fbpx

Man Risks His Life Everyday Driving A Used Car

*This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure

If you haven’t read through my archive of posts on used cars, you should check them out HERE. I usually tout the virtues of the tens of thousands of dollars saved every decade by buying used.

But I can no longer stand by that statement. I have recently obtained a top secret video of a man, who shall remain nameless, and his perilous daily journey of driving a used car. I cannot express how deep my concern is for his well-being, and wish, for the love of bleeding wallets, that he would have wised up and listened. He should have bought a new car so he wouldn’t live in constant fear of catastrophic failure!

But don’t take my word for it.

Here, leaked for the very first time, is this shocking footage. I pray NO ONE EVER has to go through the stress that this man sees on a daily basis with his terrible, unreliable used car.

Note: If you don’t get sarcasm, this post is dripping with it.

Jacob Wade

Jacob Wade

Jacob Wade has been a nationally-recognized personal finance expert for the past decade. He has written professionally for The Balance, The Spruce, LendingTree, Investing Answers, and other widely-followed sites. 
He’s also been a featured expert on CBS News, MSN Money, Forbes, Nasdaq, Yahoo! Finance, Go Banking Rates, and AOL Finance.

In 2018, Jacob quit his job and his family decided to sell everything (including their home) to take off on an adventure. They traveled the country in an RV for nearly 3 years, visiting over 38 states, 20+ national parks and eventually settling in the sunshine state!

40 thoughts on “Man Risks His Life Everyday Driving A Used Car”

  1. Oh my gosh! I have one of those key things too! Approaching 300,000 miles on my 2000 Ford Contour! LOVE risking my life everyday (and don’t forget the lives of my kids too!) to be debt free! And when we do HAVE to get another car, I can’t even imagine taking out a loan and getting a new car! But then again, I’m a risk taker….like you! Thanks for this great post/video!

    Reply
  2. This is hysterical. All my life I’ve risked my life by driving used cars. Still waiting for the metal shards, rust, and leaky sunroof …

    Reply
  3. I’m only saying this because someone will say it but if you can for next time, try to film your video in landscape mode. 🙂

    Love the sarcasm though. I have a boss who’s car is only 10 years old and it’s in really good shape, especially considering he never drives outside the tri-state area here in NY and rarely leaves Brooklyn in general. It’s a nice, fully-loaded SUV with minimal issues but it’s 10 years old so he has to replace it… The car is still worth $14,000 according to Kelly Blue Book so why he’d try to sell it is beyond me!

    Reply
    • Agreed. This was a spur of the moment thing, and only thought about the aspect ratio after I started, LoL.

      And yea, I guess I can be mad about people who waste money on cars. But I choose to enjoy someone else eating all the depreciation on a car before I buy it 🙂

      Reply
  4. My friend had a car accident last Monday, he was driving his company’s van from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. He told me that all of the sudden the brake failed that’s why they had an accident, thankfully their van was thrown into the sand and not on the cement road.

    Reply
  5. The real danger is when you start riding public transit, oh let me tell you of the perils I have faced in my commute to work… why even just this morning I had to share the bus with complete strangers who were also on their way to work. It was touch and go for a while, but luckily none of them snapped today.

    Reply
  6. I was using my honda beat scooter. I don’t used any protective gear such as helmet. I can drive for more than 100 in speed. And thank goodness, I have never been in accident for 3 years since I bought it.

    Reply
  7. I am a 54yo grandma, and I drove my 9 yo car with 185000 miles on it from Indiana to Florida, alone!

    I handed my key to a guy at a car repair place once, and he tried to open the door. I just looked at him, and said, “Um, you have to put the key in the door first.”

    Reply
  8. Having a used car has its benefits and drawbacks. The key is to find out how the person before you took care of the car. I drive a used car myself and she has been good to me with just over 100K miles. I follow scheduled maintenance and synthetic oil changes every 6000 miles. Not having a big car loan certainly boosts ones mood.

    Reply
  9. I bought a used car only once and it was enough for me to get my lesson, I wasted a lot of money on repairs of that car. New car is more reliable and if you see in a long run it also adds to saving and comfort as well.

    Reply
  10. You definitely need to be careful with making a used car purchase. You can definitely make bad choices which can have negative results on safety. Sometimes paying more can make a huge difference on safety. In these cases, it may be best to shell out the extra money.

    Reply
    • Agreed. So the key is to NOT make bad choices. Do research, then research some more! Find a mechanic friend, have them inspect a car for you. Make sure they car has all the safety features you are looking for. Get the carfax, get receipts. Make sure your multi-thousand dollar purchase isn’t just on a whim without any thought 🙂

      Reply
  11. This post is the best! Neither my husband nor I have ever owned a new car, but I have to admit that we’ve probably spent more than we needed to to get newer used cars because I was afraid of the safety/reliability of older cars. Fear can cost a lot of money. We do drive our cars into the ground, though, regardless of cosmetic issues.

    Reply
    • I think fear of cars is costing people tens of thousands of dollars every decade, maybe more. Research and a good mechanic can save you SO MUCH MONEY it’s ridiculous! I didn’t know how to check my own oil thru my first few cars, but then realized I couldn’t afford to NOT know about cars a little bit.

      Reply
  12. My walking, biking, public-transit-using, used-car-driving self should downright be committed. What the %#&$@^ am I thinking! Thanks for posting this video. You likely saved my life.

    Seriously though…If my car only has 100,000 km on it, does it even qualify as “used”? It’s just a baby…

    Reply
  13. Your old car is luxury compared to the car of my childhood (I think my folks had it for 18 years), a chevrolet bel air affectionately known as Bella. She had to be coaxed into reverse – sometimes the first try, sometimes the 100th. We took her on annual cross country road trips and saw much of small town America catastrophic repair after repair. My brother and I had a blast exploring whatever random place we made our unplanned stops. Near the end, my sister did her driver’s licence exam with a heavy duty rubber band (the kind your now get on broccoli) holding the emergency brake in place (and having to coax her into reverse). The passenger door was roped shut since it wouldn’t stay closed. About your key issue, a little tip: don’t lock the car! The day they towed loyal old Bella away for good, we took pictures for the family album as she headed to the other side of the river. I still love old cars, and no, I don’t mean vintage.

    Reply
  14. My best purchase in life? My 1990 Buick that I bought in 2005 for $300 – by the time I sold it to the wreckers in 2007, it had just under 350,000m on it.
    I sold it to the wrecker for $200 (BC of the steel).

    Reply
  15. Ah, Jacob! Big old-car fan here myself. I have a 1998 Toyota Camry (white…I know…boring!) and that baby has nearly 250k miles. Not as notable as your more than 300k but still a respectable number. While we do have a newer vehicle (purchased used), I still take this old girl all the time because she gets good gas mileage and my mom can get in and out easily.

    I’ll take a key any day over a car payment 🙂
    Cheers,
    Ree

    Reply

Leave a Comment