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Sad Photos Of Real Cars That Were Ruined By Irresponsible Owners

Cameron Eittreim May 27, 2022

Vehicle ownership is one of the most rewarding privileges in life for car fans all over the world. Many automotive models invoke all kinds of emotions when drivers get behind the wheel of them. Personalizing your car is another great thing about automotive ownership, but it doesn’t always work out smoothly. Some owners tend to take the concept of customizing a vehicle to the next level and then go way overboard. Then you have automotive owners who ruin their cars with simple mistakes like not changing the oil on time or doing routine maintenance.

So we chronicled several photos of real cars ruined by irresponsible owners. Some of these vehicles were rare, high-dollar models. When you’re a true automotive enthusiast, it hurts your soul to see how some of these photos turned out. Obviously, you can’t control what other people do with their vehicles, but it’s a sad sight to see how some of these cars turned out. Read on below to check out 50 shocking and sad photos of irresponsible owners who ruined their cars.

50: Lied About Oil Change

A wife told this man that she was getting oil changes for her car on time. So he was shocked when he took the car in for regular service and the tech walked out with the oil cap in his hand. He told the car owner that the vehicle had a severe amount of sludge in the motor. According to him, the vehicle hadn’t seen an oil change for at least 25K miles and he was shocked it was still running as well as it was (via Reddit).

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49: Bulletproof Glass

There’s no doubt that the world is changing in front of us, but the lengths that some people will go to for safety are insane. The problem with installing bulletproof glass into a regular car is that it can greatly alter the vehicle. That was the case in this photo where the vehicle’s owner had to completely cut away the door frame. Needless to say, this was not the smartest option when it comes to making your car safer to drive (via Reddit).

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48: Way-Too-Small Tires

Choosing the right tire size to put on your vehicle is crucial and something that some drivers fail to realize. The thing is that an undersized tire can be a safety risk for anyone driving the car. That was the case with this Dodge Journey, which is pictured with low-profile tires that are the wrong size for the car. Putting the wrong tires on any vehicle can be risky, especially on an SUV much larger than a passenger car (via Reddit).

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47: Bald Tires

Tire maintenance is important to follow, but many drivers fail to realize this. Here we have another photo of a bald tire that was beyond comprehension by another responsible driver. We’re not sure how this person even made it to the repair shop in the rain to get a new tire installed (via Reddit).

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46: Artificial Shade Tree

The word shade tree mechanic comes to mind when it comes to budget minded automotive repair. But according to Reddit user Justrolledintotheshop this shade tree mechanic took the word shade to the next level. The shade device built using the car and the home was a unique combination of ingenuity (via Reddit).

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45: An Unexpected Furry Friend

Finding an opossum under the hood of your vehicle isn’t the worst thing that could happen. But there are a lot of instances where finding one under the hood could be damaging to the vehicle. Here is a case of a car left outside way too long, causing the opossum to take up refuge in the engine bay (via Reddit).

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44: Ground To The Bone

Here we have another instance of a driver who just went way too far on a bald tire. We’re not sure what the driver was thinking, but the result is not a pleasurable or safe situation. A lack of tire maintenance is not safe, and it can be potentially deadly (via Reddit).

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43: Had A Plane To Catch

What happens when you just have to catch a flight no matter what? Well, in the case of this driver, one of their tires was simply no more by the time they made it to the airport. Sometimes you just gotta fly, but this is taking things a bit too far (via Reddit).

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42: Test Drive

Learning how to drive a manual transmission is a lost art in the modern automotive industry today. The main problem with people learning it is that most cars don’t come with a manual transmission as standard equipment anymore. This is what happened in the photo above. A young, inexperienced driver took a stick shift vehicle on a test drive and burnt the clutch up (via Reddit).

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41: Way Too Much Air

You’ve heard of a tire being underinflated, but did you know that you could accidentally overinflate it? That is the case with the photo taken above. This driver aired the tire up way past the recommended PSI level, roughly 80 PSI over the limit, in fact (via Reddit).

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40: Oil Filter

The oil filter is one of the most important aspects of an oil change, but some drivers don’t understand this. Here we have a photo of a driver who hadn’t changed the oil filter in a year. The engine had a ton of sludge due to this lack of maintenance (via Reddit).

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39: Moldy Smell

This customer came into a mechanic’s shop complaining about a moldy smell that was emanating from the interior of the car. It wasn’t long before the mechanic found the problem. The trunk and spare tire area had been flooded with water due because a leak (via Reddit). This probably could have been avoided by the driver caring for their car more responsibly.

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38: Free Oil Change

When you drop a car off at a mechanic shop, you expect the work to be completely professional because of the exact reason they get paid for. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the case with this photo, where the oil tech took the driver’s Honda Civic SI out for a joyride (via Reddit). He ended up shredding the tire and wheel as a result.

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37: Joop

What happens when an automotive body shop fails on a repaint? Well, you get an SUV that says ‘Joop’ instead of ‘Jeep’ because of their sheer negligence. Needless to say, the owner of this bright red Jeep Wrangler was not the happiest person as a result (via Reddit).

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36: Frog In The Headlight

There is nothing worse than finding a random animal under the hood of your car, but even worse is finding a frog in the headlight. We aren’t sure how this frog managed to get into the headlight of this car, but it did (via Reddit).

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35: Towed with E-Brake

Being a vehicle recovery agent is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination due to the volatile nature of the profession. You’ll find that sometimes car owners just don’t want to give their cars up to you. Therefore, that was the case with this Jeep Compass, which had to be towed with the E-Brake engaged as a result (via Reddit).

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34: No Alignment

On a lifted vehicle, the alignment is one of the most important parts of ownership. Without proper alignment, the tire threads will wear unevenly and create a safety problem as a result. That’s what happened in the photo above, where these tires didn’t wear evenly due to this owner’s negligence (via Reddit).

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33: Funny Noise

This driver noticed a weird sound coming from the rear end of his pickup truck. He’d been using the vehicle for towing and the rear-end started to act upon him. He took the truck to his mechanic’s shop and upon further inspection, all the gears in the rear-end hub were ruined due to his irresponsibility (via Reddit).

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32: Rear-End Impact

Letting another person borrow your car is about one of the riskiest things that you can do. That was the case of what happened to this careless driver when she loaned her Nissan Altima to an unlicensed driver, and you can see what happened as a result (via Reddit).

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31: How Did He Even Park

Many drivers fail to realize how important the front-end suspension is on a vehicle. Improper maintenance can lead to the front end of a vehicle becoming completely unsafe due to shoddy suspension. That’s the case of what happened in this photo to this Corolla (via Reddit).

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30: Big Brain

It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to practice proper tire maintenance. The driver pictured here decided that a better solution was to puncture a hole through the rim to access the tire valve. In retrospect, this was not the brightest idea to have because it’s simply ridiculous (via Reddit).

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29: Hissing Noise

This driver came into the shop with a weird hissing noise that was coming from under the hood. The car had been sitting for a long period and the driver hadn’t opened the hood, so he got himself into some trouble under those circumstances. Underneath the hood, there was a visitor who just happened to be a rattlesnake, so it is important to check all the areas in your vehicle due to the fact it may end up saving your life (via Reddit).

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28: Dear God

Keeping your vehicle clean and orderly is important, but unfortunately, this driver didn’t get the memo. We’re not sure what exactly happened to this U-Haul, but it looks beyond awful in this sad state of repair (via Reddit).

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27: Lost Keys

This consumer came into the shop complaining about a set of lost car keys. Take one look inside the interior and you might be confused. It’s obvious that someone could lose just about anything in this mess of a vehicle that was a result of being overrun by nitrous oxide canisters (via Reddit).

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26: Free Tools

Sometimes when you’re a do-it-yourself mechanic, you tend to be in a hurry to get the job done. However, there are also times when you get lucky and find a free tool that might have been left on the vehicle (via Reddit).

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25: Tire Fell Out

One of the scariest things that can happen to your car is for the lower control arm to snap off. That is what happened in this photo where the wheel was completely severed from the drivetrain (via Reddit).

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24: Casual Armory

There is no limit to the shocking things that you’ll find as a mechanic, but this just about takes the cake. A mechanic doing routine oil changes saw a unique place to store firearms in this Ford truck (via Reddit).

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23: You’ve Got A Splinter In Your Tire

Remember that we said driving through a storm can be a bad thing? Well, that is also the case when it comes to your tires. That’s the case in this photo, where a splinter went straight through the tire of a car (via Reddit).

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22: Missing Screwdriver

This driver was doing an oil change at home when he realized a screwdriver was missing. He took the car to the shop to see where he might have dropped it in the engine. Turns out he ran over the screwdriver and ruined a tire as a result (via Reddit).

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21: Brakes Sound Funny

Getting your brakes serviced promptly is part of important vehicle maintenance. This person missed the memo and as you can tell the brake rotors were completely warned. This is not unlike many situations that mechanics, unfortunately, tend to encounter (via Reddit).

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20: Black Velvet Wrap

The lengths that drivers will go to wrap their vehicles are getting ridiculous. From gold wraps to reflective mirror wraps, when will the atrocities end? For example, take a look at this hideous Range Rover that was completely ruined with a velvet wrap (via Reddit).

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19: One Ugly SUV

The Expedition itself is often called one of the ugliest SUV models ever made by its own merit, but this hideous paint job took things a step further. We’re still not surprised that someone would waste the money to do this to one of these monsters (via Reddit).

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18: Abomination Of An Explorer

The original Volkswagen Touareg has a dedicated fan base, but every once in a while you’ll see one that is just plain over the top. That is the case with this early first-generation model. The SUV got the full treatment, which includes oversized rims and butterfly doors (via Reddit).

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17: Too Much Pink

The original Porsche Cayenne is the sports SUV that changed the game. With the high-performance engine and beautiful styling, the car is the most well-known SUV in the world. This pink example is going a bit overboard, and we’d hate to see what the rest of the car looks like inside (via Reddit).

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16: Poor Mercedes

Irresponsible car owners tend to ruin their vehicles no matter what. Take a look at the expensive G-Wagon in this photo that has been ruined. The obscene paint job is probably one of the worst seen on a vehicle, specifically a Mercedes-Benz (via Reddit).

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15: One Ugly Ridgeline

The Honda Ridgeline was not the best looking truck on the market. But this Reddit user took ugliness to a whole new level with the way he set his Ridgeline up. The ugly wheels were an understatement but to pack the truck bed with an oversized load only added to the problem (via Reddit).

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14: Overboard

The current automotive trend of Jeep popularity is far too played out to be funny. Now everyone wants to drive a custom Jeep for no reason whatsoever. Take this awful Beast Mode Jeep with cheap graphics and ugly paint (via Reddit).

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13: One Ugly Bronco

The Ford Bronco has one of the most devoted followings in the automotive industry. The unique styling of the SUV and the one-of-a-kind off-road capability made it a winner. The styling on this one is quite questionable, and that’s being kind (via Reddit).

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12: Plastic Grill

People do the weirdest things to ruin a great vehicle, and that is the case with this Blazer. Instead of showcasing the great chrome grill, this person slapped a fake plastic grill on the front (via Reddit).

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11: One Ugly 911

This owner came into the shop complaining that the car wasn’t driving right. Could it have been the oversized rims that caused the suspension to be ruined? Drivers never cease to amaze with the dumb things they do (via Reddit).

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10: Home Made Paint Job

Here we have a driver who complained he can’t feel the air conditioning. Note that the vents on the dashboard have been completely removed. The mechanic quickly pointed out that the dashboard has been heavily modified (via Reddit).

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9: Go Kart Or Actual Transportation?

Here we have a three-wheeled monstrosity, we’re not even sure what it’s supposed to be. The driver said he was going for the compact sleeper look, but we’re not sure what this car is sleeping on (via Reddit).

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8: What Happened To That Corvette?

The older generation of the Corvette is the most sought after, but it’s always sad to see one in bad condition. Take this rattle-canned mess that came into the shop. There was nothing remotely appealing about the way this Corvette looked (via Reddit).

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7: A Far-Too-Modified Viper

The Dodge Viper is one of the most beautiful sports cars that was ever built. So we’re not sure what the owner in this photo was thinking when they stuck all these exterior mods onto the Viper. The car looks nothing like it should and you almost want to walk up to it and rip everything off of it (via Reddit).

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6: Hank Hill Mobile

We all know that there are many fans of adult animation, namely the ‘King of the Hill’ franchise. But doing a paint job like the one above is going a bit overboard. Clearly, this was a superfan who had to make a statement, and in the process ruin a great Honda Accord (via Reddit).

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5: Firebird Limo?

We’ve seen some crazy modifications done to the GM F-Body cars in the past, but this just about takes the cake. We have an owner here who decided to turn two Firebird models into a limo. What a complete waste of a great sports car and one of the reasons why not everyone should fabricate (via Reddit).

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4: Hyundai Accent Gone Too Far

The first-generation Hyundai Accent was not anything special to look at, so this owner decided to take things into his own hands. Making the body kits out of what looks like cardboard, this Accent is anything but pleasant to look at (via Reddit).

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3: Shark Limo?

Ever wonder what it would be like to drive a shark? Well, this owner decided to build himself a shark limo. Needless to say, the car is ugly in every way, and there is no way this car will drive on water. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to customize their vehicle because things like this might happen (via Reddit).

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2: Hello Kitty

Look the Smart Car wasn’t the most appealing compact car for several reasons. The style was downright ugly, and the practicality of the car is almost non-existent nowadays. It was a nice novelty when it lasted, but they just haven’t been the success that the company had hoped. But you have fans like this guy that still get a kick out of customizing the tiny car (via Reddit).

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1: Horse and Buggy

There is no end to what people will do to get attention; take this Hummer H3 for example. We’re not sure what the owner was thinking, but this truck now has the same pair of wheels that you’d find on a horse and buggy. This is definitely not how GM had hoped the Hummer H3 would be riding around in the future (via Reddit).

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