# What's The Worst You Have Done To Your Car



## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

With all my new cars I use to get them home then give them a good wash and polish to check for any defects etc.
One year, I had a new black Ford Sapphire and in my excitement to get it polished I used AG glass polish all over the bodywork before I realised my error.
Shortly afterwards I wrote the car off, not my faulty, so think it must have been fated.
Never had a black car since just in case the same thing happens.
Dave


----------



## Tuska (Sep 3, 2009)

Without experience I polished my astra vxr with rotary machine. 
I used a hard hex logic orange pad and chemical guys all in one.
I did the whole bodywork. Then to find marring all over the car. 
That was the first and last time I use a machine polisher.
I simply don't have the experience with one.
After that I took it to a friend who polished all the defects I caused


----------



## BigJimmyBovine (Jan 23, 2012)

Opened bonnet to clean engine bay forgetting windscreen wipers were up. The wiper arms scraped paint off the thin edge of the bonnet, I ended up with two 6inch long "butter curls" of blue paint


----------



## Flakey (May 5, 2013)

Burnt the edge with the rotary. Lack of enough experience and overconfidence but I still look back and it was a lesson much needed.


----------



## Steve (Mar 18, 2014)

Wash it with a brush  long time ago


----------



## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

Noticed some bird lime on the car, only had kitchen towel to hand so wetted it and scrubbed the lime off to predictably leave scratches behind. What a donger.

Good job i am practising with my DA so i can get rid of them.


----------



## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

Left a large microfibre cloth in the spokes of my rear wheel , Forgot it was there preceeded to reverse the car up my drive , Met with a little resistance , Got out to have a look cloth had tangled up in the caliper , in the wheel in everything ! , Air went blue with swear words , Took me f***ing hours to get the twisted mangled mess out


----------



## Scottien (Jan 3, 2006)

Had my boot open, forgot that I had the garage door half closed and proceeded to reverse straight into it. Massive dent in the boot and a line of stratches all over it. £400 later and it was as good as new >.<


----------



## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I have to admit, I've not done anything too bad. 

I recall a friend of mine pulling the garage door down not realising the front passenger side was just under it. Two deep dents in his bonnet from that!


----------



## Tricky Red (Mar 3, 2007)

Yes. 

The Garage door in reverse to most. Opened the boot of my 106GTI in the garage, and it flung up into the up and over garage door. Various dents ans scratches. 

Same car, driving into the garage, just caught the passenger mirror on the wooden upright door frame. Didn't know whether to continue driving on or reverse out and couldn't get out of the car to check. Thought reversing was best idea....NOT... as the mirror housing decided to smash into about 20 pieces.


----------



## warrmr (Jan 10, 2014)

BigJimmyBovine said:


> Opened bonnet to clean engine bay forgetting windscreen wipers were up. The wiper arms scraped paint off the thin edge of the bonnet, I ended up with two 6inch long "butter curls" of blue paint


Be glad you don't have a mk3 clio, they rub on the bonnet when you lift them to clean the glass unless you park them half way across the window. It took me ages to get the nack of turning the wipers on and removing the key from the ignition before they got back to home.

Oh and worst things I have done to a car.

When I was about 14 it was my assigned job to clean the cars. I had a rotating bodywork brush from Argos that you put shampoo sticks in the handle. Using that on mums Rover 218i I managed to put 10000's of swirls in the paint.

Then When I was learning to drive I managed to remove the paint from the front bumper of her focus on the tree at the end of our drive(over confident and inexperienced driver).


----------



## mikex (Jul 17, 2013)

Used some wheel cleaner (cant remember what) after picking a car up to find out the wheels had been refurbed badly and lifted the paint off them.


----------



## Clean ocd (Mar 29, 2014)

Done engine detail on my Mazda when I had 1 and had to replace the coil packs and spark plugs


----------



## minnis (Apr 4, 2014)

Used to wash my car with one of those brushes that you put shampoo directly into, and then dried with a blade.

Other than that, when I went camping, I didn't think about where I parked my car when packing up. Putting the tent away (we were taking the poles out at this point) and a MASSIVE gust of wind came, ripped the tent clean out of our hands and it wrapped itself around my car, poles and all. TBH I'm quite thankful there was less damage, as it could easily have gone through a window, but it left quite a few nasty scratches down the passenger side door. Luckily they faded quite well with a polish, and given that it was a black car, there were already loads of other scratches (from using a brush and blade!) so it didn't stick out or anything.


----------



## warrmr (Jan 10, 2014)

minnis said:


> Used to wash my car with one of those brushes that you put shampoo directly into, and then dried with a blade.


Did it looks worse than using one of these beasts, its like this thing was purposely made to inflict swirls.


----------



## 636 (Oct 23, 2012)

My old man used a evergreen pad to clean the bugs off the front of his Mercedes. I couldn't believe it, he just laughed and said its a company car who cares lol. I've never looked at him the same again

Haha


----------



## minnis (Apr 4, 2014)

warrmr said:


> Did it looks worse than using one of these beasts, its like this thing was purposely made to inflict swirls.


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_223237_langId_-1_categoryId_255232

This one. Rest of my family still use it, I have been educated and now use the 2BM :lol:


----------



## NipponShine (Jun 19, 2012)

put tar remover and then try to clay the wheel, end up the clay broke down and having a hard time to remove


----------



## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Kerbed an alloy.

Think the car was only about 4 weeks old at the time....










Was not a happy bunny.....


----------



## OCD clean (Mar 27, 2014)

i watched my next door neighbor touch in paint chips .........20 min later i herd him shouting and swearing so popped my head back outside to fined he had wet sanded to far and went to primer ......i closed the door an thought to myself it could be worse i could have done it


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

warrmr said:


> Be glad you don't have a mk3 clio, they rub on the bonnet when you lift them to clean the glass unless you park them half way across the window. It took me ages to get the nack of turning the wipers on and removing the key from the ignition before they got back to home.


Been there with clio mk3. Luckily marked the edge of the paint but it just looks a little bit faint as oppose to rubbing the paint off. Left wipers up after washing away from window and turned ignition on without thinking :wall:

Same car left a sweeping brush up against corner of garage door one day, forgot mins later opening door from outside and fell on boot and put a light dent into a near perfect condition car


----------



## chrisgreen (Mar 30, 2012)

neilos said:


> Kerbed an alloy.
> 
> Think the car was only about 4 weeks old at the time....
> 
> ...


Same for me - a momentary lapse in concentration coupled with a soft tyre saw me bounce the C4 off the kerb, gouging three quarters of a brand new alloy wheel - one of only 20 sets in the UK 

£50 refurb and some dented pride later, looks good as new.


----------



## mfernott (Apr 21, 2014)

Upon arrival in a hotel car park after a long journey to Manchester to see a gig, I promptly reversed into a skip and smashed my back windscreen, leaving a nice big dent in the boot also. Missed the gig and was driving round Manchester until 1am looking for the Autoglass place or whatever it was. 

This was my first car, a 2003 Polo, before I had a SatNav or a smartphone by the way!


----------



## PaulinLincs (Jan 16, 2011)

Decided to treat a rust spot no bigger than a penny piece on wife's streetka. Going in tomorrow to have the door resprayed. 
Morale of this story is don't always believe you tube videos of how to smart repair and blend in repairs lol.


----------



## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

PaulinLincs said:


> Decided to treat a rust spot no bigger than a penny piece on wife's streetka. Going in tomorrow to have the door resprayed.
> Morale of this story is don't always believe you tube videos of how to smart repair and blend in repairs lol.


Trial and error. 
Its a lesson learnt and as long as you were prepared to have a go fair play


----------



## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

chrisgreen said:


> Same for me - a momentary lapse in concentration coupled with a soft tyre saw me bounce the C4 off the kerb, gouging three quarters of a brand new alloy wheel - one of only 20 sets in the UK
> 
> £50 refurb and some dented pride later, looks good as new.


It happened going into South terminal at Gatwick. Price for a new alloy from Mercedes was about £215.


----------



## suspal (Dec 29, 2011)

Video's are fine but they never tell you where you're going wrong,so much for video's


----------



## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

PaulinLincs said:


> Decided to treat a rust spot no bigger than a penny piece on wife's streetka. Going in tomorrow to have the door resprayed.
> Morale of this story is don't always believe you tube videos of how to smart repair and blend in repairs lol.


Yep seems familiar :wall:

Rust bubble on wing, cant be that hard to repair, spend hours, make a mess, send to body shop :lol:


----------



## PaulinLincs (Jan 16, 2011)

Note to self. Leave paint spraying to the pros . It's an art form.


----------



## Spudey (Jun 13, 2011)

I got rear-ended coming off a roundabout in a corsa. left it for a week with the insurer's chosen repair company. I Inspected the repair and was so happy my car was perfect again. Went to drive off out of the car park only to scrape about 18" of paint clean off the rear quarter since they'd parked the car next to the corner of a low wall I hadn't noticed.

Too embarrased to take it back in I just drove off and repaired it elsewhere a few months later once my inner rage with myself had subsided enough to deal with it.



Oh and when I was 11 my dad let me drive mum's 1985 Micra into the garage with him instructing from the passenger seat. Once inside the garage instead of coming to a gentle stop i panicked and lifted all my feet from the pedals. First gear now fully engaged straight into the workbench at the back of the garage with dad hauling at the handbrake! Only the numberplate snapped luckily, and we had it replaced within an hour before Mum found out. Job done!

The secret was kept for 4 years until my mum got her MOT done and the Tester pointed out that her front numberplate had two digits the wrong way round (C845 instead of C485). Dad had got the number confused with his own numberplate when getting them made up, then it had gone through three MOTs without being spotted. 

Who knows what would happen with all the ANPR nowadays.



Another time there was a huge spider living in my mirror housing of my 106 for about 6 months, leaving a web over the driver's side every morning. I didn't mind him much but his webs were slightly irritating, then one day a saw him as i got into the car and on impulse he was disptched with a swift hit from a rolled up copy of The Sun.

2 hours later Karma intervined and an uninsured deer lept out from behind some armco into my headlight and creased every piller along the side of the Pug, before sprinting offinto the woods and leaving me with a written off 106 and a fault claim.
I just catch and release any spiders now...


----------



## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Spudey, that's brilliant, I'm pretty sure you will never win the Lottery.....lol
Dave


----------



## STEALTH K3 (Dec 29, 2006)

I had water in the lacquer that was dull I got to it with the hair dryer it was a bit too hot and the paint blistered


----------



## JwilliamsM (Dec 20, 2011)

Was hoovering the M3 a few months ago with my DC04 upright using the extension pipe, don't know how it happened and the dyson fell towards the car and made a small dent in the rear wing


----------



## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Crashed into a lamppost


----------



## VXRSi (Apr 27, 2014)

Reversed over one of my cleaning buckets in my last car. Luckily no damage caused to car... or bucket lol. The bucket must have squashed oval under the bumper and then opened up again once underneath. Was highly embarrassing trying to fetch it out again and took some serious muscle to do so  :lol:


----------



## p3asa (Aug 26, 2009)

When I was young I slammed the door of my dads car shut with the window down and the glass shattered. Must have been a really bad design as I didn't close it that hard.


When I was grown up  got myself one of those pucks with a groove in it so I could jack the car up safely!!
Unfortunately the puck was the same size as the head of the trolley jack so I put a length of wood in between them and started jacking away.
After a wee while I started to wonder why the car hadn't really lifted that much compared to how high the jack was!!
Turns out the wood was rotten and snapped and as I was jacking the car the wood was now angled up underneath the sill and pushing it up the way.
This was on an 11month old Audi A1. £550 later and all is sorted


----------



## Geordieexile (May 21, 2013)

Putting air in the front nearside tyre of my then pride and joy (Citroen AX GT) as a young lad. Turned round holding the airline by the trigger assembly. The extended hose with the metal connection flicked out and took a 5mm chip out of the wing. I can still see it moving toward the car in slow motion 20 years later. I was gutted!


----------



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

PaulinLincs said:


> Decided to treat a rust spot no bigger than a penny piece on wife's streetka. Going in tomorrow to have the door resprayed.
> Morale of this story is don't always believe you tube videos of how to smart repair and blend in repairs lol.


 I now have a rule of thumb with You Tube "How To " videos, that if I see any sight of the product packaging I just switch straight off.

Even quicker off if the video starts with a cardboard box being opened ...:wave:

Worst thing I ever did in a car ( so far, touch wood ) is on the night I passed my driving test I was backing my old mans car so carefully into the garage to avoid the walls I forgot about the back wall and put a small dent in the bumper !! Fortunately he was OK about it and didn't want to ruin the day for me


----------



## jazsarl (Aug 19, 2009)

I took my car to body shop to be polished and they have left pretty bad buffer trails all over the car, not only that the car still has swirls in it.

That's the worst thing I have done and now I need help,  can someone help me and correct at a reasonable price, im in west London. 

Please pm me if you can Help


----------



## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

in a lowered lupo, didn't spot raised kerbs to separate parking spaces and drove into them, twisted the subframe and deployed all the airbags.....write off.


----------



## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

badly_dubbed said:


> in a lowered lupo, didn't spot raised kerbs to separate parking spaces and drove into them, twisted the subframe and deployed all the airbags.....write off.


 poor wee lupo, there is a smart black low one around here.


----------



## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

Kiashuma said:


> poor wee lupo, there is a smart black low one around here.


First car too, lol SN51 YPD it still comes up on the vehicle check so it must be running about somewhere still :lol:


----------



## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

For me it was when I went to the petrol station to fill up, I caught the nozzle on the back quarter panel and left an inch long deep scratch  mind you it was my first car and not long passed my test.


----------



## Toma (Sep 16, 2013)

Bought it


----------



## Blackmondie (Mar 13, 2011)

Let my wife get in it...


----------



## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

muzzer42 said:


> Noticed some bird lime on the car, only had kitchen towel to hand so wetted it and scrubbed the lime off to predictably leave scratches behind. What a donger.
> 
> Good job i am practising with my DA so i can get rid of them.


done that before and on windscreen, scratched it to ****


----------



## squiretolley (Mar 10, 2014)

Clearing the snow off my black mk5 golf with a kitchen sweeping brush...pretty sure I significantly contributed to the swirl marks on that occasion!


----------



## SBM (Jul 4, 2013)

Not me but my dumbass Ex...

I had a V6 Vectra company car. There was the usual bit of drive up to the garage and it was on a slight downwards slope. She use to drive a Punto. Anyway as you look at the garage from the street, on the RHS of the start of the drive was 4" x 4"wooden railing/post only about a foot hig. had always been there, put in by the local council. I am off to do a job in London so go on the train. She decides to take my car out, so reverses it off the drive, turning it left hand down. goes nice and slow and the car then seems to be some how restrained.. she decides its just the slope and so gives it a bit more right foot. the car responds as a 2.5 V6 does and launches back and there is a dreadful crunch. The restrain was the low post just catching the inside if the wheel arch. when she put her foot down it ripped the whole of the front of the car off. Headlights, the lot all were sat on the drive. The car was 6 weeks old!

Ben


----------



## Ads7 (Mar 3, 2014)

Tried to fix stonechips peppered on my Golf using a guide on here. 

Was looking good but got a bit keen with the wet sanding went through to the primer  that must of been about a year ago and still not got it sorted


----------



## MagpieRH (May 27, 2014)

476s said:


> Clearing the snow off my black mk5 golf with a kitchen sweeping brush...pretty sure I significantly contributed to the swirl marks on that occasion!


My dad did something similar on my old Ka a couple of years ago. I told him not to bother doing mine (clearly meaning 'please don't do that to my car') - he came into the house quite sheepishly shortly afterwards with aerial in hand; snapped the thread from the base plate. I listened to a lot more CDs after that...


----------



## robtech (Jan 17, 2011)

took my once show car out in winter and a bus drove into the side of it thanks to me getting stuck on a patch of ice....yessssss...or getting new bbs rs wheels on my golf getting home parked the car and promptly kerbed 2 wheels or the time i spent 8 hours polishing another of my citroen cx show cars at a mates garage moved the car forward and scratched the wing off the garage door....done all sorts...even dropped a mountain bike on the rear bumper of my car and chipped the paint....at the stage now where i just dont care


----------



## SBM (Jul 4, 2013)

Blackmondie said:


> Let my wife get in it...


Nice to know I'm not the only one - talking about my Ex of course!


----------



## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

hmmm, gotta be this! :/ Days before my ocd.


----------



## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Drove through a puddle


----------



## billyp (Jul 24, 2010)

had an old mk1 cavalier and since I leave the house at 5am it was dark, so jumped in the car and grabbed a can of de-icer to clear frost as I was running late, sprayed all the windows when the smell hit me, I had picked up a can of red spray paint I had been using to touch up the wing the day before:wall:


----------



## Roscoepeko (Jun 18, 2013)

After "tinkering" with Mrs car I never pushed the bonnet down ...fortunately I was next to drive it .....yup bonnet flew up in my face bending the bonnet - she was not best pleased when I got home :wall::wall:


----------



## Dift (May 22, 2011)

Rise to the top, or shrink away?

The usual tow car went AWOL, boat needed to come out of the water. Do you let your pride and joy touch salt water and sand??? Let alone, pulling a heavy boat out of the water on wet sand, pebbles and seaweed ?



Sachs clutch, Quattro, and some clenching of buttocks...



Did it with style though. Everyone impressed an 11 year old car, could pull a boat off a beach with such ease...

I won't be doing it again though.


----------



## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

billyp said:


> had an old mk1 cavalier and since I leave the house at 5am it was dark, so jumped in the car and grabbed a can of de-icer to clear frost as I was running late, sprayed all the windows when the smell hit me, I had picked up a can of red spray paint I had been using to touch up the wing the day before:wall:


classic :lol:


----------



## dalecyt (Nov 16, 2010)

Week after buying my first car all excited to clean it up for my first weekend out in it. I set up my pressure washer only to forget it came with the patio cleaner attachment pre-fitted rather than the pressure washer attachment,stripped the clear coat right off the bonnet was not a happy bunny at the time:lol:


----------



## Bildeb0rg (Jun 7, 2014)

christamas day '95 went to my dads to exchange gifts and hit a patch of black ice coming home. rolled my 6 month old civic vti, which had just been serviced and gassed up the day before, into a field coming to rest on its roof. 
my dad if asked if the presents were ok and revealed he'd got me some autoglym stuff and "it might come in handy...":tumbleweed:


----------



## Chicane (Mar 31, 2011)

Fancied a McChicken sandwich, went to mcdonalds and wrapped the car around a concrete bollard in front of a full car park. Car hadn't even done 500 miles


----------



## J4KE45 (Sep 7, 2014)

-Same as above, went to maccy's, cut the corner of the drive through too tight and caught my alloys! Not happy!


----------



## VdoubleU (Oct 15, 2012)

Lent my car to my mom after she had hers wrote off (not her fault). It had just come out of the body shop after a full respray, body repairs, no dents, perfect. Got it back with the door edges chipped back to bare metal on both doors. Was met with the response from her ''It's an old car any way''  :devil:  

Could have killed her. Still not forgiven her.


----------



## chrisgreen (Mar 30, 2012)

VdoubleU said:


> Lent my car to my mom after she had hers wrote off (not her fault). It had just come out of the body shop after a full respray, body repairs, no dents, perfect. Got it back with the door edges chipped back to bare metal on both doors. Was met with the response from her ''It's an old car any way''  :devil:
> 
> Could have killed her. Still not forgiven her.


I feel your pain, and this is precisely why I have refused to let my family members borrow my last three cars. They certainly are getting nowhere near my new wheels that I picked up on Saturday.


----------



## AllenF (Aug 20, 2012)

Put the missus on the insurance.......


----------



## VdoubleU (Oct 15, 2012)

chrisgreen said:


> I feel your pain, and this is precisely why I have refused to let my family members borrow my last three cars. They certainly are getting nowhere near my new wheels that I picked up on Saturday.


I'll never do it again. I'd rather be their personal chauffeur.


----------



## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

Got up to do the school run, 6 a.m. and half asleep. Vaguely remembered that my car needed a drop of oil, so got the big gallon bottle out of the garage cabinet, and started to pour some in, only to realise that it was antifreeze as they were both in those silver/grey bottles and the same size with the ends facing out so I couldn't see the labels. About half a cup went in, but as I had to take the little one to school, I went anyway thinking that it wouldn't do much damage as it would dilute and in the afternoon I would change the oil. The result: two new cats needed, to the tune of 1 1/2 grand plus fitting at the dealers, although I managed to get some pattern ones for the pricely some of 400 plus fitting. You can imagine how I felt!


----------



## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

I owned a 406 v6 and decided the engine needed a thorough clean, so wd40'd, gunked, jet washed, steamed and than had to leave it running on idle for 4 hours! before the misfire's went away.


----------



## Shug (Jul 13, 2007)

Paid for a dealer service.


----------



## ITSonlyREECE (Jun 10, 2012)

Took my first car to a cleaning park, cleaned it with the foaming brush provided and drove off thinking I was cool :wall:


----------



## rogeyboy (Apr 15, 2013)

Good thread... Some very entertaining stories that i can relate to!
Ive done the bonnet and wiper blade collision before, twice - stupidly!

My worst moment was buying a cheap ebay car cover, fleece lined of course, left it on the car in high winds outside on the drive overnight, after detailing the car afew days previously. I came out to the car the next morning and the cover had blown half off, the plastic tabs that secure it had left nice deep scraches across my bonnet and wing - brilliant!


----------



## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

chrisgreen said:


> I feel your pain, and this is precisely why I have refused to let my family members borrow my last three cars. They certainly are getting nowhere near my new wheels that I picked up on Saturday.


Ohhh new car, what did you get?


----------



## Steve_6R (Jun 9, 2014)

In my detailing youth, I decided to wax the windscreen. Not a great idea.


----------



## simonharris (Jul 16, 2014)

I was sending my project skyline away to a specialist to be finished and MOT'd after 4 years of working building it from a bare chassis so I moved it onto the road outside my house in readiness for the transporter to arrive and make loading easy.

In order to do this I had to park my DD Skyline on the garage block the is opposite my house, only I forgot to apply the parking brake. Got out of the car walked back into the house and 10 minutes later my GF asked - why is the black skyline blocking the road?

I ran outside to find that it had rolled backwards right into my formerly pristine project car leaving a great big dent right were the door meets the body.


----------



## SNAKEBITE (Feb 22, 2010)

I caught the corner of the front bumper on the gatepost of my drive.

Whilst trying to bodge a repair to tide me over, which involved using about 10 litres of filler my daughter, who was about 7 at the time said "Why don't you put it together like a jigsaw?"

The realisation of what she said hit me, it was easier to bond the broken bits over a bed of pug and mesh than it was to shape a big lump of pug!
Worked a treat, still noticeable, but it lasted the life of the car!

Schooled by a 7 year old :lol:


----------



## Simon13 (Aug 5, 2013)

Drove to the supermarket one evening in my new Fiesta ST and got one of those roasted chickens from the hot deli counter. Put my shopping in the passenger footwell. Then drove back home, "making progress" so it would still be hot when I got back. The bag came open, toppled over and filled my footwell with hot, greasy, sticky roasting juices. 

While dinner went cold, I got to work with a cloth and bucket of hot water. When Halfords opened the next morning I grabbed a bottle of Autoglym interior shampoo and to my relief, it got rid of every trace


----------



## richtea78 (Apr 16, 2011)

Changed the oil, left the cap on top of the engine and slammed the bonnet

Then tried to hammer the resulting dent myself. 

Not the smartest thing I've ever done. Or actually the most stupid even


----------



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

This thread is now actually making me feel ill.....


----------



## hardyd44 (Mar 31, 2014)

did not happen to me, honest

I was at the local tip which had a queue of cars waiting to go in when the car about 3 cars in behind me had his boot lid up (a hatchback so lots of glass) - I think you can guess what happened next, yup straight into the 6'6" height barrier - BANG, no longer had a boot lid - I could have cried for him as he got out and just looked at it, completely dazed

me - I done that many stupid things with cars I forget them to stop me having nightmares


----------



## chrisgreen (Mar 30, 2012)

Kiashuma said:


> Ohhh new car, what did you get?


Skoda Rapid Spaceback - in Silver.


----------



## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

let the mrs drive it. haaa


----------



## Tuska (Sep 3, 2009)

When cleaning the calipers i removed the wheels.
I put them face down, resulting in scuffs.
The wheels were the 18" ats vxr nurburgring alloys.


----------



## pajd (Sep 17, 2014)

muzzer42 said:


> Noticed some bird lime on the car, only had kitchen towel to hand so wetted it and scrubbed the lime off to predictably leave scratches behind. What a donger.
> 
> .


Snap  i Did this on the roof of the car. However this was a few years before I discovered DW and the car is now sold.


----------



## PurvesGrundy (Jul 10, 2012)

golftdi said:


> Snap  i Did this on the roof of the car. However this was a few years before I discovered DW and the car is now sold.


I still make similar mistakes today when removing bird****. I get lazy and just use a wet cloth or kitchen towel and end up scratching the **** out of the paint.

The worst I've done was probably wet sanding a scratch on my bootlid. I got a bit over-excited and ended up going through a big patch of lacquer.


----------



## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

Rubbing the living Kahoona's out of the alloys on an X6 I briefly had to remove brake dust and noticing that I was back to Aluminium in places.

Before DW, I genuinely did not know that wheels were paint finished.


----------



## Tuska (Sep 3, 2009)

Crashed it into a display sign. Had to renew headlights, grill and bumper 

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk


----------



## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Picked up a new car at the start of September, went away for a weeks holiday in October with 3 bikes on the roof. Went to lift the middle one off and lost my footing, bike slipped out my hand and sklemped me on the head, but also put a dent in the roof just above the drivers door. I didn't enjoy the holiday much after that!


----------



## GP Punto (May 29, 2007)

Washed the car with hair shampoo, not an ounce of shine. Some years ago I hasten to add.

Worst thing I have done IN a car.

Also years ago, I raced motorcycles, my transporter was a VW Caravette, the sort that you could walk through from the drivers seat. After one afternoon of vigorous racing, loaded everything into the bus and set off, came to a roundabout perhaps a little too quickly, put my knee down on the floor of the VW and fell off my seat, had to steer from the floor looking up at the sky!

Dipstick.


----------



## Deathstar (Jan 13, 2013)

Many many many years ago, using an ice scraper to remove ice from the windscreen. 
I was left with a nice big multiple z scratch in my eyeline that was visible in direct sun.


----------



## Pinky (Feb 15, 2008)

Playing silly beggers when I should have been home waiting on a delivery , single track road , 20 mph too fast saw other car , braked like F**** hit it head on , cars wrecked nearly charged with dangerous driving , my insurance sorted other car I sorted mine , long long time ago .


In later years before D/W cleaned and polished my white Opel Kadett with Tcut and Turtle wax (Yes I know it was a long time ) also cleaned side and rear windows with the same and the front (DOH ) well they were exceptionally clean , then it rained and I could nt see to drive , Took me weeks to get it off , NEVER AGAIN …..


----------



## aod (Apr 7, 2009)

I was driving out of a pub car park late at night having played a gig there in a band, and the car suddenly seemed to stop moving. I was only just above idle hardly 1-2 MPH. 

As I gave it a little more throttle I heard a ‘creaking’. I stopped, got out and noticed that somehow whilst going round the corner of a decking area which was quite dilapidated, a piece of the decking which was broken and sticking out, had got caught between my tyre and the lower part of the wheel arch. Somehow I had run over it and it jammed in the gap. I couldn’t go backwards, I couldn’t go forwards. The damage had already been done, having cracked and broken the plastic side skirt area below the passenger rear door.

The car park was full of drunken gig-goers, it was dark and late. Ended up having to get about 8 people to literally lift my car at the rear, off of the piece of decking sticking out.

I got it patched up by a body shop for about £100. I was pretty mad and quite embarrassed!


----------



## Chris8uck (Apr 27, 2018)

Painted the engine bay with normal paint ;P


----------



## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

Chris8uck said:


> Painted the engine bay with normal paint ;P


Brilliant

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


----------



## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I once reversed one in to pole and cracked the rear bumper (one of those pop up security post things)
I was unconsolable for weeks.


Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk


----------



## Chris Donaldson (Jun 26, 2016)

4 things spring to mind, yes 4! 

At number 4. I topped up the oil on my old Mondeo before a long journey and forgot to put the oil filler cap back on. 30 mins of driving and there was an oil smell, swiftly followed by smoke from the engine bay. 

Number 3. As a 15 year old I was cleaning my dads car and used an old tooth brush to get flies off the bonnet! Heavy pressure was used to get it spotless and ended up scratching the car to hell.

Number 2. I took the wheels off my Focus RS on a detail about 12 years ago and had only hand tightened one of the wheels as I got distracted. 10 miles down the road and things started to feel wrong. There was a bang and the steering went wobbly. I was very lucky not to lose the wheel and go off the road. 

Number 1. Same as above however this time it was to a mates car. In all fairness, we were finishing up on his car and he was bored so before I was finsished he distracted me and I didn't torque one wheel up. Luckily as he was driving home, all within a 30 mph limit he thought he hadn't seen me torque the last wheel so he checked them as soon as he was home. Luckily I had tightened them reasonably well with the breaker bar and it was just the torque I hadn't set. It only comes out worse than number 2 because it was a mates car and I had previously made a similar mistake before so should have learned.


----------



## JayMac (Sep 4, 2016)

Not long after I passed my test I thought it’d be a good idea to top up the power steering fluid in my car (Ford Ka) but I managed to pour it into the coolant reservoir lol good things didn’t happen soon after...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## FJ1000 (Jun 20, 2015)

rob267 said:


> Brilliant
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


There is a slightly older bloke in Mitcham, S.London - driving around in a maroon Volvo that has been entirely painted in household paint. Looks like a satin finish, and clearly applied by brush (lots of visible brush marks!)

Worst thing I did to my own car...I drove my black golf Gti to my cousins house the night before a family wedding. Decided to give it a wash - but not much in the way of supplies to hand so I washed it with fairy liquid and an old tea towel, then dried with another tea towel. I think seeing it covered in swirl marks after is what set me off getting into detailing!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Put AG Glass Polish on the paintwork of a black Ford Sapphire.....wrote it off within 12 months


----------



## BaileyA3 (Jun 14, 2015)

camerashy said:


> With all my new cars I use to get them home then give them a good wash and polish to check for any defects etc.
> One year, I had a new black Ford Sapphire and in my excitement to get it polished I used AG glass polish all over the bodywork before I realised my error.
> Shortly afterwards I wrote the car off, not my faulty, so think it must have been fated.
> Never had a black car since just in case the same thing happens.
> Dave





camerashy said:


> Put AG Glass Polish on the paintwork of a black Ford Sapphire.....wrote it off within 12 months


You do realise you posted about that when you started this thread 4 years ago don't you? :lol:


----------



## Andy1972 (Jan 12, 2014)

Back my early 20’s living at home with parents. Car parked in front garden ( paved over!). Jacked car up on one side. Heard an almighty smash. Forgot I had tailgate up, which was now part way in to to the living room through the house front window as the car was tilted over. Parents weren’t impressed.


----------



## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

New house, new garage. Electric door. I thought it was brilliant right up to the point i closed it and the mechanism on the door hit the top of my boot lid and dented it and then scratched it as it went down.

Car needed to be futher in by about 10mm.
Bo****ks

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


----------



## zoid9969 (Nov 30, 2008)

In no particular order:

1. Reversed into (in different cars): lamp post (it was dark), another car, a low brick wall, a metal post (despite having reversing sensors and all-around cameras).
2. Scraped various alloys on kerbs; one time I was about 10 yards from my house.
3. After getting my winter tyres put on, left one of the summer set standing upright on my drive whilst I went into the garage to get something. It promptly fell over, on to its face, naturally. The wheel was diamond cut and covered in small scratches and dents. Fortunately I got it fixed by Lepsons when they had their Swindon store.
4. Didn't notice I picked up a small stone when claying. Continued claying, whilst wondering what the strange noise was. Fortunately I managed to polish out most of the marks.
5. After putting wipers in their park position, pulled them away from windscreen to clean the car. Didn't notice they were still up when turning on the ignition and then pushing the wiper stalk. There was an almighty bang, but fortunately the only damage was of the wipers.
6. Didn't properly dry a set of steel wheels I used as winters after taking them off, cleaning them and putting them in the shed during summer. After about two years, they started to rust. I tried removing the rust and touching them up, but they looked terrible and ended up getting taken to the tip.
7. I've left spray bottles on the drive after finishing detailing and run over a few of them. I've also forgotten to remove the wheel chocks I use to stop the hose getting caught under the tyres - I usually remember what I've done when it takes lots of revs to move the car and it starts rising into the air before suddenly going down to ground level.


----------



## BigJimmyBovine (Jan 23, 2012)

Reversed into neighbours car despite my reverse camera, was too busy watching the surveyors equipment he had dumped all around my car. Nearly thumped him when he said he could see I was going to hit it, why not shout stop then, I had the windows down? Bought genuine reverse sensors that evening!

And then yesterday, pressure washing the car down, careful around the front bumper as it has a patch of lacquer peel. Start chasing a bird poo off with the hose, its slides along and then eventually sticks, keep blasting it and it's moving slowly, keep going and eventually it drops away. Realise it was going slow because it was caught on the edge of the peeling lacquer and I've just stripped even more off with the hose.


----------



## westerman (Oct 12, 2008)

Parked next to a low bollard passenger side. Jumped back into the car and drove straight into the bollard which was out of view. New nearside wing required 

Harry


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

smallest crash i ever had was to crash into an Audi at about 20mph on a single track road, cracked my plastic wing and the are a swine to change :lol:










My sister wrapped her megane around the corner of the house one day and its rendered and painted white. I got the paint transfer off but the wing was bent to hell and peeling, actually when it came to selling it it was surprised how much it made on ebay as i wouldn't have paid scrap value for it.



















it was a unlucky car this one, it was subject to a hit and run when someone changed lanes in a porsche cayenne and side swiped it, we replaced the doors with two from a scrapper, when the next mot came round did the essentials to get it through and got shot.



















as clarkson would say 'well ventilated'










after some of my work to make it half presentable :lol:









I suppose the absoulte worst thing ive done has to be the crash i had in the Mini which was a competition car that they lent to me for a year but ended not so good after about 4-5 months with damage in excess of £11k so they told me, amazingly when i check online its back on the roads


----------



## andy__d (Jun 27, 2018)

"lost" a 2.8i capri into a ditch... it was snowing, id been playing, hey its a capri 2.8i and snow, slowed it Right down to 10mph for the small humpback bridge over the canal, 
felt the back end go light at the crest and remembered i hadnt popped the 3 bags of sand in,, as the back exit'd stage left, nose pointed straight into the farmers field,, Recovered the 90 need to be pointing Down the road,, then fell of the edge of it into the ditch,knocked myself out as it fell in, when i came round (matter of mins) climbed up and out the passenger door ,, looked back and All you could see was said door pointing up in the air, 

recovered it with a tow rope, a nice bloke in a V8 landy who saw it all "thought youd saved it then,, you toppled into the ditch in slow motion,, " he pulled, i gassed the car,, up n out it came
damage to the car, i lost a front right mud flap, put some Nice ditch scuffs on the paint down that side and bent the door mirror ,damage to me, concussion and feeling a Right chump, id been hooning about sideways and looning about all the way home down the country lanes, slow down to walking pace and ditch it


----------



## jerseyman (Aug 18, 2006)

Reversed my TVR Cerbera into a Lotus +2 S/130. The Lotus was also mine!


----------



## iannidan (May 4, 2009)

Reversed into a lamppost
Reversed into a fence post
Took my wing mirror off by catching the side of a parked snap on van, put said wing mirror back on then knocked it off again by hitting a wooden telegraph pole on a country lane.


----------



## GP Punto (May 29, 2007)

Not me but a friend. 

I lived in Hong Kong, which has a steep hill in the middle of the island and almost every car boils its radiator when climbing the hill in the middle of summer.

This friend saw that everyone else was adding water to their radiators at the top of the hill, thought he should do the same. Poured water into the only filler cap he could see.

Trouble is that it was an old VW Beetle, cost him a new engine.


----------



## K777mk2 (Jun 30, 2016)

Once totalled a cortina I had bought a week before. Was still paying loan off a year later. Was a long time ago though.


Pressed boot open button on my first Panamera a few days after I bought it, in a low multi-storey carpark. and it hit a pipe I hadn't seen near the ceiling. Not that bad but on a expensive car was so peed with myself.


----------



## 350Chris (May 12, 2016)

I parked my first car on it's side in a tree
I parked my second car in the back of a Renault Megane - but I maintain that wasn't all my fault - the guy slammed his brakes on to turn off into a side road, on a blind corner as he didn't know where he was going

From a detailing perspective - I stripped all the protection off a car by claying it (without doing any pre decon tasks - it was a mutha to clay!!) and stopped there....I hadn't finished reading about polish, pre wax or wax protection layers. By the time the appeal of glass smooth paint wore off, I had to do it all over again to add protection layers


----------

