a upper balljoint nut on the clevis bolt which destroyed the nut. Took me many trips to the parts store to figure out what I had done, I thought it just got cross threaded. Ended up getting a new nut at the dealership.

-Tried to put a shift kit in my tranny. Took the bolts out of the valve body and couldnt get the thing to budge. It ended up dropping down around 1in then I couldnt get it back up. Fiddled around with it for awhile and finally got it to go back up so I torqued down the bolts then waited till the next day to get a torque wrench to torque them properly. I was sick to my stomach that night trying to sleep. Didnt know if I had screwed the tranny up or what.

[ibnboxin]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

worst thing i ever did to one of my cars. detailers acrossed the world would cringe at this. yes i know the faint at heart on car should not read this.

ok so i got a 1988 mustang 5.0 GT from the California highway patrol. nice car. it was painted black with white doors. i was about 18 at the time. so after about two months of owning it. i had it repainted to a sapphire black with pearl ghost flames. about 10 grand worth of paint.

yeah now here is how stupid i was. it was about 2 months down the road that i first waxed the car. so i didn't have a good buck and was too lazy to go the auto parts store and pick one up. so i used my dads parts cleaning bucket and power laundry soap to wash it. that is about the time i realized that solvent and laundry soap do not mix well. yeah i was 18 and didn't really know that much. though i did use a spunge. but not mention that is was from under the kitchen sink and had a scouring pad on the back of it.

yes things i learned that day. never use a solvent buck and powder laundry soap. no matter what alway have time to run down to the autoparts store for proper buck and car cleaning soap. best of all never tell you friend who is a detailer what exactly happened. i still get calls from him ever so often as i am still on the top of his list of stupidest people and cars. thought i think he has a few that are comming close.

[JG_Detailing]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

The worst thing that I done with my car was getting rid of the garage that I was renting off of someone so that I can afford this vehicle.

[Ryan L.]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

Worst thing I've done to the Jeep was when we were offroading a couple weeks ago. It was about 40 degrees, muddy, icy and raining up in the mountains (about 7000ft). First off that is stupid overall. The main stupid part was going down a little dropoff into a river then back up. Problem was that if you went to slow then your car would sink into the river (happened to one guy). So I go down the hill kinda slow then gun it, forgot to ask people if I was clear and I wasn't. Hit the up hill to fast and took off the front end of the Jeep. Trust me, I had the worst of damage on that trip, one guy almost slid off the mountain, luckily we all strapped our cars together so that nobody would go all the way off. All in all it was a pretty scary day, don't go 4wheeling in the snow and mud at 7000 ft when the road is only about 1 1/2 car widths wide!!

Stupidest thing I did in the F-150 was doing a burn out and ended up popping the rear tires.

Having done anything stupid to the Odyssey yet...

Ryan

[spence82]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

by far the dumbest thing i ever did was when i was 16 in my 82 cherry red Silverado,lowered 4/6,boyd wheels,shaved door handles,mirrors,gorgous truck.and one night i had been drinking alittle,and both doors had to be SLAMMED to get them shut.with the shaved door handles it had remote door popers,well i had shut the door and didnt shut,and did it again and didnt shut all the way.well i got alittle P.Oed,and while it wasnt shut all the way i thought my butt would shut it so turned around and tryed it,it worked,but there was a nice big dent about the size of my butt in the door.yea,STUPID! i was slipping out,lied to my dad,told him i was at the mall and came out and the dent was there.yea he didnt buy it.9 years ago and i still cant believe i did that.

[benhui86]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

by far the dumbest thing i ever did was when i was 16 in my 82 cherry red Silverado,lowered 4/6,boyd wheels,shaved door handles,mirrors,gorgous truck.and one night i had been drinking alittle,and both doors had to be SLAMMED to get them shut.with the shaved door handles it had remote door popers,well i had shut the door and didnt shut,and did it again and didnt shut all the way.well i got alittle P.Oed,and while it wasnt shut all the way i thought my butt would shut it so turned around and tryed it,it worked,but there was a nice big dent about the size of my butt in the door.yea,STUPID! i was slipping out,lied to my dad,told him i was at the mall and came out and the dent was there.yea he didnt buy it.9 years ago and i still cant believe i did that.

you can leave a dent with your butt? HAHAHAHHAHA jkjk

[roushstage2]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

I think the worst thing I have ever done to my car was I took it to Future Ford of Roseville and Jackson Ford Mercury to get it serviced. The poor thing...

[Raymond]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

With this car, I haven't done anything worth mentioning that would be considered bad.

With my old car, the worst thing I ever did was try to accelerate on wet highway (to avoid being rear-ended by a speeding Hummer, mind you)

::









$12k in damages counts as the "worst thing ever" in my opinion!

[Deaner5]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

I was taking a turn in the winter and it was one of thoes easier turns in that it was less than 90 degrees and the ones you can take faster.

I was going a little faster than I should I hit some snow/ice and it started spinning and I thought I was in control, then I hit the lane that didn't have any snow and the wheels gripped and spun me around for about a 360.

No one was coming so I didn't hit anything, but the car died on me during this. So I go to start it again and the thing doesn't want to fire. So I'm thinking I killed the engine and I'm the dumbest person in the world.

I then realize I should have it in park when I try to start it and it started fine. I have since be a little more careful in the winter, even when trying to have a little fun.

[onnfire]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

I decided to try and pull my car in really quickly into my garage and my bumper met the edge of a few bricks. It took the paint right off of it and left a decent dent.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

For me it would be the time when I was about 14. Had no idea of properly detailing cars. My grandfather had even less knowledge. He went to a local store and bought a tin of wax. He wanted me to wax his car. No problem. Read the directions thought they sounded odd, but I was doing what I was told. He bought a tin of Johnsons floor wax. It was applied to the car, and surprisingly it gave a finish that lasted for about 6 months. Long term effects on the car? Did not know. But it was pretty dumb applying wood floor wax to car paint. lol.

[houndlover]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

About 8 years ago, my wife went out to go to work, and her Civic had a dead battery. So, I pulled my truck up next to the Civic to jump start it. Well, we were in a rush as she was needing to leave for work, so I jump started the car, then put the cables away. My truck's hood was operated via hydraulic pistons, so I reached up, grabbed it, and slammed it shut. I then grabbed the Civic's hood, and jerked down on it to close it, and the hood folded up like a taco - I had forgotten to take the metal prop down that holds the hood up. Since my truck didn't have one, I wasn't accustomed to checking for one before closing a hood. Well, the prop completely broke, and the hoold folded over. I was able to flatten the hood back out in order to close it. I then had a body shop massage the hood for me, but it was never perfect. I felt so stupid.

[Hemin8r]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

Back in 1990 is when I got my first truck. I bought it off my cousin and the first thing I did was wash it. It was later in the evening and that's when I noticed a couple of rust stains on the chrome wheels. I thought to myself, I know what will take this out. I grabbed some SOS pads & started scrubbing away. The next morning I noticed all these fine scratches. I kept the same wheels & after a few months of polishing the scratches dissapeared. Never again.

[spence82]

Re: What's the worst thing you've done to your car?

you can leave a dent with your butt? HAHAHAHHAHA jkjk

yep i swear i did,and that old truck was solid